Other sports have 'games', 'matches' or 'tournaments'.  Swimmers have 'meets'.  At swim meets, athletes swim specific events to get official times.  

• What are Swim Meets like?  If you'd like to see what they look/sound/feel like, check out this livestream from the Wave Feb Meet 2022 at Juanita Aquatic Center. 

• When do they happen?  We try to give swimmers a chance to compete ~ every couple months on average.  They are almost always on a weekend.  Some months are more 'meety' than others, esp February-March, July-August and  November-December (Championship Seasons).  

• How long are Meets?  They can last between 2 hours and 4 days, but never more than 5 hours per day for 12 & under athletes.  Meet length depends upon the number of swimmers, speed of swimmers and length of events (50y vs 500y events).  If a meet lasts more than one day, it will be divided into several 'sessions' which are usually 2-5 hours.  Swimmers usually compete in one session per day, going home to rest between.  

• Who can swim in meets?   Some meets don't have any entry requirements beyond USA swimming membership.   Other meets later in the 'season', tend to get more exclusive, limiting swimmers by age and 'qualifying time cuts'.   As a result, swimmers that already have qualifying times get more chances to compete and improve those times, which means they have more consistent motivation to work hard and improve.   So it's important to get to meets when you're just starting out!  

For most meets, every swimmer is automatically signed up (committed) for every meet they qualify for - if you can’t make the meet, then you need to decommit.  There is a deadline to decommit.  Decommitting makes sure you don't get charged for the meet, and officials, coaches, parents and swimmers aren't standing around watching empty lanes.  I put the decommit deadlines on the Group calendar.  Only very rarely do we require swimmers to sign up for a meet.  These are usually optional meets that require travel, e.g. the Firecracker Classic in Missoula, Montana.  

Committing / Decommitting

1. Go to Wave's Meet/Events page

2. Scroll down to find the Meet and click 'Attend/Decline' button for the meet

3. Sign in

4. Click on your swimmer’s name. 

5. Select No from the drop-down to decommit.

6. To request an event, or tell us about time limitations, write it in the NOTE comment field.  

What if we can only make part of the meet?  

If you can make any portion of the meet, then don’t decommit.  You can put a note on your commitment (same as decommit above) saying what times you can make.  E.g. ‘Saturday only’. Or. ‘Jonny can only make it for 12-1pm Sunday'.  

We can't guarantee when any event will happen, because the timetable can't be worked out until after the decommit deadline.  If it shakes out that you have to miss an event, we understand… but really, what could be more important?

What if something comes up last minute, and we can't make the meet?

If for whatever reason you cannot be at the meet, it's alright, but let us know!  We cannot refund the entry fees, but we will be able to tell officials so they don't hold up events for absent swimmers.  It's even more important, if you're in a relay - because we'll have to find a sub or cancel the relay.  

 'No coach on planet earth likes a ‘mystery no-show’’   - Coach Kermit the Erin

We can’t run meets without you!   Specifically, we need stroke and turn judges, admin officials, timers, hospitality help, kid wranglers and more.  Volunteering is part of the team commitment and often allows you to get closer to the action.   It also allows us to put on more meets!   Some of these positions require certifications, like stroke and turn judging, starting and other 'admin' (bonus - you get to wear a white polo with a nametag!!).  Competition for the  positions that don't need training can be quite stiff, so watch out for the email from Wave Boosters, who coordinates all of our volunteer work.   

Volunteering is similar to decommitting

1.  Go to Wave's Meet/Events page

2. Scroll down and click on the Meet & Sign In

3. Click Job Signup on the meet's page

4. Click the jobs / Sessions that you would like to Volunteer for

Want a front row seat to Meets?   We need more Officials 

Our biggest hurdle to running meets is getting certified officials.  But you can help, by becoming a certified Official.  It involves some online courses (~70m), an Officiating Clinic (~1.5-2 hrs, on Zoom) and some paperwork.   The clinics mostly run September-January. 

Upcoming Officiating Clinics

Wave's Complete Guide to Officiating  (the process has changed slightly, but fantastic resource)  

About Volunteering

• If you are not able to fulfill the job for any reason, you will be responsible to find your own replacement after the job signup deadline 

• If a member or their replacement fails to show for a volunteer shift, the work hours missed will be billed at $50 per hour. 

