Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I pay the USA Swimming fee every year?
All USA registered swimmers must pay this fee. It allows your times to be nationally recognized, pays for insurance while being coached or at meets and allows you to practice at other teams all over the country.
How often should my swimmer come to practice?
Swimmers should come to practice at least three times a week if not more. Swimming is a sport that takes lots of time and dedication. Time and experience have shown that swimmers that come at least 3 times per week improve much faster than those who do not.
Why should my swimmer attend meets?
Meets are the fun part of swimming. This is here the swimmers have the opportunity to see how they are progressing and watch their hard wok and dedication pay off. Meets are where the swimmers learn what areas they need to improve in. Meets also give the swimmers the opportunity to try new races and discover new strengths.
How do I sign up for the meets?
Meets will generally be announced to swimmers and their families in three different ways. First, they will be announced in practice and the swimmers will be given a sign up sheet in practice. Second, e-mails will be sent to the e-mail address given on the swimmers information packet, and third, meet information will be posted on the website. Return the sign up sheet with your swimmer or e-mail Andee at ### by the due date if you would like to swim in that meet. Meets need to be paid for when sign up sheets are turned in.
What should I take to the meets?
You will need all your swim gear. Beyond that you will want to bring water, food, extra towel, a folding chairs to sit on. For long course meets you will want to bring sun screen and a hat. Most meets have a snack bar and/or vendors who sell swimming related items. So, having some extra money along is also a good idea.
What are the different types of meets?
Swimming competitions are called meets. Meets are designed to that athletes of are competing against other of similar ages and abilities.
Developmental Meets/WAS Meets(Wasatch Area Swimming) - These meets are beginning level meets and the best place to learn what competitive swimming is all about. Swimmers will try new events at these meets. NTs(no times)are allowed at these meets. Developmental meets are usually one day meets and are timed finals.
Invitationals - This is the next level os swim meet. These meets usually require that a swimmer have a time in an event or have met a qualifying time for the event(s) they will be swimming. There are different types of invitationals based on how fast the swimmer is. These events can be either a timed finals format or prelim/final format.
B/C Finale - This is the season ending meet for the state of Utah for those swimmers that have achieved 3 or less state qualifying time standards.
Age Group JO Championships/Long Course State Championships - This is the season ending meet for those swimmers that have met the qualifying times for the event or events that they swim.
What are time standards?
Times standards are a swimmers way to measure their progress against others in the country. Swimmers are grouped into different age groups by gender for the different time standards. The Utah Age Group State championship time standards are the times that a swimmer must achieve in order to participate in the state championships. USA Swimming has motivational time standards that swimmers can use to monitor and gauge their progress. The Motivational Time standards are based on a percentage of national reportable times and then broken down further into divisions. The first division is B, then BB, A, AA, AAA, and AAAA. Most of the Utah championship qualifying times are between a BB and A time. The largest percentage of swimmers in the country are less than an A time in any given event.
How can I be involved with the team and help make my child's experience more meaningful?
The way SWAT is organized we need parent support to make the team function. There are several ways you can help with the team. SWAT sponsors meets and fundraisers through out the year. Also, SWAT needs to have parents do timing and officiate in the meets we attend through out the year. Also, in order for SWAT to host meets through out the year we need to have at least one official from the team. Check out the volunteer page for information on volunteer opportunities. All help is gratefully appreciated.
