Montpelier Marlins

**Information for new and returning swimmers who may need a refresher**

A few helpful tips to help your swimmer be prepared for their swim meets (and some for the parents too!

- Indicate your swimmers attendance in Swimtopia by 5pm the Tuesday before the Meet. This is mandatory. If your swimmer is not marked as attending, it will be assumed they are not swimming and will not be seeded.

Update your attendance by providing your RSVP on the Signups in the "Calendar" tab.

Here are some tips for parents who are new to swim meets, including:

• Come on-time to the meet!
• Check-in with the Coach or Team Parent Assigned to the Team Area
• Participate in warm-ups.
• Find where the clerk of course is located.
• Write events on the arm in Sharpie or waterproof makeup pencil, this is optional but can help younger swimmers remember their races and cut down on confusion at the clerk of course area (bring one from home!)
• Swimmers of all ages are expected to sit in the team area while their family, friends, and fans sit in the spectator areas. (Lots of cheering definitely encouraged for ALL swimmers)
• Review the EVENTS (E) with the swimmer.
• Review what HEAT (H) and what LANE (L) the swimmer will be in.
• Be sure to hydrate the day before, it is HOT in the summer.

What is Summer Swim Season?

• The season runs from the Tuesday after Memorial Day through the last weekend in July. See the Calendar on our team site for details about events.
• Before PG County Public Schools begin summer vacation, all practices are held in the afternoons from Tuesday through Thursday. Once school ends, there will be both morning (Monday through Friday) and afternoon practices (Tuesday and Thursday ONLY). Practice times are also on the team site under the Practice tab.

What to Bring?! 

• Water! Both for your swimmer and yourself.
• Favorite sport drink (if your swimmer has one)
• Healthy snacks to fuel your swimmer between events. Most pools have food for sale, but we all know our swimmers will go for the yummy treats most of the time, so be sure to have a healthy snack on hand!
• Goggles!
• Swim Cap! (bring a backup just in case) 
• Bathing Suit (sounds like an easy one to remember but put it here just in case since it is the most important part other than the actual swimmer!)
• Towel (1 - 2)
• Outdoor chair for your swimmer and yourself (some pools don't have many chairs if any at all)
• Canopy to shelter from sun and rain.

Summer Swim Glossary

TIME TRIALS—Time trials is the opening (practice) meet of every season, swum so new and updated times can be recorded for swimmers.

SWIM-A-THON— A yearly fundraiser where each swimmer collects pledges for each lap swum in 1 hour. This is one of our best fundraisers and is a great way for the swimmers to challenge themselves (and surprise themselves!) while helping earn money for the team.

DIVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS—The final championship meet of the regular swim season. This is an invite only meet where each of the 6 teams can enter two swimmers per individual event and one relay per relay event.

ALL-STAR MEETS (Individual and Relays)— This is an invite only meet and is also the last meet of the summer season where the leagues fastest 16 individual swimmers and relay teams come together one last time.

AWARDS BANQUET—This family event is held at the end of the regular season for the entire swim team. Here we showcase some of our standout swimmers, recognize top earners in the Swim-A-Thon, thank our coaches, have some great food with great company, all while remembering our favorite parts of the season.

Let's have a great season!!