Swim Meet 101

We request that parents declare their swimmers' intention to participate in a meet using the Signup Calendar at least two days before each meet.  This gives the coaches enough time to prepare a lineup that is fair to all swimmers and that is evenly matched with our competitors.  If you have committed to a meet, please make every effort to be there, missing even one swimmer can result in other kids not getting to swim in a relay. 

Each family is required to sign up as a volunteer for at least two meets.
Meets are operated by volunteers from swimmers' families.  There are plenty of volunteer jobs that require no special skills, and a few which require formal training.  Not sure where to start?  Try being a timer, it's easy, fun and a great way to get to know other parents -- not to mention you have the best views of the action!

A typical Varsity meet will last approximately 2 hours and are held on Wednesday evenings.  JV meets may be slightly longer depending on the size of the teams competing, these are held on Tuesday mornings (see below for the difference between Varsity and JV).  Each team has some home and some away meets.   

All league competition is governed by USA Swimming rules, unless modified by the Suburban Swim League regulations.

A swimmer’s age for competition, during the current season, will be his/her age as of June 1st of that season. Age divisions:

8 & under 9 – 10 yrs. 11 – 12 yrs. 13 – 14 yrs 15 – 18 yrs.
  • Swimmers ages 14 and under who have not yet twice placed first or second in an individual event at a Varsity meet are eligible to swim in Junior Varsity meets. After "placing out" of JV, swimmers may still attend and swim in JV meets as exhibition swimmers, but they cannot place or earn team points in those races.
  • A competitor may enter as many as four (4) events, at each meet, as long as one event is a relay event. These events will be assigned by the coaches.  When deemed necessary, a coach may assign a swimmer to "swim-up"  in the next age group. 
  • At all dual meets, the home team will swim in the odd lanes (1-3-5), and the visitors in the even lanes (2-4-6).  

Scoring for Dual Meets
Place Individual Events Relay Team Events
First Place 5 points 7 points
Second Place 3 points 0 points
Third Place 1 point 0 points

Order of Events at Dual Meets
1) 8 & U Girls 100 Medley Relay 31 & 32) 8 & U 25 Free
2) 8 & U Boys 100 Medley Relay 33 & 34) 9-10 50 Free
3 & 4) 9-10 100 Medley Relay 35 & 36) 11-12 50 Free
5 & 6) 11-12 200 Medley Relay 37 & 38) 13-14 50 Free
7 & 8) 13-14 200 Medley Relay 39 & 40) 15-18 100 Free
9 & 10) 15-18 200 Medley Relay 41 & 42) 8 & U 25 Fly
11& 12) 8 & U 25 Back 43 & 44) 9-10 50 Fly
13 & 14) 9-10 50 Back 45 & 46) 11-12 50 Fly
15 & 16) 11-12 50 Back 47& 48) 13-14 50 Fly
17 & 18) 13-14 50 Back 49) 15-18 Girls 50 Fly
19) 15-18 Girls 50 Back 50) 15-18 Boys 100 Fly
20) 15-18 Boys 100 Back 51) 8 & U Girls 100 Free Relay
21 & 22) 8 & U 25 Breast 52) 8 & U Boys 100 Free Relay
23 & 24) 9-10 50 Breast 53 & 54) 9-10 100 Free Relay
25 & 26) 11-12 50 Breast 55 & 56) 11-12 200 Free Relay
27 & 28) 13-14 50 Breast 57 & 58) 13-14 200 Free Relay
29) 15-18 Girls 50 Breast 59 & 60) 15-18 200 Free Relay
30) 15-18 Boys 100 Breast