Swimming 101
clich here for Allowable Suits
click here to check out News for Swim Parents Published by the American Swimming Coaches Association
click here to check out our Swimming Dictionary
Check out the bottom of this page for several other useul links!
So your child or you have decided to explore the sport of swimming; it is a great sport and something that will benefit them for their lifetime. Keep a copy of this handy to help with questions you may have as the year progresses.
USA Swimming has some great information on their website:
http://www.usaswimming.org/usasweb/DesktopDefault.aspx
Go to the top menu and double click on parents. They have done a great job explaining the sport of swimming.
Here are some tips from a seasoned swim parent:
Entering Meets:
- Do not feel that you must go to every one of the meets on the schedule. Talk to your child's coach about which meets would be best for your child. Swim meets are a great way to track your child's progress.
- Read the meet info sheet that is sent to your e-mail and/or on the website. Be sure to note what time your children will be swimming: morning, afternoon, evening or maybe all 3 if you have swimmers in more than one age group. Do you have any conflicts with items already on your calendar? Once you sign up for the meet, you will be charged the entry fees whether your child swims or not.
- If you plan to attend meets more than 1 hour away, consider getting a hotel room. The team's website has the hotels on the website under the Meets tab on the left and then click into the schedule. The hotels are on the far right hand side of the list. It is up to each parent to make their own reservations. The team does not block rooms for meets. There are deadlines to get the rate quoted on the list. If your child does not qualify, you can always cancel the reservation.
- Respond before the deadline if you want your swimmer to attend the meet by right clicking on the Meet Sign Up tab on the left hand side of the Rays website: www.swimrays.org. You must enter each of your children separately. Some meets last for one day; others can be as long as 4 days. Do not wait until the last minute to enter your swimmers. When Bob sends out the entries make sure your child is entered in the meet; we have had a few glitches with this new system.
- The coaches will pick your child's events. Parents do not get to pick their child's events. Coaches have a plan for the season and make entries based on the goals they have for your swimmers. Coaches are open to suggestions.
- Relays are a blast for the kids. Coaches will pick the swimmers who get put on relays. If you know you have time constraints and probably cannot stay for relays, please say so in the comments section when you sign up for the meet. Make sure that your swimmer checks with the coach about their relay status before you leave; often the relays get switched around at meets. If a swimmer leaves before a scheduled relay, not only do you leave 3 teammates high and dry but the team and ultimately the parents get charged for an event that is not swum. Relay swims can offer the first swimmer an opportunity to try for a new standard jump.
- When the meet entries are posted, make sure that your child is entered in events that they can be entered in legally. If your child has an "A" time in an event and the meet announcement is for BB and slower, bring it to a coach's attention. They will not be allowed to swim the event without being disqualified. There is usually an additional late fee to enter the day of a meet if somehow your child did not get entered prior to the meet.
Swim Bags and Packing for Meets:
- Each swimmer should have a swim bag.
- Label everything your child brings with them with their name and the team's name.
- If your child has asthma, make sure they have their inhaler. Make sure the coach knows they have asthma and where they keep their inhaler.
- They should carry an extra pair of goggles, strap, cap and swim suit in their bag. It is more expensive to replace these at the meets if they should break and you need one fast. (Not all meets have vendors at them where you can make an emergency purchase.) Bring at least 2 large towels. Most swimmers like one for after warm-ups and then another one for after their events. My swimmer loads the car up with a hugh pile of towels.
- Bring water and drink it.
- Bring healthy snacks and eat them.
- Bring a sweat suit or warm-up suit for when you are not swimming. Cold muscles do not perform as well. Cotton, when it gets wet, stays wet forever.
- Bring flip-flops for the pool deck and showers. Swimmers need to protect their feet.
- Pack alcohol ear drops and use them after each and every practice and your events at meets. (Do not leave your swim cap on all day. Your ears will not dry out and you will end up with swimmer's ear.)
- Pack dry clothes for wearing home or going out to eat in large plastic bags so they stay dry.
- A few dollars so you don't have to find a parent if you want something from the snack bar or concessions.
- Something to keep them entertained. Make sure it is not something they will be too upset about if they lose it. If they bring electronics, remind them to put it away when they leave so someone will not walk on it or away with it.
Time Standards:
The time standards that we use are available on our website - www.swimrays.org under the Times tab on the left of the Main page - 2009-2012 Motivational Times Top 16.
- Your child must swim an event without getting disqualified to get a time. Then you take that time and look at the times standard table. First you must make sure that you use the correct table. Times are reported in yards (SCY), short course meters (SCM) and long course meters (LCM). Most of the meets we have in the fall will be SCY. Find your child's age and sex and then look down the list for their event. Now find their time. If their time is slower than the first time listed they are considered to have a "C" time.
- If you have an 8 and younger swimmer, they use the 10 and younger time standards.
- Time standards are used as high and low parameters for some meets.
- Coaches sometimes will enter a coach's time if they do not have a time in an event. This is a guesstimated time.
Meet Etiquette:
- Arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the warm-up time that is posted for the meet. Young swimmers should come ready to swim by being in their suits. Look for a RAYS' coach and tell your child to check in with the coach. Not all coaches go to every meet so learn the names of coaches other than your own. Swimmers will need their swim bag, cap, goggles, and towel.
- Parents are not usually allowed on deck at meets. The swimmers are usually kept on deck with a coach. If you feel that you really must be on deck become trained as an official or volunteer to time. If you think that your child is not old enough to be without you, maybe you should reconsider entering them in meets.
