My First Swim Meet Tomorrow!?

Question

Tomorrow night is my first swim meet. I'm sorta nervous.. this is my forth season, however. Is there any tips or advice for ways to tweak my stroke to make me faster?
We swim butterfly, backstroke, breastsroke, and freestyle.

Thanks! (Remember those 10 points!)

Answer 1

Rule #1: Never try anything new on race day!

No new warmups, no new foods, no new stroke technique. The smallest difference can completely ruin your race day and it is NOT worth it! Go with what you know, make notes and tweak those things during training.

By now you should have your technique and preparation down. Just relax and remember what you've done in practice. Once you swim tomorrow and have your times, go over them with your coach or by yourself comparative to last season. Make notes on things you notice or need to correct or that were good about your swims. Focus on those things during practice in the coming weeks and tweak during your workouts, not your races. Ask your coach to make suggestions that will improve your power and speed. You'll be fine! The most important things you can change tomorrow are not tangible: your drive and desire and determination!!!

Good luck!

Answer 2

Eat you carbs tonight. Have some spaghetti, but not too much sauce, maybe a little bit of meat in the sauce. Eat a banana the day of to keep from cramping. Wear a drag suit and don't wear a cap. Make sure you do a long stretch of your arms during the first 400 or so of your warmup. Then towards the end of your warm up do something to get your heart rate up. Iusually do 6x50's decend 1-3 (get faster). Take the drag suit off for your races. Don't get tense on the block, don't worry about who is next to you. You are trying to beat the clock, whoever is next to you in not important. Don't even look at the other swimmers, just look down the lane the whole time and visualize your start. Then just do what your coach has taught you about your strokes.

Answer 3

The nerves will NEVER go away. In fact, the moment you step up on the block and hear, "Take your marks...Get set...RRRNTTTTT!@" you will know what it means to have adrenaline!

The thing is, you learn to feel that nervousness fully. You will get your best times when your nerves are the highest. Just be prepared. Make sure your goggles are on correctly, and even if they jump up or off, KEEP SWIMMING YOUR HARDEST>

And most of all, Good luck and great swimming!

Answer 4

Just do your best and enjoy the day. Remember with each meet that if you do better than the last one you are improving. No one ever started out making the olympic team. As to make you faster try to not breath more than is necessary.

Good Luck

Answer 5

well wear a dragsuit, or a baggy suit or somthing during the warmup, then a speedo or jammer or w/e for the races, that will help a little. also you should eat the right foods. no dairy tomorrow. eat mostly carbs. complex carbs tonight if its not too late. good luck!

Answer 6

For freestyle, don't keep coming up to the surface for breath... But DO IT after a 2-3 kicks, IF YOU CAN HOLD UR BREATH WELL. Have you trained on your strokes? Please do so... Practise makes perfect. Pull your hand right behind, then dive your hand into the water.

Answer 7

It better be gone by then or you are in big trouble! What did you do, take one of your dad's viagra. Priapism is not a joke. If it lasts more than 4 hours, see a doctor!

Answer 8

Tips for Parents and Swimmers:

For each meet, you will receive (via your family file folder) a meet entry form indicating the date, time, location of the meet, and events that your child will be swimming. Make sure you write down the events that your child will be swimming (i.e. Event #2--50 Freestyle). You will need this information on the day of the meet.

Read the meet invitation (you can find the meet invitation on the AMS web site, www.amswim.org). Most things you need to know are in the meet invitation. Pay attention to specifics like warm-up times, directions, parking information, cost of events and heat sheets. Most meets do not charge admission, and parking is free.

Try to arrive at least 15-20 minutes (30 minutes if this is their first meet) prior to warm-ups to allow enough time to buy a heat sheet, get your child set up in the resting area, and to write your child’s events on the back of their hand. Heat sheets are generally sold in the area of the pool entrance and cost $4.00-$5.00. If you do not want to purchase a heat sheet, they are posted on the hallway walls--just ask someone working at the meet where they are posted if you can’t find them quickly. You will know the event # and event name prior to the meet, but you will need the heat sheet to tell you what heat and lane your swimmer will be in. There are generally several heats for each event.

