Swim Meet Overview

ACAC will compete in 6 dual meets this season, 3 home meets and 3 away meets. Regular season meets are on Wednesday evenings and they begin at 6pm and will usually conclude around 10pm. The first meet is unscored and swum against a team that is outside of our division. Please check the ACAC website for more information about the meet schedule.

Each meet will have up to 84 different events. These events are equally divided between boys and girls. Boys events are ODD numbered, and Girls events are EVEN numbered. Swimmers may compete in no more than three individual events and two relays per meet. The coaches determine who swims in each meet and what events each swimmer is expected to swim. 

Swim Meet Specifics:

• Warmups are required. All swimmers must arrive at the meet at the scheduled time before the warm-up period. Each swimmer should report to a coach upon arrival so the coaches can take attendance. After checking in with a coach, swimmers are asked to get ready for warmups and wait in the team area for directions from the coaches.

• All swimmers are asked to stay in the ACAC team area throughout the meet. Coaches need to be able to easily find swimmers at any time during the meet. Swimmers who leave the team area without checking with a coach could miss their event. The coaches ask parents in the team area to keep an eye out for their children. It is important that the swimmers remain in the team area cheering for their team or doing a quiet activity—Swimmers should not be running around with teammates between their events. 

Event Procedures

1. Prior to each event, the Clerk of Course (staging area for swimmers before their events) will give each competing swimmer a pink (girl) or blue (boy) timers’ card. This card designates the swimmer’s event, heat, and lane number.
2. The swimmer takes the card to the starting block and gives it to the timer before the start of their race. The timer records the swimmer’s times on the card before the cards are collected and sent to the scorers’ table.
3. The scorers sort the cards and record the times. The event winners are determined, and points and ribbons are awarded for first, second, third, and fourth places in individual events, and for first and second in relay events.

Other Information

• Swimmers will be taught the correct technique for starts, strokes, and turns during practice. Improper techniques in starts, strokes, and turns will disqualify a swimmer during their event. For example, a swimmer who is swimming breaststroke or butterfly will be disqualified (“DQed”) if he or she fails to touch the wall with both hands simultaneously while turning or finishing. Coaches will discuss DQs with each swimmer and work on correcting technique errors at practice.
• Swimmers who are scheduled to swim in relays, especially the freestyle relay at the end of the meet, must stay at the meet until the end. All swimmers are encouraged to stay until the end of the meet to cheer for their teammates. In addition to showing support for the team, staying until the end of the meet allows the coaches to substitute another team member for a swimmer who has to leave a meet for unexpected or unavoidable reasons.

Meet Warm-Ups

Each team is given a designated time for swimmers to warm-up and adjust to the pool, with the Home Team warming up first, then the Away Team. Meet arrival and warm-up times will be announced in weekly Swim Team emails.

Meet Format

Every Dual Meet follows the same order of individual stroke events, including short freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, and butterfly. Medley Relays, Freestyle Relays, Individual Medleys (IMs), and Long Freestyle alternate so that two are included each week. In most cases, Medley Relays are grouped with Long Freestyle, and Individual Medleys with Freestyle Relays.

ACAC is one of two “Long Course” pools in the JSL. The pool is 50 meters long while most other pools are 25 yards or 25 meters. This means that for ages 9 and older, a swimmer must complete one 50-meter lap across the pool rather than two 25-yard laps with a turn in the middle. Times are adjusted for the meter/yard difference between meets. 

- For relays, swimmers are split between the two ends of the pool. The first swimmer starts from the deep end near the deck so that the last swimmer finishes their race at that same end, where the timers are stationed.

- For 100m freestyle (ages 9+ long free), swimmers start from the deep end near the deck so that they can swim down, turn, swim back, and finish where the timers are stationed.

- We do not swim Individual Medleys at ACAC, as there is no way to legally conduct the swim in our long course pool.

- Because JSL meets pair IMs with Freestyle Relays, we also rarely swim freestyle relays at our pool. ACAC home meets will follow the Medley Relay/Long Freestyle format.

Swimmers ages 8 and younger compete in 25-meter races. This distance is marked at ACAC with a rope halfway across the pool. 8&U swimmers still start from the blocks, but the timers move to the sides of the deck at the 25m mark to better monitor the swimmers.

- Pool noodles are strung along the rope at the 25m mark so that swimmers can have a firm surface for a strong and visible finish. Older swimmers (“catchers”) are stationed in the water at the end of each lane to help guide the young swimmers to the ladders located on either side of the pool at the 25m mark.

- 7–8-year-old swimmers’ “long free” is a 50m swim. The swimmers start at the usual starting end between the middle and big pool and finish at the far end near the fence.

- We do not swim 8 & Under relays at ACAC, as there is no way to legally conduct the swim in our long course pool.

- To better accommodate swimmers, timers, and “catchers,” the order of events for ACAC home meets shifts to group together 25-meter events. 8&U freestyle and breaststroke will usually be back-to-back, as will 8&U backstroke and butterfly. If your young swimmer is swimming in both events back-to-back, coaches meet them at the end of their race for a quick celebration, then guide them back to the clerk of course for the following event.

Meets are optional but are highly encouraged! JSL meets are a great way to challenge yourself and gain competitive experience in a low-stakes environment.