Page 13 - 4SSC Handbook 2018

time, not necessarily a similar age. This can be quite daunting as you could be placed in a heat
with swimmers 2 or 3 years older, in some cases much older. It should always be remembered

that you are in that specific heat for a reason, you have earned your place through swim times.
Once all the heats have been swum, the results are placed back into age groups – 9 year old
boys, 10 year old girls etc.

Prizes & Medals

Each meet has different criteria on how they award prizes and/or medals, this can usually be
found in the meet information pack. As a rough rule of thumb, L3 meets do not give medals, but

often provide some form of prize. L3 and above will usually give medals to the first three per age
group.

How open meets work – on the day

Please arrive in good time and allow sufficient time to find somewhere to park. Parking can be
difficult at open meets when car parks are exceptionally busy and spaces at the pool cannot be
guaranteed so you may need to allow time for a short walk as well. The email sent with

confirmation of details, there will usually be some advice regarding parking. A useful resource is
found at www.parkopedia.com.

On arrival, swimmers should by-pass any queue of parents and head straight for the changing
rooms, change, place their bags in a locker [always have a spare £1 coin available with you], and

then report poolside to the coach / team manager for sign-in [see below]. There is usually a
withdrawal system is in place, this is usually done by the coach or team manager.

Swimmers need to be changed and on the poolside ready to swim 20 minutes prior to the start
of warm up.

Signing In

There will always be a formal method of signing in. It is very important that you sign-in by the
stipulated time otherwise your entry will be withdrawn and it is unlikely that you will be allowed to
swim. The club may also receive a fine, which will be passed onto the swimmer. There will be a

phone number on the gala confirmation email, please use it. The coach / team manager will
mark you absent if we have not heard from you.

Meets are mostly run in sessions, where there could be 2-3 sessions within each day. If you are
attending for the full day you can sign-in for all sessions at the beginning, otherwise sign-in for

your individual session.

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