Highlands Park Otters

Wednesday meets begin at 6:00 pm and generally end between 8:00 and 9:00 pm. Swimmers will need to be at the pool by 4:45 to get ready for warm-ups, unless otherwise directed by the coaches. The maximum number of events a swimmer can participate in during a dual on Wednesday night are 3 individual and 2 relays. The Wednesday night meet rosters are created by the Coaches! Unfortunately, there are a limited number of heats on the Wednesday meets so not everyone will swim at every Wednesday meet. 

Saturday Developmental meets are held on Saturday mornings. The meets typically begin at 8:00 am and finish before the host pool opens to the public. Saturday meets do not have a maximum number of events a swimmer can swim. The Saturday events are chosen by swimmers and approved by coaches. There is no diving at the Saturday meet.

Upon arrival at a meet, be sure to check in with your swimmer's age group coach. This helps the coaches know that all team members have arrived at the pool. Also, be sure to let your Coach know before you leave at the end of the meet! 

In case you are new to swim... Here are some words/phrases that you will learn as the summer goes on. Don't worry, there won't be a test at the end of the season 

• Beep, Whistle, Starting Pistol: This may be all that is heard for the swimmer to start racing the event. He/she will hear the announcer state, “Swimmers, take your mark.” Then the swimmer will hear “one of the starting signals (Beep, Whistle, or a Starting Pistol).” The swimmer should immediately begin racing. If there has been a false start, the swimmer will hear a continuous beeping or whistle sound or the starting pistol one additional time during the race. He/she should stop swimming and return to the starting block.
• •Bullpen: The bullpen is a designated area where all swimmers must report before they can swim an event. This is where they are organized in advance of their races, in order to keep the meet running smoothly. Failure to report to the bullpen on time will result in the swimmer being scratched from the event. Swimmers aged 13 and up do not have bullpen requirements.
• •Disqualification (DQ’d): A swimmer may be disqualified if they are not executing the stroke according to USA Swimming rules, if they dive in early, perform an incorrect flip turn or any number of other events. Although this can be upsetting to a child, “DQs” are very common and should be regarded as part of the learning process.
• •Dual Meet: Two teams compete at one location
• •Event: The race in which a swimmer will participate
• •False Start: Leaving the blocks before the sound of the starter's signal
• •Finishing: Finishing a race often relies on split-second judgment. A decision to start a new arm stroke or lengthen the current one, may need to be made. In breaststroke and butterfly, both hands should touch the wall together; in freestyle and backstroke you can make the touch with one hand.
• •Heat: Race within a single event
• •Heat Sheet: A listing of all swimmers by heat and lane assignments at a meet, seeding swimmers according to times submitted.
• •Individual Medley: This is when a swimmer swims four different strokes in one race. The order is butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and then freestyle. Special turns are used because swimmers need to change from one stroke to another.
• •Relays: In relays, the swimmer is one of a team of 4 people each swimming an equal distance. There are 2 relays, the freestyle and the medley.
• •Scratch : When a swimmer, scheduled for an event, is removed by the coach prior to participating.
• •Seed: The placement within an event according to individual time
• •Seed Times: Time used to enter a swimmer in a meet. This determines a swimmer's heat and lane assignment
• •Starter: Official responsible for the start of each heat and for calling swimmers to the blocks.
• •Starting Block: Starting blocks are normally used to start an event where swimmers dive into the water. A swimmer may not take any stroke until he/she breaks the surface of the water. If a swimmer is not yet comfortable using the starting block, he/she may choose to start in the water or dive from the side of the pool. Backstroke is the only stroke where you have to start in the water.
• •Stroke Judge: The official that determines the legality of a swimmer's stroke or his/her turns
• •Time Standards: Qualifying times that have been set by Regional and National Committees for all events.

THE STROKES

Breaststroke

This stroke must be done on the stomach with some part of the head surfacing during each stroke sequence, except on starts and turns when one underwater pull and kick are allowed, in that order. The kick must be a squeezing action with no downward thrust of the legs, all on the same horizontal plane, recovering forward from the chest. The swimmer must touch the wall with both hands simultaneously at all turns and the finish.

Backstroke

Swimmers must remain on their backs until they touch the wall for a turn or finish. Any means of stroke or kick is allowed. The pennants hanging across the pool are situated to prepare the swimmer for the approaching wall.

Butterfly

The leg kick(s) must be a downward thrust, which is simultaneous action. The arm pull must be simultaneous and the arms must recover forward over the top of the water only. Both hands must touch the wall simultaneously at all turns and the finish.

