Swim Meets

 

It is up to your family to decide if your swimmer wants to compete at swim meets.  During meets, swimmers compete in age groups and will swim against athletes of similar ability. Every season the BSC coaches will choose the meets that we will be attending as a team and post them on the website.  You will need to go to www.brookingsswimclub.com and navigate to the "Team Info" tab; select "Events Schedule" in the dropdown options to see these meets.  Swimmers are welcome to discuss their choice of events with the coaches prior to the entry deadline.

How to Sign up for a swim meet:

Log on to the BSC website. Navigate to the "Team Info" tab; select "Events Schedule" in the dropdown options. Click on the meet you wish your child to attend. On the upper right corner, click on the “Attend/Decline” box. You will be taken to the sign-up screen. Click on your child’s name. In the “declaration” box, click on “Yes, please sign XXX up for this event. In the “notes” box you can leave messages for the coaches to see, for example if you can only attend one day of a two-day meet, you can leave a note for your coach about that here. Click on “save changes”. Keep in mind every Meet has a registration deadline. In the BSC website, when you click on the event you want to register your swimmer for, you will see the deadline date below the event date. Make sure to register your swimmer online before or by the deadline.

How to find your child’s events for an upcoming swim meet:

Coaches pick the events for athletes based on their skill level, personal goals, coach’s goals, and order of events, overall team points (State Meet), level of competition, meet entry limitations, etc. Once the coaches submit athlete entries to the host team, they will be visible on our team website.

Log into www.brookingsswimclub.com

Click on the “Events” tab at the top

Scroll down to the meet you are looking for

Click on “Edit Commitment” and the list will come up

The list of events for your athlete(s) will include the event number, day of meet/session number, name of event, and athlete seed time. The athlete seed time will be the fastest time the athlete has swum the event. A “NT” (stands for “No Time”) means this is the first time the athlete will be swimming the event without a disqualification. It is a good idea to print this screen and take it with you to the meet as it makes it easier to find your athlete in the program if you know what events they are swimming.

The app MeetMobile is available to be purchased for approximately $6.99.This app is renewed yearly and provides full access to meet results.

What your family should bring to the swim meet:

Depending on how long you will be at the meet and if “camping” space is available (you can determine both of these by reading the meet invite), you may want to take items from the list below. Families/teams generally “camp” together in the gym/hallways. Some teams/venues prohibit “camping” in the pool viewing area (i.e. bleachers, pool deck, etc…) requiring spectators to “camp” in the designated area and go to the viewing area only when their athlete is racing. This avoids overcrowding in the viewing area and gives everyone a chance to view their athletes while they are racing. Items to bring:

Bag lawn chairs and blankets

Cooler with drinks/healthy snacks. Most meets offer concessions (noted in the meet invite), however, healthy choices are not always available. Taking healthy snacks/drinks for athletes is recommended.Note: The Midco in Sioux Falls does not allow outside food and drink.

Highlighter (to mark meet program)

Fine Point Sharpie Marker (to mark events on your athlete)

Swim Bag – towels, 2 suits, 2 goggles, 2 swim caps, sweatshirt/sweatpants (some camping spaces are cool and the athletes need to stay warm between races

Books, board games, video games, mp3 players, etc… (athletes love to hang out together between races)

 

Before the Meet Starts:

Arrive at the pool at least 15 minutes before the scheduled warm-up time begins.

Upon arrival to put your swimmers blankets, swim bags and/or sleeping bags.The team usually sits in one place together so look for some familiar faces.

Write each event number with corresponding heat and lane on your swimmers hand in ink (shown below).This helps him/her remember what events he/she is swimming and what event number to listen for.

Your swimmer now gets his/her cap and goggles and reports to the pool and/or coach for warm-up instructions.It is very important for all swimmers to warm up with the team.Swimmers bodies are just like cars on a cold day- he/she needs to get the engine going and warmed up before he/she can go all out.

While your swimmer is warming up, a meet program can be purchased usually at the concessions area of the pool.These programs usually sell for $8-$10.It lists all swimmers in each event in order of “seed time” When the team entry is sent in, each swimmer and his/her previous best time in that event is listed.If the swimmer is swimming and event for the first time, he/she will be entered as a “no-time” or “NT”.A “no-time” swimmer will usually swim in one of the first heats of the event.

After warm-up your swimmer will go back to the area where his/her towels are and sit there until the next event is called.This is a good time to make sure he/she goes to the bathroom if necessary, gets a drink, or just gets settled in.

The meet will usually start 10 – 15 minutes after warm-ups are over.

There is no entry fee for visitors that you invite to come cheer on your swimmer so invite as many as you want.

How to read a swim meet program:

A swim meet program is a list of events that will be swam in that meet, including number of heats per event and a list of swimmers in each heat, with the lane assigned to each swimmer and each swimmer’s seed time in that event, swimmer’s age and club affiliation. Programs are sold usually at the entrance of each swim meet and it is highly recommended that each swimmer family purchase one. Swimmers usually write down the events they are scheduled to swim on their arm or leg, as a reminder, like in the example you see below.

Example of Event Charts Swimmers Arm or Leg:

 

The Swim Meet Starts:

It is important for any swimmer to know what event numbers he/she is swimming (again, why they should write the event numbers on their hand).He/She may swim right away after warm-up or they may have to wait awhile.

The swimmers event number will be called, usually over the loudspeaker, and he/she will be asked to report to the starting blocks.If the swimmer is new/inexperienced he/she may report to their coach and the coach will bring the swimmer to the starting blocks.

The swimmer swims their race.

After each swim he/she should report to their coach immediately.The coach will discuss their swim to include positive comments or praise or suggestions for improvement.

As a parent this is an opportunity to tell your swimmer how great they did.The coaching staff will be sure to discuss stroke technique with them.The swimmer now waits until his/her next event is called.

When a swimmer has completed all of his/her events the swimmer is encouraged to stay and cheer on their teammates although at this time they may go home.

How to view your athlete’s results:

At the BSC website (a few days after the meet is over):

Log into www.brookingsswimclub.com

Click on “My Account” on the left hand side

Click on “My Meet Results” If you have more than one athlete, click on the “Member” dropdown menu, choose an athlete, and then click “search”. You can narrow your search by the type of pool (LCM, SCM, or SCY), particular stroke, event distance, and date range. After setting one or more of these parameters, click on “search”

Meet Mobile (downloads to your smartphone or tablet)

You can check your swimmer’s results and also other swimmers results if they’re at a different meet. There is a small annual charge for using this service. Many parents find this very helpful.

On Deck Parent (downloads to your smartphone or tablet)

Connects with teams through team unify site. You use the same login and password details that you use on the website as well as the team alias: sdsbsc. This app gives you your meet results, time standards, splits, and various other useful tools to track your swimmers progress.

Host teams place printed results on a wall at the meet site