• Please be on time. We've had several instances of people arriving late for their jobs. Your late arrival will be treated in accordance to the Service Hour Policy. You will be billed $12.50 for each 15-minute increment (rounded up) until your arrival. We don't wish to do this so please be on time.

• You can only sign up as an official if you've received your certifications or have taken the necessary steps to work on your certification. If you have not taken the required clinic(s) then you cannot work as an official.  If you're interested in becoming an official, check the links below

• Please pay close attention to the Job Notes. Certain jobs / positions REQUIRE experience.  We do check, and we will ask that you remove your signup if you sign up  for a job that you don't have the necessary experience for.

• The job times are only estimates. You are expected to stay until the job is done if the meet is running late. 

• The meet jobs are to be performed by an adult (18+), unless prior approval has been granted by the Booster President, before the meet starts. 

• Read the Service Hour Policy  before booking shifts

• Not sure what to sign up for?   Meet Job Descriptions 

Because meets are big productions, we may only be able to hold one a month.   Athletes won't be able to swim every event at every meet... or even swim every event to their potential.  As a result, missing a meet can mean they don't get a qualifying time cut for an exclusive meet or don't have recent times when move-ups happen.  It is also more difficult for the swimmers to feel progress if they don't get credit for it at meets.  As a result, they may be held back because they don't look like they're improving 'on paper'.  I have seen this happen too often! 

There are generally several periods of more intense 'meatiness' (when pandemics aren't a factor).  Try to plan family vacations around these periods! 

• November/December (Short Course Champs)  

• February / March (end of the 'short course season', Age Group Invitational, Age Group Regional and Showdown) 

• August (end of the 'long course season' for older athletes). 

I will always put meets on the gCal as soon as we have tentative dates.  'Tentative' meets will always have a '?' after if the date might change.  

Each swimmer attending the meet is allowed three events per day, maximum, in almost every meet.  Even if swimmers weren't limited to three events by meet rules, they would be limited by energy.   Swimming too many events means swimming them poorly.  Coaches sign swimmers up for events taking many things into consideration including swimmer progress, age of time, energy levels, time buffers between events, friendly competition, how long till their next birthday, move-ups, astrological signs…. I also like swimmers to do at least one event they haven't done before, one event that is a bit beyond them (their 'moonshot'), and one event they can slam dunk easily (drop lots of time or achieve a goal).  

Requesting an Event to Swim

I allow swimmers to request one event at all non-championship meets.   I reserve the right to 'veto' requests, especially if it's way too easy, or they swam it very recently, and have other holes in their swim 'portfolio'.  Swimmers are not allowed to be 'specialists' at 9 or 10 years old! 

The instructions for doing this are similar to decommitting, shown below (see #6 for requesting an event). If you want to request an event to swim, you must do it this way (no email or text requests).

To Request an Event:

1. Go to Wave's Meet/Events page

2. Scroll down to find the Meet and click Attend/Decline on the meet

3. Sign in

4. Click on your swimmer’s name. 

5. Select No from the drop-down to decommit.

6. To request an event, or tell us about schedule conflicts, write it in the NOTE comment field.   

Coaches will sign athletes up for all meets that they qualify for.  This information is mostly for swimmer motivation!  (and why some swimmers are invited to meets while others aren't). 

Many meets, especially championship meets only invite swimmers who have achieved qualifying times, or 'time cuts', for that meet. Qualifying time cuts are sometimes used to keep the meet on schedule, but more often to pull the top swimmers from across a region.  Times are determined by meet directors and can usually be found on the official Meet Info page.  Championship meets use time standards determined by the Local Swimming Committee (LSC).  Wave is in the Pacific NorthWest (PN) - LSC which includes most of western Washington State.  Time Standards for PN can be found on their website: 

https://www.teamunify.com/team/pnws2/page/fast-times/time-standards

Time standards are specific to pool length.  JAC is 25 yards which is called 'Short Course Yards' or SCY.  All Olympic pools are 50 meters long  which is called 'Long Course Meters' or LCM.   There are also 25 meter pools, called 'Short Course meters' (SCM).  

Some meets even have disqualifying time standards or times that are too fast for the meet.  This is done so that newer swimmers have more opportunities to compete and win awards.

