FAQ
1. How are kids placed into lanes during practice?
Practice groups are based on the swimmers' ages. From there, coaches determine the swimmer's skill set during the first week of practice. Swimmers are then placed into lanes based on their stroke knowledge, speed, and endurance. Coaches will evaluate weekly and move kids around as needed. On average one coach will have 5-6 swimmers in their lane.
2. Who decides what event my child will swim at a meet?
You and your swimmer decide what individual event your child should swim, and the coaches will set up the relays. For dual meets, swimmers can choose THREE individual events. For tri-meets, swimmers can choose TWO. You will declare your swimmers events EVERY WEEK by Wednesday on our Swimtopia website- don’t worry we will remind you.
3. How are relays created?
In general, relay teams are composed of the fastest possible combination of swimmers based on official RMSL league seed times. If your swimmer wants to be considered for a relay, he or she should make sure to have a seed time in a 25m or 50m event of the stroke they want to swim in a relay. Also know that all events help score points for our team, so the B and C relays can be just as important as our A relay. For more details, refer to the Sharks website.
Our head coaches write a swim set for every age group, every day of the week. The sets are meant to challenge our swimmers while also encouraging them to have fun. Some days are focused on distance, others on strokes and others on dives and relays. Your child will be instructed by the head coaches and the junior coach in charge of their lane. They will not always receive one on one instruction, but our coaches do their best to attend to the swimmer's needs, personalities, and strengths. If you’re looking for one on one instruction, consider signing up for our stroke clinics which will be offered after our normal practices, head coaches will send out more information later.
5. What is the Sharks swim meet protocol?
- Find a coach and let him/her know you’re there
- Be on time for warm-ups & warm-up with your team
- Attend the team cheer before the meet (because it's the best!)
- Write event numbers, heat, and lane on body- can do the night before, too. Example- Event 10, Heat 2, Lane 6
- Parents- Check in at the volunteer station by concessions if you have a shift to fulfill, grab your nametag, and know we appreciate you!!! At away meets, check in with a parent rep
- Have your child speak with a coach prior to and immediately after events
- Disqualification (DQ) is a part of learning the sport of swimming. This occurs when a swimmer has committed an infraction of some kind; e.g. freestyle kick in a butterfly event. A disqualified swimmer is not eligible to receive an award for that event nor can their time be used as an official time.
- All questions regarding meet results, an officiating call, or the conduct of the meet, should be referred to the coaching staff or a parent rep.
- If relays are included, they are usually at the beginning or end of the meet. Relays are chosen by the coaches and the best aggregate time is used to create them.
- Swimmers should come prepared to the meets. This includes: their suit, cap, goggles, sweats, socks, and towels (please bring more than one of the pre-mentioned, as they can fail or become soaked). Blankets, chairs, and other items to stay comfortable between events is highly recommended. Games, books, cards, and other items to keep swimmers occupied with teammates is also highly recommended. Please pack healthy food, snacks, and water.
- Parents: Meets typically last 4- 5 hours, the pool area is usually very warm. Dress appropriately. Meets can be long; a book or project can keep the time between races from going slowly! :)
6. Who attends prelims and finals?
One of our team goals is to qualify and send as many swimmers as possible to prelimsand finals. Prelims week is the last week of the season which is where our swimmers can qualify for finals. These are age specific meets; therefore, 8 & unders swim one day, 11/12’s swim another day, etc etc. The Finals is the following Saturday and is a special experience for all qualifiers. If a swimmer works hard all season, please send him/her to the meets the coach is encouraging him/her to attend. It is a let down to miss finals if a swimmer has properly prepared for it all season. Yes we are a summer recreational league AND we are a competitive swim team working towards the Championship week! We want to improve all of our swimmers and have them grow a love of swimming.
7. What is the Big Shark/Little Shark mentoring program?
Younger swimmers are paired with older swimmers and they support each otherthroughout the season. Pairings are announced at the Kick Off Picnic so please try to be there! If you know you will miss a lot of team events, please consider not signing up for this program as it’s designed to be highly interactive between the swimmers (cheering for each other at meets, on the pool deck, at events, etc etc). The tradition is to bring a small gift and a note for your Shark to each HOME MEET, examples are bubbles, lollipops, or dollar bin items.
8. What are Donut Fridays and what do I need to do?
Donut Fridays are all about tradition and fun! The kids look forward to this all week. You will be assigned a week during the season to bring 2 dozen donuts. On your assigned Friday we ask that donuts arrive at the pool by 8am so we have them ready for all our swimmers' practices. We will offer a gluten free option for our kiddos with allergies. If you are unable to bring on your assigned date, we ask that you switch with another family.
