Are YOU ready for your first meet?    

FOR PARENTS—PLANNING FOR THE MEET

1. Bring a sharpie marker. Coaches will post or have event numbers available.  It is helpful to write your swimmers events on their arm or leg. This will help them keep track of their event number
2. Be prepared.  Bring blankets or towels that can be set out in the holding area for your swimmer to sit and hang out between events. 

FOR PARENTS—AT THE SWIM MEET

1. Punctuality is a virtue. Teams have very limited time for warm-up and it is important that your swimmer gets in for warm up for a quick backstroke flag check and to test out their goggles with a few dives. This calms nerves (and saves goggle straps) 

2. Find the heat sheets on the wall or from the coach and start marking up your swimmer with their events.

3. Be prepared to hear that your swimmer has DQ’ed. We want our officials to call stroke infractions as they happen. This way the coaches know areas to work on to help keep swimmers legal. It’s tough love, it’s part of the learning process, it’s better to get DQ’ed at a dual meet than at the city meet. Learning from our mistakes is a part of the process.
4. Cheer for your swimmer and their teammates: No, your swimmer probably can’t hear you cheering them on while they are swimming. It doesn't matter. Cheer them on anyway! Keeping the team’s energy pumping is a good thing.

FOR SWIMMERS—BEFORE & DURING THE SWIM MEET

1. Pack your swim bag the night before. Make sure you have your suit, goggles, cap and any other items you feel important to have a meet. Bring warm clothes to wear if cool weather. You’ll swim better if you keep your body and feet warm.
2. Find your parent with the sharpie (we told them about this above) and get your events written down. If your parent doesn’t have their sharpie find your coach—they should have one and can help you get the events marked.
3. Familiarize yourself with the flow of the meet. Locate clerk-of-course and keep track of what event is being called and make sure you are in clerk-of-course at the right time.
4. Rest between events. 5 or 10 minutes before you go to clerk get up and stretch, do a few jumps, warm-up but make sure your save your energy to get in the pool and SWIM FAST.
5. Before your race. Stand behind the block and remind yourself of the stroke and distance. Visualize yourself getting a great start, streamlining and kicking underwater, breaking through and exploding into fast, strong strokes. See the turn, the streamline off the wall and the powerful strokes and kicks as you race back up the pool. See your speed increase as you get close to the end of the race, hit the wall and look up to see a new personal best time. Visualize this...now, get in and do it again...