Meet info

Summer MEET info: ALL summer meets are tentative. Please talk to Coach Jay if you are interested in attending a particular meet.

Summer 2010 Events

DATE	NAME/Information	Location/Directions	Due Date for entries
May 8th	OMM BBQ Meet	Directions">Owensboro, KY	April 29th
May 21-23	Card Throwdown	Removed from Schedule due to School changes!
June 5th	Coach Jay's Wedding!!		TBA
June 11-13th	Etown Summer Classic	View Larger Map">Etown Swim and Fitness center	Senior Only, June 1st, discuss with Coach JAY!
June 25-27	Brent Cochran Memorial Meet Info	Campbellsville, KY	June 18th
June 30th	KY state Open Water Championships (more info here) http://www.kentuckyopenwater.com/	Batavia, OH	June 20th
July 8-10	Seahawk Classic Meet Information	Louisville	Senior Only, June 2nd
July 16-28	State "B's" and Under 8 Championships	Directions">Louisville, KY	TBA
July 24-25	Bluegrass state games	Lexington, KY	Check the website, Online registration by July 22nd. NOT a USA meet, but is a Long Course Meters summer meet...with age division.
July 22-25	State "A"'s Championships	View Larger Map">Etown Swim and Fitness center	TBA
August 21st	Kids Tryathlon	Preston Miller Park	More Info later, 100 yard swim, 2 mile bike, .5 mile run

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Each meet charges a fee per event, plus some fees for the meet. To cover those fees RACE charges $5 per event, plus $10. That money is used to help offset coaches’ travel fees, plus pay any fees required for entry.

Take a moment to talk to Coach Jay about the right meet for you, and the events you should enter. You can use the Meet entry form to submit your entries.

————————————————————MEET Information/FAQs—————————————————————

USA meets are different than Summer swim meets, most of the time there are more swimmers, from more places, swimming faster. Also, due to rules designed to protect the swimmers, they spread the events out over a longer period of time. Some information is summarized below in an FAQ format.

1) I see a meet coming up, Does my child have to swim in a (or this) meet?

No! Do what is best for your child, and your family. However, RACE is a competitive swim team, geared towards preparing swimmers to compete, and to finish the season strong at Championship meets.

2) Why go to a Meet

1) Meets are a place for a swimmer to see how they are progressing in a tangible way.

2) Meets are a place for swimmers and parents to see the payoff from the hard work that they have been doing in practice.

3) Meets are fun! For children meets are characterized by sitting with their friends (or parents), followed by getting ready for their event, then swimming their event. If enough swimmers go there is the opportunity to be a part of a team, cheering for teammates, or possibly even a relay.

3) Which meets should we go to?

We, as a team, have picked a mix of meets that will help the swimmers to build towards championships meets, and that will provide us with (relatively) easy travel, and good competition. However, we know that you have other opportunities, and responsibilities – pick meets that fit your family schedule!4)

4) Do I have to attend All of the meet days?

No – you choose when and what to attend – if one day works for your schedule that is fine. One day is actually recommended for new or young swimmers.

5) How do we enter?

Print out a meet entry from the website (from the Meet info page), or pick one up at the pool. Look at the Meet information (linked on the Meet Info Page). Then on the form indicate the event # and name (Such as #16 Girls 8&Under 50 freestyle).

Fill out the rest of the form and then submit this form, with a check to a coach, or a board member prior to the Team specified entry deadline.

6) Why do we have to enter so soon, we are not sure if we are going!

The meets have to check eligibility, and set the races, at some of the meets this is a big task. You can always pay to enter, and back out – however – ENTRY FEES ARE NON-REFUNDABLE once submitted (that money has been sent to another team). There is a process at some meets to enter on the day of a meet, it is not always easy, or possible, so talk to a Coach prior to attempting.

7) Who is responsible for entering my child in the proper events?

You should consult a coach for the best events for your child. They will give you their opinion based on the meet schedule, your schedule, and your child’s ability. However, you MUST fill out the entry form and submit it (along with a check) to enter your child. Discussing entries with a coach WILL NOT get you entered.

8) What does a meet cost/Where does this money go?

Meet costs are set by the Host club, and other USA swimming authorities. These costs include a surcharge that goes to the Regional Swim authority that the meet is swam (for example, KY swimming collects $1.50 per swimmer). Sometimes there is a facility charge (Louisville meets sometimes charge $3.00 or more per swimmer). Finally, there is a fee per event (this ranges from $3.50 to $5.50 per event). Meets are the biggest fundraisers for many teams.

RACE tries to simplify this process by collecting an amount equal to the number of events your swimmer is swimming X $5.00, (for example, 4 events would be $20).

Then we ask you to add $10. From this $10 we will pay all other expenses associated with your child swimming (all of those fees, and coach’s travel expenses).

If your child swims in a relay is put together RACE may ask for additional money to cover this cost.

RACE does not make money on meets that we travel too!

9) Do we travel as a group?

Parents are encouraged to work with each other to carpool, caravan, and eat together as much as they are willing and able to do. In our experience the kids have more fun when they travel with their friends! And, parents enjoy the meets more when don’t spend as much on gas, and have someone to follow and help with the uncertainty of new places.

