Scottish Hills

HOW MEETS WORK

What to Bring

• Extra towels & sweatshirts (for cooler nights)
• Snacks and water bottles
• Games
• Backup caps and goggles
• Chairs
• Beach Blanket
• Shade device (optional)
• Bug spray
• Money for concessions (sometimes concessions are cash only)
• Sharpie Marker 

When You Arrive

• Swimmer Initials with Sharpie Marker (Instructions on where and what to write will be sent the Monday before a meet)
  • Dry off first
  • No sunscreen
• Set up in the field
• Warmups then cheers

General Information

• Swimmers are organized into the following age groups:
• 6 & under – swim 15 yards and have kid catchers to help them to the end of the pool
• 7-8’s and 9-10’s – swim 25 yards
• 11-12’s, 13-14’s, and 15-18’s – swim 50 yards

Meets begin at 6:00pm

• Heats are ordered by: Main, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. (Relays only have main heats.)
• Boys swim prior to girls.
• Home teams swim in odd lanes 1, 3, 5, and 7 with the exception of the main heat which only uses 3, 5,and 7.
• Away teams swim in even lanes 2, 4, 6, and 8 with the exception of the main heat which only uses 2, 4,and 6.

Points and Rules

TSA Rules - 2026

Team points are earned during main heats only. First place is 5 points, second place is 3 points, and third place is 1 point. In a relay, only the first place team earns points – 5. In case of a tie, place points are added together and split evenly.

Swimmers are ordered into heats based upon their last meet’s time with some subjectivity. We do not average swimmer’s times.

6 & under swimmers may only swim in two main heat events and they do not swim butterfly. All other age groups may only swim in 3 main heat events (excluding relays). This is the responsibility of the coaches to ensure.

Lanes are given priorities – at home, lane 5 will be the fastest swimmer, then lane 3 and 7 respectively. Away meets, lane 4 is the fastest swimmer, then lane 2 and 6 respectively.

All SHRC swimmers may swim all individual stroke events. Other super-sized swim clubs limit the number of strokes a swimmer may participate in for the sake of time.

Swimmers’ times are recorded as they exit the pool after each event using a unique numbering system which is written on each swimmer’s arm at the beginning of a meet.

Meet results are available the day after the meet.

Clerk of Course

At SHRC, the Clerk of Course is physically set up in the corner nearest the diving boards. There will be 2 adjacent areas, one for boys and one for girls, with 3 benches lined up horizontally behind one another for the swimmers to sit on. Even at away meets, we will organize Clerk of Course in the same manner. Throughout the meet, the announcer will request the appropriate age groups to report to Clerk of Course. Clerks often line up swimmers, and need to line up swimmers, ahead of the announcement. Swimmers should begin making their way to Clerk of Course when they hear the announcement for the age group prior to them. Please remind swimmers that they need to be respectful and quiet while at Clerk of Course. They need to listen carefully for their name to be called so they will be in the right place for their heat.

Relays

The weekend before a meet, coaches form relay teams. The number of relay teams formed will be determined by the number of swimmers per age group. The relay teams are labeled Relay A, Relay B, and Relay C (if enough swimmers). Relay A and B are the most competitive and are selected based on swimmers’ times and stroke legality. Relay C will attempt to rotate swimmers through so that all swimmers will be able to participate in relays during the season. Relay swimmers naturally shuffle between relay teams as many swimmers times improve over the season and swimmers miss meets.

For the 7-8’s and 9-10’s the first and third swimmers (backstroke and fly in medley) will be escorted by kid pushers to the side of the pool with the diving blocks; the second and forth swimmers (breast and free for medley) will be escorted to the opposite side of the pool. This is not necessary with other age groups as they swim 50 yards.

The first event of a swim meet is the 7-8’s Individual Medley Relay. It is also the most time constrained and time consuming event to line up. 7-8 Boys, especially, and 7-8 girls will report to Clerk of Course immediately after the cheering at home meets or immediately after warm-ups at away meets. Swimmers must be lined up at their lanes as described above PRIOR to the National Anthem. Since there is only a single main event, age groups report to Clerk of Course in quick succession. Parents please, please be aware of the time and help your swimmer make it to Clerk of Course in time.

Rain Delays

TSA reps from both teams, not the coaches or team coordinator, determine together whether to delay or cancel a meet. If a meet is cancelled, the inclement weather date is the next day, Wednesday at 6 pm, unless the next day is a federal holiday. The meet may not be delayed more than 60 min, or 2 thunder delays due to weather. Weather delays and cancellations will be announced at the meet via PA and via the Swimtopia App. A meet is considered complete if main events through breaststroke are complete.

Missing A Meet or Leaving Early

Please mark a swimmer as “no” in Swimtopia for any meets they will miss. If they are not going to be present for a relay, there is a space to note this as well. If your swimmer needs to leave a meet early, they MUST talk to the head coach. If a swimmer leaves a meet without telling the head coach, it could impact their participation in future relays.

Speeding Tickets

• For every best time a swimmer gets, they will receive a “speeding ticket” which is a little certificate with their name and new best time on it
• They can find them a few days after the meet on the bulletin board up front, where they are organized alphabetically
• Once they have collected three speeding tickets, they can turn them into one of the coaches, and they will receive a treat in return (we normally have some chocolate bars and other candies, as well as non candy options)