Summer Swimming 101
Welcome to the Crestwood Hills Wahoos Swim Team!
If your children are joining a swim team for the first time, and you didn’t belong to a neighborhood club as a kid, you probably need some information about what actually goes on during a meet. When you bring your sleepy 6 year-old to the pool for the first meet of the season, it can be a little confusing. There certainly seems to be a lot of activity. Where do I sit? Should I be doing anything? When will my kid actually swim? What is the “Clerk of Course?” This guide attempts to answer some of your questions so that you, as a parent, will enjoy the meets more and, we hope, eventually join in to help.
Greater Knoxville Area Interclub Swimming Association (GKAISA)
By joining the Crestwood Wahoos, you are now part of a 50+ year swimming tradition. The Wahoos participate in the GKAISA. The GKAISA consists of six separate leagues, each league containing five teams. The Wahoos currently compete in League 3, but the team can move up or down a league from year to year, depending on the win-loss record at the end of the season.
The GKAISA is a formal swimming organization, with a complete set of rules governing meets and meet locations. The GKAISA keeps track of league swimming record times, which are provided each season to each swim team director. The league is run completely by parent volunteers, who drop whatever they’re doing each summer and become team directors, league officials, coaches or whatever is needed. They carry on the work done by dozens of parents in the years before them. Experienced parents teach the new ones, and somehow, it all comes together. The result is a quality, official summer league that brings fun and healthy competition to pools across East Tennessee.
Swimmers of all abilities populate GKAISA, including kids who learned to swim in the summer, then went on to swim in college, in the Olympic trials and even earn medals at the Olympic Games.
Can my kid swim in a real meet?
Swimmers of all abilities are welcome to take part in regular season meets at Crestwood. The only hard requirement is that a swimmer must be able to complete one lap of freestyle (one length, or 25 meters). This is a safety issue —it doesn’t matter how long it takes your child to get from one end of the pool to the other. In fact, if your son or daughter doggie paddles all the way down the lane, stopping a few times along the way, and finishes last, the applause from the pool deck will be just as loud. There is no concept of “first string” or “playing time” as in many team sports. Every swimmer takes part in meets.
Types of Meets
Dual meets
The main type of GKAISA meet is the “dual” meet, which means a home team against a visiting team. CWH has 4-5 of these on the schedule every summer. All are less than an hour’s driving distance from Crestwood. Dual meets kick off at 6 pm on weekdays. Before the meet starts, team warm-ups are held. The home team swims their warm-up laps between 5:00 and 5:30. The visiting team warms up between 5:30 and 6:00. It is important, for the coaches’ sake, that you bring your children to the pool at least 30 minutes before the designated warm-up time. This will give you and your swimmers time put on their swim caps, goggles, sunscreen, and get mentally ready to swim.
Dual meets are usually finished in 3 hours. As much as we love swim meets, we all have reasons to get out of there as soon as possible. Dual meets are the focus of the GKAISA season because they allow all children to participate and have a great time. Your swimmer is allowed to swim up to four separate events in a dual meet, with up to two events being relays. Usually, the coaches will select the events your swimmer swims in a dual meet based on many factors, not just scoring points for the team. Often the coaches will ask the swimmers their event preferences, and try to accommodate them.
Intrasquad
Before dual meets begin, Crestwood coaches will usually hold a team intrasquad meet. This depends on the schedule for that year. You might also hear it referred to as the Blue-Red meet. It follows the same schedule as a dual meet, except that there is no visiting team. The object is to record the swimmers’ first event times of the season, build some team spirit, and give the parent volunteers practice running a meet before the real season begins.
Your child will swim every event that his or her age group normally swims in meets. For example, a 6-year-old will swim the 25-meter freestyle and 25-meter backstroke. 6-year olds also can swim the 25 butterfly and breaststroke, if they’re able. All finishing times will be recorded for the purpose of seeding your swimmer to race in heats against other swimmers with similar times.
Smoky Mountain Invitational and GKAISA City Meet
In early July, the Wahoos compete in the Smoky Mountain Invitational Meet at Springbrook Pool in Alcoa. Swimmers 11 & older swim on Saturday while 10 & under swimmers compete on Sunday.
In late July, the Wahoos compete in the GKAISA City Meet at the Allen Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center at the University of Tennessee against swimmers from the entire league. It is always the last meet of the season.
In both of these meets, swimmers are allowed to compete in three individual stroke events, or two individual events and two relays.
A Typical Dual Meet
Here is a brief description of a typical dual meet. After both teams have warmed up, the first event is the Individual Medley (IM) race. The 8 & under girls IM swimmers will report to the Ready Bench, which is the chairs behind the blocks. 10 & under IMs are 100 yards long with each swimmer swimming 25 yards of fly, back, breast and free--in that order. 11 & up IMs are 200 yards with each swimmer swimming 50 yards of each stroke.
Next is freestyle then medley relays. The other individual strokes come after that. There are 70 events total as each stroke is swam by all age groups. The age groups follow the order of:
8&under girls; 8&under boys; 9-10 girls; 9-10 boys; 11-12 girls; 11-12 boys; 13-14 girls; 13-14 boys; 15-18 girls; 15-18 boys
Food
Make sure your swimmer has eaten something before a meet, but don't let them come too full--especially before you know how they might react to that. During the meet, good foods to eat are fruit, yogurt, water, and electrolytes. They need to replenish the energy they just spent in the water. This is extremely important at the two major meets, Smoky Mountain Invitational and GKAISA City Meet, since those are extended days and the swimmer needs to stay hydrated and fueled up.
What about rain and other weather?
The normal rules regarding rain, thunder, and lightning are followed for both practices and meets. If it rains, practice and meets will continue as scheduled. If thunder or lightning occurs, the pool and deck are cleared according to pool policy for a period of time before swimming can resume.
Communication and RSVP
It is very important to inform the coaches when you WILL be at a meet/event, and when you WILL NOT be present. They plan meet lineups based on who will be at the meet. Please RSVP as soon as you know your plans. The website is also utilized to communicate information out to the team. Check it regularly for updates.
Equipment
Our team suit is the Speedo Edge Splice in navy/red. There are two back options for females: a crossback and a one back (more coverage). There is a brief and a jammer option for males. Suits are available for purchase at Swim and Tri in Bearden. See Swim and Tri does offer a 20% swim team discount. Your child will also need a pair of goggles. Swim and Tri can assist you with proper goggle fit to prevent leaks. The suit is also available at online retailers like SwimOutlet.com.
Swimmer's Ear Prevention
A great way to prevent swimmer's ear is by using prevention drops after every swim. You can buy "SwimEar" or "Auro-Dri" at the store or use a homemade solution of 1/2 91% Alcohol and 1/2 white vinegar. The alcohol dries out the water and the vinegar keeps the area acidic to combat bacteria.
