Meets

Each swimmer will swim in at least one event during a meet and not more than three individual events. We try to give each swimmer as many opportunities as possible to swim.

Our Coaches need to know by Monday each week if a swimmer cannot participate in the meets for that week. A Positive Check-in sheet will be posted in the meet books at the front desk at the pool. You must sign in to let the coach know you will be at the meets. Please be sure to contact us after Monday if an emergency arises and you know your swimmer will not be at the meet!

Evening meets start at 6pm and warm-ups start at 5:15pm.

Saturday Meets start at 9am with warm-ups at 8:15am.

Please check-in on the pool deck upon your arrival to a meet.

Warm-ups before a meet are MANDATORY for all swimmers. If your swimmer chooses not to attend warm-ups and he/she is entered in the first relay event, then they will be scratched from that relay event. It is very important that we know all swimmers are at the swim meet and at warm-ups, ready to swim in the relay events.
Swimmers will be placed on relay teams based on a number of factors: event time, attitude, and attendance at meets and practices. Placement on a relay team will be at the coach’s discretion and will not be automatic based on a swimmer’s time in a particular event.

Check the Heat Sheets to know what you’re swimming.

(ask an older swimmer or parent for help, if needed)

Note the Event number, Heat number and the Lane number (2-4-6-8 at home, and 1-3-5 away). Use pen to write the Event, Heat, and Lane on the back of your hand.

E	H	L
3	3	2
7	1	4

Note which stroke/event precedes yours-

Order of Strokes/Events and estimated length of time.

Individual Medley Relay	10 minutes
Freestyle	35 minutes
Breast	30 minutes
Back	35 minutes
Butterfly	25 minutes
Relay Free	15 minutes

Stay with the team in it’s designated area— 10 & unders need to stay by the “Hurricane Bunker”. Marshalls can not search for you if you are not sitting with the team.

If a swimmer misses their event we cannot add them to a later race.

Watch the meet to know which event is currently being swum. Recognize and introduce yourself to the Meet Marshalls. Ask a Marshall the name of the swimmer in the heat and lane ahead of you. Take responsibility for being on time and at the blocks.(The Coaches will be busy watching and advising other swimmers).

AFTER SWIMMING YOUR EVENT

Acknowledge your competitors positively. Ask the Timer for your time (will be approximately as times are averaged by the scoring table). Listen to suggestions by the Official (person in white) if they speak with you report to one of the Coaches to learn of suggestions to improve your stroke at practice.

CHEER ON YOUR TEAM MATES
HAVE FUN
Clean up your seating area and take home all of your belongings.

Take Route 80 East to Route 10 East (exit #39 and bear right). Go through three lights. (go under overpass and over RR tracks) Take Jug handle onto Troy Hills Rd. Take first left onto Highland Ave. (past Lone Star restaurant), at end turn right onto Reynolds Ave. After the pond on left, turn left onto Pond Rd.

Take Route 80 East to 287 South to Bernardsville/Rt 22 exit. Bear right at exit on North Maple Ave. At light (Olde Mill Inn Hotel on right), turn left onto 202 South (towards Bernardsville). At second traffic light, (center of town) bear right onto Anderson Hill rd. (towards Mendham) Turn right onto Seney Dr.

Take Mountain Ave to Schooley’s Mountain Road. Go over the mountain, at light at the bottom, make a left.

Go through Chester and continue towards Morristown on Route 24 East. (Go Right at Redwoods restaurant) Follow road through Mendham and Morris Township. The Pool is on your right.

Take Mountain Ave. to Schooley’s Mountain Road. Go over the mountain. At bottom of the mountain, make a left on Route 24 East. Go straight through Chester (Past Puddingstone Inn) At the next light, go straight through onto Rt. 513 (toward County College of Morris). Trave l 0.7 miles. You will see Black River Middle School on your left. Enter parking lot and bear right around to the side of the school.

Take 80 East to 287 South to Morris Ave East Exit. Turn right (this is a one way) and stay in the right lane.

Turn right onto Columbia Turnpike. (This goes to Morristown Airport and Livingston) Proceed to the 4^th stoplight at Park Ave. Take first left onto Powder Horn Dr. Pool is on right across form softball field.

Take 80 East to exit 38 Denville Route 46 East – Bear Right and follow signs to Route 53 South. Stay on 53 about 2 miles and take a left onto Tarn Drive, at end make a right and then another right onto Forum Court. Pool is at the end of the cul-de-sac with private property signs (looks like a driveway).

Go up and over Schooley’s Mountain. At light, go straight onto Fairmount Road/Rt. 517. Follow through Tewksbury to Route 78 East. Take exit #33 (Martinsville/VA hospital). Turn left onto Martinsville Rd. At 5^th light make right onto Valley Rd.(rt. 512) Bonnie Brae School is on right approx. ½ mile. Pool parking lot is on the left across from the school entrance. Pool parking is to the left.

Take 80 East to 10 East. Make right onto Ridgedale Ave. Turn right onto Malapardis Road. Turn left onto

Sussex County Tech. School is located on Rte. 94 1 ½ mile north of Rt. 15 near Lafayette Village Shopping Plaza. Corner of Rt. 94 and White Lake Rd.

Take Willow Grove Street toward Waterloo Village. Go all the way to Rt. 206 North. At the Traffic light after Condit World, turn right onto Rt. 94 North. At junction ith Rt. 15 South, 3/10 of a mile to loop on right. Take loop onto rt. 94 North. 1 ½ miles to SCTC on right.

