Florida Swimming
Level 4
Excellence 100

TYPES OF MEETS

Ping Pong Meets
Ping Pong meets are uniquely Bolles. These are fun meets for our younger athletes to get the gist of competition and are staffed by parents, coaches and our older athletes. The times are not eligible for championship meets - and it's just about swimming, racing and having fun with friends. These are usually held on Saturdays in lieu of Mako/Tiger practices. 

Hosted Meets at Bolles
We host four types of meets at Bolles. At all of these meets (except High School), Bolles families are expected to volunteer. 

  • High School meets - these are for athletes that are enrolled in the Bolles School and participate in Middle/High School sports. These are noted as BULLDOG meets. They are not available for athletes not on the Bulldog Swim Team
  • Short format meets - usually one or two sessions over one or two days. These range from our Pentathlon to last chance meets to qualify for FLAGS. These meets may be restricted to specific ages or training groups. 
  • Long format meets - These are multi session meets over a weekend with 2-3 sessions per day and offering a more complete slate of events. These are our CLASSIC Series meets - October Classic, February Classic & April Classic. 
  • Championship-format meets - we currently run 2 meets in this format - June Classic and LCM Area 1. These are Prelim-Final meets and are restricted to eligible athletes. All athletes swim in the morning (Prelims) and the top 8-top 24 athletes (depending on the events) will swim in the evening (Finals) where final places will be awarded.

Local Meets
Local meets are meets that are similar to our Long Format meets but hosted by one of the other local teams. 

LSC Championship Meets
These meets are hosted by our Local Swimming Committee (LSC) - Florida Swimming. These meets have time standards and athletes can enter the events they are qualified for. These are all prelim/final competitions - with the exception of 10 & Unders 
FLAGS North - this is the Short Course Yards championship meet for athletes 14 & Under. Bolles competes against teams North of Orlando (loosely)
Summer LCM FLAGS - this is the Long Course Meters championship for athletes 14 & Under. Bolles competes against the entire LSC, usually in Ocala. 
Senior Champs - this is the name of the SCY and LCM meet for athletes 15 & Over and includes athletes from the entire LSC.  

Travel Championship Meets
There are several kinds of travel championship meets. These are all prelim/final competitions for all ages. 

  • ISCA Age Group Meets - these are qualifying time meets that usually sit around AAA time standards. These are traditionally family travel meets but super fun times in Clearwater. 
  • Zones - Athletes compete & travel as part of the LSC - representing Florida. Spring is a sign up, Summer is a selection meet
  • Sectionals - this is the entry level USA Swimming sponsored competition. Our Section is very small - just Florida Gold Coast & Florida Swimming. We do not typically attend in the summer months, as we are in camp season for that meet. In February we attend when it fits with our calendar. Usually we will offer a team travel option for all athletes.
  • Futures - this is the second tier USA Swimming sponsored competition. These time standards are generally representative of the top 30-40% of athletes in the country. 6-7 locations are offered each summer and we select our meet based on which location serves us the best for that year. Team Travel is offered when appropriate. 
  • Winter Junior Nationals - this is the third tier of USA Swimming competition. These time standards are generally representative of the top 20% of 18 & Under athletes nationally. There are two meets offered - we are assigned to the East location. Team Travel is offered each year. 
  • Summer Junior Nationals - this is the fourth tier of USA Swimming competition. These time standards are generally representative of the top 10% of 18 & Under athletes nationally. This meet is only offered in the summer and alternates weeks with a Senior competition. Team Travel is not offered and athletes are expected to family travel, however, depending on need, we have occasionally facilitate team travel. 
  • Nationals - this is the fifth tier of USA Swimming competition. These time standards represent the top 5% of all athletes nationally. We do not often travel to this meet unless it is a national team selection meet (for Junior Pan Pacs, Worlds, University Games etc). Team Travel is not offered and athletes are expected to family travel, however, depending on need, we have occasionally facilitate team travel. 
  • Olympic/World Trials - this is the fastest meet hosted in the country. Traditionally this meet takes place at the end of June. Athletes with qualifying times (LCM only) are encouraged to participate, even if they won't make the team - because the experience an 18U athlete can gain from this competition is invaluable in long term development. 

Open Water Competition
Open Water events are hosted mostly in the spring. 

  • Open Water Nationals requires a Winter Junior National qualifying time in the 1650 or 1000 to participate and is usually held in Florida Gulf Coast. 
  • Open Water Zones is selected off athletes participation in OW Championships
  • Open Water State is available to any athlete who is interested, however, having experience with swimming a 500 in the pool is strongly recommended. 

What about fancy expensive tech suits? 
Coaches will let athletes know when tech suits are appropriate.
For many of our meets - athletes will wear our navy team suit that athletes receive during registration. 
As a TYR team - athletes looking to wear tech suits are encouraged to purchase a TYR tech suit. 
12 & Unders are permitted to use a very specific type of tech suit - the TYR Thresher. This is a USA Swimming rule. 

Senior Athletes are encouraged to use either the VENZO or the AVICTOR - whichever fits them the best.

  • Senior athletes should work to have 3-4 tech suits by their sophomore year as there will be times when we "suit up" for practice and an older tech suit is quite helpful. Poshmark and eBay are great spots to get older used tech suits or from retired teammates.
  • Senior athletes will also race mostly in tech suits after the first two months of each season - as this has also become the trend for college - we're preparing athletes to learn how their body operates in a tech suit - it's quite different - so race reps in tech is super helpful as part of the process of racing and not just reserved for the destination meet.