Swimming Meets
Choosing which meet to attend will depend on the swimmer, generally swimmers registered as a full competing member can enter almost any competition. If you are new to competing then you might want to start off competing in a carnival which is designed to ease the swimmer into competing. This is a brief run down on competitions available in the Manawatu:
- Winter Leagues.
One session carnivals hosted by Swimming Manawatu, designed to ease swimmers into competitive swimming. - Novice Carnival.
These carnivals are for novice swimmers only — any swimmer not registered as a competitive swimmer. - Club Carnivals.
General competitions usually no qualification required. - Age Groups.
Competitions where you will compete against swimmers in your age group. Swimmers would start off competing in local Age group meets and try to qualify for National Age group competitions.
Each meet will be assigned a team manager their role is to ensure the team is organised at the swimming meet and to provide a means of communication between the meet officials, coach, swimmers and parents/care givers. (Only the team manager is authorised to communicate with meet officials).
- Arrival at swim meet
All swimmers entered in a swimming meet should make every effort to arrive in time for the warm-up. It is an essential part of race preparation and will help the swimmer become accustomed to the pool conditions, it also allows time for the team manager to confirm swimmers attendance and for the coach to finalise the relay team.
All swimmers should arrive at the meet with their events already written down. This makes it a lot quicker for the both the swimmer and team manager - Check in
All Swimmers must check in with the Team Manager on arrival. The Team Manager will scratch swimmers if they don’t know they are at the meet. If possible please notify the team manager or coach if you are going to be late. Not all team managers are contactable.
Swimmers under 13 must check in with the team manager for each event they are swimming the team manager will then check them off the list and get them to see the coach before proceeding to the marshalling area. - Scratching 'VS'. No-Shows
Swimmers who arrive late to a swim meet run the risk of being scratched from the event/session. The team manager must have the scratching list to the meet officials BEFORE the scratching deadline. The scratching deadline can be different for each meet.
It is the clubs policy to scratch swimmers rather than the swimmer incurs a ‘no-show’. The difference between scratched and ‘no-shows’ is that when a swimmer is scratched from an event there are no penalties incurred by the swimmer or the club. A ‘no-show’ may incur penalties and meet officials may prevent a swimmer from swimming their next event.
During the swim meet only the coach (or team manager if coach isn’t present) can scratch a swimmer from a race. If a swimmer does not want to swim a race event he/she (or parents/care-giver) will need to see the coach. - Marshalling for Races
It s the responsibility of the parent/care-giver and swimmer to ensure they know which events they are swimming before racing commences. This information is available from the race secretary before the meet or programmes are available at the meet. - Check with the coaches
If the coach is available poolside swimmers must check in with the coach before and after each race. - Be Polite
After racing, use please and thank-you when asking for times from the time-keepers. - Swimming Finals
Swimmers must swim in finals if they qualify, Swimmers who have qualified for more than one final or have consecutive finals are advised to discuss the appropriate strategy with the coach.
Swimmers who have made the alternate list for the finals should discuss their options with the coach or team manager if the coach is not in attendance.
If there are medal/certificate presentations to be made, swimmers must wear their Kiwi West Aquatics shirt wherever possible or other appropriate clothing - Definitely no TOWELS or PEAKED CAPS are to be worn at presentation.
When leaving a meet
If you are leaving before the end of a meet you need to make sure that you are not in any other races (events, finals or relays) results are usually posted somewhere at the meet. If you are an alternative for a final check with the coach about your options. Before leaving check-out with the team manager to ensure you are not required for any presentations.
