Frequently Asked Questions |
Ask the Coach: Questions about the QL Eagles and Summer Swimming: Q: What if my child doesn’t know all (or any!) of the strokes? A: As long as your child can meet our minimum
requirements, we’ll take care of the rest. Our minimum requirements are: Q; What does my swimmer need for practice? A: Not much, but here’s a good list:
Q: What if my child can’t make it to practice – or a meet? A: We know that summer is a very busy time for
kids and their families – with competing activities, camps, vacations, etc.
Without question, the more regularly your swimmer attends practice, the more
s/he will improve – and we will be recognizing swimmers who have perfect
attendance in a given week.
Q: We’ve never been to a swim meet. What should we expect? A (short): Organized Chaos! A (real): The average QL dual swim meet
consists of approximately 120 heats/races organized in 56 events. They are
highly organized, with swimmers lined up behind their assigned lanes at
least six (6) heats before they are to swim, and races often starting within
30 seconds of the previous heat’s finish. The stroke order of events are: So, for example, the first several events are: When the IM’s are fininshed, you begin the Freestyle: Depending upon the number of swimmers there may be 2 or 3 (sometimes more) heats of every event. Meets begin at 6pm (with warm-ups before), and usually conclude between 9 and 9:30 pm.
Q: What should we bring to meets?
Q: How can I best prepare my child for a meet? A: Your child will be ready to swim their best
if they:
Q: How many events will my child swim? A: VPSU league rules limit swimmers to 3 events plus a relay. We will almost always enter swimmers in the maximum number of events if they are capable of performing the strokes and interested in swimming them. Q: What if my child is afraid to swim in the Meet? A: It is normal for inexperienced swimmers of all ages – but especially young children - to be nervous about their first few meets. This fear almost always evaporates with the successful completion of their few first races! We encourage all swimmers whom we feel are capable of competing to do so. In no way is a child ever required to swim in a meet, even if already entered, and more than one child has gotten to the starting blocks only to decide that they weren’t yet ready to “take the plunge”. There is absolutely no penalty for doing so. We want swimming, whether in practice or meets – to be a positive experience and will never pressure a swimmer to compete. Likewise, we discourage parents from pressuring their swimmers. Encouragement, reassurance and expressions of faith in their ability are the most helpful approaches – and when they’re ready we’ll all know.
A: At each meet, we will post sheets with the names of each child and the event # , heat #, and lane # for each race in which they are entered. A coach or older swimmer (or you, if you like) will make sure that these numbers are written on the back of their hand with a Sharpie marker (so it won’t wash off in the pool). This provides a ready reference for you – and them – as to when, what and where they will swim. In addition, the coaches and designated parent volunteers will be gathering swimmers approximately 10 minutes before they are scheduled to swim to make sure they are lined up, have their time cards and are checked in with the Clerk of Course – who is responsible for organizing the heats. Each very young swimmer will have a more experienced “big brother” or “big sister”, who will make sure they get to where they need to go, and keep them company while they wait for their event. Please make sure that your child stays in the team area during the meet. (Sometimes they are lured away by a nearby playground or concession stand). Try to make sure that they use the restroom before the start of the meet and/or during longer breaks between their events.
Q: How do you determine which events my child will swim? A: We aim for a balance between capitalizing on a swimmer’s strongest (and therefore most comfortable and competitive) strokes, and giving them experience swimming each of the strokes in competition. The coaches will be observing each swimmer in practice over the week to determine which events will be most successful for them. If there is a particular stroke that your child would like to – or not like to – swim in a meet, please talk to their coach, or encourage your child to do so.
A: We strive to place (or seed) swimmers in heats with others of similar ability – which is the best environment to support their personal success. We do this on the basis of their “seed” time – their fastest official time for that event. Heats are then organized with the six fastest swimmers in the first heat, the next fastest in the second heat, and so on. Before the first meet, we will hold a “Time Trial” – which will function as both a “practice” meet and an opportunity to get starting seed times for all our swimmers before the season begins. As your swimmer improves over the course of the season, her/his seed time will be adjusted and will be used to place her/him in the appropriate heats at each meet.
