Meet Basics

The upper age limit for swimmers to compete in league and VSA meets is 18. Swimmers must not have graduated high school any later than the same calendar year.

Most meets are held at the Waterbury Pool.

2022 Meets will be held on Fridays, starting around 5:00pm. Check in with coaches at 4:45pm.  Away meets will be available as well. 

Please have your child ready to participate in pre-meet stretching, assembling with teammates and coaches, and warm-ups. Meets usually take 2-3 hours to complete.

Swimmers can enter up to four individual events and two relays per meet. Coaches will help swimmers determine which and how many events to enter at each meet.

We follow the Waterbury Pool's thunder and inclement weather policy. Meets will only be cancelled in the event of thunder or if it is raining too hard to see the bottom of the pool, at the discretion of the lifeguarding staff. Although meets start around 5:00pm, we can start the meet as late as 6:00pm if the weather looks like it will clear. Final cancellation call will be made at 6:00pm.

Swimmers will have a chance during practices to try starts from the blocks, but may choose to start from the pool deck or in the water, as long as it is a legal starting position according to U. S. Swimming rules.

Swimmers need to confer with the coach the Monday of each week as to the events they wish to swim at the meet later that week. Sign-up deadline is Tuesday at the end of practice. During the meets, swimmers must swim the stroke according to the USA Swimming rules. Officials will disqualify swimmers for events swam illegally.

Swimmers should check in with their coaches upon arrival and make sure their events are correct. You must do this before you start warm-ups.

• If your events are correct, you are done. Your event, heat, and lane assignments will be on the wall posting and will not change.
• If your name is not on the list or if your events are incorrect, tell your coach and your coach will make the changes. Your event, heat, and lane assignments will be posted on an updated list on the wall before the meet starts.

Swimmers and parents should write down event number and name, heat, and lane assignments. The best way to do this is on the swimmer's hand with a Sharpie. Index cards will be available at the check-in table if you do not want your child to write on their hand. Your swimmer should report to the bullpen when their event number is announced. The bullpen will have the posted information to line up the heats and lanes. Please remind your swimmer that he or she needs to stay in the order that the bullpen marshall puts them in.

There is no bullpen at our District meet, or at the State meet ("States").

During the meet

• What to expect as a parent: Expect to help in some way, whether it is timing, helping with concessions, or helping in the bullpen. Tell your swimmer to pay attention to the events going on so that they can be prepared for their events coming up. Heat sheets are posted on the pool building. Encourage your swimmer to cheer on their teammates and to check in with their coach often. Encourage them to have fun, most of all. If they get a DQ in a race, encourage them to ask their coach about it so they can learn from their mistake(s).
• What to expect as a competitor: Be aware of the races going on to be prepared for your events coming up. Heat sheets are posted on the pool building; these sheets list the event name and number, in order. Keep your goggles and cap nearby at all times. Swim according to the rules for each stroke. Expect to be disqualified sometimes. It happens to almost every swimmer at some point and it's okay. Don't forget to check with your coach before AND after your race!