It is time for our first meet of the season! Our mock meet will be held on Monday, May 14 at the South Amenity Center. This email contains lots of information about the mock meet as well as swim meets in general so please read all the way to the very end! I tried to break it into sections so if you are a returning swim family you can skip to the sections relevant to your family. If you are new to the team, please take some time and review all of this information.

Mock meet timeline

3:00 pm: Volunteers for set up arrive

4:15 – 4:45 pm: Swimmer check-in (in the field near pavilions)

4:45 – 5:15 pm: Swimmer warm ups

5:30 pm: Meet begins

What to do when you get to the pool

• Do not enter the amenity center through the front gate. Instead, head directly to the field and set up your tent, chairs & personal belongings in the field (AKA “tent city”).
• Check in your swimmer between 4:15-4:45 pm near the pavilions in the field.
• If you are volunteering, then check in for your volunteer job in the same location where you checked in your swimmer(s).
• Pick up & pay for your pre-ordered Chick Fil A meals from the concessions table near check-in. (No other food or beverages will be available for purchase.)
• Make sure your swimmer(s) report to warm ups at 4:45 pm. Listen for the announcement. Please do not miss warm ups for this or any other meet. Warm ups are a chance for your swimmers to get their nervousness out, check goggles, cap, etc and it’s an important part of the meet.
• Make sure your swimmer listens to the announcement for “Ready Bench” for the events they are swimming and head that way when they are called. You can walk your swimmer to the ready bench but then, due to limited space, we ask that you leave them in the capable hands of the ready bench volunteers who will ensure that your swimmer is in the right place to swim their heat.
• Lastly, enjoy watching your kids swim their races!
• NO TENTS OR CHAIRS ARE ALLOWED ON THE POOL DECK. POOL DECK WILL BE FOR VIEWING RACES ONLY!!

What events are my children swimming?

Attached to this email you will find two important documents. Print them out and bring them with you to the meet!

1. Heat Sheet – This shows all of the events in order that they will occur, and which swimmers are swimming in which events/heats.
2. Entry List – This list is alphabetical by swimmer and is the easiest way to see quickly which events your swimmer is in.

If you need assistance reading the heat sheet, check out this cheat sheet! If it still doesn't make sense, please ask a returning swim family or a board member. We're happy to help!

You will get this information each week, generally on the Friday afternoon before the meet.

If you have any questions or concerns about the events your swimmer has been entered in for the mock meet, please let Meredith Connell or Coach Ed know at practice on Saturday or via response to this email!

The following information is applicable not only to the Mock Meet, but all of our home meets.

When we have meets at other pools, we will get specific instructions for parking, “tent city,” the availability of concessions, etc. We ask that you follow those and respect the home team requests just as we expect visiting teams to respect our rules and requests.

Parking (Durbin Crossing pool)

Parking is very scarce. If you can walk to the pool, please do so. We do have some strict parking rules for meets. We are not allowed to park in the circle driveway. We are also not allowed to park in the front row near the basketball courts. Your best place to park is along the field on Islebrook. Please do not park on both sides of the street. Please do not block cross walks, fire hydrants, intersections or driveways.

What to write on your swimmer

• Use a Sharpie and write the following information on your swimmer’s right shoulder blade: Last Name, First Initial (i.e. – Connell, M)
• On one of their arms, write the following information for their races, one line per race: Event #, Heat #, Lane #, Stroke.

If you are unsure what to write, don’t worry! Volunteers at the check in table will help you do this or see this reference sheet.

(Sharpie marker is easily removed after the from the skin using sunscreen, rubbing alcohol, or olive oil.)

What should I bring to a meet?

