Swim moms: what is this I'm hearing about length of meets?

[SKL]

Everyone is telling me swim meets are like 5 hours long, minimum.  Really?  How do you do other things?  Saturday meets start at 8am, so that means our whole Saturday is shot?  Is this how other families live?  :P

 

Do you think they'll let the younger kids leave earlier?

 

Do any of your kids join swim team but skip a lot of the meets?

 

I signed my kids up (and paid $100/day non-refundable) for horse riding most Saturdays, and now I have this meet schedule that came out at the last minute.  Why can't it be like soccer, where you're out of there in <1.5 hours?  :P

[Lolly]

It really just depends on the meet. I assume you are talking about a summer league? First, they will have warmups--that will be about an hour before the meet actually starts. Then, the meet begins. Length really varies depending on the number of swimmers on each team. And the weather...lightning delays are awful. Being on Saturday morning will likely make the meet go faster because there will be less chance for thunder and lightning. In my experience, summer meets tend to last about 3 hours (plus another for warmups). I have also been to meets that were over incredibly fast (for swimming!). And those that lasted much, much longer. (We had one which started with warmups at 4 that was finally called about 1 a.m. Not kidding.) The events are swum by having each age group swim an event, then the next event (Usually IMs are first with 8 and under, 9-10,-11-12,13-14, and senior.)...So, no the littles won't finish earlier. Our summer team rarely had Saturday meets. Hopefully there are more meets on other days of the week so that you can just skip the Saturday ones or alternate skipping swim and riding and not miss out too much.

 

Btw, USA swimming also lasts that long, but usually indoors in a grounded pool. But, there is always the chance that the clocks malfunction or someone throws up in the pool to stop the meet for a while! Also, skipping meets is perfectly fine as long as you have let the coach know that you won't be there. There is nothing worse than someone scheduled to be on a relay who doesn't show or, even worse, leaves before it starts!

[Tap]

Yes, 5-8 hours is pretty standard for a meet.  They can even go longer if there are a lot of swimmers in the longer heats.  

 

Some meets are 3 days long, some are just one day.  Your child may swim a few times in each meet/day, or they may just swim once.  It just depends on their qualifying times and events that the coach signs them up for.  You child may have two events close together, or at opposite ends of the time schedule.  There isn't really a way to know until you see the heat sheet.  

 

In our area, it is up to the coaches if you have to stay all day or not.  Most will heavily encourage you to stay, so there are people cheering for the entire team, not just the parents cheering for their own swimmers. It is considered ok to come and go a little bit, like run to grab lunch for the swimmer, but it is frowned upon to only show up for your own swimmers events and then leave the rest of the time.  No one is going to hog-tie you to make you stay though, so you can come and go as you please if you need to.

 

I would not plan other events for you other kids on meet days unless you have a second person to drive them around. I would not plan any other events for  the swimmer on meet days. Sometimes meets run over time and you don't get out when you expect to.

 

 

To answer your other question, yes there are kids who swim but do not compete.  That is up to the coaches if they will allow a non-competing swimmer on a swim team.  It is not common in our area, and usually is only due to injury or other special circumstance. The coaches don't usually want to put the effort into a swimmer who isn't competing and trying their hardest to get better. 

 

 

 

[EmseB]

After I grew up and realized that my mom literally sacrificed her weekends once or twice a month for swim meets it sort of blew my mind. When I asked her about it, she said she kind of enjoyed having a day to just sit and read and occasionally cheer for her kids.

 

We didn't do other things on swim meet weekends.

[JulieA97]

Ds joined a summer league swim team and thankfully they have a 6 and under group. This group has their own separate meets so they don't last nearly as long. We can leave after he is done. As he is the youngest on the team and its his first year, we get done pretty quickly. :). Our association has the rule that you have to be in a certain number of meets to compete in the last, big meet with all the teams in the area. For the 6 and under crowd it's only have to be in one meet (they have a total of 4). For the older kids it's maybe 3 meets (they have a longer season with 2 meets per week). It really depends on the team, coaches and what type of swim team you are on if they will let you miss. If it's a general, local team meeting with other local teams just for fun and become a better swimmer summer league, they tend to be more lenient. If it's more of a year round, very competitive team, they will be more strict on attendance.

