Jones Creek Sharks Swim Team

Swimmer and Volunteer Check In Procedures

• All swimmers MUST check in with their coaches upon arriving to the home or away pool for swim meets. All volunteers must check in at the volunteer table or find Olivia Liebig for volunteer name tags, timers, etc.  It is important to check in with your volunteer coordinator so that we know all positions are accounted for. We are unable to run a meet unless ALL positions have been filled. 

What to bring (and what not to bring)

• Family members are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs / shading.
• You may bring coolers with food but please NO GLASS bottles or containers.
• If you are bringing your own snacks/food/drinks please make sure that all trash and containers make their way to the trash cans provided under the covered life guard station.  
• Please have all necessary items available for your swimmer at each meet. It it is suggested that you bring goggles, swim cap, swim suit, and more than one towel.   

Marking your child for the meets

• Please make sure your child is marked PRIOR to checking in for each swim meet. There are many children and it is very hard to accommodate every child if they are not marked. Please see the link below for information on how to mark your child. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out or find a coach. 
• The best option to mark your child is to use a SHARPIE marker. It is important to do this prior to applying sun screen. Sharpie will come off if you rub it with sunscreen and or soap. 
• We would also like to encourage all parents and coaches to teach each child how to read their marks. This will allow them to understand when to line up and prepare for their heats. 

What's the difference between an EVENT and a HEAT?

Event: An event is the name each of the different races that swimmers are entered in. Events are identified by a number. Generally, even number events are boys events and odd numbers are girls. The event number is followed by the stroke/category and age group.

Heat: Many swimmers are entered into each event. In some cases there may be as many as 20 or more swimmers competing in the same event. In a six-lane pool, there is no way to swim all the entries in any event head-to-head at the same time. To accommodate the large number of swimmers, an event is broken up into heats. The number of heats is determined by the number of swimmers and the number of lanes in the pool. In a six-lane pool, a 30-swimmer event would be divided into five heats – six swimmers in each heat.

Each event will have one of six stroke/categories: Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Butterfly for the individual events and Freestyle Relay (all legs are the Freestyle stroke), and Medley Relay (one leg of each of the four stroke styles) for the relay events. 

The average swim meet lasts three and a half (3.5) hours. Each week the meets will begin at 6:00 pm. This is contingent upon factors such as weather, size of the opposing team and general flow of the meet.

The 6 & under age group only has events in the first half of each meet; therefore, they will be able to leave after that time. Generally the first half of the meet runs from 6:00 - 8:00. The second half ends around 9:30 or sometimes later. All swimmers 7 and up swim in the both halves of the meet.

It’s very important that your child be at the warm-up period prior to the meet (5:00 p.m. for both home and away meets). Swimmers should report to their coach area upon arrival and checkin with the volunteer working the meet.