• Heat Sheets/Entry List – Print off a copy of the Heat Sheets and Entry List. These will not be available at the meet. You must bring your own.
• Pop Up/EZ Up tent
• Chairs
• Food & Beverage – All teams provide limited concessions, but it is strongly recommended that you bring your own snacks and lots of water for your family.
• Black Permanent marker – for marking your swimmer
• Swimmer equipment – Swimmers should wear their team suits and orange team caps. Swimmers are encouraged to wear their team t-shirts as well. It’s a good idea to have an extra pair of goggles. Don’t forget a towel!
• Plenty of sunscreen! Bug spray is also recommended.
• Entertainment for swimmers and siblings
• Cash for the concession stand

Things to know (for the mock meet & all home meets)

• The recreation side of pool will not be accessible during the meet. We appreciate your assistance in keeping your kids out of that side of the pool. Residents without swimmers will be able to use the North Pool for recreational swimming while the meets are in progress.
• All amenity rules are in play during meets, please let us know if you have any questions.
• Bathroom facilities are open during the meet. Please be sure to accompany your child to and from the bathroom. Coaches & Junior Coaches will not assist children in the restroom.
• Meet Marshalls are volunteers who will be asked to keep certain areas free of traffic, direct traffic and give information. Understand they are parents who are volunteers. If they can't get you the information you need right away, please be patient. We are all volunteers and learning together.

Location of important stations (applicable to mock meet & all home meets)

• Check in Table: by the pavilions in the field
• Ready Bench: under the pavilion near the zero-entry pool
• Coaches Tables: near the stairs by the amenity center

Swim Meet Events

• Events in summer swim are: freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, freestyle relays, medley relays (each swimmer swims a different, assigned stroke), 100 IM (Individual Medley) and 100 freestyle (these two events are offered on alternating meets, not both at every one).
• 8 & Under age groups swim 25 yd distances. 9 & up swim 50 yd distances and when ready, the 100 IM and 100 free.
• Events alternate between male and female.
• Each event is divided into heats with up to 6 swimmers per heat, normally children are grouped in heats by times.
• The current event in the pool will be shown on a flip sign next to the computer table. There will also be a flip chart in the field that will display the events that should be at ready bench.

What is a "ready bench"?

In order to get the swimmers into the appropriate lanes, we use a "ready bench."  There will be announcements for children to report to the ready bench area about 6 events ahead of when they are to swim. This allows the volunteers at the ready bench to check the children in and get them in the proper order for their event. Please make yourself familiar with the location of ready bench when you check in for the swim meet at each pool. You will be responsible for ensuring your child reports to the ready bench area when their event is called.

Cheer on your swimmer!

Your child has been working hard! Make sure to get a good viewing spot on deck and when your child exits the pool move out of the way to allow other parents access to see their child swim. Children who win their heat will be presented with a heat winner ribbon at the conclusion of their heat. Swimmers should check in with their coach after their heat to get feedback. Remember: no photography or videotaping is allowed behind the starting blocks.

Be a Good Sport and a Good Neighbor

We encourage good sportsmanship. Everyone has worked hard and should be congratulated for their efforts! We as parents and swimmers need to demonstrate this on deck.

Please help take care of our facilities and leave them as we found them. Our community has embraced our team and allowed us use of the amenity center for practice and meets. Please clean up after yourselves before you leave the meet. Place trash in trash bins. Please do not move or remove any furniture belonging to the community. We will be preparing the deck the evening before and we ask you respect the barriers we need to create using the pool furniture and not move anything.

So you made it to the end…

Here’s the fun part! If it’s Monday during swim season it means rain! Right now, all signs point to Monday afternoon being a total washout. We will use all of our available resources to make the best decision we can about holding the meet. We obviously want to put kids in the water to give them practice before the May 19^th meet, but we have to be reasonable about the set up and break down time and the difficulty presented by inclement weather. We cannot give you a definite point in time on Monday when we will call the meet. Because of that, please make sure that you are signed up for our text messaging alerts by texting “dcdolphins” to 84483. In the meantime, rest assured that the board is singing “rain, rain, go away” nonstop.

Whew…lots of information here but we hope that those of you new to the team found it useful, and those returning were able to brush up on your speed reading technique.

We look forward to seeing you all at practices tomorrow (Saturday)!

Go Dolphins!

DCD Board of Directors