The first meet of the season is upon us. At first glance, swim meets can be overwhelming. Between remembering your events, heats and lanes, and cheering on your friends, there’s a lot going on at any given time. Here are 5 things that can help make the sweet life on deck a little easier.
Writing down your Heat and Lanes
With up to four events to remember and only one heat sheet, checking, double checking, and triple checking your events can be a hassle. Writing them down on your hand or arm with a Sharpie can eliminate any risk of forgetting your events.
Wear a Swim Cap
Yes, we all hate them, but your hair loves them. Wearing a cap keeps the chlorine out of your hair, leaving it healthy and keeping it from turning into a lump of straw. As an added bonus, it also makes you faster when you swim, especially if you have long hair.
Navigating meet warmups
Meet warmups are the bane of every swimmer's existence, plaguing swimmers even at the Olympic level. Admittedly, I’m biased, but it can be hard to get warmed up to swim fast when there’s up dozens of other kids trying to get warmed up with you. Circle swimming is the solution. Always staying to the right side of the lane creates a nice, organized flow in the chaos of a meet warmup, making everyone’s pre-meet ritual go a little smoother.
Proper Etiquette
Albert Einstein once said, “There are plenty of other fish in the sea.” While the factuality of this statement is questionable, it goes without a doubt that there are a lot of swimmers at one meet. Odds are that you will share a lane with them at one point, and they will want to pass you. The proper protocol can be remembered by the handy acronym T.A.R. (Note: please do not use this acronym to describe the actual passing process. It is awful, completely horrific, and a stain on our wonderful existence. It exists for comedy purposes only, although the procedure itself is practical.)
T - Tap: The swimmer wanting to pass taps the foot of the swimmer in front of them, alerting them of his or her presence.
A - Acknowledgment: The swimmer being passed recognizes the tap and moves to the far right side of the lane (may also slow down slightly if necessary), allowing for the passing swimmer to get by.
R - Relocation: The passing swimmer goes ahead of the other swimmer and they both return to their regularly scheduled warm-up activities.
What to Bring to a Meet
In a short list, you’ll absolutely need:
Goggles
Towel (a few depending on how warm or cold it is)
Swim Suit (goes without saying)
Water Bottle (hydration is key)
Team Spirit (the most important thing!)
And Finally...
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