[sassenach]

Our summer league meets are 6-7 hours long from end to end. And no, we don't do anything else. When our kids were just swimming a few strokes, it wasn't a huge deal, because we could leave early. As soon as they became relay swimmers, we had to stay from the first to the last race.

 

It's really a lovely thing to hang out by the pool all day. I really don't mind. My favorite definition of a swim meet is, "An all day social gathering, interrupted by brief moments of swimming."

 

If you want to cut out early, only let your kids sign up for freestyle and backstroke. 

[JulieA97]

Anatomy of a morning swim meet

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julianna-w-miner/anatomy-of-a-swim-meet_b_5509910.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000037

 

Thought this was appropriate :)

[EmseB]

If you want to cut out early, only let your kids sign up for freestyle and backstroke.

I swam club year round, so a bit more competitive, but I had a coach who required us to swim every event we were eligible for unless there was some kind of reason we couldn't stay the whole meet. I was not a happy camper when I aged into to 200 butterfly. And I was also confused when I got into high school swimming and people would ask me what my event was. Um, all of them?

[Tap]

Anatomy of a morning swim meet

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julianna-w-miner/anatomy-of-a-swim-meet_b_5509910.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000037

 

Thought this was appropriate :)

LOL that sounds just about right!  

[momofkhm]

Anatomy of a morning swim meet

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julianna-w-miner/anatomy-of-a-swim-meet_b_5509910.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000037

 

Thought this was appropriate :)

 

 

It's been years since I was a swim mom, but that is soooo accurate!

[sassenach]

Anatomy of a morning swim meet

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julianna-w-miner/anatomy-of-a-swim-meet_b_5509910.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000037

 

Thought this was appropriate :)

 

That is so, totally spot on.

 

[SquirrellyMama]

It can depend on the size of your team. My dd is on a very small team. Our roster takes half a page while some of the teams we swim against take 7. We are often done early, after 3 hours.

 

Kelly

[BigMamaBird]

I was fine until 10:30.  Darn onion chopping ninjas!

[vonfirmath]

Everyone is telling me swim meets are like 5 hours long, minimum.  Really?  How do you do other things?  Saturday meets start at 8am, so that means our whole Saturday is shot?  Is this how other families live?  :p

 

Do you think they'll let the younger kids leave earlier?

 

Do any of your kids join swim team but skip a lot of the meets?

 

I signed my kids up (and paid $100/day non-refundable) for horse riding most Saturdays, and now I have this meet schedule that came out at the last minute.  Why can't it be like soccer, where you're out of there in <1.5 hours?  :p

 

That seems about right from when I was growing up. On swim meet, yes it took most of the day (and yes most of it was waiting around for your turn to swim).

 

[Bluegoat]

I'm shocked not by the length, but that they want parents to hand around the whole time.  That sounds, not only fairly impossible for families with more than about two kids, but fairly horrific as well.

[vonfirmath]

I'm shocked not by the length, but that they want parents to hand around the whole time.  That sounds, not only fairly impossible for families with more than about two kids, but fairly horrific as well.

 

Actually, they want parents to hang around the whole time and volunteer. My parents were often timers and sometimes they helped assemble the race times and make up the lists of who moved on, etc.  Us kids just ran around. made sure we got to races on time. Played card games of all types under the tarp, sometimes read. Occasionally asked for money. But the cooler was in our area and we could raid it at will.  Including jello.  I remember with lots of fondness eating jello on wet fingers.

 

It takes a LOT of volunteers to run a swim meet.

 

[mathnerd]

 

 

I signed my kids up (and paid $100/day non-refundable) for horse riding most Saturdays, and now I have this meet schedule that came out at the last minute.  Why can't it be like soccer, where you're out of there in <1.5 hours?  :p

Did you know that serious swimmers cannot ever do other sports? (just kidding, we dropped swim team and moved to "fitness swimming" as our coach made too many meets mandatory and my DS was playing intensive sports that needed him to be present too. But, yes, all day at the pool deck sounds right. And don't forget the volunteering - moving tables, chairs, cleaning trash etc.)

[MysteryJen]

Summer league meets are usually about 5-7 hours long, if you count the warm up. USA competitive meets are around 5 if you count the warm up. Meets are the fun part. Kids hang out with their friends, eat some muffins, race. My kids (all of them) love meets.

