GCY Relay Policy
GCY has a history of high performing relays at all swim meets and our swimmers have become known for doing great relay starts even at the younger levels. The following document outlines our current relay policy for determining best relays.
Normal Meets: Relays are system-generated by times we have in the GCY database. Literally we click and the relays are auto-generated. If you see any discrepancies please bring them to our attention for consideration. During normal meets, we will not proactively change relays based on performance at that particular meet. There is simply not enough time to do this successfully, consistently and fairly.
Late Adds at Normal Meets: If we have a late add to the meet, and relays have already been posted or sent to the host team, we do not feel it is fair to re-seed the relays in a normal meet unless it was our error. That late add will be considered based on time as an alternate with nothing held against him/her for entering late.
Championship Meets: December Champs, JOs, NC Senior Champs, GYSSA, USRY, YMCA Nationals and any other meets where team score is a concern. We will enter our fastest relays before the start of the meet. Coaches will be proactive in considering changes based on performance/time at the meet itself. Also, with 13&Over Medley Relays, since the 50's of the stroke are NOT swum normally, we must consider 100's of the strokes (fly, back, breast) or other things other than best 50 times to build best relays such as 50 splits on best 100 times, past relay splits, etc. (Note: even with being proactive with changes during champ meets, often there is not enough time to do this. We cannot always guarantee that relays will be changed after swims when this is the case).
Last Chance Meets: Often we will have a last chance meet to make a time standard before the “BIG” championship meets. Since our swimmers already in the “BIG” championship meet will not need those last chances, it is often unfair to replace him/her based on those last chance meet results. At this point coaches' decisions may be subjective (see below). Our last chance meet cannot be used for the sole reason to improve/secure a relay spot.
Relay Only Swimmers: Swimmers agreeing to attend a championship meet solely for a relay will swim a relay(s), barring any injury, no-show, meet cancellation, etc...WE NEED YOU!
Subjective Coaching Relay Decisions: Ultimately, all relay decisions will be left at the discretion of the coaching staff to make before the meet OR on deck and to communicate as quickly as possible to the swimmers affected, with “time” OR meet scoring being the top priority in consideration. There are countless circumstances that coaches may consider subjective relay changes (injury, illness, tardiness, discipline, time drops by swimmer not on a relay, swimmers on relay being out-performed at the meet, over fatigue, swimmer hasn't swum the event recently, etc.) BUT favoritism is NOT one of those circumstances. In these instances, communication and rational reasoning are paramount. Every scenario cannot be covered in this policy, our goal is to put the fastest GCY relay in the water in the fairest way possible to all swimmers.
