Swim Team FAQ
Should I stay and watch a swim practice? You're welcome to watch. Please refrain from talking with the coach during practice. Practice is when the coach spends time with the swimmers so we ask that you email your child's coach with questions. Also be aware that your child may behave differently when you are at practice. We want your child to be focused on the coach vs their parent. If this is the case with your swimmer, please drop them off right before practice starts and pick them up at the end. Vice versa, if your swimmer misbehaves when you are not at practice, then we ask that you or a responsible party stay so they are not a disruption to the entire team.
What do I bring to a swim meet? Things to bring include: swim team suit, cap, goggles, towels, sweatshirt, sunscreen, Sharpie for writing events on arms or legs, folding chairs, games, snacks, money for concessions, lots and lots of water, tents (optional) for shade and storing of your items. It is always good to bring extra goggles and towels too.
What do I do if I am volunteering the day of a swim meet? If you are scheduled to volunteer for a swim meet you will receive an email the night before. When you arrive at the pool in the morning please look for our volunteer table that has all of our name tags and information. If you have a conflict and cannot volunteer the day of the meet you MUST make arrangements with someone else to cover for you. If you absolutely can not find coverage, please contact the volunteer coordinator. We can't run these meets without you!!!!
Where do I find what events my child will be in for a Saturday meet? Prior to a meet, parents of the younger kids or the swimmer themselves are required to go into Swimtopia and sign up for the meet. You will request what your preferences are for that meet. The coaches will need to approve it. There is the possibility that the coaches will change your events. Once the coaches input all of the swimmers races, their will be a huge bulletin board located on the left entrance of the pool. This board will show every swimmers name and what events they will be swimming. Please make sure if you will not be at a swim meet or you are unsure what you will be swimming to contact your coach at the beginning of the week. Typically a swimmer can swim in a maximum of 3 individual events and up to 2 relays. Some meets will have different restrictions - please pay attention when you are signing up.
What time do I need to be at a Saturday meet? A day or two prior to a meet, an email will be sent letting you know what time you need to be at the pool for warm-ups. When we are the home team, warm ups will typically start at around 6:30AM. When we are the away team, warm ups typically start at 7AM. We realize that this is very early however we ask that you plan appropriately to allow for drive time and parking. We also ask that you arrive and your swimmer is ready to go 10 minutes before warm ups start.
Does my child have to participate in warm ups? It is beneficial for swimmers to participate in warm ups. All of the pools are different. Warm ups allow your swimmer to get used to the pool, have several chances to dive of the blocks, and practice a few turns. Some of our younger swimmers may not want to participate in warm ups and that is ok. We still ask that you arrive at least 45 minutes before the start of the meet otherwise we assume that you are not attending and your swimmer may be removed from the relays and events during the coaches scratch meeting.
How do Relays work? Freestyle Relays are made up of 4 swimmers each doing Freestyle. Medley Relays are made up of 4 swimmers and each does a different stroke in this order: Backstroke, Breaststroke, Butterfly and Freestyle. Tip to remember the order for the Medley Relay: The strokes are swum in alphabetical order. For the most part, the four fastest swimmers in an age group will be on the “A” relay team. The next four will be on the “B” relay, etc. The coaches set up relays based entirely on each swimmer’s personal best time in that stroke. The coaches do take into consideration your child's attitude and participation. If you have indicated that your child wants to swim in a relay, the coaches will do their best include your child on a relay. If a child is not listed to swim in a relay, it may be because there are not enough children in that age group for that meet to make up a full relay team. For example, if there are seven 8-and-Under boys signed up for a meet, the 4 who have the best Freestyle times will make up the A Freestyle Relay. The other three will not be on a Freestyle relay because there needs to be 4 swimmers on a team. If there had been 8 boys signed up for the meet, there could be both an A and B relay. Sometimes an older swimmer or coach might take the place of the “missing” swimmer so the other kids can get a chance to swim. That team would not have an official time however. If an older relay is missing a swimmer, a younger teammate may be moved up onto the relay without disqualifying them.
What does it mean when my child is "swimming up"? The coach may determine that the team (and perhaps the swimmer) can best be served by having your child swim in an older age bracket. This is a complement to the swimmer because it shows the coach feels that the he or she can swim effectively and will make a significant contribution to the team.
What is the difference between an EVENT and a HEAT?