 

I have three competitive swimmers and can be found at every session of a three day meet. Usually twice a month.

 

My summer league swimmer is 15 and he can fend for himself at meets. Dh volunteers for the home ones.

[mamakelly]

Yah, it's pretty brutal. I have 4 kids, and only 2 were swimmers. The other kids just got used to being at meets all summer. It was crazy, but we made it work. 

[Butter]

Tuesday evening meets for our team went from 4 until 8ish depending on how many heats for each event.  We tend to be really low on 14+ so those events, even though they are 50 meters instead of 25, go faster with only a single heat, sometimes with boys and girls combined (not competing against each other, just sharing the pool).  Saturday morning meets went from 7:15 until about noon.  We had first warm-up on Tuesday nights since we were the home team (meet started by 5:15) and second warm-ups on Saturday mornings since we were the away team (meeting started about 8).  I only had one in swim team this year and he is 8 so we could leave when he was done with all his events.  We were done with last Saturday's meet about 10.  His last event was #26, so less than halfway through the number of events.  My husband and I volunteered timing the first half of the home meets and so we got out about 7 since we had to be there through event number 36.

 

So, yes, they take forever.  But in a lot of ways they are really fun!  Some kids missed various meets for one reason or another.  It was okay for our league.  Some leagues are more hardcore, though.

[EmseB]

I'm shocked not by the length, but that they want parents to hand around the whole time. That sounds, not only fairly impossible for families with more than about two kids, but fairly horrific as well.

Maybe that's why my parents only had two kids!! :)

 

I don't know if horrific is the word I would use, but I could see how some people wouldn't care to spend their day that way. On the other hand, one could get a lot of books read, planning done, etc.

[Guest]

Summer League experience here:  

 

Daily practice for an hour May to mid-July.

Two meets a week for 5 weeks, 4:30 to 8:30, and sometimes it involved a drive of some distance once a week.

Either B-Champs or A-Champs, and that is an all-day thing.  If it is outside, you will want a canopy...sun or rain shield.  

 

The meets are long, especially for the ratio of swim time to sit time.  But It is a wonderful sport, and I would do it all over again.  My son swam 12 years.  

 

Our teams were such good sportsmen...always congratulating the winners, no matter the team.  And they are so *clean* for the whole summer!

 

[Wilma]

Our meets are roughly 8-12 or maybe 1p on Saturdays.  But it's fun!  The kids play with their friends and swim their races and we chat with the other families and cheer for everyone's kids.  It's all good, even with two littler gals who aren't yet swim team kids.  And it's really only something like six meets for the summer league.

If we have something pressing, one parent takes the swim kids and the other does the pressing thing with the remaining children.

 

My favorite thing about swim team is the following:  everyone cheers for the kids who are slow or have a hard time.  Everyone.  And they really really mean it.  It's very sweet and nice.

[Mabelen]

Ok, you are scaring me here. I signed my 11 year old for a summer swim team. They only practice 3 hours a week and have 3 voluntary meets in the summer. I thought it would be a good thing to try and see what she thought. I am going to investigate a little more regarding the length of the meets, lol!

[PinkTulip]

We are summer-league swimmers who will dip our toes into USA swimming in the fall. Our league meets are Monday nights, with warm-ups starting at 4:30 and the meets start at 5:30. But, we also have diving meets that warm-ups are at 3:00. Of course, I have both swimmers and a diver. So yesterday, for example, I left home at 2:30 so I could get there early and get a spot in the narrow slice of shade at our club. We got home at 9:15 pm.

 

I like to sign up to time, because I feel like it makes the meet go faster. My kids are older, so they can get themselves where they need to be on time, but otherwise, they play a lot of cards, read books, play on people's phones, hang out, etc. Our team also buys Little Caesar's pizzas after the home meets, but the deal is that the deck has to be clean and chairs put away before anyone can have any. The kids (and parents) are really good at scurrying around after their last relay so it goes pretty quick.

 

I have pretty much given up on the huge cooler full of healthy snacks and have budgeted to buy dinner and snacks at the pool. Luckily, they are pretty reasonably priced, and we eat a lot of ham sandwiches and fruit plates.