Rt 57 North to Rt. 22 Phillipsburg. On Rt. 22, go to Hillcrest Mall and make right turn onto Roseberry St. and follow to end. Turn right ont Belvidere Ave

Take Route 46 West, pass Route 31. Get into the left hand lane and make a left onto 620 South. (if you pass the A&P, you’ve gone too far) It is a very quick right onto Massenattes Rd. Make the first left onto Manukachunk Rd.(a quick turn also) The pool is on the right, just past Hoffman-LaRoche’

Rt 57 North to Rt. 22. On Rt 22, go to Hillcrest Mall and make a right turn onto Roseberry St. Follow to end.

Turn right onto Belvidere Ave. Make the 2^nd left onto Wildew Ave the street across from the gas station. Pool is around the bend to the left.

Take Rt. 57 North to Rt 22 Phillipsburg, Go over Delaware River and pay toll ($.75) turns into Rt 22 West. Exit at 25^th St. At light, turn right and proceed north on 25^th street to 2^nd light make left at Palmer Mall. After the bend in the road, make 1^st left turn onto Briarcliff Terrace Park Road. Go past STOP sign go left to Lions Pool (shortly after bend)

Rt. 57 West, go over Delaware River and pay toll ($.75) onto Rt 22 West. Exit at 25^th Street. At light, turn left and go to the next light and make a left turn onto Northampton St. Proceed through next 2 lights and make 1^st left (there is a small sign “Wilson Pool” on corner. Pool is around the bend to the left by power sub-station.

Turn right onto NJ-57. Turn Left onto E Asbury Anderson Road/ CR-632. Turn Left onto NJ-31 S. Turn Left onto W Woodschurch Road. End at 144 W Woodschurch Rd Flemington, NJ 08822-7016

Water Replacement fluids are important! A water bottle they can refill at the drinking fountain is fine.

Snacks At most meets, there are concession stands that have drinks, bagels, and other snacks. Be aware that sometimes there is a line for these food items, and your swimmer doesn’t want to miss their next event by waiting in the concessions line. If you are looking for ideas to pack your own snacks, granola, a sandwich, fruit, nuts, or dried cereal work well. Your swimmer will get hungry!

Cap You are not required to wear a cap, but if you do the League asks that your swimmer wears a team cap. If your child has never worn a cap before have your swimmer ask a team mate or his/her coach to demonstrate the correct way to put on a cap!

Other Some swimmers like to bring a collapsible chair to sit on in between events, or a pad or sleeping bag to lay on. Some swimmers bring a book or cards to play to pass the time, but the best activity is to watch and cheer for your team mates.

The first thing to do is have your swimmer go onto the pool deck and check in with the Coach, and find where the team is sitting. Your coach will tell you if there will be stretching on deck before warming up in the pool, and where to go. During this time, parents can locate the wall where the hosting team has posted the heat sheet.

The heat sheet is provided from the hosting team. It contains the order of events, and a time line, as well as dividing the swimmers into different “heats” or groups.

The HEAT will be which group of swimmers go first, second, third etc. These groups or heats are often grouped from fastest times (heat 1) to slowest times (last heat).

The LANE will be assigned to each swimmer, so that they know which set of blocks to get up on, and where to swim. You can write this information down on a piece of paper, copied from the wall where the hosting team has posted the sheet. Often for younger or new swimmers, we write on their hands to remind them when they are swimming. (it doesn’t have to be a “sharpie” or water proof ink, just a regular pen will work.)

The starter will announce each event. Teach your swimmers from the beginning to know what events they are swimming, to check the heat sheets to know where they are in the meet. It seems overwhelming at first, but it is one of the great things that kids in swimming learn, is how to be responsible for where they need to go, and how to monitor the meet progress. Until that time though, there will be plenty of help from coaches and the volunteer Marshalls to help your swimmers.

The Hurricane Bunker is for swimmers 10 years old and younger. It is an area set aside where the young swimmers for a given event are gathered and seated in order of when they swim, and what lane they will be in. A volunteer- called a “Marshall” then leads them as a group and places them at their correct block and lane and according to which heat they swim in.

You can sit with your child. If they feel uncomfortable at first, feel free to stay with them. However, you will want to encourage your swimmer to sit with the team, cheer for their teammates, learn more about the sport and the meet process. Sometimes it is helpful to “check-in” with your swimmer and then encourage them to sit with a team mate.

Unless you have a specific job on the pool deck, it is not possible for you to be there. The deck gets very crowded, and it is hard for meet officials, swimmers and coaches to do their jobs if too many people are there.

It just so happens that timing is the perfect job to be on deck, see the action and fulfill our team’s obligation to time. Timing involves using a stopwatch and writing the numbers on a piece of paper. It is not difficult, and whoever is on deck with you will be happy to show you how it is done.

It is a disqualification from an official, indicating that there was some element of the swim that did not meet the USA swimming rules for that given stroke. It means that the time your swimmer got in that event will not count, as the swim is invalidated. DQ’s are a learning tool, and designed to help all swimmers become proficient in their sport. There is not a swimmer anywhere that has not had many DQ’s! It helps swimmers know what they need to work on, and should be viewed in an entirely positive light. You can still focus on the good things your swimmer did even if they got DQ’d. Help your swimmer to be proud of their new accomplishments! Starts off the blocks, turns, mastering new strokes like butterfly and breaststroke, maintaining consistent kicking and breathing, cheering for a team member, getting to the blocks on time…….there are many things to be proud of and to support your child in.

As questions arise, don’t hesitate to ask other parents, e-mail Nina Dorlon at dorlon@verizon.net or Kelly Hart at kellyh4641@yahoo.com We are happy to have you as members of the HURRICANES and look forward to a great season!

Hackettstown Swim Team

Meets