Prestonwood Piranhas

We hope that this guide will give you a general idea of what to expect. Once you get through your first meet, everything will make so much more sense! No two swim meets ever run exactly the same. It can be the same meet that the club hosts each year, but things will be different. The most important thing to remember is to be flexible. Swim meets are large undertakings and are run by humans who are fallible. It’s ok to be a little confused at first. Don’t be afraid to approach someone from our team to ask a question. We have the best swim parents who are more than willing to help out a new family!

Before each meet, families will individually submit meet attendance for each swimmer. Click on the "EVENTS" tab to RSVP. Please do so by 11:59 PM on the Thursday night before the next meet. The coaches create the heat sheet (the lineup for each meet) on the Friday before a meet so that the events can be crossed with the opponent team over the weekend.

First off, bring what you would bring with you to each swim practice (swimsuit, towel, goggles and cap). Additionally, we highly recommend the following!

• ☑️ A blanket, beach towel, or chairs for your swimmers to sit on. Most pool chairs are removed from the pool deck for the duration of the meet.
• ☑️ Towels for drying off; it can be chilly after each swim!
• ☑️ Loose fitting, comfortable clothing to wear between races
• ☑️ Bring something to cover items if it rains. Even a simple zip-lock or trash bag can help save a phone or a dry set of clothes if it rains without warning!
• ☑️ Some swimmers like to bring a notebook or something like it to record their times! They can ask their timer for their time after each race instead of waiting for the results to post.

• Each swimmer will have a number written on their right arm. The number will be the same for the entire season and serves as their ID. Keep the area between your swimmer's shoulder and elbow free from sunscreen; it will erase permanent marker.
• Set up your family's chairs and anything else you brought to the meet. If we are at home, use the side of the pool that is closer to the parking lot.
• If you are volunteering, make sure to check in with the Volunteer Coordinators.

• The order of events is:
  • Medley Relay
  • Freestyle
  • Backstroke
  • Breaststroke
  • Butterfly
  • Freestyle Relay
• Boys swim first, then the girls, from youngest to oldest.
• Warm-ups are from 5:00 - 6:00 PM
• Competition begins at 6:00 PM and will move along very quickly; there is rarely a lull in the action. Meets typically end somewhere between 9:30 and 10:30 PM
• Dress for all weather! It can be really hot at the start of a meet, but get chilly after the sun goes down. At least for the swimmers since they are in and out of the water.
• Relay teams have made up of exactly four members. 
  • In the medley relay each child swims a different stroke, so it is important to know the order of swimmers. The stroke order of the medley relay is: [1] Backstroke, [2] Breaststroke, [3] Butterfly, [4] Freestyle
  • In the freestyle relay, each swimmer swims freestyle.

More Tips can be found here Advice for New Swim Parents

We had a GREAT question asked via email: how does the scoring work?

In a normal meet, each team picks three swimmers to put in the first heat (also called "the main event") giving us six swimmers total. Out of those six swimmers, all of them place, and then the top three score; their points are 5-3-1 for 1st-2nd-3rd respectively. Coaches try to place the kids well because a swimmer is only allowed to participate in 3 of the 4 main events (or 2 of 3 if the swimmer is in the 6&Under group). The results sheet lists the swimmers that were in the main event at the top of the column, then everyone else is listed below them. This means that a swimmer from a later heat could go faster than a main event swimmer, but they don't score since they weren't placed in that first heat. What does happen is that the coaches look at that faster time and will probably put that swimmer in a faster heat the following week. So ALWAYS swim your fastest! 

** Please note that there was scoring marked on the Time Trials results. These results are put in by default but will not count towards high point winners. High point winners will be determined by the individual points scored by each swimmer in our six dual meets.