New Swimmer Questions

Q: How Do I sign up for Heat?
A: Sign up on-line or in person during the Registration period. You can also contact Will Barker, the Head Coach, to make an appointment to fill out the paperwork. Sign-up for the team can be any time of the year, but during the short course season, to be able to swim YMCA championships, you must be registered by December 1.

Q: Do I have to volunteer, and why?
A: All families are required to volunteer for the YMCA dual and USAS Invitational home meets. Please, refer to the Team Handbook for the full Volunteer Commitment information. Heat’s main form of fundraising is our swim meets. The funds raised, benefit all our swimmers, therefore all parents are expected to help. Along with the funds raised, home meets allow our swimmers to compete without the burden of traveling. Each Invitational meet needs around 40 volunteers per session, compounding around 240 volunteers needed for the full meet. Volunteering is a great way to meet people, learn about the sport, and cheer your child on. Swimmers like it when their parents volunteer. Here is the description of volunteer assignments.

Q: My child is a beginner. Should he/she do meets?
A: Heat is a competitive swim team, so meets are encouraged. The team offers various types of swim meets, some more competitive than others. It is recommended to discuss with the coach(es) when a child is ready for meets, which type, and what events he/she should swim.

Q: I am always missing information. How do I get in the loop?
A: Heat has two main sources of information. The Heat website and the Heat e-mailing list. If you are not on the e-mail list, it is important to email/call the Team Administrator requesting to be added to such list. Also watch the bulletin board in the glassed in area at the YMCA for announcements. Since swimming deadlines can come up fast, and things at times are confusing, ask your swimmer’s coach after practice, if you have questions. Also seek out experienced parents. They always are ready to help.

Q: What is the Booster Club, Steering Committee and Executive Board?
A: When a swimmer joins Heat, the parents become members of the Booster Club. The Booster Club’s job is to support the competitive aspect of team. The Heat website has a link called “Y and Board Responsibilities”. This outlines what the Booster Club’s duties are.
The Steering Committee is a group of parents who volunteer to head up various committees that keep the competitive team running. These people are listed on the front page of the Heat website. Every year new people are needed to step into these positions, and it is a great way to learn about the team. New people mean fresh ideas. This Committee meets mostly on second Tuesdays of each month. The meeting is open to all parents.
The Executive Committee consists of volunteers who have been nominated for the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and At Large member of the Booster Club. The nomination process begins in March, and the approval of the slate is done by May. The Committee members' term is 2 years. The Executive Committee meets in closed session, usually once a month. (For more detailed information refer to the Nominating Process in Team Handbook.)

Q: What is the Team Handbook, and where do I find it?
A: The Team Handbook outlines the by-laws that govern our team and outlines all aspects of the Heat swim team. Parents and swimmers must read it. It is constantly available on-line on the team's website.

Billing

Q: How does Heat bill me and what are all the charges?
A: There are various charges associated with being a member of the Heat. The USA fee is due upon registration. This fee makes your child a member of USA swimming and is required to compete in USA meets, and for liability reasons. A swimmer must also be a member of the YMCA. If they are new to the YMCA, or have let their membership lapse, there is a joining fee due on registration. The membership fee can be paid up front for the year, or be taken out in monthly bank drafts on the 15th of each month. The Booster Club charges a fee to help support the cost of sending coaches to all meets. This fee is determined by the budget for the season the swimmer is registering for. The fee can be paid up front, or taken out in monthly payments bank drafted on the 1st of each month with the training fees. Each training group has a different cost associated with it.

Q: What about meet charges and registration. What is DAXCO?
A: DAXCO is the system the YMCA uses to sign up for programs. Here is the guide. It is accessible online or by visiting the front desk at the YMCA. Meets will be posted in DAXCO, and the parent signs up for these events and gets charged at the time of sign-up. Meet entries, exceptions are YMCA meets, have to be completed usually 6 weeks prior to the meet. Check the Heat website schedule to not miss the deadlines. Once the check and entries are sent to the meet host, the charges cannot be refunded.

Q: Why is my bill higher after my swimmer moved up a level?
A: Each level/group has its own set of charges. The groups are designed to allow your child to progress to more difficult, longer and more frequent practices. The charges increase according to this progression.

