Our first meet is Monday at Springhurst, 4200 Springhurst Blvd. Louisville, KY 40241! Heat sheet and lineup are attached. We are so excited to get the season underway! 

• All swimmers need to arrive by 4:45 and set up in their age group areas and check in with the age group parents for your group so they know who has arrived. Look for the signs at the Lake Forest tents labeling in which area each age group should sit. Bring bag chairs to sit in! Warms up start at 5:00.
• Unfortunately, t-shirts are not ready for our first meet, but caps will be distributed at the meet tomorrow!
• Don't forget to download Time Drops Live! for free live results.
• Download Swimtopia app and turn on notifications for important team announcements!
• All volunteers need to check in with Volunteer Coordinator, Lisa Heineman, at the Lake Forest Volunteer Table by 5:00. If you are an age group parent please check in with the Volunteer Coordinator by 4:30 and get your clipboards and materials so you can start checking in swimmers as they arrive and make sure everyone in your age group is there. If you do not show up and check in with Lisa the volunteer coordinator, then your credit card will be charged $100 for each missed meet you were supposed to volunteer.
• Theme is BLUE out! :)
• The first meet of the season is always a little crazy since it is the first one, but we will get through it together and it will be so much easier at subsequent meets. Promise! Please bear with us!

Below is valuable information for new families:

SIGNING UP DEADLINE HAS PASSED FOR MONDAY

I want to thank everyone for logging into the website and signing up yes or no for the first meet. We will need you to RSVP yes or no on the website for each meet for the rest of the season. We would hate for any swimmer to get left out of a meet because they did not sign up YES by the deadline.

LAST MINUTE CHANGES AND NO SHOWS

If something comes up last minute between now and Monday at meet time, like a swimmer gets sick or there is a family emergency, you must contact Coach OLIVIA on her cell phone 864-525-9197 and let her know as soon as possible. 

Please understand that last minute changes or no shows at meets have great negative downstream effects on other kids and the team’s ability to score points and win the meet. If a swimmer is a no show at a meet, then a lane goes empty that could have been filled with another swimmer from the age group. So someone missed out on a chance to swim. And a no show means a relay is missing a swimmer and the other 3 swimmers in the relay cannot race and have to scratch.

HEAT SHEETS

A heat sheet is a printed listing that tells everyone what events each swimmer will compete in.  (See attached handbook from our website on more details on heat sheets.) There are 80 events total in a meet. It also lists the swimmer’s heat and lane assignment per event. Lanes are typically assigned based on seed times (best prior times), with the fastest swimmers in the last heat and in the center lanes of the pool in each heat. But when you arrive at the meet, please ask the age group parents if there have been any last-minute changes that might affect your swimmer’s age group.

WRITING EVENTS ON SWIMMERS’ ARMS

We need parents to write their kids' events, heat, and lane assignments with a sharpie on their arm and their name on their shoulder before you arrive at the pool for the meet. Please see the team handbook attached and on our website for details.  (We no longer need swimmer numbers.) If you do not understand, feel free to ask an experienced swim team parent for an explanation. This helps the kids know what their next event is and helps age group parents gather the right swimmers for each event.

TIMER AND STROKE AND TURNS JUDGES

If you are a Timer or Stroke and Turn judge you will be expected to attend a 5 minute informational meeting with the LSA reps at around 5:30 to 5:45 (for first half workers) or during the mid-way break (for second half workers). Please listen for announcements made over the PA about when and where the timers meetings and officials meeting will take place. If you do not go to this meeting or arrive late to the meeting, you will delay the start of the meet/second half while we try to find you. Please listen for the announcement for this meeting to begin.

AGE GROUP PARENTS

Age group parents need to be in their age group areas by 4:45 with the clipboard and materials they pick up at the Volunteer Table to take attendance of all the swimmers in the age group swimming in the meet as they arrive and make sure everyone has their events written on their arms. If a swimmer has not shown up by the time the kids get in the water for warm ups, please find Coach Olivia and tell her. You will need to get your swimmers to the start end of the pool and lined up in the correct lanes about 3 heats before your age group’s event start. You know when this is by following along on your heat sheet and listening to the announcements.

Please remember, age group parents are not responsible to babysit your child. They are only there to get your swimmer from the age group area to the start at the time of their race. Please instruct your children to stay in the age group area and not wander or go play on the playground while the meet is going on. Age group parents should not have to run around and find your child. If a swimmer needs to go to the restroom, they should ask the age group parent if there is time to go before the next race. If there are behavior issues in the age group tent, you may be asked to directly supervise your child during the meet.

WHAT HAPPENS IF IT RAINS ON MEET DAY?

If there is rain on a meet day, even rain at 4:30 when everyone is arriving at the pool for the meet, PLEASE STILL COME to the meet unless otherwise instructed by a notification alert. We will have the meet unless there is thunder and lightning or rain so hard it obscures the bottom of the pool at that time. We will swim in a light rain. We need everyone to come unless there is a cancellation text because if individuals decide they would rather not come in the rain then the relays are ruined for all kids and there is mass confusion due to “no shows.” So please come! And bring rain ponchos, umbrellas, and weather appropriate clothing if need be.

We do everything we can to have the meets as scheduled. Trying to reschedule a cancelled meet for later in the same week is a logistical nightmare. That might mean starting the meet, stopping to wait for heavy rain or lightning to pass over, and then restarting the meet in the same night. This might even happen a couple of times in one night. In that case we ask everyone to wait in their cars out of the weather, but PLEASE do not leave the premises. We will send an alert when the meet is to restart and you can come back to the pool deck. If bad weather looks like it will be sustained and not let up, the two teams’ LSA reps may might a joint decision to call off the meet after consulting the radar. We will send an alert out if that happens.

If weather cancels a meet or we have to stop the meet before event 40 and it does not restart, then we will have to reschedule the meet. This will probably happen on the Thursday night of the same week. If we reschedule a meet we will have to do a brand new swimmer sign up and brand new volunteer assignment, all in 3 days, so we really, really hope that does not happen. If we get past event 40 before a meet is cancelled for weather, it is considered a completed meet and will not be rescheduled.

WHAT TO BRING TO A MEET

* Chairs for parents (those bagged, camp chairs work best).

* Multiple towels and weather appropriate clothing to keep kids warm/dry between events.

* A towel, blanket, or chair for your swimmer(s) to sit on. (Kids will sit with their age group, so if you have two or more children, they will each need this.)

* A cooler with water, Gatorade, or any other non-alcoholic drinks you may like, and healthy snacks. You can bring your own food. A snack bar is usually available at meets and usually has Chick Fil A, pizza, and other snacks for sale.

* Games or small toys for the young kids to play with in the age group tents to keep them occupied while they wait for their events. Kids love to play card games in the tents.

* Black sharpie to mark your child’s arm with their events.

* A happy, positive attitude!

Questions? Please contact Jessica Petrie at 502.240.2049. See you at the pool!