We will work to identify some nearby hotels for the further away meets, provide directions (on the web), and work with parents who want to travel with others.

10) Will my kids swim all day?

No, Days are usually divided into a morning session, and an afternoon session. They will place different age groups into each session, to spread out the events, and lessen the amount of kids in the facility. By rule sessions are limited to no more than 4 hours. Some meets are faster than others, talk to a coach, or other family to get a sense about the pace of a team hosting the event.

11) I noticed my child is swimming in the morning at the first meet; will it always be this way?

No, each meet sets their own schedule, the mix of age groups in each session will change

12) Can we bring food/drinks?

Usually the host club will forbid food and drinks on the pool deck (the area surrounding the pool). This is for 2 reasons 1) to keep the pool clean, and 2) to make money off their own concession stand.

We cannot officially encourage you to sneak a snack, or sports drink into your swimmer’s bag – but you might notice the experienced swimmers doing this!

13) How will they know when to swim?

At the meets the host club will sell a heat sheet, listing events, and heats. The charge for this is usually small, $2 – $6, and sometimes is included with the price of admission (if they charge admission, which only a few meets do). We will also provide some information, whatever we receive, prior to the meet.

IT is YOU and YOUR child’s responsibility to keep up with events, and be in the right place at the right time. The coach, and other parents will certainly help, but they CANNOT run around looking for missing swimmers.

14) How big are these meets?

Each meet is different, and they each vary from year to year. Meets hosted in large cities (Nashville), will have a lot of swimmers from the host club participating. These meets may seem very large and perhaps intimidating to new swimmers (and swimmers’ parents!). However, no matter the size the meet will run in basically the same way.

15) Will my child be overwhelmed at their first meet?

This is certainly a possibility; it is possible the parents might be overwhelmed too! That is why we like to have a large number of swimmers go to meets – there is safety and comfort in numbers. Once the new swimmers see their friends doing their events, and get their first one under their belt they will be fine!

16) My Child did Summer swimming meets, how are these different?

USA meets draw swimmers from a wider geographic area – so your child will be swimming against swimmers from different cities, and states. There are more teams, and sometimes, many more swimmers. This is why the meets are spread over multiple days and times. The competition will be stronger. Your child may be intimidated by this at first, but with practice, and meet attendance they WILL improve!

17) How will my child do?

6-12 year olds tend to be somewhat unpredictable. We as coaches generally know by practice efforts how a child will do in an upcoming meet, but we always have surprises both positively and negatively.

However, swimming is an unusual sport, in that the distance and event does not change over the course of a season – so the swimmers are really swimming against themselves looking to improve upon previous efforts.

18) Will my child get a ribbon/medal/trophy?

See #17. Maybe, it depends on a large number of factors. If that is important to your child’s motivation talk to a coach about their chances at a particular meet.

19) What does it mean when someone says “the swimmers are swimming against themselves?”

The coaches will start tracking performance for each swimmer in each event they swim. The coaches are looking for improvements in the strokes, turns, starts, finishes, endurance, pacing, attitude, and how each race affects the child mentally. Finally we look at, but may not talk about times to the swimmers. (Talking about times with older swimmers is a good thing, but to younger kids it can be very negative). BE Positive with your child! We certainly Will!

20) My child did not win, now what?

So What! See above about improving! Did your child improve on the things being taught at practice? The child may have won, but made the same mistakes as before, so is there really any accomplishment? We want to emphasize improvement, learning, and accomplishment. Your child cannot control the swimmer in the lane beside them, or even in the previous heat.

21) Help, my child finished last!

There are a lot of possible reasons for this. Sometimes a swimmer is younger than their competitors (for example a young 11 year old in the 11-12 age division). Sometimes they are in an event that they are learning. Sometimes the competition is just very good.

The younger swimmers generally do not know where they finish, so even if they were last you have the opportunity to be positive!

22) Who can I turn to for more help?

RACE has a number of “experienced” swim parents, and kids, in addition to the coaches. Talk to the Spillers, the Perkins, the D’Adamio’s, the Natchers, or the Brown’s for insight!

23) Are there other benefits to meet attendance?

Those who have been in USA swimming for a while do notice other benefits, the most important of which is the growth of the kids. Swim meets give the kids an opportunity to grow and experience new things, new environments, and the opportunity to take on new responsibilities. Times at USA sanctioned meets are tracked on the USA swimming website building a history of performances.

24) What do I need to do to get my child ready?

Get them to practice – we try to get them ready.

Get them some sleep.

Do not overhype the meet: talk to them about how they have done this in practice, or done this before.

Make sure they have a towel (or two, maybe a small blanket to sit on, or wrap up in), goggles (two pair is better – they only break when you need them!), something to amuse them while they wait for their event (a book, some toys, some trading cards, a nintendo DS – whatever works for your child – and that you are willing to have passed around by a bunch of kids!)

24) What should we bring for the parents?

Some suggested things from some old Meet pros…

Chairs (maybe – some meets have lots of seating)

A book, or something to look at if there is a delay

Maps of where you are going

A camera

A notepad, and something to write with

Extra towel (for when your wet child comes and sits in your lap to talk about how they did!)

Cash for the snack bar, and possibly for the swim shop.