 

I have made some wonderful friends whom I only see in the summer, but we spend hours together at the pool all summer long!

[ScoutTN]

Summer league meets here are on Tuesdays. Youngers in the morning and 11 yo. and up in the afternoon. We have over 200 swimmers, are in the second bracket, a medium sized team. IMs are in the middle of our meets, not first. Medley relays are last and it is very important all kids in them not leave until the coach says ok, because there can be last minute changes.

 

Our meet today was 9-1:15 for the morning session. We got a late start due to malfunctioning sound equipment. The afternoon goes a bit faster than the morning because older kids are easier and need less herding. And they swim faster! ;) Our meets usually finish around 5.

 

Ditto what the pp said about needing parents as volunteers, esp for a home meet. We need (for each session): 12 timers, head timer, clerk of course (2 for the am), stroke and turn judges, starter, referee, 2 runners, 6 refreshment servers, 3 for the scorer's table, people to bring food, people to set up and then reset the pool to normal (lots of moving furniture) and subs for the timers and others working in the hot sun.

 

We have only 4 meets, plus the City Meet.

I almost never try to do anything else the day of a meet, especially if I was volunteering.

Swimming is lots and lots of hurry up and wait. But very exciting at times too! I like being a timer in the middle lanes, where the races are most likely to be close and fast.

[JulieA97]

I know it sounds awful but its really not so bad.  My sisters were on the summer league swim team and I have lots of great memories of swim meets.  Many of my friends were on the swim team so I would hang out with them, read, play cards, glance up to cheer on my sisters or others I knew, buy something yummy at the snack bar, play ping pong and generally have a good time.  Afterwards, the entire team would go to McDonalds and stay way too late (these were evening meets) with more talking and hanging out.  Kids running from table to table.  It was great.  Some of my best memories growing up were around that pool and at swim meets.  I could not wait to sign ds up for swim team.  I cry every time he finishes a race I am so proud-he is tiny and young and just getting across that big pool is a huge deal still.  His smile when he gets out of that pool and is handed his participation ribbon makes me cry all over again.  He loves practice (cried all the way home last night when practice was cancelled due to a storm).  While he is with his team under the team tent playing with his friends, I am relaxing and chatting with friends we made this summer and some I was friends with when we were that age.  And now we get to watch our little ones swim for the same team.  Its awesome.  

 

 

[bettyandbob]

Are you talking about summer rec league?

 

Planning on 5 hours sounds about right. Although our meets top out at 4. 

 

Why do families do this? Because all the kids in the family can participate at the same time in the same location. This is particularly true in our league because A, B, and C swimmers all swim in the same meet at the same time. The C swimmers are a valuable part of the team--anyone can score points. The kids make lifelong friends that they see at least every summer growing up. Eventually, kids turn this summer rec activity into a well paying summer job or jobs ( lifeguarding, coaching, teaching swimming in group and private lessons). 

 

We only have 6 meets, plus an all star meet and an IM meet. Our league requires a swimmer to be present for 3 of the 6 regular meets, otherwise they are not permitted to sign up the next year. Exceptions are made for unpredictable things like broken arms. Given that missing some meets is permitted, families do have the flexibility to miss meets as needed. It is also possible to be present at a meet and compete in only the first two event so that the swimmer finishes early, for us that is butterfly and backstroke. Check your league rules about flexibility of attendance. 

 

Younger swimmers in our league don't have the possibility of regularly finishing early, unless you stick to just swimming the two early events I mentioned. 

 

Other things I like: I like my dc getting a good bit of exercise first thing in the morning before whatever is planned (daycamp, etc). I like my child building a huge amount of endurance through the summer and building on that year after year. There is no way 99% of the population could simulate this effect by going to the pool as a family. By age 12, I am pretty confident that my dc can handle themselves in most (not all, that's impossible) water situations--it's a tiny bit of insurance towards the "stupid things teens do."

 

ETA: obviously, I like summer league. I would have supported club swimming if that was what my dc wanted, but that goes to a new level of time and financial commitment. 

 

 

 

[Kim in Appalachia]

I swam club year round, so a bit more competitive, but I had a coach who required us to swim every event we were eligible for unless there was some kind of reason we couldn't stay the whole meet. I was not a happy camper when I aged into to 200 butterfly. And I was also confused when I got into high school swimming and people would ask me what my event was. Um, all of them?

