New to swim team? It can all be a little overwhelming at first! There's so much that you probably don't even know what to ask. Here are some basics to get you started.

• What Gear Do I Need?
• Why Do We Ask You to Volunteer?
• What to Expect at a Swim Meet
• What Is a Heat Sheet?

There is very little gear you will need to purchase, as Saddlebrook provides most of what's needed (i.e., kickboards and swim buoys), but there are a few things you'll want to pick up:

• Good competition goggles are a must, especially for swimmers who are actually diving off the dive blocks. These are not the ones you'll find at the local store. While they do run a little more than play goggles, they are key to not wearing the goggles around your neck once you dive in! Check out our new affiliate store at Swim Outlet - we get store credit to use for team equipment from every purchase through this link or by clicking through from our main website homepage. If you need something right away, try a sporting goods store like Academy Sports or Dicks. Most of the kids prefer Speedo or Nike or something similar - a silicone seal around the eye sockets and an adjustable nose are preferable. Many swimmers love bungee straps. Mirrored lenses are a good option for sunny practices but do limit visibility when swimming after dark.
• You will be purchasing a team swimsuit, but some people like to have an additional suit for practice. Again, Swim Outlet has some nice but fairly cheap options, especially for boys' jammers which are harder to find locally. Girls can typically get away with most any one-piece suit. Additional suits are a luxury, not a requirement but may extend the life of your team suit, especially if your swimmer is unlikely to outgrow it for next season.
• Every swimmer will be provided with a latex swim cap, but many swimmers prefer the fit of a silicone cap. They're also GREAT for not pulling long hair as much! We will have a silicone team caps (along with replacement latex caps) available for sale at the snack bar throughout the season, and plain ones can be purchased at SwimOutlet. Reminder: any swimmer competing with a year-round or high school team cap will be disqualified at summer league meets, so make sure you either have a Saddlebrook cap or a plain one at every meet!
• You'll want to bring a towel to practice and two to meets. 
• You'll want a bag to carry all of your gear, especially to meets. While any bag will do, there are a few styles made especially for swim gear. Take a look at these on Swim Outlet. 
• Definitely bring a sharpie to the meet or mark your races before making it to the pool. Swimmers have a shorthand for keeping up with their races which can be written on their arm, thigh, or hand. Yes, use a sharpie...anything else will wash off during the meet. We'll do a tutorial on how to do this! For now, see How To Read a Heat Sheet for more details on where to get the information. Younger swimmers will also need to have their name and age on their shoulder blade. While you're at it, you may want to add some temporary swim tattoos with that Sharpie. Here are some examples:

Swim meets require more volunteers than any other sport I know of! Of course, every sport has coaches to teach the athletes and keep the meet moving, but there are so many things to be done! Here's some of what's going on at Saddlebrook that you may not know about.

• Before the season even starts, the website gets updated, the registration gets updated, the new spirit wear is chosen, designed, ordered, and delivered, suits are fitted, ordered, and delivered, the roster is completed, county meetings are attended, insurance is purchased, lifeguard training and certification is attended, county requirements are fulfilled, supplies are purchased, etc. Believe it or not, the first board meeting is usually in January or early February!
• For every meet we need people to cut, sort, hole punch, and check every single time card for every single race of every single swimmer the night before.
• Tents for the swimmers, signs, and equipment have to be delivered and set up.
• Signs and cones and tables and chairs get set up if the meet is at Saddelbrook.
• The volunteer coordinator and volunteer check-in make sure every shift is covered and every volunteer shows up for their assignment.
• Bullpen parents keep track of the swimmers and help them get to their races on time.
• Someone has to start every heat of all 86 races!
• Timers record the times of every single swimmer for every race.
• Runners take those papers to the admin tables.
• Scorekeepers work with the other team to make sure the score for every race is tallied correctly and team scores are being totaled correctly.
• Someone sorts those papers and figure out which place each and every swimmer earned and label them correctly.
• Several people get every time and place correctly entered in the computer and ribbon labels printed.
• Someone puts those labels on the ribbons and sorts them so that the swimmers can find their ribbons the next day.
• Don't forget about concessions! It starts with the shopping and cooking and sorting all the drinks, food, and candy we sell.
• We have several people to cook hamburgers and hot dogs and bag them up.
• Gotta have several people to man the concessions stand.
• An announcer is key to keeping the meet running.
• We have to have photos of the meet which eventually make their way to a coach to use for our yearly slideshow.
• Trash has to be collected, lost items found, cones are put away, signs, tables, and chairs are put away, concessions has to be cleaned up.
• The year end banquet is its own beast - slideshow, trophies/gifts, food organization, parent awards, swimmer awards, setup and clean up, etc, etc.

