South Hampton Hurricanes

We hope you will find this information helpful as you prepare for your first meet of the season.

What to Do When You Get to the Pool

• Head directly to the field and set up your tent, chairs & personal belongings in the field (AKA “tent city”).
• If you are volunteering, check in for your volunteer job at the volunteer table.
• Make sure your swimmer(s) report to warmups at the designated time. Listen for the announcement. Please do not let your swimmer miss warmups. Warmups are a chance for your swimmers to get their nervousness out, check goggles, cap, etc and it’s an important part of the meet.
• Make sure your swimmer listens to the announcement for “Ready Bench” for the events they are swimming and head that way when they are called. You can walk your swimmer to the ready bench but then, due to limited space, we ask that you leave them in the capable hands of the ready bench volunteers who will ensure that your swimmer is in the right place to swim their heat.
• Enjoy watching your kids swim their races!

Parking

• The parking lot is reserved for the visiting team.
• Residents should park at the Baptist Medical Center or The Children's Courtyard. Ensure you are parked in a way that does not block other vehicles and do not park on the grass. Please do not block crosswalks, fire hydrants, or  intersections.

General Info

• All amenity rules are in play during meets.
• Bathroom facilities are open during the meet, please be sure to accompany your child to and from the bathroom, coaches will not assist children in the restroom.
• Meet Marshalls are volunteers who will be asked to keep certain areas free of traffic, direct traffic and give information. Understand they are parents, like you who are volunteers. If they can't get you the information you need right away, please be patient. We are all volunteers and learning together.

Location of Important Stations:

• Ready Bench­ will be behind the pool by Tent City
• Volunteer Table will be behind the pool by Tent City

What to Write on Your Swimmer?

• Use a Sharpie and write the following information on your swimmer’s right shoulder blade:
• Last Name, First Initial (i.e. – Doe, J)
• Underneath write SHST
• On one of their arms, write the following information for their races, one line per race: Event #, Heat #, Lane #, Stroke. (If you are unsure what to write, don’t worry ask another swim parent and they will help you.

What Should I Bring to a Meet?

• Heat Sheets/Entry List – Print off a copy of the Heat Sheets and Entry List. These will not be available at the meet.
• Pop Up/EZ Up tent
• Chairs
• Food & Beverage – All teams provide limited concessions, but it is strongly recommended that you bring your own snacks and lots of water for your family.
• Black permanent marker – for marking your swimmer
• Swimmer equipment – Swimmers should wear their team suits and caps. Don’t forget a towel!
• Plenty of sunscreen!
• Bug spray is also recommended.
• Entertainment for swimmers and siblings

What Events are My Children Swimming?

Each week on Friday before the meet on Saturday, you will receive an email that contains two important documents, in addition to more information about the meet set up, especially if we are away. The two documents you will want to review are:

• Heat Sheet – This shows all of the events in order that they will occur, and which swimmers are swimming in which events/heats.
• Entry List – This list is alphabetical by swimmer and is the easiest way to see quickly which events your swimmer is in. Upon review of these documents, if you have any questions or concerns about the events your swimmer has been entered in, please let a coach know ASAP. Please do not wait until the morning of the meet.

Swim Meet Events

• Events are: freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, Freestyle Relays, Medley relays (each swimmer swims a different, assigned stroke), 100 IM (Individual Medley) and 100 Freestyle (these two events are offered on alternating meets, not both at every one).
• Events alternate between male and female events
• Each event is divided into heats with up to 6 swimmers per heat, normally children are grouped in heats by times.
• The current event in the pool will be shown on a flip sign next to the computer table. There will also be a flip chart in the field will display the events that should be at ready bench.

What is a Ready Bench?

In order to get the swimmers into the appropriate lanes, we use a ready bench. There will be announcements for children to report to the ready bench area about 6 events ahead of when they are to swim. This allows the volunteers to check the children in and get them in the proper order for their event. Please make yourself familiar with the location of ready bench when you check in for the swim meet at each pool. You will be responsible for ensuring your child reports to the ready bench area.

Cheer on Your Swimmer!

Your child has been working hard for this moment! Make sure to get a good viewing spot on deck and when your child exits the pool allow another parent access to see their child. Children who win their heat will be presented with a heat winner ribbon. Swimmers should check in with their coach after their heat to get feedback. Remember: no photography or videotaping is allowed behind the starting blocks.

Being a Good Sport and a Good Neighbor

We encourage good sportsmanship. Everyone has worked hard and should be congratulated for their efforts! We as parents and swimmers need to demonstrate this on deck. Please help take care of everyone’s facilities and leave them as we found them. Each of our swim teams have a community that has embraced their team and allowed them use of the amenity center for practice and meets. Please clean up after yourselves before you leave the meet. Place trash in trash bins. Please do not move or remove any furniture belonging to the community.

Away Meets

When we have meets at other pools, we will get specific instructions for parking, “tent city,” the availability of concessions, etc. We ask that you follow those and respect the home teams just as we expect visiting teams to respect our rules and requests.