 

 

My kids' coach did the same thing, and it drove my kids crazy.  She would have them swim stuff they really should not have been doing.  It tired them out for their events.  But we had a very small team and the coach felt like we had to do it.  

 

My kids no longer do US swimming.  The program (which was close to an hour away) fell apart.  They did love swimming, but it's not good coaching to do that to kids.  

[vonfirmath]

 

ETA: obviously, I like summer league. I would have supported club swimming if that was what my dc wanted, but that goes to a new level of time and financial commitment. 

 

I REALLY wish we could do summer league swimming :( Unfortunately, the local swim team combined with our work schedule just makes it impossible. Every age group meets for practice at a different time. So instead of it being a sport everyone does together, it becomes a sport you drive back and forth for and break up your day for.

[wintermom]

Wow! I knew that my parents sacrificed a lot of their time, energy, money and all for the 3 of us kids to swim competitively for several years, but now that I'm a parent I and awestruck. I also understand why they didn't pressure me to continue when my brother quit and I wanted to quit as well. They must have been so relieved! 

 

I now very happy that the years of swimming had some excellent pay-offs with lifeguarding, instructing, coaching and teaching jobs. 

[QueenCat]

I'm shocked not by the length, but that they want parents to hand around the whole time.  That sounds, not only fairly impossible for families with more than about two kids, but fairly horrific as well.

 

Unless it's changed a lot, parents are running the show....... lots of volunteers are needed. I know when I swam, many eons ago, most parents volunteered for at least half of the meet, alternating jobs. Kids hung out with their friends, even the little ones, while mom/dad worked. It was fun. But mine were closer to five hours with warm up time, not 6-7. Now, when I swam synchro, the parents were not as involved.... but the meets were longer and often involved more travel.

[Lolly]

I'm shocked not by the length, but that they want parents to hand around the whole time.  That sounds, not only fairly impossible for families with more than about two kids, but fairly horrific as well.

 

The thing is that usually ALL the kids in the family swim. In fact, ds ended up swimming his first meet when he was only 3 just because he was there. (He swam backstroke and freestyle/doign backstroke instead of crawl because that was all he would swim at that age.)The meets are like a neighborhood party of sorts. The parents usually are working the meet (for at least half the meet time). The kids are playing with each other. When parents aren't working, they are supervising kids or chatting with each other. It can be quite a pleasant event.

[Reefgazer]

Our swim meets are about 5 to 6 hours long, but the swim team allows us to sign in for the last half only, sign in for the first half only, sign in for relays or not, or sign for the whole 9 yards. If the meets are home meets (which means down the block from me) we sign in for the whole 9 yards and I just pop in for DD's events. If they are away meets, we sign in for the whole meet unless it is a particularly brutal hot day, in which case we just skip it or sign in for the morning half. We actually had one away meeting at night that went on for eight hours; we didn't get home until midnight, but it was actually fun because I like swimming under the lights - it's a lot cooler. If this us a Recreational team, talk to the coach and see if there are any accommodations for your other activities. perhaps your child can swim just a few events early in the morning and then leave. If this is not a recreational team, get on the recreational team so that you don't have to deal with the pressure of heavy duty competition.

 

ETA: DD is also on the dive team, so she practices for the swim meet in the afternoon, practices for the dive team in the morning, has swim meet Saturday morning,and dive meets during the week. Yeah, we're waterlogged.

 

Everyone is telling me swim meets are like 5 hours long, minimum. Really? How do you do other things? Saturday meets start at 8am, so that means our whole Saturday is shot? Is this how other families live? :P

 

Do you think they'll let the younger kids leave earlier?

 

Do any of your kids join swim team but skip a lot of the meets?

 

I signed my kids up (and paid $100/day non-refundable) for horse riding most Saturdays, and now I have this meet schedule that came out at the last minute. Why can't it be like soccer, where you're out of there in <1.5 hours? :P

[Reefgazer]

It's only a lovely thing when it's not 105° in the shade. 😀

Our summer league meets are 6-7 hours long from end to end. And no, we don't do anything else. When our kids were just swimming a few strokes, it wasn't a huge deal, because we could leave early. As soon as they became relay swimmers, we had to stay from the first to the last race.

