Swim Meet 101

A Parent Guide to Swim Meets

POOL LOCATION: Home meets are at Bentwinds Country Club located at 6544 Dornoch Place, Fuquay Varina, NC 27526.

ARRIVAL TIME: Please arrive at the pool on time for all meets. The start time of the meets can be found in the Meet email sent out on Fridays, usually parents and swimmers will be required to arrive between 4pm and 5pm.

COACHING: During the meet the Head Coach will be on deck observing each child. These observations will be used in upcoming practices to help swimmers improve. The assistant coaches will be helping swimmers get set up for starts, reminding swimmers of specifics for each race (stroke type, sequence, etc...). Please allow them to focus on these activities. No parents should be in the ready bench area or start area that are not working a volunteer shift.

What to Bring

Team swimsuit, cap, goggles (an extra pair of goggles is a good idea!), team t-shirt, towel, and sunscreen. Make sure all items are well labeled with your child's name. Extra towels/warm clothes for those chilly meets.
Plenty of snacks and drinks to keep your swimmer hydrated and energized. (Concessions will also be available during the meet).
Games for your child for time in between meets. (travel games, books, etc)
Folding camp chairs for to sit on, and a canopy for shade if you have one.

Upon Arrival

Be on Time! Warm-ups begin well before the meet start time.
Ensure your swimmer has sunscreen on and is marked up with his/her event information. (Kid Pushers can help new swimmer parents with marking up their swimmer).
Swimmers report to age group area and are checked in by Kid Pushers. Once you have signed in with the volunteer coordinator, please take ALL SWIMMERS to the appropriate Age Group Parent/Tent to sign him/her in. The same goes for the end of the meet, PLEASE inform the age group coaches you are taking your swimmer home especially our 6 and under parents.
VOLUNTEERS: If you have signed up to volunteer NO MATTER WHAT SHIFT, PLEASE check in with our volunteer coordinator as soon as you get to the pool. We LOVE our volunteers and like to know we have all our bases covered. Click here for volunteer job list.

DURING THE MEET

WHAT YOUR SWIMMER SHOULD KNOW: First and foremost have fun! Do their best and enjoy the meet. PLEASE leave the coaching to our amazing coaches and just encourage your swimmers. If you are volunteering and leaving your swimmer especially our younger swimmers, please make sure they know where all their "stuff" is (snacks, goggles and entertainment). Please remind your swimmers to stay with the team and not wander off as this can create chaos when time comes to swim.

FOOD AND REFRESHMENTS: You may bring your own food and beverage to the meets, but there will be concessions offered at each meet.
CLERK OF COURSE: Kid Pushers are responsible for getting our swimmers to the clerk of course so if you choose to take your child out of the age group tent during a meet, you are responsible for informing the kid pusher and getting them to the clerk of course on time. Failure to get to the clerk of course will mean your swimmer is scratched from the race.
RELAYS: Please don't cancel on relays, especially last minute - if your swimmer is signed up to swim the relay and for some reason you cannot stay, or make it, PLEASE INFORM the kid pusher immediately. A relay is 4 swimmers and if one isn't there, the whole relay team has to forfeit. It makes everyone sad when this happens. When signing up for a meet, Swimtopia allows you to note your relay preference: Please indicate if your child won't be available for early or late relays. Read the Relay Policy! Click here for TSA Rules.
HEAT RIBBONS: In an effort to have more kids have a chance to win we give out heat ribbons to first place swimmers in their heat. This is a reward for working hard in practice and improving their time to achieve first place in their heat. Please explain to your children the intention of heat ribbons and the importance of being a good sport. Heat ribbons are given to the first swimmer to touch the wall, they may still be DQ’d depending on stroke judge.
DISQUALIFIED: Swimmers will be DQ'd (disqualified) for improper strokes. If your child is DQ'd please assure your swimmer that it is okay and how proud you are of them for trying. The coaches do get a list of what the swimmer was DQ'd for and they will review with the swimmers in practice!
SPORTSMANSHIP: Barracudas swimmers stay in the water at the end of their races until all swimmers have touched the wall, it's respectful to other swimmers. Once all swimmers have finished the race swimmers may exit the pool.

Additional Thoughts

Please MARK EVERYTHING with the swimmers name so we can avoid lost shirts, towels, caps, bathing suits, etc. We encourage all parents and swimmers to stay until the end of the meet to cheer on all of our Barracudas.
Wear sunscreen!
Have fun watching all the kids experience summer swim. Most of all, the Barracudas want to be known for our good sportsmanship. Please congratulate the winner no matter what team they are on, please encourage all swimmers and please encourage your swimmers to do the same. Our young swimmers will follow our example.
T-SHIRTS: Wear Barracudas or blue t-shirts or spirit gear to meets.