Swim Meets and Volunteer Jobs
Swim Meet Information
Swim meets are encouraged, but not mandatory
The Addison Otters is a competitive swim team and we encourage our swimmers to participate in swim meets, but it is not mandatory. Some swimmers choose not to compete and that’s fine with us (but we will gently try to encourage you to reconsider).
Our team participates in swim meets in Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. Check out our meets and events page for this year's meet schedule. Meets designated as Championship Meets usually have minimum qualifying times.
Many of our meets require travel and/or hotel nights.
Meets are typically broken into sessions, so your swimmer will probably be on deck for no more than four hours at a typical session. If you have swimmers in multiple age groups, you are probably in for long days at these meets. Before each meet, we will send out information about your swimmer's session, warmup times and info about parking and any other special considerations. For most meets, swimmers should stay on deck with the team and coach. Coaches will be responsible for getting swimmers to their events on time. If a swimmer leaves the pool deck, the coach cannot be responsible for them, so please either keep your swimmers on deck or be prepared to follow the events carefully so your swimmer doesn't miss an event.
We generally tell swimmers to bring:
- two towels
- light snacks
- warm clothes to wear over swimsuit (pajama bottoms, sweats, etc)
- water bottle (no glass)
- goggles/cap (and noseclips if they use them)
- flip flops/slides (some venues won't let barefoot kids leave the pool deck)
Electronic devices at meets
Swimmers can bring electronic devices to meets, but we encourage swimmers to socialize and cheer rather than get absorbed in their phones. Some swimmers like to get ready for races with music, some use their phones to record each other's races and some swimmers use social media on deck with other swimmers. Coaches will monitor this to make sure swimmers are socializing and being present, but we have no way to monitor the contents of anything they create nor the messages they send or receive. Parents and guardians are responsible for discussing and enforcing electronic device rules that they make for their swimmers.
Spectator Photography and Video
It is common for people to photograph or video swimmers during meets; however, no photos or video can be taken from any spot that is behind the blocks (including from the side behind the blocks). For more information about photo and video rules, please see our safe sport page.
Deck access
USA Swimming has strict rules about who can access the deck. Parents are not allowed on deck unless they are officially serving in a volunteer role for the meet.
Volunteer Duties
We rely on parents/guardians to volunteer
Timers
Each lane requires three timers to time each race. It’s an easy but important job. The head timer will train everyone at the beginning of the session. It’s a great way for parents/guardians to get on deck for a great view of the events.
Officials
We also need officials. This requires some online content, a live class (often virtual) and each official-in-training must shadow an official at several meets to complete the training. It all sounds a little intimidating, but the training covers everything and the shadowing sessions give you a great opportunity to see how officiating really works. Without officials, we can’t run meets. The team pays for all costs associated with becoming an official. If you are interested or want to learn more, please contact a board member or coach.