- Timing assignments are sent out by e-mail a couple of days before the meet. If you are asked to time, be sure that you show up on time. If you cannot time in your allotted slot, you are responsible for finding your replacement. You will be timing anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half. That may seem like a long time but officials usually work 4-5 hours a session. You should wear shoes that will not be ruined if they get wet.
- Be sure that you attend the timer's briefing at the beginning of the session. They will introduce you to the head timer and tell you what to do if your watch does not start. Timers are extremely important to swimmers. Most pools we go to have electronic timing systems. Watch times are for back up and have been used many times when we have system failures.
- Swim meets can be very long and very boring if you do not have something to do. If you are bringing siblings be sure to bring entertainment for them also.
- Talk to other RAYS' parents at practice and become their friend. Ask for help if you do not understand anything. Get phone numbers of other swimmers and their families in case of emergencies to help with meets.
- Most indoor pools and surrounding decks are notoriously warm. Bring clothes to change into that would be appropriate for summer. Some are cool, be prepared either way.
- Often there is an area where you can set up chairs or blankets outside of the pool area. You must bring your own. Do not bring items that you would be upset about if they go missing or if someone else walks on them.
- Bring food. If you buy all of your food from the concessions stands, you will quickly go broke. Pack lunch boxes with nutritious snacks and lots of drinks. Limit the amount of money they get each day to spend at the concession stand. Not every pool has a concession stand. Bring water or drinks for yourself also. Alcoholic beverages are not allowed by USA Swimming rules.
- Pack a permanent marker and a highlighter pen
- Buy or borrow a heat sheet and write you child's event, heats, and lanes on their hand with a permanent marker. The host team usually has them for sale for about $5-10.
- Some of the meets will have Clerk of Courses set up for younger children (12 and younger). At these meets, the younger swimmers must report to the Clerk of Course before heading to the blocks for their events. Check with the coach about whether the meet you are attending will have a Clerk of Course.
- Meets are opportunities to measure how your swimmer is doing in their training at that moment. Almost everyone occasionally has a bad swim or meet. If your child is DQ'd (disqualified), it is not the end of the world. Almost every swimmer has been disqualified at least once. As a parent you must ensure that your child has a positive experience even if they do not swim well. Remember that our children learn values and sportsmanship from us. Coaches go to meets to coach and parents should go to meets to cheer, offer love and encouragement.
How to mark a Hand at Meets:
The strokes are abbreviated with the following initials: FR - freestyle, BK - backstroke,
BR - breaststroke, FL - fly and IM for individual medley. One way is to draw, with permanent makers, a small graph on their hand using just the initials for each of the following:
|
D (distance) |
S (Stroke) |
E (Event) |
H (Heat) |
L (Lane) |
|
50 |
FR |
7 |
3 |
8 |
|
25 |
FL |
23 |
5 |
1 |
This really helps the younger swimmers get to the right lane. Anyone can look at their hand and help them.
Some of the older swimmers only put the event/heat/lane.
Meet Hosting:
The RAYS host several meets each year to help raise money for the team. Every family is expected to contribute to the concessions for our home meets. If you are not contacted by the concessions coordinator to bring something, contact them. You will be charged a $25 fee in lieu of a donation to concessions if you do not bring something. Be sure when you drop your item off that your name is checked off on the team list as donating.
Additionally, each family that has a swimmer in the meet must work one session each day their swimmer attends or pay a $50 dollar per day fee in lieu of working each day. (Parents who work the meet as officials are exempted.)
Jobs that you can volunteer for are concessions, soliciting donations for concessions and hospitality, selling meet programs, head timer ( starting 2 watches and then looking for timers that failed to start their watch so you can run to their lane and replace it with one of your) , runner (collecting lane timer cards after each event), meet marshals ( ensure the safety of swimmers and spectators), ribbons ( stick labels on ribbons and medals), post results, hospitality for coaches and officials, bring water to timers, officials and coaches on deck, meet set-up and meet clean-up. There is much work that goes into meets before, during and after.
ADDITIONAL FAMILY PAYMENT (AFP) - MANNA:
Each family (with exception of High School & Jumpstart swimmers) is responsible for contributing towards fundraising which benefits the RAYS in the net amount of $375 per family plus $75 for each additional swimmer.
For a family's first year with RAYS, the commitment is $275 per family plus $75 for each additional swimmer.
MANNA/Script has been the primary method the RAYS uses to raise funds for the team, although multiple fund raising opportunities exist. Briefly, MANNA involves the purchase of Gift Cards (such as Food Lion, Giant, Kohls, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, hotels, & restaurants) whereby the RAYS receives between 2% and 20% of the face value of the Gift Card (discount comes from bulk buying). This payment may be made through credits earned through fundraising, or by direct payment. Families can "opt-out" of the AFP plan by paying the total cost upfront.
Manna boxes are located at each of the pools. Coaches have the keys. Any experienced parent can help you if you ask about Manna. You will be billed in January for the first half of the year and again in June 1 for the second half of the year if you do not meet your ATP.
June 2 starts the AFP for the following year. Any Manna purchased after that date goes for the following year.
Last note:
Remember that how your swimmer reacts to the sport has a lot to do with how you react to the sport! Get involved and ask questions. Many experienced parents started just like you.
Some other useful information below:
Ten Commandments of Swim Parents
Ten Commandments of Parental Behavior