Anderson Hills Gators

It takes a lot of organization and planning from myself, as well as the coaches and pool Manager in order to run a successful swim meet. Below is some information that will help you prepare for each meet. If you are new to swimming and/or Anderson Hills please take the time to read this in it's entirety. Hopefully it will help our swim meets to run smoothly.

Thanks--

Amy Brown

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• What to bring...
  • at least 2 towels (you may want more, the towels don’t dry well at night so you can quickly go thru several towels)
  • sweatshirt
  • snacks
  • a deck of cards or small games to play between events (travel games are great)
  • blanket or sleeping bag to sit/play games on
  • sharpie marker (for writing race info on hand). Some kids also like to decorate themselves with encouraging words, bubbles etc—body art if you will:) It will be helpful to Age Group Parents if you can put your swimmers name on their back (until we learn names) and their age on their shoulder/bicep (the age that they swim—so if you turned 9 yesterday but swim as an 8 & Under put “8” on their arm). This helps when swimmers are behind/on the blocks, a timer or starter can quickly tell if a 9-yr old steps up to swim in the 8Uevent, they will know to tell them to wait, AND if we are looking for Susie for the 8U relay we only stop and question kids who 8 & Under.
• Arrive Early--If it’s your first swim meet give yourself a few extra minutes---swim meets can be over-whelming so a few extra minutes could reduce stress on you and your swimmer.
• Sit in the designated “Team Area.” At home meets the shelter and grassy area on the deep end side of the pool closest to the basketball court) and if possible try to sit with other swimmers in your child’s age group (this will help the age group parent to be able to find them when it is time for their event). Since our team area will be near the playground I know it will be tempting for kids to go play on the playground equipment but we would really like to keep everyone in the team area as much as possible…it will help us to run an efficient meet and help the kids to stay focused (as much as kids can focus when you’re at a pool with all your friends;) At away meets, just look for other families or ask someone from the host club who looks like they know what they are talking about:)
• Write your child’s race info on their hand—this includes event #, heat # and lane #. This information is found on the Heat Sheet which will either be emailed to parents and or posted on our website (it may also be posted at the pool on the wall near the women's restroom). This is the info I would write on my child’s hand if they were swimming in these 3 races (25 Freestyle, 25 Breast stroke, The freestyle relay)

NOTE: There is a sample of a heat sheet on this page as well.

• Swimmers need to listen for their events to be called/announced and they need to know where to go. When it is time for their event 8U and 9-10s need to go to their Age Group Parent who will take them to the Clerk of Course, or report straight to Clerk of Course (located behind the starting blocks) and the Clerk of Course will get them ready so they are in the right heat/lane. Kids ages 11 & up do not have Age Group Parents or Clerk of course---they simply need to listen and watch for their event to get close and then report to their lane behind the blocks. Remind your swimmer when they go to their race of what they are swimming. It can be confusing because they may or may not be swimming the same thing as the person who swam before them.
• Age Group Parents will be helping get swimmers to Clerk of Course and ready for events—but we also need ALL parents to help with this task—remind your kid(s) to stay in the team area (Age Group Parents can’t run all over the place looking for every swimmer, but if they are in the team area, Age Group Parents will know where to find them and it makes everything run much smoother). Age Group Parents are not responsible for missed events.

• Team Spirit! Wear GREEN if you can or dress in theme!!! Encourage your kids to cheer for their teammates, kids love to see their friends and teammates at the end of the lane cheering!
• See the Coach--After each race your child should go and see their coach. The coach will want to tell them the things they did well and 1 thing that they can work on so they can become a better swimmer. They also usually have a small treat for each swimmer—who doesn’t love a little candy after a hard race!!These treats/candy are for the swimmers…if siblings, cousins, parents, etc. need a treat please visit the concession stand, we want to make sure the coaches have enough goodies to cover the swimmers for the entire meet.
• Relays---relays can be a bit intimidating but are super fun!! There are two sets of relays at every meet—the Medley Relay (4 swimmers each swim a different stroke) is at the start, and the Free Relay is at the end. Age Group Parents will help organize relays but if you have a child in a relay and aren’t currently working another job at the meet, ask if help if needed, it takes a lot of help to get everyone in the right place for relays.
• Stay until your child has completed their last race. Always make sure to check if your child is in a Free Relay after they complete their individual event(s). If your child is scheduled to participate in the free relay but they leave early—then no one gets to swim the relay:(

Swim Meets require a LOT of hands and people pitching in. Thus, each family must have one parent work at least ½ of each swim meet, in which they have a child swim. For home meets, workers should check-in at the Computer Table (it will be located on the pool deck next to the entrance to the storage closet (you should see it when you walk in) and there will be a computer and work station set up there. There will be coaches, clipboards, stop watches etc. (that’s how you know it’s the right spot, and if you can’t find it, just ask someone).

Listen for announcements as to what time you have to check-in and/or attend a meeting. There will be a meeting for officials/judges as well as one for timers. These usually occur b/t 6:30 and 6:45. If you are working the second half of the meet you have to listen for when they call you. Second half duties generally start after the last backstroke event which is Event #50.

Home Meets

Arrive at 5:00

Warm-Ups 5:20-5:50

Meet Starts at 6:30

Hopefully it ends before Midnight! Just kidding;) Our goal would be to wrap up around 9:30 but it can be later. The more volunteers we have and the more parents doing their part, the earlier we will finish. Also, be timely, one missing Timer or swimmer can hold up the meet. 

Away Meets (these times can very depending on the host team but generally meets start b/t 6:30-7)

Arrive b/t 5:45

Warm-ups b/t 6:00-6:30

Meet Starts b/t 6:30-7:00

Again, we always try to be done around 9:30 but a lot of it depends on organization of the hosting team as well as the number of swimmers.