Fairwood Barracuda Frequently Asked Questions Can I join the swim team even if I am not a member of Fairwood? What are the age requirements for swim team members? How is a swimmer’s “age” determined for the summer season? What are the age group classifications? Does my child have to attend all of the practices before school is out? If my child has a conflict with practice can they practice with a different age group? How do I know if my child is an A or B swimmer? What are Time Trials? What is the order of events for the meets? When should I have my child at the meet? Is it necessary to stay with my child during the entire meet? How do I know what my child will be swimming in a meet? What is a good way to help my child get to his or her events on time? What is an Exhibition Race? How do I let the coaches know if we are going to be on vacation and won’t be able to attend a meet? What is the best way to communicate with the coaches? What is Midlakes? What is the difference between “A” Champs and “B” Champs? Can I swim in a “B” meet if I have an “A” time? Can I swim in an “A” meet if I don’t have an “A” time? Does my child have to swim in a championship meet? Who decides what events swimmers swim in each meet? What do Timers do at the meets and can I time if I have never done it before? How can I become a Stroke and Turn Judge? What do Scoring Table and Ribbon volunteers do during the meet? Can I join the swim team even if I am not a member of Fairwood? No. Membership at Fairwood is required to be on swim team. There are various types of memberships which range from summer swim to full golf membership. Please contact the club office for more information. Back to the Top! What are the age requirements for swim team members? Swim team is open to swimmers from 5-18 years of age as long as the swimmer is able to swim 25 yards, or the length of the pool. How is a swimmer’s “age” determined for the summer season? For the Midlakes League, each swimmer’s age is determined on June 15th. The swimmer’s age on that date determines his or her age group for the entire season, even if the swimmer has a birthday later in the season. What are the age group classifications? Swimmers compete in 8 & under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, and 15 & over (until you graduate from high school!). Back to the Top! Does my child have to attend all of the practices before school is out? No. Practices are held Monday through Friday so that kids will be able to make it to at least two or three practices a week. We all understand that there are conflicts with baseball, softball and school and the kids should make it to as many as they can. If my child has a conflict with practice can they practice with a different age group? Usually this is fine. Be sure to check with the coaches first and they will let you know which age group practice would be the best to attend. If your child practices with a younger group, please keep in mind that they can only compete against their own age group. How do I know if my child is an A or B swimmer? “A” swimmers have usually participated in a swim team program for at least one year and are strong swimmers. Many are year round swimmers who compete in other leagues during the rest of the year. If this is your first year swimming, chances are your child will compete in “B” meets. If you request to have your child compete in either “A” only or “B” only meets, you will need to discuss this with the coach. Back to the Top! What are Time Trials? Time Trials occur during the week of practice prior to the first meet. The swimmers will be timed on the events for their age group during practice. The coaches will use the information gathered from the results of Time Trials to stage beginning of season events and line-ups. What is the order of events for the meets? The order of the events is the same for all meets. This order is listed on the website. When should I have my child at the meet? You should plan on arriving at the “home” meets by 4:15pm (warm ups begin @ 4:30pm). You should plan on arriving at “away meets by 4:45pm (warm ups begin @ 5:00pm). If you have an 8 and Under or 10 and Under swimmer that is swimming in the first medley relay (the first events) they should immediately check in with a coach to let them know they are there. Back to the Top! Is it necessary to stay with my child during the entire meet? YES! No child under the age of 12 should be at the meet without a responsible adult in charge of them. It is too difficult for them to remember their events and make sure they get to them. There is nothing more frustrating than a child who is in a relay that cannot be found. How do I know what my child will be swimming in a meet? Meet line-ups will be posted online. Copies will also be available on the Fairwood pool-deck bulletin board prior to the meet. It is the swimmers and/or parents responsibility to verify whether they are swimming in each meet. If something comes up at the last minute and you cannot be at the meet, be sure to let the coaches know as soon as possible. Remember, if your child is scheduled to swim in a relay and doesn’t come to the meet (or arrives late or leaves early), there are three other kids who are at the meet who won’t be able to