The 2010 season will consist of four dual meets plus the City Meet.

Home Meets
Arrive by 7:45 and find a spot to sit/set up camp either in the pavilion next to the snack bar, or along the fence just to the right of that area.  Many people bring shade tents and we all share the shade.  The visiting team will be in the pavilion near the playground area and diving well.  Do not set up on the end near the tennis courts – that pavilion is reserved for the Clerk of Course, the area where both teams line up their swimmers in order for their races.

Things to bring:

• A cooler with plenty of hydrating drinks and healthy snacks for your swimmer and you.  Water, sports drink, fruit, wheat crackers are all good choices.
• A black fine or medium tip sharpie pen and scrap paper to use to record your swimmer’s events
• An extra towel for your child
• Playing cards or other quiet activity for your child while waiting between swims
• SUN SCREEN
• A sport tent (as used on soccer fields) if you have one. You can bring these to set up the morning of the home meet before 7:45am

Away Meets
Arrive a bit later (8:15 or so) and follow the instructions of the host team as to where to set up.

City Meet is an altogether different experience – more on that as the season goes on.

At home meets, on the wall in the pavilion near the snack bar, the coaches will post the meet entries, which tell you which events and heats your child will be swimming that day.  The race information for each child will be printed on these postings in a manner similar to the example below:

Thus, John Smith’s first swim will be Event 24 (25 meters Breast-stroke – 1 lap), and he’ll swim in the 2nd heat in lane 5.  His second swim (25 Fly) will be Event 36 and he’ll swim in the 1st heat in the 3rd lane.

Once you find your child’s name on the posting, please note on scrap paper the event number, heat number, lane assignment and kind of stroke for each of his/her races.  Then move away from the postings swiftly so other parents behind you can find the necessary information for their own children.  Please do not try to mark your child while you are reading the posting as this causes quite a traffic jam at the postings and delays everyone.

Before our warm-up (if time allows) or after the Seven Hills warm-up, use a black sharpie to transfer your child’s race information from your scrap paper to his/her left shoulder/upper arm.  This is the required location for City Meet race information so we might as well start building the habit at the beginning of the season!  Your child’s race information should be recorded on his/her left shoulder/upper arm in the following format:

Veteran parents can help you decipher the notations on the sheet.

The same information (minus your child’s name) should be recorded on the inside of one of your swimmer’s forearms or on a thigh so that he/she can see it.  This allows your child to help keep track of when his/her races are approaching.   It is important too that you either keep the paper copy of your child’s race information handy for your own purposes or write the information on your own hand.

Tip: Do not put sun screen on your child until after you’ve marked him/her with race information; otherwise it will be a smeared mess!

About 20 minutes before the official start of the meet, all 6 & under swimmers will need to gather at the Clerk of Course area to get lined up.  Their freestyle events are the first events of the meet.   Throughout the meet, the Clerk of Course volunteers will walk around announcing which events are lining up, so be alert for their calls.

During the meet, all swimmers should report to the Clerk of Course tents when their next swim is 3-4 events away.  That is, if your child is swimming in Event 36, he/she should head to the Clerk of Course when Event 32 is in the water and posted on the sign held by the volunteer on the lifeguard stand.

Relay assignments are not usually listed on the entries page at the beginning of the meet, but rather posted by hand as the morning goes on.  Once those assignments are listed, Clerk of Course volunteers and other parents will help get the children lined up in their proper formations.   For children 6 & under, we need ALL parents to be on hand to help, as the whole process can be a little overwhelming for the little ones.

The morning session of the meet is for swimmers age 10 & under; afternoon session is for the older swimmers (11 & up).   Depending on how quickly the meet runs, the morning session is usually over around 12:00-12:30.  6 & unders will usually be done earlier, as the last few events are only for 7-10 yr. olds. However, you must always check with Coach Amy before leaving – she may occasionally have a younger child swim with the 7-8 yr. olds on a relay.

It is VERY IMPORTANT that you keep track of the events and make sure your child gets to the Clerk of Course well in advance of his/her event.  The Clerk of Course volunteers do their best to make sure everyone is lined for their races, but they cannot hunt down every child, and there are no make-up heats for those who missed their original time.  Also, when a swimmer misses his/her race, it can throw off the schedule for other heats and cause the whole meet to run less efficiently.  (You really don’t want to be out in that hot sun any longer than you have to!).  Even more importantly, keeping up with your child is a safety issue – the combination of large crowds of people, wet concrete, and swimmers running late for their events can be quite hazardous.

Throughout the meet, please remain aware of :

• Where your child is on the pool deck,
• The events he/she is scheduled to swim, and
• The event currently in the pool and
• The event being called to the Clerk of Course tents behind the starting blocks.

The importance of monitoring these 4 things at all times cannot be stressed enough.  It is upsetting to swimmers of all ages, coaches, officials and volunteering parents when swimmers do not report to the Clerk of Course on time and miss their race.  To help parents keep track of which event is in the pool, a volunteer in the lifeguard stand by the clubhouse will hold a sign with the event number for the current race.

• Particularly for younger swimmers, it is important to stop at the bathroom on their way to the Clerk of Course!
• If something unexpected comes up for you or your child such as you don’t see his/her name on the list of swimmers or you are concerned that your swimmer has missed a race, please look for Debbie Van Slyke or Kathy Pope for help first. They are coordinating the meet and are the best first-line help on meet days.  Our coaching staff will be very busy poolside with coaching details.

There is some downtime between races, so swimmers often bring books, music, games, etc. for entertainment, but make sure they do not get so involved in them that they miss their heats.  Although the snack bar is open during meets, the lines can be long, so we recommend bringing your own snacks (nut-free if possible – we do have several children with allergies) and drinks (non-carbonated – save the bubbles for the pool, not their tummies!).

Having some familiarity with this information before coming to the meet will help you make sense of what is going on around you and how to best help your swimmer have a fun and smooth meet.  Remember that there are lots of people around during a meet to help answer your questions or help you with your swimmer – don’t hesitate to ask.

And remember – Swim fast!

Seven Hills Coaches and Meet Organizers