We will attempt to summarise some of the information here but please ensure you read and act on the full documents before race day.
Things to check before the day
- Find out where the gala is, where you can park and where the next available parking is if it is full
- Check the times of the gala and whether the sessions have changed or not! There will be a gala page for most galas on the host swimming club’s website. You must arrive and sign in with the team manager 20 minutes before warm up starts so make sure you have left enough time to travel and get changed into your warm up costume.
- Make sure you are aware of which events your child is swimming in so you can make decisions such as, when should I time my snack/toilet break. You may find a meet sheet on the hosting clubs website so you can check which races your child is on are in.
- Spectating at these events can be hot, stuffy and tiring. Seating is always in demand, you may find you have to queue and there is usually a spectating cost. When you do find a seat you will find that it is a bony bench or a plastic seat, so come prepared. Food and drink are normally available and the host club will be keen for you to make use of their refreshments. The host club will normally run a raffle or a cake stall to help boost takings on the day. Please support them as much as you can, the majority of swimming clubs depend on the takings from these events to buy new equipment for their club!
Poolside Responsibility
To ensure the safety of our swimmers, all those competing need to sign in with the coach or team manager when they arrive. Please note that all swimmers will be required to stay with the team at all times and not sit with their parents. This is good for team spirit but will also ensure that no races are missed. Please ensure that they have everything they need for that session in their bags on poolside including food and drink.
We do understand that some of the meets are large distances away but you must ensure that your child signs in with the team manager 20 minutes before session warm up. If your child arrives late and misses his/her warm up session, we will have no option but to withdraw them from all events in the session. There will be no exceptions!
If they need to leave poolside for any reason, they must tell the coach or team manager where they are going. Parents should collect their children promptly once they have finished all their races for the day and sign out with the coach/team manager.
Meet Information and Structure
Licensed Meets are broken down into sessions.
- A session cannot be longer than 3 hours (not including warm up)
- Adequate provision must be made for warm up. The bigger events will allow for longer warm ups, but it is not uncommon to find that you only have 15 minutes (particularly in heavily subscribed events). The team manager will decide how to make best use of the time but please be aware that he/she will have to meet the needs of all swimmers in the session and not just your child.
- Meet programmes are available for sale at the venue, listing all swimmers in each event in order of seed time, and providing general information about the event. They are very useful if only to work out when your child is likely to be swimming and schedule comfort breaks and trips to the café accordingly!
- At the beginning of each session the announcer will ask to be notified of any withdrawals. If your child wishes to withdraw from an event, they must inform the team manager at the beginning of the session so we can inform the host club. The host club has the right to impose a fine on the swimmers club if they feel we do not have a valid reason for withdrawal after the start list has been finalised. If the event is oversubscribed, another child may have been “scratched” from the start list to allow your child to swim in that event so please keep withdrawals to an absolute minimum.
Events and Heats
The majority of open meets are classed as “Heat Declared Winner” which means there are no finals, so the winner of the event will be the swimmer with the fastest recorded time.
At many meets including our Club Championships all the swimmers in a given event will swim in heats together regardless of age, starting usually with slowest in the first heat and the fastest in the last heat. This does not mean that the 9 year olds are actually competing against 16 year olds or older as once all the heats are swum the swimmers times are sorted into the individual age groups/ranges and medals awarded accordingly. If your child does not have a recorded PB for the event yet they will be seeded in the first heats.
Results
There is usually some form of electronic timing in use at meets. Timekeepers provide backup in the event that the system is not operating. The results of each race will be shown on the display board, but they have to be ratified by the referee and declared so by the announcer before they are deemed "official". There may be disqualifications for the infringement of technical or stroke rules, or the electronic timing may not have been operating correctly (e.g. a swimmer may not have touched the pad hard enough to trigger it). Official results are usually posted on the host club or organisation’s website within a couple of days.
The dreaded Disqualification
Disqualification (DQ).
Most swimmers are disqualified at least once, usually several times, when they start swimming. DO NOT WORRY!
Sometimes it is confusing when you are swimming in a different pool or racing for the first time. Even the older experienced swimmers sometimes get disqualified when they aren't thinking.
There are nearly 40 disqualification codes that an official has to watch for when observing swimmers in a race. Officials are positioned at specific points on poolside to ensure swimmers are obeying the rules.
- Timekeepers are positioned at the start blocks, recording a final time achieved by the swimmer
- Turn Judges (1 at each end) are responsible for observing legal turns
- Stoke Judges walk up and down the pool and observe swimmers to ensure no illegal strokes are performed
If an infringement is observed by any of the judges a disqualification form will behanded to the Chief Judge who will confirm that the actions of the swimmer did or did not cause an infringement. This will then be officially recorded.
At most Meets the announcer will announce DQs by stating the event, the heat and the reason for disqualification such as technical infringement. Unfortunately, the actual ASA code is not given so it can be difficult for the team manager to know exactly why. Sometimes the swimmer knows when they have broken the rules and occasionally we are in a position where one of our team managers has spotted a disqualification when the swimmer is in the water and will be prepared for the bad news. Sometimes the swimmer is lucky and the judge has either not been looking at the right time and sometimes the swimmer may feel that they did not deserve the disqualification.
The club results reports note cases where a swimmer has been disqualified and, where possible, includes details of the reason for disqualification. The fact of disqualification is usually indicated on results pages by annotating the result with 'DQ' or with a more specific disqualification code. If a swimmer is disqualified, then he will be given no time on the results. Any time recorded by the timekeeper will not be treated as an official time and cannot be used as a qualifying time for any event.
It is always difficult to come away from a meet with a disqualification especially if you have unofficially recorded a PB but try and turn it into a positive moment and use it as good incentive to practice your stroke, starts and turns better.
If you feel that you were disqualified without due cause, then there is an appeals process but it is a lengthy one and not one we would consider taking without good reason. Sometimes the judge may have just made a mistake, but usually it is because the judge thinks they have seen or have not seen an infringement. Some swimmers practice slapping their hands on the side in a breaststroke/fly turn to make it obvious they have touched with both hands. It is really down to the swimmer to see if they can improve anything which will prevent it happening again.
Post-Race Encouragement
No matter how well your child thinks they have done or not in some cases, it is imperative that you give them encouragement and tell them how proud you are of them. An experienced swimmer will tell you that a PB is quite often more important to them than winning a medal, it shows Improvement and this is what swimmers spend thousands of hours in the water to achieve.
If a meet has not gone well for your child, talk it through with them. Maybe they set out with unreasonable expectations or maybe they have been unwell, studying for exams, experiencing growing pains, hormone fluctuations, training boredom or just plain things on their mind. There are so many issues that can impact a well-executed training strategy that explains why we don’t always fulfil our potential. Explain to them that it is probably just a blip and remind them of all their successes in the past. Suggest ways in which they might be able to address some of the issues they may be having or just try and take their mind off it by giving them a treat!
As an ex swimmer I know just how daunting it is to turn up at an unfamiliar pool with all the noise and bustle and crippling nerves. For your child to get to the point where they are standing on the blocks ready to go takes an enormous amount of courage and no matter what happens from this point on we should all be very proud of each and every one of them!
Your child is not likely to star in the next generation of Olympians; they may not even reach Regional/National level but there are so many reasons why competition is good for them.
- teaches them independence
- inspires them to do their best not only in competition but also in training, they learn about commitment
- helps them learn about themselves under challenging situations and how to deal with nerves and disappointment
- teaches them to task risks and helps them push beyond their limits
- helps them to learn to win and lose with grace
- expands their social circle and encourages them to be part of a team