So You’re Going To A Swim Meet

Going to swim meets is about having fun, learning where a swimmer is at a particular point in time and learning how to compete well.

In addition to all of that, there is learning to prepare. Part of that is getting to the meet on time. Warm-ups are extremely important. For young and inexperienced swimmers, it is a way to become familiar with the environment and to get relaxed. For all swimmers, it is also a way to prepare your body to race. The first 1000 yards are always the hardest. Everything does not work well until at least 700-800 yards have been swum. Here is a link to an article by Saluki coach, Bill Price, about warm-ups with a link to an additional article that is important to read. http://www.swimsaluki.com/library/articles/231007.htm

Please arrive at least 20 minutes before the warm-ups begin so as to find your place. Swimmers need to be at the end of the assigned lane 5 minutes before warm-ups begin ready to get in as soon as it is allowed. Please realize that some of your swimmers take between 5-10 minutes to put on their caps and goggles on the pool deck.

Here is a list of what a swimmer should or could bring

Competition suit

2^nd suit for just in case

2 caps, caps break, so be prepared 

2 goggles, goggles break, so be prepared

Towels, remember you will be drying off after each event and after warm-ups

Clothing to wear over suit while waiting to compete Many times it is not warm where swimmers wait. Athletes need to keep their muscles warm to be able to avoid injury and to be able to swim as well as possible. Possible choices, T-shirts; jackets; pants that pull on; hats; deck shoes. I like polar fleece. It does not soak up water and get heavy.

Water bottle It is important to stay hydrated. When there is not enough fluid in the body, it is more likely for injury to occur.  Muscles are 70% water.  Headaches and cramps also occur when an athlete does not drink enough. If a swimmer likes sports drinks, I like the sports drinks to be diluted in half. That is what Gatorade Rain is, regular Gatorade diluted by half.

Food Swimmers need to eat during a meet. Racing takes a lot of energy. Possible choices-bananas, any kind of fruit;  sport bars, I like Clif Bars; bagels. You want to bring food that is easily digestible and low in fat. This is the time to not have a complex carbohydrate because it takes too long to digest. This is the time for so called “white” foods. Please, no candy. Although, there is a tradition of eating peanut butter and chocolate chip sandwiches at meets on our team.

NO SODA. The carbonation is really detrimental. There is evidence that it softens tooth enamel, inhibits the body’s ability to absorb calcium and oxygen. In fact, any athlete should only drink soda as a treat, 2 or 3 times a year.

 Something to do  Swimmers need to rest and be quiet between events. Cards, games, books are all good. No balls. No running around. No wrestling

 

Something to sit on. Chairs are good, as are sleeping bags.

 

Sharpie markers to write events, heat and lane on arm 

Things to expect at a meet.

Bullpen Some meets have what is called a bullpen to line swimmers up at a meet and get them on deck. This is usually done with the younger swimmers. Swimmers can get heat and lane information from their coach or their parent, if their parent purchases a heat sheet. Heat sheets are also usually posted on deck.

Concession stand The host at meet usually runs a concession stand, some choices there are good, some are terrible.

Vendors Many times there are vendors at meets and you can purchase swimming supplies.

Things a parent may want to bring

Chair Sitting on a backless bleacher can be no fun. If you stay in the bullpen area, sitting on the floor can be even more not fun.

Something to do I have seen parents who have done entire needlework projects in the stands. Books are good.

Highlighter markers If you buy a heat sheet, it is a good way to mark where your swimmer is in the pages.

A good attitude Remember this is a learning experience for your young athlete. There may be DQ’s, disqualifications. This is a normal part of the process. Everyone DQ’s. Please be sure that the rules of swimming have been addressed at practice. That does not mean your swimmer will always remember what was said in practice. That is what children do.They are also learning how to be at a meet, how it works, and how to race. You get to be supportive and enthusiastic. The coach will address any corrections that need to be addressed at the meet. In fact, for coaches, an ideal conversation between a parent and an athlete would go something like this, ” I really liked watching you race, Suzy. Was it fun for you?”

” What did your coach tell you after your event?”

