GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR WHEN YOU SWIM IN A MEET 
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Introduction
A Few Days Before a Meet
What to Bring
Nutrition and Hydration
Team Spirit
Sportsmanship
Team Area
When You Arrive, Report to thd JFD Coach
Positive Check-In
Warm Up
Re-Stretch
Stay Warm
Report to Coaches After You Swim
Arriving Late of Leaving Early
Coaches
Timers
Officials
There are many aspects that go into a good performance, and although a swimmer sometimes succeeds even when some of these are neglected. However, this is the exception, rather than the rule. In the long term, maximizing as many of these aspects of meet preparation as possible will ensure a happy, healthy, safe, and successful experience. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask your coach.
- Extra strenuous physical work is probably not helpful. Concentration on skills is helpful. Extra sleep is recommended for several nights before the meet.
- Common sense on nutrition should be followed: more fruits and vegetables, less junk food.
- Getting ahead on a long-term school project or organizing your bedroom can promote a feeling of control and general confidence.
Please bring goggles, your team cap and team suit. (We recommend that you save your team suit for meets, and practice in a different suit). Many swimmers bring spares of critical equipment like goggles and caps.
You should also bring extra towels, clothes for warm or cool air temperatures, liquids, and healthy snacks. Optional items include a book to read, schoolwork, cards or other games you can play with your teammates between events.
Entire books have been written on this topic, but here are some basic principles:
- Easy-to-eat fruits and whole grain crackers are recommended.
- We do not recommend one sports drink over another; however, water is always helpful. (Please note that you should drink fluids before you are thirsty. By the time the body feels thirst, it will take a while before fluids are absorbed and usable by your muscle cells.
- It is also helpful to consume a healthy snack within 20-30 minutes after hard exercise.
While we encourage our swimmers to contribute to the team by loudly cheering on teammates, real team spirit is much more than noise at a meet. In terms of true caring for our teammates, JFD swimmers are outstanding!!
In most aspects of life, support from our friends is very important. Quietly express to your friends things you have noticed them doing well in practice. Develop a habit of encouraging your fellow Dolphins. Swimming is a very hard sport that demands the best of our emotions. Not only do you help your teammates by cheering, but you also help yourself by keeping your emotions at a higher level than if you were just sitting still.
Following meets, JFD ribbon presentations at practices are a great team-building time. We can all be inspired by the accomplishments of others. Everyone is urged to help their teammates pay attention and honor those who have achieved something significant. Team apparel is another major way to show team spirit.
True satisfaction in swimming is not victory over the other contenders, but victory over the water and clock, as well as the development of character. Please realize that the athletes on other teams are very much like us. A sincere kind word to congratulate them or a quick handshake is appropriate. They have worked hard, are exhausted, and feel much like we do before or after a race.
A true athlete respects a great effort out of a fellow athlete – to that end, cheers, comments or actions that may be perceived as offensive will not be tolerated. Finally, it is considered good sportsmanship to stay in the water until all competitors have finished.
During a meet, it is extremely important to remain in the team area. Express your JFD spirit by hanging with your teammates, and do not neglect to pick up any trash you see in our team area. If you must briefly leave the team area, notify a coach.
WHEN YOU ARRIVE, REPORT TO THE JFD COACH
Please arrive at the meet at least 10 minutes before your scheduled warm up. Winter meets rarely have designated team areas; the first swimmers to arrive generally get to choose our location. Look for your teammates wearing JFD apparel.
Check the program for your name in all expected events. Any problems should be resolved by checking the entry list marked “FINAL” on the bulletin board at Quince Orchard prior to the meet. If there is a problem, tell the coach immediately. In rare circumstances, an adjustment may be made at the meet.
Many swimmers like to write their events, heats, and lanes on their hand.
Some meets require “positive check-in,” which allows the meet manager to save time by scratching swimmers who fail to positively check in when they arrive. If you fail to check in, your name is eliminated, the computer re-seeds all swimmers, and you are not permitted to swim that event. This saves several hours at some meets, but can be a heartbreaking experience for those who neglect to check in.
The meet announcement will say which events require a positive check-in, but most meet managers make the final decision after all entries are received. As soon as you arrive, make it a habit to ask the coach if there is a positive check-in.
The JFD standard meet warm up is crucial. The coaches will give general directions, and each swimmer should adapt them to their own particular needs. In general, the warm up consists of four phases:
Phase 1: We most often start with a drill one way, and swim the other. The most valuable drills for most swimmers are catch-up free, double arm back, three-count glide breast, and one-arm fly.
Phase 2: 25-yard pick ups into full speed turns.
Phase 3: Starts and 25 sprints into full sped turns, with no push off. Starts are done only in one-way sprint lanes, so move to another lane and swim back easy. Coaches will often give comments to a swimmer to share with the swimmer preceding them.
Phase 4: The last few minutes of your warm up should be very easy, relaxing swimming.
Stretching during and after warm up, between races, and throughout practices –when your muscles are warm and have a more blood flowing through them – is more beneficial than stretching before exercising. If there is no warm-up pool, walk around and keep stretching. Sitting still or lying down after a race will greatly decrease your odds of having another great race.
At most meets, it is wise to keep sweats, shoes and socks on until just before your race. Some world record holders wear gloves or mittens even in the summer.
REPORT TO COACHES AFTER YOU SWIM
The sooner you report, the better your coach will be able to help you analyze your race. It is unrealistic to expect a thorough evaluation every race, so please be understanding if coaches were attending to other swimmers while you swam.
ARRIVING LATE OR LEAVING EARLY
If you must leave a meet before it is over, do so only after checking out with a coach. As you leave, you should know if you improved your times and/or seedings. These should be recorded on the program or on any chart the swimmer prefers, and stored in your swimmers’ binder.
You may choose to enter events that will allow you to arrive late or leave early. Communicate very clearly with the coach several days ahead of time about late arrivals so we can handle the positive check-in process for you.
The current JFD pattern is that Coach Flaherty attends Saturday meets, and Coach Cicmil attends Sunday meets. Coaches Petraites and English are scheduled according to entries.
Due to the temptation for parents to give too much advice before and after races, Potomac Valley Swimming (PVS) does not allow parents who are not certified coaches on deck. However, JFD likes to appoint a volunteer parent as the team marshal to ensure good behavior, help kids get to their events on time, and encourage clean-up of the team area. Most meet managers will allow us one team marshal on deck.
JFD is very happy that we consistently provide more than our share of timers. Even if you have never timed before, it is quite simple, yet very important. New volunteers will receive all the training they need in a few moments before the meets starts.
PVS needs more parent volunteers to serve as starters, referees, computer operators, etc. JFD would love to be able to provide some high-level officials. You can find out about training dates and locations by going to PVSwim.org