I'm sure I've missed some of the opportunities for contributing to the team, but all that to say that we can't be the awesome team that is Saddlebrook without your help!

While this video has some great content for swim meets in general, you'll find a few things slightly different for Saddlebrook summer swim.

• When you arrive for warmups, drop off your swimmer at the pool before parking in the neighborhood. Do NOT park on Saddlebrook Way. The street is way too small and curvy to handle traffic and parked cars. Use any of the side streets, but make sure to park on outbound lanes only. We will get similar instructions for away meets.
• Be sure to bring camp chairs for any adults! They will be lined up next to the pool in most cases. At Saddlebrook, we have the side of the pool next to the tennis courts, and visitors will be across the pool.  Swimmers will not sit with their parents. Each age group will have their own bullpen (canopy tent) where they will be supervised by a couple of parents who will help them get to their races on time. Extra canopies will not be allowed on the pool deck.
• Every team raises money for their team by offering concessions. Meets start at 6:00 but warmups usually begin around 4:45, so concessions is a perfect way to feed the family. Most teams only accept cash, so come prepared.
• Older swimmers are limited to a maximum of three individual races and two relays, but we also have a limit of 120 swimmers per meet. It's a tricky balance between pure numbers and which swimmers are ready to compete which races, so not every swimmer will race in the maximum number. Some of the younger swimmers also will not have that many races available.
• Once your swimmer is done for the night, you have to option to watch the rest of the meet or to head on home. The younger children finish up the night earlier than our older swimmers. We frequently meet up for ice cream afterwards, so watch for announcement on that! 
• Ribbons for each race will be available at the clubhouse starting the day after the meet. We have two boxes with hanging files where you can find ribbons for your entire family each week.

Heat Sheets are critical to knowing what's going on at a meet! A heat sheet is the lineup for the entire meet. We'll be sending out an entire heat sheet on the afternoon of the meet plus a summary that shows which races each swimmer is scheduled for.

As the meet progresses, we'll be alternating through the age groups, taking turns between girls and boys. All of one stroke will be grouped together. Many races will have multiple heats. That means we will have more than one race of, for example, 7/8 Girls 50 Yard Freestyle. If your swimmer has any official times in the computer, their fastest time is listed in the seed time column. This helps the coaches know where to put each swimmer so that they hopefully swim against others with similar times. You'll also want to take note of which lane they are in.

Remember, there is an absolute maximum of three individual races and two relays per swimmer! Your swimmer may not be in all five of those races, but we do our best to put them in as many as possible depending on their capabilities, number of swimmers, and other limitations set by the county (for example, certain races are only allowed to have one heat).

There are two types of relays: freestyle for all four legs and medley relay. In a medley relay, each of the four swimmers will compete one of the strokes. The swim order is back, breast, fly, free (alphabetical order). 

Swimmers have a shorthand for keeping up with their races which can be written on their arm, thigh, or hand. Here's what it looks like:

Yes, use a sharpie...anything else will wash off during the meet. Younger swimmers will also need to have their name and age on their shoulder blade. While you're at it, feel free to add some art!