Look up your times, quickly: usaswimming.org/times/individual-times-search

Every meet is different in length, events, order, qualifying times, but this is the most common format.  Before the decommit deadline, we can only have a rough idea of how long the meet will be.  After swimmer signups and event signups (done by coaches) are sorted out, then we can work out the timetable, and determine what time swimmers need to arrive.  We won’t know that until after decommits and entries are sorted out.  Info is for example only and will change for every meet. 

The Dolphin Splash Invitational , on May 21, 2022 had 1 session for all swimmers  (a short and simple a meet!)

Arrival Time: 11:45am at Kamiak High School Pool

Warmup: 12:00-12:55pm

Meet:  1:00-4:05pm

Heat Sheet

Events by Athlete

Timeline

Swimmers may leave after their last event; no need to stay till the end.   So if your swimmer's last event is the 50 Fly, you can check the timeline and see that the 12&u Girl's 50 Fly  is  3:10-3:12pm, then you can leave then!  No need to hang around until 4pm.  Meet officials do their best to stay true to the timeline and most meets will run within ±15m.

What WE do to prepare (we = coaches & swimmers in practice)

• Review meet procedures (flow, waiting locations, staging locations, whistle signals…) 

• Review requirements for legal strokes

• Review good technique for each stroke

• Help set expectations for events 

• When to panic (never!)

What PARENTS can do:   

• Check the checklist , check it twice?  

• Feed them good food

• Write E-H-L-Strokes  on their arm so they know where to be, when to be there and what to do.  Coaches don't have time to help all swimmers get to their events

• Arrive on time! 

• Cheer them on - from the stands or on youtube!  Live streaming links are usually sent out the day of the meet.  

• Get results on MeetMobile!

What SWIMMERS can do:   (videos to watch)

• Preparing for a perfect race (3:35) - Great cure for nerves. ( don’t overthink it!)

• How (not to) DQ  (4:36)- Disqualifications (DQs) are when swimmers break a rule of the stroke.  If they break a rule, they don’t get credit for the time.  So don’t do these!  Many of the DQs in the video won’t apply to our group, but many of them do!  

• Ledecky power finish! (2:16) - what drive looks like.

• Caleb Dressel Unstoppable! (3:36)- Fastest swimmer in the world.  Channel your inner Dressel.

Pre-meet meals

To get swimmers in fighting form, eat foods heavy in simple carbohydrates the night before the meet and the morning of the meet.  Proteins and fats take longer to digest and may still be digesting the next day, using energy the athlete needs for speed!  Good pre-meet carbs include pasta, rice, bread, potatoes… anything with more volume than color.   In other words, no meat before meets!

Meet Snacks

Feel free to bring snacks, but only simple carbs: juice, fruit, granola bars, fruit snacks, a watermelon, maybe.  No chocolate milk, beef jerky or blocks of cheese.  If it is a quick meet (only a couple hours, say) then there's no need to pack much.  Swimmers sometimes feel like it's a race to eat everything before the meet ends!  If they win that race, they lose the one in the water.   They will be digesting when they should be racing! 

We request that all swimmers in a meet wear the same color shirt each day.  This makes it feel more like a team and helps us keep track of Wave swimmers at dual meets, even when we can't see their suits. 

The T-shirt color changes each day of a meet. The first day is usually Purple ,  the second day is Black, the third day is White the fourth day is Purple.... rinse... repeat....  Obviously, we wear the same suit all days of the meet (black with WAVE logo).  Swimmers must also wear the Purple team cap  - no other caps, or even  Letter Caps  (B, BB, A.....).   If a swimmer has short hair, it is alright to swim without a cap (though slower).  Long hair should always be kept in a cap.  

Friday:  Purple WAVE T-shirt, Team suit, Purple Team Cap 

Saturday: Black    WAVE T-Shirt, Team suit, Purple Team Cap 

Sunday: White  WAVE T-Shirt, Team suit, Purple Team Cap 

As always, new swimmers get a 'pass' for the team gear/ t-shirt rules, but they must wear a competitive swim suit (no shirts, shorts, skirts, or full-body suits).    They can borrow a WAVE cap, and wear shirts as close to the color of the day as they have.   