Freestyle

"Free" means any stroke imaginable, but most swimmers choose the crawl, the fastest of the strokes. Any part of the body may touch the wall at turns and the finish. This is the first stroke emphasized and virtually all new swimmers will compete in freestyle events. 

GCSL is our competitive league and these meets occur on Wednesdays (except for the Championship meet). To be entered in meets, you must declare "available" or  "not available" for every single swim meet on the "Meets and Events with Sign Ups" SwimTopia web page. For Wednesday meets, the available/not available submission is due the Sunday before the meet at noon. 

For GSCL, the Otters swimmers and divers compete in four or five dual meets against league opponents, as well as a Championship meet at the end of the season. The dual meets are held on Wednesday evenings and will be very competitive. To participate at CHAMPIONSHIPS you must have participated in at least 3 GCSL meets.

GCSL event entries and relays are determined by the coaches. Parents do not sign up for specific events for GCSL meets (it is different than COSA meets). Coaches will do their best to ensure all swimmers have opportunities to swim! Each individual swimmer may swim in a maximum of 3 individual events and 2 relays per meet. Diving scores are included in the overall meet scores.

Sometimes, GCSL meets have "exhibition" heats which means that the heat does not count for scoring, but it allows us to get more kids into the GCSL meet so more kids may be eligible to swim the GCSL Championship meet. So, even if you know your child is not among the fastest swimmers, be sure to declare you are "available" for the Wednesday GCSL meets. You may get in these meets because of an exhibition heat or because someone else is on vacation or something.

Dive Meet warm-ups begin around 3:00pm with a meet start time around 4:00pm. Dive meets run 60-90 minutes. Times can vary based on the hosting pool.

Swim meet warm-ups typically begin around 5:00pm with a meet start time around 6:00pm. Meets are 2-3 hours. Times can vary based on the hosting pool.

Jr. GCSL is our developmental league for swimming (no diving with Jr GCSL). These meets occur on Saturday mornings. To be entered in meets, you must declare "available" or " not available" for every single swim meet on the "Meets and Events with Sign Ups" SwimTopia web page.

Cut-off times are used for developmental meets. Once your child is faster than a cut-off time, he/she would not be allowed to take part in that specific event in developmental COSA meets as they are ready for GCSL for the particular event. The swimmer can still swim in other Jr GCSL events if they are below the cut off time. 

For Jr GCSL meets, we ask the PARENTS to select which events swimmers will be entered into. Coaches may need to make changes, but we want you to pick your events on SwimTopia when you declare you are "available" for the meet. Declaration of available/not available and event entries must be completed by noon on Thursday before the Meet. Relay participation is at the discretion of our coaches. The system should not allow you to sign up for an event if your child has a time too fast for that event for Jr GCSL. 

Jr GCSL are on Saturday mornings. Warm-ups generally start at 7am or 8:00am with meets usually starting at 8am or 9am depending on the pool hosting the meet.

Swimmers may be assisted during meets by marking their arms with their events. You will get this information from the individual meet heat sheets or from information on our web site.

Concessions

One of the easiest ways for us to raise money is selling concessions at home meets! Please go to the meets page and sign up to bring a concession.

Meet Volunteering

Our families are what make Highlands Otters a great team to be part of! In order for our swimmers to have the best possible experience, we ask that each family volunteer at least three times during the season.  

* If you have a swimmer that qualifies for Championships, they will not be allowed to swim unless you fulfill your 3 volunteer sessions.

At the beginning of the season, we often hold a time trial during a regular practice. The time trial will allow new kids to get times in swim events and will let returning swimmers update their times. 

After the initial time trails, swimmers who are in need of new/updated times for events may sign up to swim the Saturday COSA meet. For these meets, SwimTopia lets you select the events your child swims. The coach may make changes, but we want you to make your own event selections. The system should not allow you to sign up if your child has a time that is too fast for that COSA event. 

Even if you are swimming on Wednesday, you may swim on Saturday to get a time for specific strokes that you did not swim on Wednesday. That's how you can get new times for future meets.

However, you will not be entered in any meet for which you did not declare "available" - so it is critical that you declare "available" or " not available" for every single swim meet on the "Meets and Events with Sign Ups" SwimTopia web page. 

Ever wondered exactly what Stroke Officials are looking for? The document below will give you an idea of what is "legal" in the pool. Remember, not all officials see everything and some leagues are more stringent than others. Just do your best!