A: Under VPSU rules, only 2 swimmers for each team may earn “points” for the team in each event. These four swimmers (two from each team) always swim in the first heat of every event – which is the “official” heat for meet scoring purposes. Subsequent heats are referred to as “exhibition” heats. At Queens Lake, we do not attach any status to which heat a swimmer competes in. Our focus is on supporting each swimmer’s opportunity to perform their best – and celebrating their achievements. Achieving a “Best Time” is the most important accomplishment! A: There are four “graduated” relays at the end of each meet, and they are often the climax of the meet. They are: Boys Medley Relay, Girls Medley Relay, Boys Freestyle Relay and Girls Freestyle Relay. The relay teams are “graduated” in that they consist of one swimmer from each age group: 10 & under, 11-12, 13-14, and 15-18, who are generally the strongest swimmers in their age group. We will often field two (and sometimes three) relay teams for each relay – so four to six swimmers from each of those age groups will have an opportunity to swim a relay. Relay swimmers are usually notified on the day of the meet.
Q: Which swimmers are awarded Ribbons A: Ribbons are awarded to all swimmers. In each event, ribbons are awarded for first through fourth place for the official heat and first through eighth place for the exhibition swimmers. All other swimmers are awarded “Participation” ribbons – which are rainbow colored, and which many – especially younger – swimmers actually prefer. On the back of each ribbon is noted the date of the meet, the event and the time swum. Ribbons are usually distributed the day after the meet. They are wonderful mementos of your child’s progress!
Q: What does it mean to “DQ”? A: There are certain requirements for each stroke that all swimmers must meet for their race to be legal under VPSU rules (which are in accordance with the stroke rules of USA Swimming, Inc. which governs most competitive swimming in the United States). For example: In a freestyle event, the swimmer cannot stand and then push off the bottom, cannot pull themselves along a lane line (although they can rest holding onto a lane line) and cannot swim under water more than 15 meters at the start and turn. If a swimmer does any of these things, they will be disqualified, or “DQ”d. One stroke and turn official from each team monitors swimmers in each event and indicates/documents swimmers who DQ and the reasons why. For more information on the requirements of each stroke, see: http://www.vpsu.com/Page.html and click on the USA Swimming Rule book. It is VERY common for younger and less experienced swimmers be disqualified. Even very experienced and championship swimmers occasionally are DQ’d. Breaststroke and Butterfly have especially particular requirements, and for older swimmers, turns can be tricky for almost every stroke. So don’t be concerned if your swimmer DQs, even if they do so several times. Our coaches will be aware of the issues/mistakes, and will be working on them with your swimmer. But it often takes time to build new habits, and our top priority will be overall stroke capability – which may or may not require addressing the DQ issues first. If you ever have any questions about your child’s progress of performance, please don’t hesitate to talk with his/her coach after practice.
Q: Do we have to stay for the whole meet, or can we leave after my child has swum their last event? A: Its nice to have as many people as possible stay to cheer on the swimmers through to the end of the meet. But we know that the meet is long – and can be quite late – for young swimmers, who do not participate in the Butterfly and Relay events in the last part of the meet. So we certainly understand that some families will need to leave early. Our Co-Coordinators will work to ensure that families with young children are assigned volunteer responsibilities during the first half of the meet, so that they are free to leave when their swimmer is finished. Q: What is “Champs”? A: The VPSU summer season culminates with the league championship meet, known as “Champs”. Swimmers who achieve league qualifying times are eligible to swim in the champs meet against other eligible swimmers from all teams in the league. A comprehensive record of swimmer times will be posted on the team bulletin board, and as “champs” times are achieved, they will be so indicated. Qualifying times for Champs can be found on the VPSU website at www.vpsu.com.
A: Summer Awards is a multi-team meets hosted the weekend before the Champs meet to give all swimmers who have NOT yet achieved champs times one more chance to do so. It also gives those swimmers not eligible to go to champs the opportunity to swim in a big, multi-team event.
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