Muskingum YMCA Megalodons Swim Team

Meet Procedures for Swimmers

• Arrive at the meet at least 20 minutes prior to warm ups and check in with your coach. Gather your goggles, swim cap, and be ready to enter the water when your warm up time starts.

** Use the restroom BEFORE your warmup time ***

• Warm up - we will swim and practice starts/turns together as a team. JUMP in FEET FIRST!
• After our warm up, we'll huddle up and do a team cheer!
• Find out and make sure you know your event, heat and lane numbers for your races by checking the meet program or "heat sheet" and MARK YOUR ARM with your event/heat/lane and your BACK with your name!! (See the pictures and examples below.)
• Listen for your event to be called to the Bullpen and be ready to report with your cap and goggles when called.

Parents - Heat sheets will be posted on our website and on the app. We will have heat sheets available for sale at home meets and most away meets. 

How to Mark a Swimmer's Arm

Swimmers mark their arms with Event, Heat and Lane numbers to help them remember their race info. Parents of younger swimmers, please write your swimmer's name on their back/shoulder blade with a Sharpie marker. This helps the bullpen staff and timers quickly and easily confirm that swimmers are in the right heat and right lane for their events. Use rubbing alcohol to remove the marks after the meet.

What are Bullpen Parents?

Bullpen Parents are the volunteers who watch over the swimmers during the meet, line the swimmers up in the correct event, heat and lane order. They also walk them to the staging area. Bullpen volunteers use a heat sheet to line up the swimmers. It may/may not contain changes that have been made after the heat sheets were printed (there are always last minute changes to the heat sheets so patience and communication is key). Remember to please give the most recent updated Heat Sheet to your 2nd half replacement.

Bullpen 6&U:

Please write the name/age on the swimmers shoulders with a sharpie if it is not already marked. It is very helpful when you are lining up the swimmers to have the names visible because some of the 6&U are very shy and may not feel comfortable talking to you. Also, make sure their caps (if they are wearing a cap) and goggles are on and in place before they are ready to go to the blocks. Swimmers should be escorted to and from the restrooms and you should ask your swimmers sometime during your shift if anyone needs to need go to the restroom. 

Bullpen (7-8’s and 9-10’s):

There will be one bullpen parent assigned to each gender within each age group. Keep an eye on the "Staging Event Number". Your responsibility will be to line up the swimmers assigned to swim that race and walk them to the staging area. Please make sure that these swimmers have their caps and goggles before they head to the blocks.

Helpful Tips

• Get to know the swimmers:

At the beginning of the shift, familiarize yourself with the swimmers and make sure everyone has their events written on their bodies by Event / Heat / Lane so they know what and when they are swimming.

• Swimmers should stay in their assigned area:

We have asked all Bullpen Volunteers to remind their swimmers to be on good behavior and to stay in their respective age group areas and not walking around the meet. By keeping swimmers in their age group areas, it makes finding and organizing the swimmers much easier. We would like every swimmer to make it to the blocks in time for their events, however, it is not your responsibility to track down missing swimmers

• Lane Assignments:

Swimmers are not assigned to the same lanes for every event or heat. Lane assignments do often change from heat to heat. Why? We may not have any swimmers in a heat and it may be all opposing team swimmers. We could also have a swimmer only in lane 3 for heat 1, and then lane 2, 4 and 6 for subsequent heats. The swimmers are placed in heats and lanes so that the meet is run in the most efficient manner that makes the best use of the pool lanes so always check the heat sheet.

• Heats:

Heats are run from slowest (heat 1) to fastest (last heat). If there are 10 swimmers in an event, there would be 2 heats. Not every heat will have every lane filled with swimmers. If there are not a full 8 swimmers in a heat, the middle lanes are always filled first as they are considered the fastest lanes. 

• How far in advance do I need to line up swimmers?

Please keep an eye on the "Staging Event Number" that will be posted near the Staging Area. This will indicate which event you should be lining up. We typically line up about 10 heats in advance. You may need to line up swimmers more than 10 heats in advance.