General Information

            Swim meets are a great way to measure a swimmer’s progress.  Swim meets are offered throughout the year and allow swimmers the opportunity to compete against other swimmers of the same age, gender, and ability.  USA swim meets usually follow a 2-day format where half of the competitive events are swum on Saturday and the other half of the events are swum on Sunday.  Children 12 years of age and younger typically swim in the morning and swimmers 13 years of age and older typically swim in the afternoons.  Swimmers are usually eligible to swim in up to four individual events per day and one relay. Occasionally, 1-day Invitational meets will also be offered in which a limited number of events will be available to choose from.  Typically swimmers of all ages compete in the same session of an Invitational meet. 

             The calendar year is divided into two different seasons–a short course season and a long course season.  During the short course season (September-March), swimmers compete in 25-yard pools and during the long course season (April-July) swimmers compete in 50-meter pools (Olympic size) and occasionally 25-yard pools as well.  

            At each swim meet, swimmers compete in the following age categories with those of the same gender:  8 and under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, and 17-18.  Minnesota Swimming Inc. sets time standards for each event to further divide swimmers into ability-based levels.  The different ability categories (slowest to fastest) are “C,” “B,” “A,” “Champ,” and “Zone.”  Please see the time standards on the GCA website for a listing of times needed in each event to fall into the different categories.  Within each meet, a swimmer with a “C” time for example would swim against other swimmers with a “C” time and a swimmer with a “B” time would swim against other swimmers with a “B” time.  There are different kinds of meets that are offered throughout the year.  They usually include variations of the following:  A, A/B, B/C, and A/B/C.  A swimmer for example must have at least a “B” time to compete in a A/B swim meet and at least a “C” time to compete in a B/C meet.  Swimmers that earn a “Champ” time are eligible to swim in the State meet at the end of the short course and long course seasons.

Swim Meet Sign-ups 

            Swimmers and parents will be notified of sign-up information approximately 5-6 weeks prior to the meet.  Swimmers will have the opportunity to decide which events they wish to swim and sign-up for the meet online.  Coaches are always more than happy to recommend and help pick-out events.  It generally costs between $4-5 per event, so the cost of the meet is highly dependent on the number of events the swimmer chooses to swim.

What to Expect and Bring to the Swim Meet

            Swim meets are typically held at schools during the short course season (September-March) and at both indoor and outdoors pools during the long course season (April-July).  Sessions (morning and afternoon) can last anywhere between 2-4 hours each.  We strongly suggest swimmers bring lots of warm clothes (sweatshirt, sweatpants, shorts, t-shirt, etc.) and a couple of extra towels, as the pool deck can be cold.  We also recommend swimmers bring lots of snacks and drinks to the meet.  Most meets offer concessions where swimmers and spectators can purchase a wide-variety of snack and drink items.

            At each meet, the host club will sell event programs.  Event programs typically cost between 5-10 dollars and are helpful in following along with the meet.

            During swim meets, parents are not allowed to go onto the pool deck.   If a parent needs to talk to the coach during the meet, we suggest they wait until a break or until after the meet, as we don’t want the coach to miss another athlete’s event.

Disqualifications

            At any meet, during any given event, a swimmer may be disqualified (DQ’d) for an illegal stroke, turn, or false start.  A DQ is something that happens to every swimmer and is nothing to get upset about.

Awards

            Official results will be posted somewhere outside of the pool area shortly after all of the swimmers complete the event.  At this time, swimmers will be able to see how they placed.  At each swim meet, awards are handed out to the top 8 or 6 swimmers in each category–Zone/Champ/A, B, and C.  Swimmers are usually able to pick up their awards 30 minutes after the results are posted.  Awards not picked up by athletes will be picked up by the coach and will be available to the swimmers to pick up at practice.

Finals Meets

            At the end of each season (both short course and long course seasons), swimmers will have the opportunity to swim in finals meets (MN Achievement Championship, MN Regional Championship, and the State Championship).  Finals meets are extra opportunities available to swimmers to try and qualify for the next level.  For example, if a swimmer has a C time, he or she can attend the MN Achievement Championship and try and qualify for the MN Regional Championship.  If a swimmer has an A or B time, he or she can attend the MN Regional Championship and try and qualify for the State meet.  A Champ time is needed to qualify for the State meet.

Time Trials

            At the MN Regional Championship and the State meet, swimmers will have the opportunity to time trial or swim an event a second time to try and meet the next time

standard.  For example, if a swimmer missed the Champ qualifying time by 0.10 in their individual event, they would have an additional opportunity to try and qualify in a time trial.  Time trials are typically held at the end of the morning session and also at the end of the afternoon session both Saturday and Sunday.  Swimmers are charged a fee for the opportunity to time trial.

Final Thoughts

            If you ever have any questions, please do not hesitate to talk with a Granite City Aquatics coach.  We know that the world of competitive swimming can be very overwhelming and confusing to a new family.  Happy swimming!