Understanding the Short Course Season

Definition
 Swimming in a 25-yard pool
 Meet Season ~ Oct – Mar

Meet Participation
 At minimum, swimmer should swim at our home meets
 Talk with the coaches to determine if your swimmer is ready
 At the maximum, you can sign up for every meet on our schedule
 Not likely, especially for new families
Meet Entry Timelines
Month or so before the meet:

Check the Meet Schedule
 Meet schedule can be found
 Website – www.kcstcobras.org under Events
 Meet schedule posted on Team Bulletin Board
 Note when the meet entry is due to KCST

Get Meet Information
 Each meet has a meet packet that provides information about that meet including

Venue information

Meet format (timed finals, prelims/finals)

Swimmer eligibility

Events offered and maximum number of events swimmer may enter
 Meet packets can be found
 Website – www.kcstcobras.org under Events
 Hard copy of the meet packets are in a binder in the Pool Office

Make Event Selection(s)
 Decision is made by you, swimmer, and coach
 Another good source of info is other parents

Sign-up for Meet
 Click on the “attend this event” button on the meet event
 Requires a userid and password which will be sent to you via e-mail upon registration
 Allows you access to parts of our website that are not available to anyone but
members of the team
Updated 9/7/11

When you get your initial userid and password, suggest you reset the password to
something easy to remember (such as your youngest swimmer’s initials and birthday)
A couple of days after the meet entry deadline, our meet entry chair (Coach Stephanie)
sends out a report showing KCST swimmers entered in that meet
 Please pay attention to this report--if you entered your swimmer(s) make sure they are
on the list and the events are correct

Week before the meet:

Look at Psych Sheets
 Posted on the host team’s website (and ours) approximately a week before the meet
 Lists all swimmers in the meet for each event by fastest to slowest times (typically)
 Provides you and your swimmer an idea of how many swimmers are entered and how
your swimmer is ranked within each event

Look for Meet Warm-Up Times
 Host team and our website will post meet warm-up times
 Typically one hour and 15 minutes prior to start of each session
 Example: Fri warm-ups 4-5 PM, Meet start 5:15 PM; Sat AM warm-ups 7-8 AM,
Meet start 8:15 PM
 For large meets, warm-up times are staggered
 Not all teams will warm-up at the same time, but all teams will warm-up before
the meet begins
 For our meets, ages 10 & U swim in AM; 11 & O swim in PM (except Regionals)
 Other meets may be grouped differently—always read the meet packet!
Day of the meet:

Gear:
 Bring extra cap and goggles
 See the coach if something tears or breaks
 Extra towel and set of dry clothes may come in handy as well
 Sharpie to write events on arm

Heat Sheets
 Host team sells heat sheets (usually cost between $5-$8)
 Heat sheets lists all events and heats within those events
 Use the heat sheet to find your swimmer’s heat and lane assignment
 Write the event, heat and lane on your swimmer’s hand or forearm. For example:
E
2
6
Updated 9/7/11
H
6
2
L
3
7
50 Free
50 Back

Getting Your Swimmer to the Start Blocks
 Swimmers may either sit with parents in the stands or stay on deck with the coaches
 8 & Under will be called early to line up in a “Clerk of Course”
 “Clerk of Course” is managed by host team parents – they are responsible for getting
swimmers to blocks
 9 & over need to listen to announcements
 “1st call for Event ____” “2nd call for Event ____” “Final call for Event ____”
 Responsible for getting themselves to the blocks in time for their event
 Coaches will help new swimmers get to where they need to be
 Line up behind the block in their lane (verify with timer they are in the right lane)
 Swimmers should have cap and goggles on when they go up to the block
 Always go see the coach when the event is done

After swimming the event(s)
 No matter the result, swimmers should always go see the coach right after the event
 Disqualifications (DQs) sometime happen, even among experienced swimmers
 If DQ’d, an official will often talk to the swimmer right after they exit the pool
 If the official doesn’t get to the swimmer, the official will talk to the coach
 Let the coaches help the swimmer(s) learn from the DQ
After the meet:

Ribbons/Medals/Awards & Meet Results
 Coach collects all ribbons/medals/awards at the end of meet
 Ribbons/Medals/Awards will be placed in family folder Monday after meet
 Results posted on host team’s website and our website a couple days after the meet
Other Resources:


Other parents
USA Swimming website at www.usaswimming.com
o Great articles for swimmers and parents about the sport of swimming
Updated 9/7/11