This page is full of great information for families new to our team, or new to the sport of swimming!  Please review this page, check our Frequently Asked Questions page, and Contact Us if you have any questions - we're here to help!

Essentials for Every Meet:

• Swimsuit: The Team suit is a standard black suit, preferably with the Gator name on it.  While a standard black suit can be purchased at any sports store or website, our Gator suits can be purchased online here.  Girls should wear a competition style one piece suit and boys knee-length jammers (no board shorts please).  
• Goggles:  Goggles can be purchased in any sports equipment store or online.  We recommend swimming style goggles and do not recommend larger masks.
• Gators Swim Cap:  We sell Gators caps for $15 at all events and meets.  Both girls and boys must wear a Gators swim cap for all meets.

Other Useful Items:

• Gator Equipment!  hats, shirts, sweatshirts, etc. can be purchased from our online store.  Support our team and wear your Gator Gear to every meet!
• Towel
• Chairs
• Ground Blankets
• Canopy or Easy-Up to block the sun (or share with team families!)
• Entertainment for downtime between races
• Sunscreen

What To Do Upon Arriving:

• Check in - Swimmers and Workers must check in upon arrival, and no later than 8:00 am so we know you are there!
• Warm Ups - While warm-ups are optional, it helps your swimmer become familiar with the temperature of the water, the pool (important for visiting pools), and loosens their muscles.  We strongly recommend attending warm-ups for each meet.  Times vary for away meets and will be provided ahead of time.  For home meets, the times are:   
  • 6 and under: 7:40 am
  • 7 – 8: 7:50 am
  • 9 – 10: 8:00 am
  • 11 – 12: 8:15 am
  • 13 – 14: 8:30 am
  • 15 – 18: 8:45 am
• What events are you (your swimmer) swimming? - Find the swim board to write down what your child is swimming, or simply use the SwimTopia app!
• Claim a spot - Meets can be crowded, so find a nice place in the grass to sit and put your belongings.  Most pools request that no families sit on the deck and instead utilize grass areas just outside the pool entrances.
• Line up - For the younger kids (4-6 and 7-8 age groups), an announcer will walk through the grass/sitting areas to let you know when your child should head over to line ups.  Older kids (9 and up) need to pay attention to the flow of the meet or view the current event/heat information on the SwimTopia app to ensure they do not miss their race.

Meets:

Meets are held Saturday mornings during swim season. Meets begin promptly at 9:00 am and usually are finished by 2:30 or 3:00 pm.   A swimmer can swim in a maximum of four events at each meet (which may be a combination of individual events and relays). Relay events are competed at the beginning and end of meets (see event layout below). Swimmers may leave the meet once their last event has been swam.

You must let us know if your swimmer(s) WILL be at a meet by logging in to this website and declaring.  If you do not declare, you will not be entered in the meet!  Declarations close the Tuesday before each meet at 11:30pm.  Once logged in, you can declare on this page.  Knowing who is available before seeding is extremely important to our coaches and streamlines the meet preparation process. If you are scheduled to swim in a meet and you become ill or have an emergency, contact the coach immediately through the Contact Us section of this website so that they will have enough time to substitute another swimmer.

Please note:  Signing your swimmer out of a meet does not relieve you of your scheduled jobs.  

Scoring:

In the individual events, a first place finish earns 7 points for the team, a second place scores 4 points, a third place finish scores 3 points, a fourth place finish scores 2 points, and a 5th place finish scores 1 point.  Every point counts in a meet! Relay events are swum at the beginning and end of each meet and receives 9 points for a first place finish, 4 points for a second place finish, and 2 points for a third place finish. Scoring and placing is decided by fastest time from all swimmers in the same age group, regardless of heat.  

In our league, there are two different types of meets that could happen, based on the home teams choosing: Traditional or Split Meet.

• Traditional Meet - All swimmers will participate all day based on the traditional format and follow the below event order.
• Split Meet - These meets will be broken down by age.  Swimmers 9 and older will participate from 9am to approximately 11:30am. There will then be a short break and all 8 and under swimmers will swim from 12:30pm to approximately 3:00pm. 
  • These meets run very fast, so swimmers need to be ready for their races.
  • Volunteers for split meets will work that entire age group, so make sure you are aware of which age group you sign up for (preferably one in which your swimmers will be attending).
  • Event order is the same, but will only include 9 and up for morning, and 6 and unders, and 7-8 age groups for afternoon.

Events:

The following is the order of events during a standard meet.  One length of the pool, also known as a lap, is 25 yards.