Country Club of Spartanburg

What to expect at swim meets-both home and away. 

What is a meet? 

• A dual swim meet is when two teams swim compete against each other at the host pool. Points are assigned to the top 3 fastest swimmers in each race in all age groups except 6 & under. 

General meet timeline: 

• Warm-ups 5:15-6pm
• Meet begins at 6pm. Events start with medley relays (all 4 different strokes swam by 4 different swimmers), followed by individual events and concludes with freestyle relays. 
• Events are broken down by gender and age. Events begin with 6 & under girls, 6 & under boys, followed by 8 & under, 9-10 year olds, 11-12 year olds, 13-14 year old, and 15-18 year olds. 
• Meets generally finish around 8:30pm

How are swimmer events selected?

• Coaches will select swimmer events based on the swimmers ability and the number of entries we have for each event. Not all swimmers will swim every event due to space limitations. Coaches will encourage swimmers to try new events or strokes that they may be afraid of-please encourage your swimmers and be excited for this challenge! Please do not request certain events for your swimmer-trust the coaches and the relationship they have built during practices. If you have significant concerns about an event, please see your child's coach or Kate Moore.

What to bring to meets: 

• Swimmers should have all events written on their arm or leg in the format shown in the picture. We will NOT have time to write on all swimmers before warm-ups.

• Team suit and team cap.
• Food and drinks can not be brought into the pool area for home meets
• Some meets will have concessions and food for dinner, others will not. We will do our best to gather that information and share with families prior to the meet. 
• A water bottle for your swimmer is highly recommended.
• The team t-shirt to wear between events.
• A sweatshirt-especially for early season meets-it can be chilly for wet swimmers and cold pools! (Write names in team shirts-they will get mixed up!)
• 2 towels-you will be amazed how wet the first will get.
• The heat sheet printed or saved to your phone. These will be emailed out and posted on the event calendar (here). How to read a heat sheet.

Where will we sit at meets? 

• Swimmers will all sit together as a team. This is critical for the parents who are lining up the kids before their races. If they are not sitting in the team area, they may miss their event. 
• Swimmers should absolutely not be playing in deep end or baby pools during meets.
• Parent seating will vary by pool. Rarely is there actual seats for spectators, so bring tailgate chairs. 

What do swimmers do between events? 

• Cheer on their teammates! This is the most fun part of summer league. 
• Strategically determine when you want your child to eat dinner/snack between events. It is best to plan that ahead so they know to come find you.

What should I do if I'm a volunteer? 

• All volunteers will need to arrive by 5:15pm. 
• At home meets, please report to the cafe area for further instructions
• At away meets, please stay in the team area and we will gather all volunteers 

Swim meets can't happen without all of you! Below is a description of volunteer roles. 

Timers: We need 1 timer per lane to be paired with a timer from the other team. You will be provided a stop watch and will write your times down on the provided sheet for each swimmer in your lane. The runner will pick these up and take to the clerk to enter during the meet. 

Runner: Picks up DQ slips from officials and timing sheets from timers and delivers them to the clerk for computer entry.

Rounder: This job is to get the swimmers in your assigned age group together and in lane order for their event. You are only responsible for CCS swimmers. You will be given a heat sheet so you will know who is swimming each event. Only swimmers on your heat sheet can swim in the event. If there is an open lane or a swimmer chooses not to swim, we can not put another swimmer in their place. Our swimmers will be in one assigned area. At home meets we will have a designated line up area to take the swimmers to. 

Lane Placement: These parents are assigned a lane to make sure that the right swimmer is swimming in the right lane for each event. If a lane is empty for a heat or a swimmer chooses not to swim, we can not put another swimmer in their place.

Pit Parent: These parents keep the swimmers together in the designated team space so that the rounder parents can easily find them. These parents will also help encourage swimmers to cheer for their teammates while they are swimming! 

Tent Parent: At home meets, this parent will help line swimmers up in correct heats in the designated space so they travel to their lanes at the appropriate time.