What is a time standard?
What is a sanctioned meet?
How do I mark up my swimmer?
Does every swimmer swim in the Championship meet?
What meets should my swimmer attend?
ENSWORTH AQUATICS
swim meets 101
How do I sign up for a swim meet?
What is short course and long course season?
What are the swim seasons?
Short Course Season
The short course season runs from late August to mid-March, concluding with the Regional Championship meet or the Southeastern Championship meet for qualifying athletes. During this season, the competition pool is set up for 25-yard racing. Ensworth Aquatics will host three more meets this short course season. Home meets require our parents to volunteer their time to help manage the workload.
Long Course Season
Long course season begins in April and extends through early August, concluding with the Southeastern Championship meet for qualifying athletes. During the summer months, our pool will be 50 meters long - a little over twice as long as our regular 25-yard setup. Ensworth Aquatics will host three long course meets this summer. Just like our short course meets, we’ll need all parents to volunteer in some capacity.
What are the home meets?
Home Meets
All Ensworth Aquatics swimmers should participate in home meets. Whether you are new to swimming or a seasoned veteran, our home meets are great opportunities for racing and attracting teams from around our immediate area and beyond. There is competition for swimmers of all ages, experience, and ability levels! Ensworth typically hosts between three and five home meets each year. Our December Holiday Classic is the biggest and serves as a mid-season championship for the majority of the team.
Should we attend the travel meet?
Should my swimmer attend the travel meet?
Travel Meets
We recommend that all athletes gain exposure to travel meets, but attendance is not expected. Travel meets do offer a different bonding atmosphere for athletes beyond the pool as many will stay at a team hotel where they often have fun getting to know each other better. Ensworth Aquatics typically travels to meets in November, February, April, and June. Travel meets become increasingly important as swimmers get older and more invested in the sport, but they are also a great confidence booster for younger athletes who gain valuable experience by swimming at other pools against competitors they may not normally face.
What is a sanctioned meet?
Sanctioned and Non-Sanctioned Meets
A sanctioned meet is the term used to describe a meet that will have certified officials overseeing the event and has been approved (sanctioned) by USA Swimming. Times swum at a sanctioned meet will be sent to the USA Swimming database and can be used as an entry time for future meets. Non-Sanctioned Meets, like our first few Grand Prix meets, are race day opportunities without certified officials or a USA Swimming sanction. The times swam at a non-sanctioned meet do not officially count and cannot be used for entry times or qualifying for future meets.
What are Motivational Times, Time Standards, and Qualifying Meets?
Motivational Times
USA Swimming establishes motivational time standards for each age group to provide swimmers with a metric to track their improvement and establish goals. Motivational Times are divided into the following 6 levels within each age group: B, BB, A, AA, AAA, and AAAA.
Next page
Motivational Times
What are Motivational Times, Time Standards, and Qualifying Meets?
Time Standards & Qualifying Meets
Time Standards are the established times a swimmer must post in order to enter a competition. Many swimmers' first experience with time standards comes with the Southeastern Swimming Championships (SES Championships). Only swimmers who have posted times at or below the meet’s time standard for their age group can compete in an individual event. Southeastern Championships, Futures Championship, and Sectionals are competitions currently on our schedule that are classified as Qualifying Meets. It is likely that in the event page, you will notice the term Qualifiers Only. This indicates that a time standard must be achieved in order to be entered in a meet.
View Time Standards
Preparing for the Meet
Marking up your swimmer
Swimmers will see teammates arriving to the pool for swim meets with stuff written all over their arms. Classify under "weird swimmer things," but it is the best way to keep young swimmers on track at meets. The Clerk of Course, coaches, and teammates can glance at this grid of information and know how to help young swimmers know where to go and when to race. Parents can find swimmers race information in the heat sheet, which is posted to the swim meet event page a day or so before a competition.
Reading the Heat Sheet
Reading the Heat Sheet
Event... Heat... Lane!
The important information for marking up your swimmer is the event "E," heat "H," and lane "L." Let's say we're marking up Josephine Perkinson, E = 13, H = 1, and L = 4. Sometimes the kids like to have what they are swimming written too.
Does every swimmer compete in the championship meet?
Championship Meets
February signals the beginning of the short course championship season. It’s the part of the swim season when individual swimmers rally together to race not just for individual best times but aim to score points. At these meets, we truly compete as a TEAM and compete for team titles against other teams in our local swimming community (LSC). All swimmers have an opportunity to compete in a championship meet this season. Here are the options: Championship Meet Schedule 2024 Southeastern Championship: February 16 - 18, 2024 (QT) Region Championships: February 24 - 25, 2024 Senior Sectionals Championship Meet: March 7 - 10, 2024 (QT)
QT means that a qualifying time must be achieved.
How do I sign my swimmer up for a meet?
