Heat Sheets

For those that are beginners to the sport of swimming, Heat Sheets are a bit overwhelming. With that in mind, we want to put you at ease. Reading a heat sheet is not as bad as you think. So... let’s dive in. (pun intended)

What is a Heat Sheet?
A heat sheet is the program for a swim meet. It lists all the events that are going to be swam. It lists the swimmers in each race (or event). It tells us the heat and lane that the swimmer will need to be in for their race (or event).

When we talk about the pool area, we use the term  deck. The pool deck is the area that surrounds the actual pool.

The pool itself is divided into  lanes. Each lane is designated by a number. Typically lanes 1-6. The lanes are separated by lane lines (floaty ropes connected to each end of the pool).

Let’s talk about  events. Events are listed by a #. The official will call for swimmers to line up for “Event # xx”, whatever the event number is. The official name of the event is spelled out beside the number of the event on the heat sheet. Ex. Event #xx boys 9-10 25 yard freestyle.

Next lets talk about  heats. Depending on the number of swimmers in an event, an event might have multiple heats. A “heat” is the group of swimmers swimming in the pool at the same time. If there are more swimmers in an event than lanes to swim in, we need to create multiple heats (or groups) for that event. Ex. an event might have 10 swimmers total combined from each team. Only 6 can swim at one time due to only having 6 lanes. 2 heats would need to be swam with 6 in heat 1 and 4 in heat 2 to complete the full event.

When you look at a heat sheet, you realize how much info is there. The good news is, the greater part of all that info is only 3 or 4 parts that we really need to know.
The Event #, heat # and the lane# to swim in.

Example

 

 

 

In the picture above, let’s use Bailey and Wrenn as our example. (Both girls are highlighted in yellow)
They are swimming in the Event Named “ Girls 10 & Under 200 Yard IM”
the “ event” is # 1.
The “ heat” is #1 of 3
The “ lanes” are #2 and #7

The Event Name gives you the description of the event. 

"Girls or Boys / Age Group / Distance to swim / Type of stroke being swam"

One length of the pool is measured as 25 yards (or sometimes 25 or 50 meters)

 

Grid for Swimmers

 

Now that you know how to read the heat sheet, let’s talk about how to keep your swimmer ready for his/her events.

This is really easy. Simply draw a grid (like a tic-tac-toe board) on your swimmers arm.
(usually with a sharpie pen) With the 3 numbers that we talked about above, we write those #’s in the grid and ta-da!!!, your swimmer now knows exactly when and where they need to be for their events.

 

The parent/guardian will be the ones to put this information on their swimmer prior to the meet starting.  

     

(Information above was taken from https://www.lakeparkswimteam.com/heat-sheets)