Is it your first swim meet? Here is a list of things that might be helpful to bring.

Team suit, 2 pair of goggles, extra towels, sweatshirt, Breakers swim cap, chair or blanket, healthy snacks, drinks and a Sharpie.

Things to know:

Events - The 25 Free or 50 Back are events. Each event is broken down by age group and gender and has a number assigned. These numbers determine the order of events for the entire meet. Generally, the summer meets have 62 events, which includes relays.

Heat - The numer of swimmers that can compete is limited by the number of lanes in the pool. Therefore, if more than six swimmers are competing in an event, mutiliple heats will be required for each event.

Entries - Before each meet, the coaches will post meet entires. Swimmers will be listed in alphabetical order and by gender with all event/event numbers listed per swimmer. You will find most swimmers write their events/numbers on their hand with a Sharpie.

Bullpen - Most swim meets run with a bullpen. In the bullpen, the swimmers line up by heat/lane for each of their events. The bullpen will call event numbers to report to the bullpen. A pole with numbers is also used and swimmers can see which event number is expected to report to the bullpen.

Meets typically last 3-4 hours with plenty of "down time" between events. 

Pool lengths - Competition pools are measured in either meters or yards. A 25 meter pool is thus a little longer than a 25 yard pool. The O'Fallon Memorial pool is 25 meters along with the SAFB, Highland, Trenton and Freeburg pools. The St. Clair Country Club, Kings Point, Dupo and Dorchester pools measure 25 yards.