 

It's really a lovely thing to hang out by the pool all day. I really don't mind. My favorite definition of a swim meet is, "An all day social gathering, interrupted by brief moments of swimming."

 

If you want to cut out early, only let your kids sign up for freestyle and backstroke.

[ScoutTN]

My kids are not great swimmers but they love summer swim team! It is high energy fun. They love the cheers, the excitement of close races, the fact that eveyone is welcome and valued, the coaches and the special events. Our swim club partners with the local special needs team. We raise money for them and go to visit their practice and they come to one of our meets. We have three sn swimmers on our team.

 

I love that they get a lot of exercise, learn new things, make new friends, are challenged to do their personal best, have a safe and friendly place to play. Our pool has tennis too and is a nice community. Ds is learning about focus and not just goofing off. He could be fairly good if he would really do his best. Dd is learning about working hard and improving even when she is the slowest swimmer in her age group and doesn't contribute anything to the team's score. School and music come vary easily for her and this is different. Life lesson.

[Jenny in Florida]

Anatomy of a morning swim meet

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julianna-w-miner/anatomy-of-a-swim-meet_b_5509910.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000037

 

Thought this was appropriate :)

 

Sounds a bit like a dance competition, except that they are usually indoors (but can last a whole weekend). And, of course, dancers aren't allowed to eat anything messy while in costume. 

[happypamama]

The thing is that usually ALL the kids in the family swim. In fact, ds ended up swimming his first meet when he was only 3 just because he was there. (He swam backstroke and freestyle/doign backstroke instead of crawl because that was all he would swim at that age.)The meets are like a neighborhood party of sorts. The parents usually are working the meet (for at least half the meet time). The kids are playing with each other. When parents aren't working, they are supervising kids or chatting with each other. It can be quite a pleasant event.

Aww, I have similar memories of my years on swim team in the summer so! There were four of us, and we'd all practice at the same time, so first thing in the morning, we'd all be at practice, and Mom would sit by the side of the pool and chat with her friends. And the whole family would be there for the meets, often with one of our parents working somehow. My little sister swam her first meet when she was probably four. She had to stop to hold onto the side of the pool periodically, and a coach walked beside her the whole time, and she finished, the whole crowd erupted in cheers for her. It was so sweet! I remember being slightly bored but tolerably so; I had a few friends on the team, and between that, swimming my own couple of events, and cheering for my brothers and sister, it wasn't too bad.

 

Good memories. . .

[Mommy22alyns]

Welcome to the crazy world of competitive sports!

 

I am just thankful that gymnastics is an indoor, climate-controlled activity.

 

But yes, when Rebecca has a meet, that's our whole day, and we're all usually too worn out to do much with the rest of the weekend.  And you are not allowed to cut out early at all.  Big time no-no.  Siblings just have to deal with it or hope for a babysitter.  Sylvia will happily play on the Kindle and peek up long enough to cheer for her sister.

[mermo]

The time commitment does sound crazy but we love it. A swim team village forms; we have a big pot luck for each meet, hang out with great friends (when not volunteering), help keep an eye on each other's kids, watch a few seconds of swimming, the kids play games and make lots of memories - especially being allowed to write on themselves with a Sharpie!

[imagine.more]

Everyone is telling me swim meets are like 5 hours long, minimum.  Really?  How do you do other things?  Saturday meets start at 8am, so that means our whole Saturday is shot?  Is this how other families live?  :p

 

Do you think they'll let the younger kids leave earlier?

 

Do any of your kids join swim team but skip a lot of the meets?

 

I signed my kids up (and paid $100/day non-refundable) for horse riding most Saturdays, and now I have this meet schedule that came out at the last minute.  Why can't it be like soccer, where you're out of there in <1.5 hours?  :p

 

Yeah, that was my reaction too when we started swim team, lol!  And yes it really is about 5 hours typically. Generally they space out the races each swimmer does so they end up staying the whole time or nearly the whole time. Also, parents need to occasionally volunteer which sometimes requires getting there early or staying late. It's bad form to leave early, you'll get the coach stink eye ;) Summer teams tend to be a bit more laid back and it's okay to miss a few meets but as they get older more is expected. You sign up for the meets ahead of time so you can know ahead of time. 

