Meet Information: Strawberry Seals 2024 Time Trials Meet

Dear Seals Families:

The 2024 Marin Swim League (MSL) meet season will begin tomorrow with our intra-team Time Trials meet. After this weekend we will have meets every Saturday until our Championship meet at the end of June (No Meet Memorial Day Weekend).  Every meet we swim will be with the goal to prepare our swimmers for June 29, 2024, the day of our Marin Swim League Championship.

Time Trials will serve two main functions for our swimmers.  It will provide a low stress environment for new members to experience their first swim meet and an opportunity for all our swimmers to establish baseline times for the season. 

Before the Meet Starts: Pre-Meet Team Warm Up, Handwriting Station and Team Meeting 

Team Warmup 

The pre-meet team warm up is an important part of the meet preparation process.  Warm up helps prime swimmers to do well in their races by increasing blood flow to muscles which raises muscle temperature thus improving muscle efficiency and contraction.  Warm up also helps to prevent injuries as muscles tears related to sudden stress from high intensity activity (like sprinting) are more likely to occur in cold muscles than muscles that have been warmed up.  

The warmup is the first team-based activity we do at a meet, and it sets the “great teams do great things together” tone for the entire day. It is a basic but essential concept that has a cumulative effect over the long-term.

To minimize crowding in the pool, the warmup will be organized by age groups. To ensure the safety of our swimmers, 10 and under swimmers that miss the assigned warm up time will not be permitted to warm up with the older swimmers. 

Handwriting Station

Please visit the handwriting station at the meet or write your swimmers heat and lane assignments on their hands at home. Writing the event #, heat #, and lane # on your swimmer’s hand will help you and your swimmer remember their heat and lane assignments.

Team Meeting

After the team warm up is complete, we will promptly gather on the steps near the elevator for a team meeting. We will announce changes to our lineup and other important updates. We will also review our team’s goals and strategy for the day. Most importantly we will come together for the team cheer. The team cheer is an important bonding and spirit building ritual all Marin Swim League teams participate in. We perform team cheers prior to start of every meet and periodically throughout a meet day to give a boost our team’s spirit and because it is fun to cheer together.

During the Meet

There will be no relays in this meet so the meet will start with event #6, the 8 and Under Girls 25 Yard Freestyle. The order of strokes are the freestyle events (#s 6-15), backstroke (#s 16-25), breaststroke (#s 26-35), butterfly (#s 36-45), Individual Medley (#s 46-55). The order of age groups as we cycle through events are 8 and Under, 9 – 10, 11 – 12, 13 – 14, 15 – 18 alternating between girls and boys events.

As there will only be the Seals, the meet will move very quickly. Swimmers should stay close to pool so to avoid missing events.

There will be lanes available during the meet for pre-race warmups and cooldowns. Experienced swimmers should warmup and cooldown after every race.

If your swimmer has any questions or concerns, please find a Seals coach and they will be glad to help. Our coaches are usually stationed behind the blocks during the meet.

Tips for Parents at Meets

Calming an Anxious Swimmer

• If your swimmer is reluctant to participate, it is very important that they are not pressured to participate. Pushing an anxious child to participate will create negative associations with the competitions and make the meet an unhealthy and unhappy experience. While many of the emotions an anxious swimmer is feeling during a meet may seem irrational, these emotions are NEVER INVALID.
• If your child is experiencing a high level of anxiety or fear, please bring it to our attention and we will do what we can to encourage your child to participate.  
• Most importantly, stay calm and supportive and allow your child the option to decide for themselves if they will race.

Being the Parent of a Competitive Swimmer

• The functions a swim team parent plays in supporting their swimmer are essential. These roles include being a chauffeur, chef, towel rack, sponsor, and a swimmer’s #1 fan. Please refrain from coaching your swimmers, it is confusing for the swimmer and diminishes attention span when interacting with their actual coaches. If we all focus on our specific roles on the team (parents being parents and coaches being coaches) our swimmers will be happier and more successful.
• Encourage your swimmers to drink plenty of water and avoid sugar during the competition.
• Leave electronic devices at home. A major component of the meet experience is socializing and playing with teammates. The team will be stronger with more interaction between our swimmers. 

Other Important Information

All events are broken down into “heats” in which swimmers are grouped according to prior times.  The heat sheet for the Time Trial meet is available online at:  

Please visit this link for details on the Meet structure. https://www.teamunify.com/team/recmrssca/page/what-every-swimmer-needs/about-swim-meets

Your swimmer(s) heat and lane assignments can also be found listed alphabetically by swimmer on our “handwriting sheets” which will be posted on our events page under forms/documents: The meet documents can also be downloaded with the links below:

Heat Sheets 

Handwriting Sheets