PRINTABLE MEET CHECKLIST

◻ Events/Heats/Lanes on arm (see below)

◻ Team Suit *  (mandatory for meets, great for practice)   Girl’s suit   Boy’s Suit

◻ 2 Pair Goggles -make sure they are comfortable diving in both pairs.  No 'unproven' gear at meets!  If goggles keep falling off in dives, meets are not the time to try to fix them!   Speedo Vanquisher  Jr. TYR Blackhawk.   are good competitive goggles and fit most swimmers.  

◻ 2 Team Caps * - must be PURPLE.  We award caps of other colors to swimmers that achieve motivational times for practice,  but in meets they need to wear the purple team cap.  Need another?  Ask Wave boosters:  boosters@waveaquatics.org

◻ Team T-shirt * - of the appropriate color.  see What to Wear

◻ Parka / Robe / Loose Fleece - Something warm that they can put on and take off quickly (so they don't miss events!) 

◻ Towels - 2+,  A dry towel can be the difference between getting by and doing their best!   I like to use a chamois to get most of the water off, then a large towel stays dryer longer

◻ Water Bottle   with water

◻ Nutritious snacks - Fruit, juice, granola bars - simple sugars that they can eat without utensils.  Meets should be meatless! 

◻ Team Bag *

◻ Folding Chair or Mat - camp chairs are great for hanging out with friends and resting between events.  

◻ Game, Cards, Book or Markers (to draw bubbles and waves on friends) between events.  Please, no electronics.  And nothing that can't get wet!

* New swimmers at their first meet get a 'pass' for the team gear requirements, however, they do need a cap if they have long hair (no other team logos) and a legal competitive suit.  Most swimmers wear a legal suit to practice; technically one without any extra/loose fabric.  No shirts, skirts, shorts / 'trunks', rash guards, wetsuits, tech suits, or birthday suits!

Meets can be confusing, and it's critical to know where to be, and when, in a swim meet.  The easiest way to keep on top of it is to write it on your athlete's arm, before the meet, Ideally!  Specifically, they will need to know the 'Event', 'Heat' and Lane they will be swimming in.  And what Stroke they'll be swimming.   This information can be found on the Heat Sheet (aka Meet program), that is usually posted on the meet page a couple days before the meet:  Wave Events

Event:  There is usually one event per stroke-distance-age group-gender swim.   For example, in the heat sheet below, event 1A is Girls 10 & under 100 Yard Freestyle

Heat:  A heat is one 'set' of  ≤6 swimmers (1 per lane) that swim at the same time.  In an 8-lane pool, 8 can swim in each heat.  An event can have as few as one heat or as many as 30 heats (if 180 swimmers doing the same event!)  

Lane: Which lane the swimmer will be swimming in. 

 Stroke & Distance:  Make sure they know what to do when they hit the water! 

 Bonus:  add a swimmer's best times or motivational times to their 'meet tattoo".   They'll be able to see how they did the moment they finish! 

USA Swimming Individual Time Lookup - all official times achieved in USA Swimming sanctioned meets  (all Wave meets!)

USA Swimming Motivational Times    page 5-6  for 'Short Course Yards' pools,  like Juanita Aquatic Center. 

USA Swimming divides the training year into two seasons -- a “short course” (SC) season and a “long course” (LC) season.”  The "short course” season runs from September to March.  The "long course” season runs from April to early August.  This applies more to older swimmers who are doing longer events, though the seasons (and reasons) effect all swimmers.    

Short Course Season

During the “short course” season, swimmers train to compete in 25-yard pools.   Most indoor pools in the US are 25 yards long.  So winter meets conducted indoors are necessarily 'short course' competitions.  Juanita Aquatic Center and Redmond Pool are both 25-yard pools.   In "short course" training and competing swimmers must turn every 25 yards.  A 50-yard race requires one turn, a 100 yard race requires 3 turns, a 200 yard race requires 7 turns, and a 1650 -yard race requires 65 turns!   As you can see, if you want to excel in “short course” swimming, you must win the turn!  

