Swim meets are held Saturdays and run from 8:00am until early afternoon. A swim meet is an opportunity for a swimmer to compete in various different strokes and distances, while attempting to drop time.

Swim meets are held rain or shine!

Items parents should bring to every swim meet
What to Bring to a Swim Meet - Family Gear

• Pop-up canopy, umbrella or other source of shade
• Sunscreen
• Hat
• Towel (an extra one is nice to have)
• Chairs
• Cooler
• Healthy Snacks
• Sleeping bag or blanket
• Sharpie

A list of all swimmer equipment that you will need to have at swim meets
What to Bring to a Swim Meet - Swimmer Gear

• Backpack or Duffle Bag
• Swim Cap (2)
• Swimsuits (2)
• Goggles (2)
• Sandals, water shoes, or flip flops
• Towels (2 or more)
• Sunscreen

When you arrive at a swim meet, you will usually receive a program that lists all of the events that will be taking place, along with the schedule of when each event will occur. The events are usually organized by stroke (e.g. freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly) and distance (e.g. 50 meters, 100 meters, 200 meters).

Each event will also have multiple heats, with each heat featuring a different set of swimmers. These heats are organized by time, with the fastest swimmers competing in the final heat and the slower swimmers competing in earlier heats.

When you're looking at the event schedule, you'll see something like this:

Event 1: Boys 8 & Under 50m Freestyle
Heat 1 of 4
Lane 1: Smith, John
Lane 2: Jones, David
Lane 3: Brown, Tom
Lane 4: Garcia, Jose
Lane 5: Kim, James

In this example, Event 1 is the Boys 8 & Under 50m Freestyle. There are four heats for this event, and this is the first heat. Each lane has a swimmer's name next to it, so you can see who will be swimming in each heat.

You may even see some writing on your swimmer's arm to remind them what events they are in:

E | H | L
1 / 1 / 1   <- Event 1, Heat 1, Lane 1
39/ 2 / 3 <-Event 39, Heat 2, Lane 3 
65/ 3 / 2  <- Event 65, Heat 3, Lane 2

As the meet progresses, you can keep an eye on the event schedule to see when your child's events are coming up. Make sure your child is ready at least 3 events before their event, so they have time to prepare. And don't forget to cheer them on!