swim in that relay either. What is a good way to help my child get to his or her events on time? Check in before each meet with a coach and receive all of the events, lanes and strokes that your child will be swimming at the start of each meet. Use a marker or waterproof pen and write on the child’s arm, or hand, the event number, the stroke they are swimming, and their lane number. This is a huge help for the parents who are timing or helping to make sure that your child is in the correct event, and it puts the child at ease knowing what his or her event is. Back to the Top! What is an Exhibition Race? These are races that are run prior to the official timed event race. The swimmers swim against their own teammates and it allows them to practice going off the blocks and swimming this event in a meet. These times don’t count for points at the meet, but they are a great way for kids to be able to swim, and try out more events. How do I let the coaches know if we are going to be on vacation and won’t be able to attend a meet? There is an absence notebook on the counter (in the pool lobby). Please mark your child off for the meets that they cannot attend. Also, please let the coaches know that they will be unavailable for a particular meet or meets. Please do not just tell the coaches, there are over 140 swimmers and they simply cannot remember all children’s vacation schedules! What is the best way to communicate with the coaches? Write them a note, e-mail them, or leave a message for them to call with the pool office, or talk with them between practices. Please limit communications with them during practices or meets. Their e-mail addresses are linked below: Brittney Jones, Head Coach Back to the Top! What is Midlakes? Midlakes is the organization that manages runs our summer swim league. It has been in existence since 1961. It consists of 5 divisions and 26 teams. They hold the “A” Championship meet consisting of swimmers who qualify form all of the 26 pools. What is the difference between “A” Champs and “B” Champs? “B” Champs is a divisional championship meet, consisting of only the teams in our own division. All swimmers can compete in the events at “B” Champs (unless they have “A” times). If you have an “A” time in any event throughout the season, you cannot swim in that event at “B” Champs. If swimmers have “A” times they can compete in prelims at the end of the season in those “A” timed events. The top 16 swimmers in each event will move on to “A” Champs. “A” Champs is the championship sponsored by Midlakes. To qualify for “A” Champs, swimmers need to have an “A” time and finish in the top 16 at prelims. If you finish in the top 16 at prelims in any given event, you will move on to “A” Champs. Can I swim in a “B” meet if I have an “A” time? You can swim in a “B” meet only in events that you do not have “A” times in. For example, if you have an “A” time for Freestyle, then you could swim Backstroke, Breaststroke, or Fly in a “B” meet. Back to the Top! Can I swim in an “A” meet if I don’t have an “A” time? Yes. Does my child have to swim in a championship meet? No. They should, although if they can’t they should let the coaches know as soon as possible. The championship meets are lots of fun and most kids really enjoy swimming in them and the swimmers also get medals for the 1st through 4th places, however, there is a lot of work involved in staging swimmers for championships and the pool does have to pay for entries - so, if the swimmers are not committed they should speak frankly with the coaches prior to the championships. Who decides what events swimmers swim in each meet? The coaches make all the decisions on the line-up for each meet. They may ask swimmers what events they want to swim in, but the final decision is the coach's. Questions or concerns should be addressed with the coaches. Back to the Top! What do Timers do at the meets and can I time if I have never done it before? Timers stand at the end of the pool and use a stop- watch to time the events. If you can look at a light, hear a beep, and click your finger – you can time! No prior experience is needed. There are three timers in each lane and the “middle” or average time is used as the official race time. Timing is lots of fun and you get to meet other parents and have front row seats to the events! A great place to try out timing is Time Trials. How can I become a Stroke and Turn Judge? You should have a basic knowledge of the four strokes, and how meets are run. There is also additional training provided by Midlakes. We always need more Stroke and Turn Judges and welcome anyone who wants to try this out. What do Scoring Table and Ribbon volunteers do during the meet? The scoring table receives the deck cards (cards with official times for each event) and they enter the information into the computer. They print the labels that go on the back of the ribbons. The information they input into the computer forms the official meet results and score. There is training available for this volunteer position and if you are computer saavy – it is simple. There is no previous experience or training necessary to do Ribbons. Back to the Top! send comments, suggestions, etc. about this webpage to the Fairwood Barracuda webmaster