Shady Hollow Stingrays

Meets are not mandatory. 

Sign yourself up to volunteer when you sign your swimmer up for a meet.

We NEED our awesome parents to make these meets happen!!

If your swimmer wants to race, sign up for each swim meet by THURSDAY at 11am. Swimmers can sign up for a meet even if they have not attended practice that week.

On the Swimtopia home page (or Events page) select the green “Meet Entry” button, green “Edit” button, choose the events, choose if the swimmer is available for a relay and don’t forget to SAVE (green button).

Swimmers can sign up for 1 - 3 individual events.

If the swimmer is available for relays, select that option when signing up for the meet. *Check the heat sheets prior to the meet to see if the swimmer was put in a relay. Be at the pool by 7am to check in your swimmer if they are in a relay and let them warm up. 
Video help to sign up  

Don’t forget to sign yourself up for a volunteer position. A swim meet can’t happen without parent volunteers. To sign up as a volunteer, when you are in Swimtopia, click the green Job Signup button and choose what you would like to do. Brief position descriptions

Meets start at 8am, but swimmers need to be there to check in and warm up (starts at 7am). Parent volunteer meetings (both shifts) are at 7:30am and Zoo keepers should be there prior to 7am.

Eat a good dinner the night before with plenty of carbs and low amounts of protein the night before. Go to bed early. 

Eat a light breakfast such as cereal and a banana or an energy bar if you are swimming early. Drink plenty of liquids. Fruit juices and water are the best. Avoid energy or soft drinks and sugary snacks before swimming.

• Print the heat sheet and bring it with you to the meet
• GOGGLE CHECK
• Bring a towel (and swim cap - optional)
• Extra goggles (and swim cap) just in case something breaks. It happens. 
• You may want to include a snack/lunch with your swimmer’s water bottle
• Parents, mark up your swimmer prior to check in with their events-heat-lane information. Directions are in a section below. (Spray sunscreen helps remove the permanent marker after the meet. It still may take some time to fade.)
• LABEL ALL ITEMS.
• Zoo CHECK IN: Please drop off your marked up swimmer at their zoo by 7am. Tell them to stay with their Zookeeper and talk to your child about proper behavior when in the zoo. Younger swimmers will need to have parents meet the Zookeepers and give contact information directly to them.
• Zookeepers will watch your swimmer during the meet and they will get them to the ready bench for their race so that you can volunteer during the meet. 
• Zoo Information and Behavior Expectations
• You can buy food/snacks at the concession stand. So you may want to also bring money (small bills please... at home meets they take online payment).
• Folding chair for you to sit in.
• Something for your kid to do in the Zoo between events
• CHECK to make sure swimmers have THEIR GOGGLES and other accessories before you go home. If your kiddo dresses in the theme for the meet, it will probably be just to get to the pool. Make sure you have your theme related accessories before you leave the pool.
• Zoo CHECK OUT: Please don’t forget to have your swimmer clean up their space and check your swimmer out with their Zookeeper when your family is ready to leave the meet.

• Meet themes are announced on FB and/or in the information that is emailed the week before the meet.

Previous themes included: 

Kentucky Derby, Stingrays, BLUE OUT, Star Wars, Hawaiian, Country/Western, Holiday, Superhero, 80's theme and Disney/Pixar. 

New to swim team? Learn the “code” all the kids have written on them at the swim meets.

Swimmers should be "marked up" when they arrive at the zoo. 

The new ZOO sheets make it easy. Find your swimmer by age, gender, name. 

Use THEIR information. Below is an example.

Below is how you would mark up your swimmer using a heat sheet.

Click here for an EXAMPLE on VIDEO.

Write your swimmer’s name clearly with permanent marker.

The numbers are for: EVENT - HEAT - LANE.

This will also help you keep track of when your swimmer is up and where to look. Heat Sheets are available before every race on Swimtopia. Make sure you check the relay sections if you selected that you were available to race relays.

The current event and heat are posted on the center island at our pool.

In the example pictured, she is swimming:

event 11, heat 2, lane 6

event 17, heat 1, lane 3

Below is an example of part of an old “Heat Sheet” (with the names covered).

EVENTS are what the swimmers will be swimming. It says the age group and stroke they will swim.

HEATS are the different races in each event.

LANES are the numbers under heat to the left of each swimmer’s name. (1-6 at our pool)

IM- Individual Medley- for ages 9 and up- The order is butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle

Freestyle Relay- all 4 legs of the race swim freestyle.

Medley Relay- the computer may place swimmers in a relay if swimmers have indicated they are available on the sign up. The order is backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle.

For Relays, the heatsheet shows swimmer’s leg of the race

1 2

3 4

To show team spirit, kids often draw stingrays, "EAT MY BUBBLES" and "FEEL MY STING" on themselves and their friends at the meets.

  Stingray 1 (video)            Stingray 2 (video)            Stingray 3 (video)

Great question!

For information/resources on DQs, please go to the PRACTICE PAGE and see the section titled "What will DQ my swimmer at a meet?"

To view race results, click on the Meets and Events Schedule page. There will be a Results pdf now listed in the meet section. If your swimmer placed 1 - 6 in an event they will get a ribbon. If your swimmer has a new personal best time in an individual event, they will get a Stingray ribbon.

Swimmers/parents can get their ribbon(s) from the clear boxes with blue tops located near the pool entrance usually the Tuesday practice after a meet. Boxes have folders with swimmer's names alphabetically. Swimmers/parents are welcome to take what is in their folder. Please LEAVE the folder in the bin and only reach in your folder to get your ribbons.

If you are looking for a way to organize the ribbons, ziplock bags are good for each season or you can buy clear ribbon organizer pages from Amazon. If your swimmer DQ'd, you will also get the DQ form at this time.