Written for new swim parents by “seasoned” swim parents :)

First, Welcome to the summer swim season with the Copperfield Dolphins Swim Team (COPP). The team is part of the Northwest Aquatic League (NWAL). You can see more about our Division under the Division section. 

We decided to create this little informative guide to help ease new swim parents into the world of summer swimming. This may include; the weekly grind of practices, the Saturday dual meets, packing of swim bags with essentials, and possibly to traveling to invitational meets. We were all new to this sport, at some point, and to the logistics of swim meets. It may seem confusing and daunting at first but we hope that this “guide” will help clear things up.

Swim meets can’t happen without the parents. We can’t stress that enough. We are needed to volunteer our time to work various positions, donate occasionally to the snack stand (fundraiser), while also supporting our little swimmers throughout the season.

Ultimately, we do this for our children. We really hope you all decide to volunteer your time in some way and get involved in the various aspects that help make a swim meet run smoothly. It not only can make the meets seem quicker from a parents’ perspective but it can also be rewarding.

What to expect from practice

For new swim team parents, the first few weeks of swim practice can be nerve-wracking. Parents are not allowed inside the pool area during practice, primarily due to insurance coverages, but also so the kids and coaches can focus on the instruction. New swimmers will be helped and monitored closely by coaches, older teen helpers and board members. Swimmer safety is of utmost importance for the team. The first week of swim practice is primarily for new swimmers. This is a time for coaches to get to know and evaluate new swimmers. During this time the coaches may move your swimmer to a different practice group/time based on their abilities. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, the coaches will not be able to talk to each swimmer/parent personally, please be patient with our coaches if you have questions. If you have any serious questions or concerns you can always reach out to the board [email protected]

We do practice at outdoor pools and the first few weeks can be COLD, don’t worry it warms up quickly as the season goes on. A swim shirt/rashguard, or wetsuit can help keep your swimmer a little warmer during practice. After practice a fluffy towel, robe or warm sweatshirt can be a great comfort to your swimmer. You can see our full Weather policy in the Parent Handbook. 

Making as many practices as you can is also very important for the short amount of time we have in the season. We've only got 10 weeks to swim! The progress and enthusiasm you will see from your swimmer is amazing!

What do I bring for Practice?

• Small bag
• Towel and dry clothes
• Easy on-off shoes
• Practice suit- save your team suit for meets to make them last longer.
• Goggles-required
• Swim cap-recommended- team caps will be available for purchase at meets.
• Water bottle- especially as the weather heats up! Swimmers can keep it on the edge of the pool.
• Swimshirt, Rashguard or Wetsuit ( no more than 3mm)- optional for when the water is still cold. These can all be found on Amazon or SwimOutlet, wetsuit examples: Fullbody Wetsuit, Shorty Wetsuit, Wetsuit Top
• Fins- highly suggested (particularly for younger swimmers). Fins assist with proper kick development and are used in practice as a training tool. Long fins are recommended. Fins can be purchased at D&J Sports in Tomball (with a team discount) or anywhere online. Please find links below for suggestions.
• • Silicone Swim Training Fins- Amazon
  • Speedo Long Fins- Amazon
  • Sporti Essential Floating Fins- SwimOutlet
  • Swim Stuff Long Fins from D&J
  • Swim Stuff Short Fins from D&J
    • D&J will provide a team discount when purchased in person.

PLEASE LABEL EVERYTHING! We collect a lot of lost and found items throughout the season anything left at the end of the season is donated or tossed out.

What to expect from a Dual Meet:

A dual meet is a competition between two teams; we travel to some and host others. Dual meets occur on Saturdays and tend to begin early in the morning morning. It's VERY important for swimmers to arrive on time for check-in. The weekly newsletter will provide more specific details for each meet, including addresses, check-in times, parking and set-up instructions, and more! All meets take place outside and it can get HOT (it's called summer swim for a reason). Please be prepared. Check out our Swim Meet Etiquette for more meet tips.

Swim meets have a specific order of events (see Order of Events). There are a total of 80 events at dual swim meets, each event may have multiple heats depending on the number of swimmers registered for that event. There are two types of events, Individual and Relay. Each week you will declare (RSVP) attending or not and choose 2-3 individual events for your swimmer to participate in. You'll also let the coaches know if your swimmer is available to participate in relays (instructions in How To's). 

A heat sheet for each meet will be sent and/or posted under the meet on the Team Calendar, and be available in the Swimtopia app (see our How To's to learn more about finding heat sheets and using the Swimtopia app). The heat sheet is the meet event schedule and includes which events the swimmers will compete in for each Meet. 