Write the Event #, Event name, Heat # and Lane # for each of your child’s events on the back of your child’s hand with black permanent sharpie or pen so they know when to get out on deck and prepare for their events.
Ex: E2 50FR H4 L2 This tells your swimmer that they will be swimming in Event number 2, the 50 Freestyle, in the 4th Heat and will be swimming in Lane 2. Please take the time to get this done. If you do not, the coach has to take the time to do this and they cannot be observing the swimmers during warm-ups.

Report to your coach at your scheduled warm up time so they know you are there. Make sure you have your cap, goggles and towel. You may take your swim bag on the pool deck. Don’t leave money or valuables unattended at the rest area.

When you are in the resting area between your events, be sure to keep an eye on the seeding board. This tells you what events are reporting to the deck. ALWAYS report to your coach prior to and immediately after each of your events so that they can give you feedback.

PARENTS ARE NOT PERMITTED ON THE POOL DECK. If time permits you may see your parents back at the resting area or in the cafeteria before your next scheduled event. Check with the coach first to see if it’s OK for you to leave the pool deck. Once you leave the pool deck it is your responsibility to make sure you are back for your next event, the coaches must remain on the pool deck for the other swimmers and cannot go looking for the swimmers.

Parents, if you can’t locate your child on the pool deck and it’s getting close to their next event, it’s always a good idea to go back to the rest area/cafeteria to make sure your child doesn’t miss their next event. It is very easy for the kids to get involved with their games and other friends, and sometimes they forget!

The pool stands are very warm and crowded. You’ll want to have a T-shirt on under your sweaters and coats. Because space is always limited in the stands, it’s a good idea to leave your coats and sweaters in the rest area. Do not bring your child’s swim bags into the stands, try to be courteous to the other spectators and don’t take up space with bags and coats.

There is almost always a concession stand selling food and drinks.

If you get to the meet and realize you forgot your goggles, cap or suit, don’t panic! There is usually a swimming equipment vendor set up at the meet selling a wide variety of swimming apparel. They usually do not stay for the entire meet, so get your items early.

A swim session usually lasts 3 ½ - 4 hours and generally there is a lot of time between your child’s events. Bring a book, the paper, etc. to help you pass the time.

Swimming is a very physically and mentally demanding sport. Your swimmer will not improve their times each time they swim, so please be very proud of your swimmer and offer them lots of support and encouragement.

Most likely your swimmer will miss an event or be disqualified (DQ’d) at some point in their swimming career (especially the little ones). This is part of the learning process; do not let it upset you or your swimmer. Even the best swimmers have been disqualified or missed their event at least once in their swimming career.

When the swimmer’s times are posted on the results board (usually somewhere in the hallway near the pool), write down the new time your swimmer has achieved at the meet. It is a nice idea to keep a record of their times—it gives them encouragement to see how they are improving. Your swimmer’s times will also be posted on the SAAC web site (www.saacswimming.org) approximately one week after the meet

What your swimmer will need to have and other tips:


Swimsuit plus an extra suit. The kids usually put their suits on at home and then wear a sweat suit over the swimsuit--this will save you time! It’s always a good idea to bring an extra suit just in case the first one gets a tear in it.

Swim cap and a spare cap—caps can and do rip.

Goggles—at least 2 pair—the straps do break!

Towel for drying off after your event—usually two will do.

Swim sandals or flip flops to wear between events and in the showers.

Something to sit on in the resting areas (usually the school gymnasium or cafeteria). Some people use a big towel, old blanket or sleeping bag.

Team T-Shirt and shorts to wear over swimsuit after your event. It is usually very warm in the pool area, so the sweat suit you wore to the meet may be too warm to wear when you are on deck.

Games, cards, books and other activities. There is often a lot of time between events. Some kids like to bring their portable CD players (with headphones) to listen to music before they swim. Just remember—whatever kids take on deck may get wet!

Food is sold at most swim meets, or you can pack your own snacks and drinks.

Miscellaneous swim bag items: dry underclothes to change into after the meet, brush, comb, shampoo, etc

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