Practice Groups and Practice Questions

Q: How do I know what group my swimmer belongs in?
A: If you are new to the team, the coach will do an in the water assessment of your child and place the swimmer appropriately. As the swimmer progresses through the season, the coach may recommend moving him/her to a different level. Returning swimmers are placed based on their physical and mental abilities and maturity levels.

Q: How often should my child practice?
A: The head coach has placed practice recommendations for each group in the Team Handbook. These recommendations should be followed for the swimmer to reach their full potential. However, it is understood that the swimmer may have conflicts, so the parent and swimmer should work with the coach to assess what is best for each swimmer. More than the recommended practices is not beneficial as you can risk burn-out.

Q: What time should my child arrive at practice?
A: The practice time listed on the webpage is the time that the swimmer is expected to be in the water. The swimmer should arrive 10 minutes prior to the start of practice on the deck. The swimmer should not arrive earlier than 10 minutes as this can disrupt other practices or lessons.

Q: What equipment does my child need?
A: Swimsuits, caps, goggles, kickboard and fins are standard equipment. Buy practice suits for practice do not wear the team suit for practice. A mesh bag may be desired to hold all the equipment. Equipment can be purchased at Body N Sole or other local stores. Also, check with the coaches or experienced parents for on-line sites.

Q: What are the team bonding events?
A: Bonding events serve to bring the team members together to do something else other than swimming. Sometimes it is bowling, skating, or a visit to a nursing home. These events improve team chemistry and provide more time for getting to know individual swimmers.

Swim Meets

Q: How do I prepare for the meet? What to bring?
A: The parents and the kids are usually located in the gyms, so bring chairs, blankets for the floor, and reading materials. Have extra towels and clothing to keep warm. Keep them entertained at the initial meets. They will find company at the later meets and take care of that themselves. Above all, keep the swimmer adequately hydrated and warm. Keep track of their events, so they do not eat heavy or even moderate meals close to the races. Make sure they eat something during the meet, so they do not run out of energy. Avoid junk food. Fruits, cereals like Cheerios or granola bars are very good for them. Power drinks and Gatorade are recommended. Water could also be taken. Avoid pops.

Q: What is the difference between YMCA and USA swim meets?
A: Heat swims for two sanctioning bodies, YMCA Swimming and USA Swimming. YMCA meets are often small duals and contain sprint events (especially in the younger levels). USA is mostly 2-3 days invitationals. There are different requirements for each type of meet.

Q: What are the Time Standards and why are there so many?
A: Time standards are used to qualify for end of season championships. USA also has motivational time standards (B, BB, A, AA, AAA, AAAA). YMCA has standards for Districts, Area Championships(Y-State), YMCA Nationals, and yearly National Top 10 recognition. USA has motivational time standards, Regional Championships, Age Group Championships (JOs), Senior State, Sectionals, Zones, Olympic Trials, Olympics and yearly National Top 10 recognition lists. Just focus on the next level your child wants to achieve to keep them from getting too confused.

Q: Championships are very confusing. What are they and how do I sign up?
A: YMCA Championship meets are Junior Districts, Districts, Area Championships (Y-State) and YMCA Nationals. A swimmer must be on the Heat roster by December 1, and have swum 3 YMCA meets to be eligible. To participate in Districts, they should be at or close to a District time standard. To compete at Y-State, they must swim a qualifying time at Districts. To compete at Y-Nats, they must swim a qualifying time during the short course season. To compete in Junior Districts, they cannot have a qualifying time in the event in the Districts. USA/ISI championships are Regionals, JO's(Illinois Age Group Champs), Senior Champs, Sectionals, Zones, Senior Nationals, Olympic Trials, and the Olympics. A swimmer must have achieved a qualifying time to attend these meets. Sign-ups will be prior to these meets by coach's notification. This happens quickly, so parents need to watch the web page or Head Coach emails for notices. Here is more info.

Q: What is a DQ and what should I do about it?
A: DQs are a part of swimming. Each stroke has rules which the coaches teach the swimmer in practice. It is normal for the swimmer to not understand all the rules or forget what they are supposed to do and get DQed. They should learn from these mistakes and try to understand better what the coach has been trying to teach them. A parent can learn these rules better by training to be an official. Officials are volunteer parents and are always needed.