The Event:
An event is the name of the “race” that a swimmer is entered in. Events are identified by a number. Generally, odd number events are boys events and even numbers are girls. The event number is followed by the stroke/category and age group. In the RMSL Swim League there are six stroke/categories of events: Freestyle Relay, Medley Relay, Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Butterfly. There are seven age groups: 6 & Under or 8 & Under, 7&8, 9&10, 11&12, 13&14, 15-18. Examples: Event 32 Girls 9-10 50 Meter Fly Event 41 Boys 7-8 25 Meter Backstroke
There are currently 90 events in a RMSL Swim League dual meet.
The Heat:
Many swimmers are entered into each event. In some cases there may be as many as 30 or more swimmers competing in the same event. In a six-lane pool, there is no way to swim all the entries in any event head-to-head at the same time. Instead the event is broken up into heats. The number of heats is determined by the number of swimmers and the number of lanes in the pool. In a six-lane pool, a 30-swimmer event would be divided into five heats – six swimmers in each heat. It is important to remember that all swimmers in a single event are competing against each other. Times for all heats in an event are tallied together. The fastest time out of all of the heats wins the event.
Writing on Hands It’s helpful, especially for young swimmers, if parents write the event information on the swimmer’s hand, arm or thigh to help the swimmer remember what he or she is doing. Usually parents write the Events, Heats, Lanes and a reminder of what the stroke is. “Grids” often look like this:
# H L S
10 1 3 MR-B, Fly
22 3 2 100Fr
44 1 4 50Ba
84 2 5 FR #4
This child is on the B Medley Relay (Event #10) doing the Fly which means she’s the third swimmer. Her relay will be in Heat 1, Lane 3. She is also on the Free Relay (event #84) and swims last. She is also swimming Freestyle, and Backstroke which are Events 22, 44. For Freestyle, she is in Heat 3, Lane 2. When writing, use black Sharpie. It will stay on through the meet but will wear off within a day or two. Tip: the writing can be removed with spray on sunscreen, alcohol based hand sanitizer, or nail polish remover.
How does my swimmer know when to swim?
You can follow the action with your heat sheet. When it is close to time for your swimmer, your child will need to go to "heating" where volunteers line the kids up by heat and lane and escort them to the blocks. PLEASE make sure your child gets to heating at least 10 minutes before his or her event. Pay attention to what event is in the pool and get your child to heating with at least 3 events still to go before their event. So, if your child is swimming in Event 22, get him to Heating if you see that event 19 is in the water, or even sooner if it’s a small meet with only one heat of each event.
How old is my swimmer? Of course you know how old your child is, but what you may not know is how old your child is considered to be by swimming rules. For the RMSL League, your child’s “swimming age” is how old he or she is on June 1 of the competition year. So if Sally Starfish turned 9 on June 5th, she swims as an 8 year old for the RMSL League. If Sally turned 9 on May 31, she’d be a 9 year old.
Where do I find information such as ribbons, speeding tickets etc? Located at the pool, by our bulletin board and records board, there will be a bin in which every family has their own folder. This folder will be used to distribute weekly ribbons, speeding tickets and any other important information for that week. The coaches will also have their own folders.
What are the Iron Cuda awards? Established in 2016, The Iron Cuda is an award that the swimmers age 7 and up work towards. They must swim each event that is available for their age group. We want to encourage the swimmers to try new events and strokes - some swimmers even discover that they like an event that they were afraid to do. We will have a board with each swimmer listed and which events they have participated in so they know their progress. Once you have swam all the events, you will receive your prize. This year it will be the coveted Iron Cuda Swim Cap! Here are the events by age:
7-8 age group:
- 25 Free
- 25 Back
- 25 Breast
- 25 Fly
- 50 Free
9-10 age group:
- 100 Free
- 50 Fly
- 50 Back
- 50 Breast
- 50 Free
- 100 IM
11-12
- 100 Free
- 50 Fly
- 100 Back
- 100 Breast
- 50 Free
- 100 IM
13 - 18
- 200 Free
- 50 Free
- 100 Fly
- 100 Back
- 100 Breast
- 100 Free
- 200 IM
Do the coaches offer private lessons? Yes, they do. Please contact the individual coach to schedule. The cost is $25 per ½ hour for the Head Coach and $20 per ½ hour for the other coaches.
