McGee's Manta Rays

Get Ready to Have Fun! Remember to tell your child that he/she simply needs to try his/her best. Every meet is a race against one's own best time.

Please arrive at least 15 minutes before the scheduled warm-up time. The Home team warms-up first from 5-5:30 and the Away team from 5:30-6. The meets will start immediately after the warm-up. Our youngest swimmers do not need to do a full warm-up and we will let them know as they swim.

Please arrive with your swimsuit on and as ready as possible. With the exception of SRAC, none of the pools have large restrooms or changing areas.

What to Pack

-team swim cap

-goggles

-towel

-sunblock (remember that sunblock removes permanent marker)

-chairs for everyone in the family to sit on (The later you arrive, the more likely you are to need your own chairs. Remember to never let your children sit on pool chairs without a towel between them and the chair!)

-black Sharpie

-pen to mark changes on heat sheet

-food and drinks and/or money for concessions - Some of the pools are able to offer wonderful concessions so you don't have to think about dinner. They all offer something. We try to let you know that week what will be available.

-entertainment for between races- games, books, cards, especially for non-swimming siblings

How to read and highlight a Heat Sheet

Heat Sheet Video

This is an old heat sheet. (The order for the events has changed this year. The new order is Medley Relay, Freestyle (Free), Backstroke (Back), Free Relay, Butterfly (Fly), Breaststroke (Breast), Individual Medley (IM). The meet goes through each type of event, starting with the youngest swimmers through the oldest. The maximum number of events per swimmer is 3 individual and 2 relays. Some swimmers will not have 5 events, especially younger or less experienced swimmers. Sometimes there are not enough swimmers in an age group at a meet for everyone to have 2 (or even 1) relays.

Print up the Heat Sheet for the current meet before you leave home, highlight your swimmer’s events (see video) and bring it with you. A “heat” is the group of swimmers swimming in the pool at the same time. For a 4 lane pool like ours, if we have ten 7-8 yr old boys swimming 25 yd Freestyle, we can’t have them swim all at the exact same time. So we divide them into 3 heats based on their best time for the 25 yd freestyle.

Medley Relay order of swimmers: Back, Breast, Fly, Free (to remember the order, note that the strokes are in alphabetical order)

How to Mark Your Swimmer

First, write on your swimmer’s left shoulder: “McG”. On their right shoulder, write their last name, first initial Ex: McG Jackson, C

This is to help Flow Managers and coaches properly place your child and for timers to make sure that they have the correct swimmer in their lane.

On their arm, so it can be read by the swimmer, you will mark the swimmer’s event number, event name, order number in parentheses for relays only, Heat number/ lane number. Some swimmers put lines between to make it look like a chart with columns labeled. Below is how my daughter has done it for 10 years of swim meets. This example is what she would have written for the heat sheets above. If you have trouble understanding this, come see me or another experienced mom when you get to the pool for the meet and we will help you mark your swimmer.

The first event here is event 7, FR (Freestyle Relay), swimmer 4, Heat 1, Lane 4

Event 14, 50 yard Freestyle, Heat 2, Lane 3

Event 31, 50 yard Breaststroke, Heat 2, Lane 3

Event 43, 50 yd Backstroke, Heat 1, Lane 2

Event 67, Medley Relay, first swimmer (backstroke), Heat 1, Lane 3

Most kids prefer to keep their marks for the duration of the meet, but if they need to be removed for any reason, sunscreen or alcohol work best!

Another option is as follows: 

After You Arrive

• Find the team and set up a spot. Each pool has areas designated for Away and Home Teams.
• Swimmer gets ready for warmups with the team
• Keep track of your swimmers. They will want to run, play, and explore. Running is not allowed at any of the pools.
• At least 3 heats before your swimmer’s race, escort him/her to the collection area so that Flow Managers can line them up in time
• Swimmers shouldn’t eat a big or heavy meal as it can lead to an upset stomach after swimming. Healthy snacking usually works best- anything small. A whole meal can be broken up into several portions and eaten over a few hours rather than all at once. This is especially important for younger and newer swimmers.