WHAT IS AN OPEN MEET?
Open meets are competitions where
swimmers compete against swimmers from other clubs in various parts of
the country as well as each other, swimmers enter under the name of
their club, i.e. Perry Beeches SSS.
At some of these meets a prize for top
swimmer and top club is awarded, to win top club, points are awarded
for all swimmers who make finals. Medals are given to 1st, 2nd &
3rd placed swimmers in finals, sometimes all finalist receive
medals.
Swimmers will swim in a heat, times are
then put together for the age group and the fastest 6 go on to the
final, (dependent upon how many lanes the pool has).
You must swim as fast as you can in
your heat to stand a chance of getting into the final.
There may be several heats in each
event, and you may be seeded in a low heat, you could still make the
final if you swim hard.
If you have HDW written on your card
that means it is a heat declared winners event and no final will be
swum.
ENTERING AN OPEN MEET:
Information will be given to swimmers
re: events, age groups, days & dates of the competition. Enter all
events and not just your favourite as you get older you will find that
your strokes change and specialising in one event will not happen until
you are much older.
To enter fill in the entry form
Example:
Swimmers name:
Katie
BROWN
DOB:
20/01/1998
Name of meet
ASA registration
number:
180633
Your number will be on your ASA
registration card, If you have not received your registration number
talk to Helen Pordage.
Tick event you want to enter,
Amount: 3 events @ £4:00 =
£12:00
All cheques should be payable to Perry
Beeches SSS
Ensure that the entry is with Helen
Pordage by the date stated.
THE MEET:
If the organisers of the meet receive a
large amount of entries, the slowest competitors from some events will
be rejected and your entry will be returned.
Swimmers will then receive cards back
from the organisers. Usually blue for boys and pink for
girls.
Information on the cards will be:
Swimmers name, club, event &
competitor number, entry time, session number, warm-up time, start
time, and the most important of all, post cards by (time).
Check these details are correct, if not
contact the meet organiser.
ON THE DAY:
Before leaving home make sure you have
your kit, 2 towels, 2 or 3 costumes/trunks, club swimming hat, plenty
of drink (very important) a couple pairs of goggles tightened ready to
wear, snacks for poolside preferably not chocolate, on the poolside you
will need 2 T-shirts, leggings or shorts and poolside shoes AND YOUR
CARDS
Always arrive in plenty of time, to
post your cards.
Boxes for cards are usually situated by
the entrance to the pool or by the changing rooms, if you cannot find
them, ASK someone.
If you forget to take your cards tell
the organisers and you will be issued with cards, you will need to
write them yourself.
What to do if you miss posting your
cards?
Take your cards to your Coach, who will
then take them to the organisers, (if the coach is busy he may ask you
to do this).
If the events have already been sorted
out and there is a space in the first heat you will normally be offered
that space.
If there are no spaces you will not be
able to swim that event. If the event has not been sorted, your
card will be placed in the correct order. This is all at the discretion
of the organisers.
WHAT NEXT:
Get yourself changed and go onto the
poolside. You will need to look for the Perry Beeches SSS coach
and the rest of the swimmers. Don’t worry just keep looking, you
will find them eventually.
Report to the coach and tell him/her
who you are, you must not leave the poolside without informing the
coach.
The coach will organise you for warm-up
and tell you when your swim is coming up. Keep an eye on what is
going on and cheer all the Perry Beeches SSS swimmers during their
swims.
YOUR SWIM:
The announcer will call your event
usually 2 events before you swim; the Coach will send you to a
marshalling area.
Do not wander off or mess about you
need to pay attention to everything that is going on.
Your card will either have been given
back to you before you enter the marshalling area or you may have to
look for it on a table or filing trays. Don’t worry there will be
adults there marshalling you. If you are worried ASK.
Sometimes the Coach will send an
experienced swimmer up with you to show you the ropes, don’t worry
you’ll soon get the hang of it.
The marshals will then call your heat
and send you to your blocks, your heat and lane number will be written
on your card.
ONCE YOU ARE ON YOUR BLOCKS NOBODY ELSE
MATTERS, SWIM AS FAST AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN, DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO LOOK
AROUND.
Sometimes your swimming does not go as
well as you expect, do not worry there is often a good reason for that,
do not get upset, put that swim behind you and concentrate on the next
one.
THE MAIN THING IS – ENJOY IT!!
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Perry Beeches Sutton Swim
Squad 
PBSSS is affiliated to the ASA West Midlands Region