When you arrive for check-in on the day of, your swimmer will check in with the tent parents at their age-group tent. The tent parent will write the swimmer's event numbers and last name on their forearm, to help swimmers remember their events. Please remind your swimmers to stay in their team tent throughout the entire meet so the parent volunteers can get them to their events on time.

The Meet officially starts with Event 1 at 8:30 am and ends with Event 80 around 2:00 pm. As the meet progresses, event numbers will be called over the PA system, tent parents will escort any swimmer in that event to the Ready Bench area where swimmers are lined up in the correct order (organized by heat and lane number) to be ready for their event. Parents are not allowed in the Ready Bench area.

When it's time for the swimmers to step up to the block the Starter (Official) will blow 3 short whistles! The Starter will then blow a long whistle, and instruct swimmers to "step up" onto the starting block. Once all swimmers are on the blocks, the Starter will give the command "Take Your Marks" the swimmer then moves into their starting position and waits. The audience must also be quiet at this time so the swimmers can listen for the start signal. A few seconds later a beep will sound and off they go!

While meets can be long and hot, the day can foster a great sense of community and comradery among the kids! It is not uncommon for swimmers to cheer on their teammates when they are not swimming or play games, color, listen to music, etc in their tents to pass the time. 

 What do I bring to a swim meet?

For the Swimmer:

• Team swimsuit
• Goggles
• Team cap (optional)
• Towels (one to dry with, one to sit on)
• Extra suit, goggles, caps
• Dry/ Warm clothes
• Easy on/off shoes
• Small toys or games for swimmers to keep them entertained between events (tent parents can not be responsible for lost items).
• Sunscreen and bug spray
• Swim bag- please label everything!

For the Family:

• Family Tent for yourself (all meets take place outside and there is very little shade)
• Chairs and/or picnic blankets to sit on
• Small battery-powered fans
• Cooling neck towels, it gets HOT
• Small ice chest with water/drinks, etc
• Healthy snacks (fruit, granola, Goldfish, crackers, etc.)
• Collapsible wagon to haul everything
• Money to support concessions (most take credit cards, square, and venmo)
• Address and directions to meet, posted in the Upcoming Events calendar, Newsletters and Division section of the website.
• A readiness to volunteer to keep the meet progressing
• And your Dolphin spirit to get “loud and proud” for the kids

*** NO PHOTOGRAPHY OR VIDEO RECORDING IS ALLOWED FROM BEHIND/IN THE STARTING BLOCK AREAS FOR THE PRIVACY AND PROTECTION OF SWIMMERS***

What to expect from an Invitational Meet:

An invitational is an optional meet, throughout the season, that COPP may attend as a team or individually. Invitationals have minimum qualifying time requirements; therefore, eligibility may depend on the swimmer's fastest times. There is usually a small cost per event and most have a fun theme. Volunteers for these meets are provided solely by the host team. These meets are communicated via email several weeks before entry deadlines you can also see our Invitationals page for more information. These meets are fun to attend and help swimmers work towards a goal for the season!

Volunteering:

All meets only run quickly and efficiently with enough volunteers. Volunteering for jobs for the meets will be done through the team website. Volunteer sign-up typically opens the Sunday before a meet and will stay open until all positions are filled (see How To's for sign-up instructions). Swim meets CAN NOT take place without all our help in volunteering. Many of the volunteer positions are for half of the meet; therefore, make sure to sign up based on what makes sense for your schedule.  But please, use your best judgment based on your child’s needs and don’t hesitate to ask any questions if you’re unsure. Feel free to review the Volunteer Position Descriptions listed under the Volunteering section of the website.

Fundraisers

It costs a lot of money to run a swim team; from great coaching staff, insurance costs, equipment maintenance, and more we use all the funds to keep our team running. Throughout the season, we will be offering many ways you help can support the Copperfield Dolphins Swim Team.

• Spirit Nights: Opportunities to grab dinner for the family while giving back to the team
• Dolphin Diner: (home meets only) Visiting the snack stand and donating to the snack stand helps the team raise money during each home meet. Each year we ask for water, Gatorade, and/or soda donations from our families to help stock concessions. 
• Dolphin Dash (AKA: Swim­-A-­Thon): This is our primary fundraising event for the season. Swimmers ask family and friends to help support them through donations based on the number of laps they swim or flat donations. We have awesome prizes for most funds raised, most lap swam and more. Everyone is invited for a morning of fun, donuts and laps! We'll send more information later you can also see more on our Dolphin Dash page.
• Social Events  We have team social events throughout the season such as: parent meeting, team pictures, pep rallies, an end-of-year party and more. We host these events for the swimmers to spend time together outside of practice and to build a stronger sense of team and community! We are always looking for help with these events, feel free to reach out if you like party planning!  
• Sponsors: and of course, we are always looking for community sponsors to help offset cost for our swimmers!