The Bridgewater Blue Dolphins Summer Swim Team is a fun way to introduce swimmers to the world of competitive swimming.  The team runs from late May through the end of July.  The swimmers have three practices a week and two meets a week at the peak of the season. Parents should expect to travel up to 40 minutes in some instances for dual meets.  The summer short course team competes against other summer clubs in the New Jersey Swimming and Diving Conference.

Please click on the links below for additional information:

Meet Schedule
Practice Schedule
Volunteer Job Assignments
General Meet Information
Parent Information
Directions to Meet Locations

Meet Schedule

The Bridgewater Blue Dolphins will compete on the following dates.  Results will be posted when available.

*Note: some home meets might be at the opposing team's facility

Important Meet Reminders:

• Click here to see the order of events for the dual meets.
• Please arrive to the meet 15 minutes before the schedule warm-up.
• If you cannot attend a dual meet, notify the coach no later than three days before the meet.
• If your child is sick and needs to cancel last minute, email Coach Jason Brauer at [email protected].
• In case of inclement weather, call the Bridgewater YMCA at (908) 526-0688 for meet status or check your email for a notification from your coach.
• Parents - please find a replacement if you are scheduled to work but cannot attend.

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Practice Schedule

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Volunteer Job Assignments

Parents and volunteers play an important role in ensuring that our meets run successfully!  Parents will be required to volunteer for a number of jobs that are available for each dual meet. Please see below for volunteer job assignments for each meet.  The second tab of the spreadsheet includes descriptions for each volunteer role.

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Meet Information

The Bridgewater Blue Dolphins are members of the NJ Swimming and Diving Conference (NJSDC) along with other teams in Central New Jersey. Within the conference, the following types of meets are organized: Dual Meets, League Championships, Conference Championships and Invitational Meets.

To find out more about the other teams in the Conference and how it is organized, visit the New Jersey Swimming and Diving website.

Dual Meets

Each league has scheduled dual meets where the teams within the league compete against each other. Trophies are awarded to the top 3 teams. Trophies are presented at the respective League Championships held at the end of the season.

Dual meets last approximately 1.5 to 2 hours. Most of the away meets are held in outdoor pools. Bring sunscreen and a hat for the warm days and warm-ups for the cool mornings.

Events in a dual meet alternate between boys' events and girls' events. For Saturday meets, the girls swim the IM, Fly, and Free individual events and the Medley Relay. The boys swim the longer distance Free, the Breast and Back individual events and the Free Relay. On Wednesday, the events are just the opposite for the girls and the boys. Click here to see the order of events for the dual meets.

Each event has one official heat for every age group. Team points and ribbons are awarded for 1st (5 points), 2nd (3 points) and 3rd (1 point) place in the official heat. Additional extra heats may also be swum but these heats do not count toward team totals and are not awarded ribbons. All times, whether in the official or extra heats, count toward the swimmer’s best times. Participation ribbons are awarded to all 8 & unders.

Dual Meet Sign Out

A sign-out sheet is posted on the bulletin board for Dual Meets. If a swimmer cannot attend one of the Dual Meets, make sure they have checked their name off at least three days before the meet. The coaches depend on this sign out sheet to set up the meet line up and to make sure that every one has a chance to swim.

In case of inclement weather, call the Bridgewater YMCA at (908) 526-0688 for meet status or check your email for a notification from your coach.

If your child is sick and needs to cancel last minute, email Coach Jason Brauer at [email protected].

League Championships

League Championships are held for each league in the NJ Swimming and Diving Conference. The Bridgewater Blue Dolphins will participate in the A-League Championships. At this meet, all teams will compete for team and individual awards. Each swimmer may swim in 2 individual events and 2 relays or 3 individual events and 1 relay. There are no limits on the number of swimmers that can enter so everyone will swim a full meet. The coaches will make the line up.

The A-League Championships is scheduled for the last weekend in July. Usually the 13/O swim on Friday evening and the 12/U swim on Saturday morning. It may also be on Sunday. The schedule for the A-League Championships will be posted when it is available.

Conference Championship Meet

The Conference Championships is a 2-day meet where swimmers from all teams in the NJ Swimming and Diving Conference compete for individual awards. This meet has time standards (or qualifying times). Time Standards for this meet indicate the times that a swimmer must achieve in order to enter an event. The Conference Championships are held on the Tuesday and Wednesday, following the League Championships, but only if a host site is found. 

Invitational Meets

Additional invitational meets hosted by teams within the conference and open to all teams within the conference. These meets are optional and require sign up and an entry fee to attend. They are a lot of fun and recommended if you want some additional competition. Expect the meets to last about 4 hours.

Invitational Meets may be different from year to year, but a meet that the Bridgewater Blue Dolphins and Hillsborough Hurricanes have attended in the past is the Roycefield Sprint Meet.  The Roycefield Sprint meet is all 25’s. Every age has their own age group. Most swimmers enter all 4 events, Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Free.

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Parent Information

​Parent Volunteers:  Many volunteers are needed to run a quality competition for the swimmers. We need each family to volunteer at least two or three times during the season. Assignments are made based on your job preference and availability.  The parent work assignments will be posted on the website about a week before the first meet. Our goal is to provide a fun and well organize competition for the swimmers that they work so hard for. If you are scheduled to work and have a conflict, please trade with another parent so all are positions are covered. A roster with contact information is available for the team. Please see the Volunteer Information section for more information about the jobs needed for the summer.

Officials: Officials are needed to help run the dual meets and the championship meets. In the summer the only training required is the two-hour official’s clinic run by the NJ Swimming and Diving Conference. The summer is a great time to get started on officiating. We encourage as many parents as possible to attend the officials training even if it’s just to get a better understanding of the rules (the rules listed in the back of this packet are basically what you need to know). For first time officials, you will have the opportunity to walk your first meet with a more experienced official.

Food Sales at Dual Meets: At home meets the parents sell food as a fundraiser. Pizza will be ordered and sold by the slice. We also want to sell cans of soda and baked goods. There will be a sign-up sheet posted on the bulletin board for soda and baked goods donations. Proceeds from the food sales go towards the team picnic. A parent volunteer is needed to coordinate the food sales.

Ice Cream Socials: After each home meet there is an ice cream social for the team, family and friends held at the Y. Donations are accepted to help cover the cost. A parent volunteer is needed to coordinate the ice cream socials.

Team Picnic: An end of the season a picnic is held for all the swimmers and their friends and family. The summer team picnic is self-funded. Profits for the summer food sales help to offset the cost. The picnic is organized by a picnic committee made up of parent volunteers. Please consider helping out as a picnic committee member.

Coordinators: It takes a group of parents to coordinate the activities for the team. We are always looking for more parents to take on these leadership roles for continued success of our team. If you are interested in doing more for the team than just your required dual meet assignments, please contact one of the Team Reps at any time.

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Directions

Please click on the links below to view directions to locations where our meets may be held:​

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