 

We just plan for it and all go and bring picnic stuff and most kids bring cards or iPads to play while they wait. 

[Bluegoat]

Unless it's changed a lot, parents are running the show....... lots of volunteers are needed. I know when I swam, many eons ago, most parents volunteered for at least half of the meet, alternating jobs. Kids hung out with their friends, even the little ones, while mom/dad worked. It was fun. But mine were closer to five hours with warm up time, not 6-7. Now, when I swam synchro, the parents were not as involved.... but the meets were longer and often involved more travel.

 

I don't think we have swimming like that here, but paddling is in some ways similar.  Parents do a fair bit of volunteering, but it in't all of them, and it isn't required that they stay if they aren't needed.  Most of the kids will be at the club all day through the week without their parents, so a fair bit can get done without them around.

[abacus2]

My kids are doing a summer league. Our meets start with warm-ups at 5pm and go to about 9pm typically. We have 8 meets in our 6 week season. All of ours are Monday or Thursday evening and practice is at 8:30 in the morning, so the interrupted evenings are limited and their is nothing required on the weekends. It is intense, but it's only 6 weeks and during the summer so it works for us.

[vonfirmath]

Aww, I have similar memories of my years on swim team in the summer so! There were four of us, and we'd all practice at the same time, so first thing in the morning, we'd all be at practice, and Mom would sit by the side of the pool and chat with her friends. And the whole family would be there for the meets, often with one of our parents working somehow. My little sister swam her first meet when she was probably four. She had to stop to hold onto the side of the pool periodically, and a coach walked beside her the whole time, and she finished, the whole crowd erupted in cheers for her. It was so sweet! I remember being slightly bored but tolerably so; I had a few friends on the team, and between that, swimming my own couple of events, and cheering for my brothers and sister, it wasn't too bad.

 

Good memories. . .

I remember the same thing about my little sister's early meets! Except our coach would step on her fingers if she held on too long. To encourage her to continue to swim and not just hand-over-hand on the wall.  She was always put on a lane next to the wall though until she could easily swim the whole way on her own.

[SKL]

Well, I looked over the schedule and it doesn't seem so bad.  A couple of the meets are in the evening, and they don't have to actually attend all of them.  I will have to see if the horse people will let me reschedule to fill up the days I'd thought we'd be traveling (nother story for another day).

 

My kids heard how long it was and they said maybe they don't want to be on swim team.  But I told them let's try it for a season.  I really want them to keep swimming regularly, and not ever competing would be awkward.  Hopefully they will find that they enjoy the experience.

 

I just wish I had the schedule sooner.  Figuring out our summer calendar is no small feat.  :P

[vonfirmath]

I *LOVED* Swim team (Well. Not always practice. But looking back, those are some of my best memories of childhood) I would urge your daughters to give it a try. It is a LOT of work but it is also a lot of fun.  And the meets, despite the length, are not the worst part. Its how MUCH swimming you have to do during practice! I remember often feeling I couldn't do it anymore. But I'd do "one more 50" and then "One more 100" and manage more than I ever expected.

 

The meets themselves are just fun.  Very little swimming. And I ended up with a book filled with ribbons because so many swimmers could earn rewards because there were so many events.

 

 

[SKL]

My kids' team does "conditioning" all year long.  It's an hour a day, two days a week.  Often they do another one-hour activity before or after - the swimming cools them down.  They've been doing this since fall, without complaint (though it took a little time for one of them to get used to it).  I wouldn't want them to stop this activity.

[Alte Veste Academy]

The meets are when friendships are forged. At swim practice, the kids are together and they can chat a little, but it's mostly business. The down time at the meets is when my kids make friends and then grow those friendships, which is what made me love swim more than anything (except maybe their incredible level of fitness, LOL), because swim kids tend to be really good kids. 

[mermo]

Any update?

[Mabelen]

My daughter had her first ever swim meet yesterday. We were there at 10.45 am and left right after 1.00 pm. This was a very low key meet, aimed at newbies mostly and returning summer team members. My daughter only did 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke so we left before the whole thing was over. She did enjoy it and wants to do more. We have two left in the season. Lessons learned for me were to bring a wide brimmed hat and an umbrella.