Dear Parents,

As you know, the success of our swim team depends on the combined efforts of both the children and the parents. Parental involvement is crucial for the smooth running of swim meets, and we appreciate your willingness to help. This email will outline the various job responsibilities during swim meets to ensure a successful event.

• Volunteer Sign-up: Please sign up for specific roles to assist at the swim meets. It's important to note that home meets require more volunteers than away meets due to the additional responsibilities involved.
• No Experience Required: Many jobs during the meet require no prior experience, only a willingness to help. These roles include:
  • Staging Swimmers: Ensuring swimmers are in the correct order for their events.
  • Timers: Use a stopwatch to record the time for swimmers in your assigned lane.
  • Runners: Collecting timing cards from timers, finishing judge slips, and returning them to the scoring table.
  • Ribbon Distribution: Filling out ribbons and distributing them to swimmers. It is performed the day after the swim meet.
• Shifts: If we have enough volunteers, most jobs during the meet can be divided into two shifts. For example, the first shift will begin at the start of the meet and last until the end of the backstroke event. The second shift will cover the breaststroke through the freestyle relays.
• Check-in Procedure: When you arrive at meets, please check- in with the TSA representative to help identify and fill any potential job gaps.

Now, let's review the specific responsibilities of certain key positions:

• Coaches: Coaches are responsible for the conduct of their swimmers, ensuring they remain in their designated areas during meets. They will inform swimmers of any disqualifications and instruct them to exit the pool after their race but stay in their lane until released by an official.
• Clerk of Course: Volunteers in this position ensure that all swimmers are brought from the Child Gathering area to the Clerk of Course area and placed in the correct heat and lane for their events. They coordinate with the opposing team to ensure proper alignment.
• Assistant Clerk of Course: This position involves aligning swimmers by heat and lane for each event. It helps maintain the meet's schedule and does not require looking for swimmers who do not show up for their event.
• Starter/Announcer: The Starter/Announcer is responsible for making necessary announcements throughout the meet. They have complete control over swimmers at the starting blocks. They announce the distance, stroke, or relay event before giving the necessary commands to start the race. They ensure a clear view of the athletes on the blocks and give the starting signal.
• Order of Finish (OOF) Judge: The OOF Judge plays a crucial role in placing competitors in the correct order of finish. They must observe the race, count laps completed, and note any lane disqualifications or changes. The OOF Judge independently records 1st through 6th place for all main heats.
• Kid Pushers: Two volunteers per age group are responsible for organizing swimmers for their heats, lining them up in their lanes, and assisting younger swimmers to the starting deck. They ensure swimmers have their caps and goggles and guide them to the Clerk of Course.
• Stroke and Turn (S&T) Judge: S&T Judges recognize and disqualify swimmers for illegal strokes or turns. One judge is needed per meet from each team. They will be positioned on opposite sides and/or ends of the pool, focusing on stroke mechanics, proper turns and touches, finishing touches, and relay takeoffs.
• Head Timer: The Head Timer runs an extra stopwatch and serves as a backup to the primary lane timers. There can be one or two head timers per meet.
• Timers: Timers are responsible for recording the time for swimmers in their assigned lanes using stopwatches. There are two timers per lane, one from each team. If there are more timer volunteers, they can work half of the meet and switch after the backstroke event. In pools with an electronic system, volunteers will use a Dolphin timer.
• Runner: After each race, runners collect timing cards from the timers and finishing judge slips and return them to the scoring table. One runner is assigned lanes 1-3, while the other covers lanes 4-6. An additional runner can collect disqualification slips from the Stroke and Turn judges.
• Meet Administrator: The Meet Administrator operates the computer using the Meet Manager Software (Meet Maestro). During the meet, they collect timing and finishing sheets from the runners, input results, and compare them with the computer for any discrepancies.
• TSA Representative: The TSA Representative addresses any problems during the meet. They cannot serve in any other official capacity and should always be available. The home club TSA representative oversees decisions regarding both teams' event combining and coaching areas. It can challenge DQ slips. They hold a meeting with all meet officials 15 minutes before the start of the meet to review rules, address pool-specific aspects, and anticipate any potential issues.

The Lifetime Aquatic Department and  Swim coaches also want to take this opportunity to wish the entire Lifetime Raleigh Rays team a joyous and memorable Fourth of July celebration. May it be filled with laughter, happiness, and meaningful moments.

Thank you again for your support, and we look forward to an exciting swim meet.

Tania Garrelts TSA Rep cell: 919 610 5124 [email protected]