Long Course Season

During the “long course” season, April to August, swimmers train to compete in 50-meter pools, which are more than twice as long as 'short course' 25-yard pools.  In a 50-meter race, a swimmer never turns.  In a 100-meter race a swimmer only turns once, in a 200-meter race a swimmer turns 3 times and in a 1500m race, a swimmer turns 29 times (compared to 65 turns for a 1650y in Short Course!).   So 'long course' events require fare less wall work/ underwater work, and far more surface swimming and endurance.  Wave senior swimmers train long course at Coleman Pool in West Seattle and compete at WA King County Aquatic Center in Auburn.  Most National-level and International swimming competitions are conducted in long course pools.  This includes the Pan-American Games, World Championships and the Olympics.

Championship Meets 

Each season culminates with a series of Championship meets that swimmers must qualify for by achieving specific time cuts.   See the meet guide for more!  

IM Xtreme is a program that allows USA Swimming members to track their times (or coaches to track their team's times) against swimmers all across the nation! Just by swimming a specific set of events, you can see where you rank against your teammates, your region and yes, even across the USA!

IM Ready (IMR)

IM Ready is the little brother of IM Xtreme (IMX), tailored toward our younger swimmers. Does 200 yards seem a little much? Then start getting "IM Ready" by swimming shorter distances, and keeping track of your improvements.  To get "IM Ready," swimmers compete in a series of five events at shorter distances. Below, we've listed the line-up by age groups.

10 & Unders: 100 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly, 100 IM (SCY) or 200 IM (LCM)

11-12 year olds: 200 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly, 100 IM (SCY) or 200 IM (LCM)

13-18 year olds: 200 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 IM

Once you have completed each event at least once at an official meet, you can log-in to your Deck Pass Account, and find out where you rank against all the other swimmers on your club team. You do not need to complete the IM Ready program to participate in the IM Xtreme.  It is simply a stepping stone.

IM Xtreme (IMX)

Ready to move forward? The next step is IM Xtreme (IMX). The IMX ranking includes a series of five or six events at longer distances. Once you've completed the IMX program, you can find out where your IMX score ranks nationally, within your zone, within your LSC and on your club.

9 & Under, 10-year olds: 200 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 IM

11-year olds, 12-year olds: 400 Free (LCM) or 500 Free (SCY), 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 IM

13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18-year olds: 400 Free (LCM) or 500 Free (SCY), 200 Back, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, 200 IM, 400 IM

Once you have completed all events in IMX or IMR you can get your scores on your USA Swimming Account:  

https://hub.usaswimming.org/landing

 Wave Aquatics is a USA Swimming sanctioned club and we participate in USA sanctioned swim meets.  This means that there will be Certified Officials at the meet in White shirts - starting events, checking stroke legality, certifying times, and checking the checkers.  As a result, these times will become part of their official swim record that will follow them as far as they go in swimming.  USA swimming is the organization that governs swimming in the United States from age group 8 & unders on up to the Olympics!

A Disqualification (aka 'DQ) is when a swimmer has broken a rule for an event, making their time invalid.  Examples of DQs include false starts or flutter kick in Fly or Breast. There are many rules governing each stroke, and they can be found in the USA Swimming Rulebook.  Getting a DQ in an event simply means that the swimmer does not get 'credit' for the event and the time isn't added to the USA swimming database.   

How (not to) DQ  - an excellent video showing most of the DQs possible in Swimming.   

If swimmers are unsure why they DQ's an event, ask your coach!  We will get a slip for each DQ detailing what did or didn't happen.    I try to make sure swimmers know why they DQ'd a stroke, if they will be swimming the stroke again at the same meet!  Otherwise, we generally have a DQ debrief and event rerun in practice after the meet.  

Many swimmers DQ events at meets, even ‘fast’ swimmers, especially in the more ‘technical’ strokes: Breast and Fly.   Most DQs are easy fixes, like a two hand touch for breast or fly.  DQs should feel like a little 'fizzle', because it's a lot of work that you don't get credit for.  They should not feel like epic fails.    No need to cry,  or cause meet-phobias.  They aren’t part of a permanent swimming criminal record, they shouldn’t be punished, and aren’t even stored anywhere …  They just evaporate, as if the event never happened.  No one knows how many times Michael Phelps DQ’d his first attempts at fly, but he must have.  Nearly everyone does - it’s one of the unwritten, but strictly enforced, laws of the universe.