” That sounds like what you should do.”

This is all part of a process. If your child does well, she will learn from that. If your child does not do well, she will learn even more from that. Please remember, your coach will not put your child in an event she is not capable of doing. Don’t let your fear stop your child from doing something. Your child may be far more capable than either you or your child realize.

I Coach, So You Don’t Have To

  

After a recent meet, a parent spoke to me about the conversations taking place in the stands about the swimmers.  Some parents talked about everything that their child needed to change to improve.  Others wondered why their child was not improving as much as another swimmer on the same team.  Others expressed doubt that the coach was doing enough to make the swimmer improve.   None of the comments were about whether the child was having fun or noting the improvements that did happen.  Did these parents share their thoughts with their child when he or she came to the stands?  I hope not.  All of these concerns are the purview of the coach.  All of these parents mean well.  They want their children to be happy and to be successful.  They want to help.  Sometimes parents help their children so much that the activity, in this case swimming, becomes more about the parents’ feelings than the athletes.

  

It is important for the young athlete to be able to own her swimming.  What I mean by this is that the desire and work and commitment need to come from the athlete.  Some parents make the mistake of wanting swimming success for their children so much that there is no room for the child to discover on her own whether or not she wants to do it.  Some parents are so busy making sure that everything is taken care of that the child never experiences any failure.  If a child never experiences disappointment or failure, she will never learn how to recover from it.  She will not know the value of appropriate consequences for her lack of action.  She will not be motivated to change. 

Parents are in the enviable position of being able to be their child’s cheerleader and primary emotional support for swimming.  All corrections and instructions should come from the coach.  The coach knows what skills and training levels the athlete should be working on. 

I had a young athlete on my team for many years who loved to swim.  When he became a teenager, he developed some performance anxiety issues and started swimming less well at meets that at practice.  Worry became a part of every meet.  He worried that he would not be good enough.  He worried if he did not drop time at every meet in every event that he was not working hard enough.   He worried about his mom’s reaction to his performance.  That was the key it turned out.  Other swimmers told me that this swimmer’s mom would tell him after every practice and meet all the things she had seen that he needed to fix.  She had spent a great deal of time and effort to understand swimming and wanted to share her knowledge with her child.  She wanted to be involved and to help him improve in every way possible.   The result- he stopped swimming.  It became not fun.  He felt like he was a failure even though he had “A” times and was a leader in his lane.  The message he heard with all the corrections was that nothing was good enough.  The mother’s desire for the swimmer to be really good dominated the swimmers relationship with his sport.  Instead of the swimmer determining the amount of time and effort he wanted to spend improving, he spent his time reacting to his mother.  It became about her and not the swimming. 

Parents over involvement with their child’s swimming even extends to simple things during practice.

Last year, I was in the hallway waiting for all the swimmers to be picked up and a brother and sister from the team were playing in the hall.  I asked them where their mom was and they said she had gone back to the pool to get the water bottles they had forgotten.   These siblings were 9 and 11 years old. 

When will these children remember to pick up their water bottles for themselves?  Never. Who would if someone else will do it for you?  As a coach, my feeling is that swimmers should be responsible for their own equipment.  Parents might want to remind, but they should not do something for a swimmer that they can do for themselves.  One of the coach’s jobs is to teach the athlete to be able to take care of herself and her equipment.

All of this is not to say that parents should not have any concerns or responsibilities about swimming.  Parents need to get swimmers to practice and meets on time and they need to make sure their swimmers have access to the proper equipment and supplies for their sport.  Parents need to reinforce the concept that swimming on a team is a commitment to the team and to the sport and to themselves.  If parents have concerns about training levels, skills, or stroke technique, those concerns should be discussed with the coach.  The coach is responsible for the long-term development of the athlete and may have a different view of what is happening. Your child’s coach knows her as an athlete.  Your child’s coach knows what your young athlete can do and what she is capable of doing.   Let your young athlete have her own relationship with her coach and with her sport.   Don’t become your child’s coach.  Hopefully, she will have many good coaches in her life.  No matter what, she will only have one mom and one dad.  Be the parent.