Thousand Oaks Otters

• $2 for a Heat Sheet (the volunteer will love you if you use $1 bills!)
• A highlighter for finding and marking your child's events on the heat sheet.
• A Sharpie for marking your child's arm (see separate info re: marking your child)
• Healthy snacks: granola bars, fruit, water, Gatorade, crackers. Coolers are allowed, but NO GLASS is permitted on the pool deck.
• Extra towels
• Camp chairs or a picnic blanket
• Pop-up tents or umbrella tents, where space allows. Shade is key on hot evenings!
• Sunscreen
• Swim cap and goggles (a spare pair of goggles is a good idea, too)
• Cash for the concession stand

How meets operate

Meets are typically on Thursday evenings, with the meet beginning around 6pm. Home team warm ups are 4:20-5:00 (10 & under from 4:20 to 4:40 and 11 & up from 4:40 to 5:00) with away teams warming up from 5:05-5:45. With the exception of the conference swim meet, all meets are duals where there are not finals, meaning all swimmers swim their events once and winners are placed/ribbons are awarded based on those times.

8 & Under swimmers swim 25 Meter lengths (one length of the pool).

Swimmers 9 and over swim 50 Meter lengths for individual strokes.

Pre-Meet Preparation:

• The Coach will inform swimmers of the events in which they are swimming on or before the day of a meet.
• Directions to away meets may be found here
• Pack swimmer’s gear.
• Pack parent’s gear.

Arriving at the Meet:

• Get to the pool on time. Allow extra time for parking and walking to the pool.
• Check-in with the Coaches to let them know you are there.
• For $2 you may purchase a Heat Sheet that lists the names of swimmers and the event in which they’re entered for the meet, conference qualifying times, and the fastest time for your child to-date.
• Parents check-in with Volunteer Coordinator.

During the Meet:

• Parents, especially for younger swimmers, can help with getting their swimmer to the Clerk of the Course on time to avoid missing their event. (The Clerk of the Course area is similar to being "on deck" in baseball. Look for a row of benches or folding chairs, where swimmers are being checked in by the volunteer in charge.)
• After swimming an event, swimmers should be sure to ask Timers for their “unofficial” time.
• Swimmers should be notified if they have been disqualified or “DQ'd” in an event.
• Swimmers are encouraged to check with the coaches after they swim an event to receive helpful tips and pointers, but may not sit at the coaches table.
• Concessions, including bottled water, soda, and snacks will be available for purchase at all pools, both home and away. However, you are welcome to bring your own.

After the Meet:

• Pick up team and pool area.
• Volunteers will be asked to help put away equipment.
• We must leave the pool as we found it for use the next day.

Plan on the meet lasting 3-1/2 to 4 hours.

Events allowed per swimmer

Each swimmer is allowed to choose up to three individual events [the four strokes, and, for 9 and up, the Individual Medley (IM)]. Coaches may place swimmers in up to two relays. You will declare your swimmer as "available for relays" each week when you sign up for your individual events online. Swimmers may change their individual events from meet to meet.

Strokes and Events

The four competitive strokes are:

• Freestyle is characterized by an alternate overhand motion of the arms and an alternating up and down flutter kick.
• Backstroke consists of an alternating motion of the arm while on the back using a flutter kick.
• Breaststroke requires simultaneous movements of the arms on the same horizontal plane. The hands are pulled from the breast in a heart-shaped pattern and recovered under the surface of the water except at the finish. The kick is a simultaneous somewhat circular motion similar to the action of a frog. On turns and at the finish, the swimmer must touch with both hands.
• Butterfly consists of a simultaneous overhand stroke of the arms combined with an undulating dolphin kick. In the kick, the swimmer must keep both legs together and may NOT use any other kick. On turns and at the finish, the swimmer must touch with both hands.

The following events are in addition to the above strokes:

• Individual Medley (I.M.) features all four strokes. The swimmer begins with the butterfly, then changes to the backstroke, then breaststroke and finally freestyle. This event is only for swimmers ages 9 and older.
• Medley Relay consists of 4 team members swimming one leg each of the four strokes. The first swimmer swims the backstroke, the second swimmer swims breaststroke, and third swimmer swims butterfly and the last swimmer swims freestyle.
• Freestyle Relay consists of 4 team members swimming freestyle for each leg.

Most young swimmers start out swimming freestyle and backstroke before progressing to breaststroke and butterfly. It is not essential to know all strokes before joining the team. Strokes will continue to be taught and improved upon during practice.

First Half Events                             Second Half Events

Ribbons

Ribbons are awarded for heat winners in 10 & Under events (typically handed to the winner at the completion of each heat), for 1st-6th place in each individual event (typically handed out at practice the following day) and 1st place only for relay. The order is the same for each meet; boys compete first and then girls compete in each age group. Heats will be slowest to fastest.

Heat Sheets

The Heat Sheet is a paper packet/program that shows all the participating swimmers and what events they will participate in as well as the heat number and lane number. Heat Sheets can be purchased at the meet for $2. The announcer will say the event and heat number. Sometimes there is also an electronic board with this information.

Pictured below is an example of a Heat Sheet.

This Heat Sheet example shows all of the entries from two teams for the Boys 8 & Under 25 Meter Freestyle.

TOST stands for Thousand Oaks Swim Team.

Seed Time is the fastest time a swimmer has swum an event.

A: The event number

B: NT means "No Time" has been recorded previously

C: The Heat number

D: The lane number

E: Northland Conference swim meet qualifying time

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