Meet Basics
- The upper age limit for swimmers to compete in league and VSA meets is 19. Swimmers must not have graduated high school any later than the same calendar year.
- Most meets are held at the Waterbury Pool.
- Meets are usually Thursday evenings, starting around 4.45pm.
- Please have your child ready to participate in pre-meet stretching, assembling with teammates and coaches, and warm-ups. Meets usually take 2-3 hours to complete.
- Swimmers can enter up to four individual events and two relays per meet. Coaches will help swimmers determine which and how many events to enter at each meet.
- We follow the Waterbury Pool's thunder and inclement weather policy. Meets will only be cancelled in the event of thunder or if it is raining too hard to see the bottom of the pool, at the discretion of the lifeguarding staff. Although meets start around 5:00pm, we can start the meet as late as 6:00pm if the weather looks like it will clear. Final cancellation call will be made at 6:00pm.
- Swimmers will have a chance during practices to try starts from the blocks, but may choose to start from the pool deck or in the water, as long as it is a legal starting position according to U. S. Swimming rules.
- Swimmers need to confer with the coach the Monday of each week as to the events they wish to swim at the meet later that week. During the meets, swimmers must swim the stroke according to the USA Swimming rules. Officials will disqualify swimmers for events swam illegally.
- Swimmers will be given a card for each event they swim. They need to have the card with them before their race, during which time a parent volunteer will collect the cards and take them to the timers assigned to their lane. Timers will record the swimmer’s times on the card. At least two or (hopefully) three timers will record times, and the times will be averaged to compute the official time.
- When swimmers hear their event announced, they should proceed to the bullpen (what we call the area where swimmers are gathered before each event) to await their race. At the Waterbury pool, the bullpen is the bench closest to the post office at the shallow end of the pool.
- There is no bullpen at our District meet, or at the State meet ("States").
During the meet
- What to expect as a parent: Expect to help in some way, whether it is timing, helping with concessions, or collecting from swimmers and giving heat cards to timers. Tell your swimmer to pay attention to the events going on so that they can be prepared for their events coming up. Heat sheets are posted on the pool building. Encourage your swimmer to cheer on their teammates and to check in with their coach often. Encourage them to have fun, most of all. If they get a DQ in a race, encourage them to ask their coach about it so they can learn from their mistake(s).
- What to expect as a competitor: Be aware of the races going on to be prepared for your events coming up. Heat sheets are posted on the pool building; these sheets list the event name and number, in order. Keep your goggles and cap nearby at all times. Swim according to the rules for each stroke. Expect to be disqualified sometimes. It happens to almost every swimmer at some point and it’s okay. Don't forget to check with your coach before AND after your race!