Meets 101
bahrco
Created on October 20, 2021
Start designing with a free template
Discover more than 1500 professional designs like these:
View
Akihabara Connectors Infographic
View
Essential Infographic
View
Practical Infographic
View
Akihabara Infographic
View
Vision Board
View
The Power of Roadmap
View
Artificial Intelligence in Corporate Environments
Explore all templates
Transcript
What is a time standard?
What is a sanctioned meet?
How do I mark up my swimmer?
Does every swimmer swim in the Championship meet?
What meets should my swimmer attend?
ENSWORTH AQUATICS
swim meets 101
How do I sign up for a swim meet?
What is short course and long course season?
What are the swim seasons?
Short Course Season
The short course season runs from late August to mid-March, concluding with the Regional Championship meet or the Southeastern Championship meet for qualifying athletes. During this season, the competition pool is set up for 25-yard racing. Ensworth Aquatics will host three more meets this short course season. Home meets require our parents to volunteer their time to help manage the workload.
Long Course Season
Long course season begins in April and extends through early August, concluding with the Southeastern Championship meet for qualifying athletes. During the summer months, our pool will be 50 meters long - a little over twice as long as our regular 25-yard setup. Ensworth Aquatics will host three long course meets this summer. Just like our short course meets, we’ll need all parents to volunteer in some capacity.
What are the home meets?
Home Meets
All Ensworth Aquatics swimmers should participate in home meets. Whether you are new to swimming or a seasoned veteran, our home meets are great opportunities for racing and attracting teams from around our immediate area and beyond. There is competition for swimmers of all ages, experience, and ability levels! Ensworth typically hosts between three and five home meets each year. Our December Holiday Classic is the biggest and serves as a mid-season championship for the majority of the team.
Should we attend the travel meet?
Should my swimmer attend the travel meet?
Travel Meets
We recommend that all athletes gain exposure to travel meets, but attendance is not expected. Travel meets do offer a different bonding atmosphere for athletes beyond the pool as many will stay at a team hotel where they often have fun getting to know each other better. Ensworth Aquatics typically travels to meets in November, February, April, and June. Travel meets become increasingly important as swimmers get older and more invested in the sport, but they are also a great confidence booster for younger athletes who gain valuable experience by swimming at other pools against competitors they may not normally face.
What is a sanctioned meet?
Sanctioned and Non-Sanctioned Meets
A sanctioned meet is the term used to describe a meet that will have certified officials overseeing the event and has been approved (sanctioned) by USA Swimming. Times swum at a sanctioned meet will be sent to the USA Swimming database and can be used as an entry time for future meets. Non-Sanctioned Meets, like our first few Grand Prix meets, are race day opportunities without certified officials or a USA Swimming sanction. The times swam at a non-sanctioned meet do not officially count and cannot be used for entry times or qualifying for future meets.
What are Motivational Times, Time Standards, and Qualifying Meets?
Motivational Times
USA Swimming establishes motivational time standards for each age group to provide swimmers with a metric to track their improvement and establish goals. Motivational Times are divided into the following 6 levels within each age group: B, BB, A, AA, AAA, and AAAA.
Next page
Motivational Times
What are Motivational Times, Time Standards, and Qualifying Meets?
Time Standards & Qualifying Meets
Time Standards are the established times a swimmer must post in order to enter a competition. Many swimmers' first experience with time standards comes with the Southeastern Swimming Championships (SES Championships). Only swimmers who have posted times at or below the meet’s time standard for their age group can compete in an individual event. Southeastern Championships, Futures Championship, and Sectionals are competitions currently on our schedule that are classified as Qualifying Meets. It is likely that in the event page, you will notice the term Qualifiers Only. This indicates that a time standard must be achieved in order to be entered in a meet.
View Time Standards
Preparing for the Meet
Marking up your swimmer
Swimmers will see teammates arriving to the pool for swim meets with stuff written all over their arms. Classify under "weird swimmer things," but it is the best way to keep young swimmers on track at meets. The Clerk of Course, coaches, and teammates can glance at this grid of information and know how to help young swimmers know where to go and when to race. Parents can find swimmers race information in the heat sheet, which is posted to the swim meet event page a day or so before a competition.
Reading the Heat Sheet
Reading the Heat Sheet
Event... Heat... Lane!
The important information for marking up your swimmer is the event "E," heat "H," and lane "L." Let's say we're marking up Josephine Perkinson, E = 13, H = 1, and L = 4. Sometimes the kids like to have what they are swimming written too.
Does every swimmer compete in the championship meet?
Championship Meets
February signals the beginning of the short course championship season. It’s the part of the swim season when individual swimmers rally together to race not just for individual best times but aim to score points. At these meets, we truly compete as a TEAM and compete for team titles against other teams in our local swimming community (LSC). All swimmers have an opportunity to compete in a championship meet this season. Here are the options: Championship Meet Schedule 2024 Southeastern Championship: February 16 - 18, 2024 (QT) Region Championships: February 24 - 25, 2024 Senior Sectionals Championship Meet: March 7 - 10, 2024 (QT)
QT means that a qualifying time must be achieved.
How do I sign my swimmer up for a meet?