Q: I don't understand how ages are grouped.
A: The age groups are determined by the type of meet, YMCA or USA, and the wording on the meet information. YMCA age is determined by the age of the swimmer on December 1. So a swimmer, who turns 13 on November 30, will have to swim in 13-14 age group for YMCA meets all season, including September-November. A swimmer whose birthday is December 2 or later gets the advantage of swimming in the younger age group, in our example 11-12, for the entire YMCA season. USA age is determined by the age of the swimmer on the first day of the meet. If the meet starts on Friday, and the swimmer does not have an event until Saturday, it is still determined by the age of the swimmer on Friday. Meet wording is important. If the age group is worded 10 and under, anyone 10 years or under may swim the event. If it is worded 9-10, only 9 and 10 year olds may swim that event. Open is for any age.

Q: What is my child entered in, what time do I have to be there, how do I get there?
A: All of these questions can be answered by going to the Meet Schedule page on the Heat website. As each meet is approaching, the more meet information is posted. Note that some meet results take longer to post than others because the meet host may be slow getting the information to us.

Q: What if the swimmer is injured or ill before the meet?
A: It might be that she or he would not be able to compete. Unfortunately, the meet fees are non refundable.

Q: What is that NT abbreviation in place of the swimmer's best time?
A: NT stands for No Time. It means the swimmer has no official time. Sometimes it means the time is not in the computer or not communicated to the meet organizer before the deadline for meet entries updates. Sometimes it means it is in the wrong computer. Everybody starts with NT. Do no worry about these things. More than often then not, there is more than one relatively good swimmer there in the same event heat.

Q: What are events and H2 and L3 abbreviations?
A: Event could, for example be 100 yards free style. Since there are more swimmers than lanes in the pool, the swimmers would be put into different heats. The kids with fastest times usually go to the topmost heat. H2 means Heat 2. L3 means Lane 3.

Q: What are these SCY, SCM, LCM, etc. abbreviations?
A: Some of them are listed here:

SCY = Short Course Yards

SCM = Short Course Meters

LCM = Long Course Meters

NT = No Time

ISI = Illinois Swimming, Inc.

USA = USA swimming

More swimming terms and abreviations could be found at USA swimming Glosary and CGBD Swimming glosary.

Q: How come we have short and long course meets and seasons?
A: Most of the indoor pools are 25 yards, except the Olympic size pools. Up to and including College meets are indoor yard meets. The outdoor pools are mostly 50 meter pools which are used during the summer months, so the summer season is called Long Course season.

Q: Why do we sometimes wait more than a week for XY meet results, while AB meets ones are available overnight.
A: The meets are run by volunteers who have to take care of all the meet needs and then afterwards process the results. That can sometimes take time, since not all of us have the same experience and software support. To mitigate this, make a habit of writing down your kid's results at the meets. It would help to print the Meet Entries or buy the Meet Sheets to make the bookkeeping easier.

Q: How are times converted from yard to meter distances vice versa?
A: The Meet Manager software will use the following conversion factors when converting entry times from one course to another: · 1.11 to convert SC Meters to/from Yards · 2% to convert SC Meters to/from LC Meters · 0.875 to convert 400/500 and 800/1000 Meters to Yards · 0.997 to convert 1500 Meters to/from 1650 Yards.

Miscellaneous

Q: I know nothing about the sport of swimming. What can I do to learn more?
A: There are lots of resources available. Heat has a Cool Links page that can take you to Illinois Swimming, USA Swimming and YMCA swimming. All of these sites have articles and all kinds of information and links. Volunteer at meets. Most jobs at meets require little training and you will learn by working with experienced parents and watching the swimming. Train to be an official. The official's training is very comprehensive, and thorough. Officials are always needed and you will become an expert in no time. Heat reimburses our officials their training fees once they have completed their training sessions.

Q: I have corrections or new questions. Where do I send them?
A: Excellent. We are always looking to extend the Heat FAQ. In addition to a new question, its answer is also helpful. Send them to the Heat webmaster.