Attend practice at least 3 times a week.
To participate in a meet, swimmers must have attended three or more practices the previous week, as well as practice the day of the meet. Rules aside, swimmers can only develop their skills by practicing and benefitting from the expertise of their coaches, so attendance at practices is an important contributor to success.
Sign up for each meet.
To swim in a meet, each swimmer must be signed up by the deadline, usually the Friday prior to the Tuesday meet. Parents can sign up their swimmer(s) in the sign-up binder at the information table by the pool during practices. Each meet has a sign-up sheet for each age group (6 & under, 7 & 8’s, 9 & 10’s, etc.)
** Please don’t bring a child to a meet hoping to swim if he or she is not signed up. Because events, heats, and lanes are assigned ahead of time, swimmers cannot be added to the line-up at the last minute. Swim team should be a fun experience, not a source of disappointment.
Arrive on time.
For away meets, check in by 5:30. For home meets, check in by 4:30. (Warm-up time is earlier when we are the home team.)
Be considerate: Avoid late arrivals and no-shows.
Unexpected absences and tardiness force coaches to reconfigure relay teams, causing hurried changes in computerized lineups and officials' time sheets. If a swimmer is expected at a meet, but will be late or absent, families must notify coaches as soon as possible.
Please have the following contact numbers with you en route to meets in case of traffic or other delays. Phone numbers are also in the Parent Handbook.
Head Coach Josh Murray - (513) 907-1902
Asst. Coach Sarah Stone - (513) 252-5350
Asst. Coach Corie Bland - (513) 720-8812
If unable to reach a coach, contact a board member:
Rita Gayer - (513) 604-7317
Denise Fisher - (937) 307-4392
Jennifer McDonald - (513) 237-6619
Swimmers who have not checked in within 30 minutes of the meet’s scheduled starting time will likely be dropped from the first set of relay events. Any swimmer signed up for a meet who does not attend or notify coaches of the absence will not be permitted to swim in the next meet.
Check-in promptly.
Volunteers from our team will staff a check-in table. Let check-in volunteers know you have arrived, and pick up heat sheets and/or other information. The volunteers will give you an individual event list for each of your swimmers, which will have the most up-to-date information about heats and lanes. Be sure to check the individual event list or the posted heat sheet for your swimmer’s events, heat numbers, and assigned lanes.
Write events on your swimmer's forearm in durable pen/marker.
For invitationals or large meets where individual event lists are not provided, we encourage parents to highlight their swimmer's events on the heat sheet during warmup. At our regular meets, parents will receive a simpler sheet, the individual events list, with only their swimmer's event information. Parents can then write event numbers, heat numbers, lanes, length/stroke, and swimmer numbers (if applicable, such as in relays) on each swimmer’s forearm in durable ink. Heat sheets and individual events lists are easily misplaced or water-damaged during meets, and the markings serve as an easy reference so that parents can have swimmers in the right place at the right time.
Example:
E = Event number
H = Heat
L = Lane
W = What: relay position, distance, stroke
Line up early for events...
Children ages 8 and under are to be brought to the starting blocks by parents. Because events can move very quickly at times, it’s best for swimmers to be lining up behind the block 4 to 5 events prior to his or her scheduled event.
...Especially relays.
Relays involve four swimmers per lane, and so require a bit more coordination. For each 8 & under relay, a coordinator will stand by the starting blocks with laminated sheet naming the event. Please be certain swimmers ages 8 & under are at the block and in the charge of their relay coordinator well before the event. Swimmers ages 8 and under swim only 25 meters, or one length of the pool, so coordinators must have swimmers 1 and 3 in the correct lane and at the starting blocks. Swimmers 2 and 4 are then lined up at the opposite end of the pool. As you can imagine, arriving just before the relay is inconsiderate to coaches and teammates in that the swimmer may have to be replaced.
Medley relays, in particular, require close attention to the swimmers' assigned order, which determines who will be swimming which stroke. (More information about strokes, events, and relays.)
Swimmers scheduled in a freestyle relay must stay the entire meet for that late event. If one swimmer leaves, the entire relay team may have to be scratched, meaning that 3 other swimmers will be unable to swim. Swimmers who cause a team scratch by leaving early will not be entered in subsequent relays.
During the meet...
Team members are asked to stay in the team area during the meet. Between races, swimmers should rest and remain in the team area.
After the meet...
Congratulate your swimmer on a great job!
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