As a competitive swim team, our swimmers are encouraged to participate in swim meets during both the short and long course seasons. Competing together is a very rewarding experience!  Swim meets show the accomplishments a swimmer reaches through hard work at practice as well as indicate areas that need development and attention. Swimmers practice sportsmanship, give and receive team support. 

Short Course Season is September 1 until March 31 and meets are generally swum in a 25-yard or 25-meter pool.

Long Course Season is April 1 to August 31 and meets are generally swum in a 50-meter pool. The number of long-course pools in Oregon is limited so some dual and invitational meets occur in short course pools.

Click Here for a great video explaining Your First Swim Meet!

Meet Entries

Our coaches will register your swimmer for appropriate meets according to the swimmer's age and training group. It is your responsibility to accept/decline attendance to all meets throughout the swim season. There are a few meets througout the year that are mandatory and all swimmers will be signed up. Your Coach is happy to provide you with guidence on which events your swimmer is ready for.

Under the Meet/Events tab, then Meet Registration, you will find a list of meets by date. Select the meets you want to register for and follow the prompts. As you're registering, you can sign-up for as few events as you'd like, but you will not be allowed to sign-up for more than the maximum number of events. It is also your resonsibility to advise the coach when your swimmer will not be able to attend a meet they have already been signed up for. The coach must be notified in writting that your swimmer will not be able to attend a meet before the meet entry deadline, otherwise you will still be charged the meet fees for that given meet. 

Meet Types

Intra-squad Meets - Intra-squad meets are competitions between DDAC swimmers from different squads. These are good practice meets for beginning swimmers and are held to build team spirit and camaraderie, and to introduce beginning swimmers to competition. Intrasquad meets are not usually sanctioned by USA swimming and therefore the times cannot be used to qualify for championship meets. 

Duals, Tris, and Quad Meets - Dual meets are competitions between two clubs. Tri-meets and quad-meets include the number of teams indicated. Dual meets must be finished in 4 hours, though they may take as little as 2.5 hours. Duals, tris and quad meets are highly recommended for young and new competitive swimmers. Beginning swimmers participate mostly in these smaller, shorter, less chaotic meets. Advanced swimmers may participate in any level of the meet, depending on personal schedules, qualifying times, the athlete’s personal training needs and the team’s need for their participation. Some dual meets are not sanctioned by USA swimming and therefore the times cannot be used to qualify for championship meets. 

Invitational Meets - An invitational is a meet hosted by one team, which may invite many other teams to compete. Several hundred swimmers may attend these meets. Frequently, only swimmers with certain qualifying times may attend (see time standards section, below). The coach’s meet entry form will list the time standards so that you can determine if a meet is appropriate for your swimmer. Most invitational meets are “split format”, meaning that swimmers 12 & under swim separately from swimmers 13 & over. 12 & under swimmers are limited to 4 hours of competition and usually compete in the morning. 13 & over sessions are usually in the afternoon, with no time limit.

Championships - Athletes who meet certain time standards may qualify for additional championship meets such as State, Sectional, Zone, and National championships. Each successive level of championship meet brings the swimmer against larger and larger pools of competitors so that the qualifying times are progressively faster to gain entry into these meets.