Five Oaks Swim Team

Welcome to Five Oaks Swim Team. If you have never attended a swim meet before, it can be a bit confusing. This will give you an overview of what to expect.

Five Oaks swims in the Central Maryland Swim League (CMSL). We are presently in Division V. There are 8 divisions within that league and each team competes in meets (5 total) within their division, known as a dual meet. The season runs from Memorial Day through the end of July. At the end of the season, each division will host a championship meet, known as Divisionals. Swimmers must qualify to participate in this meet. In addition, there is a league championship meet, known as Straehle, this is also a qualifying meet. The coaches/team reps will let you know if your child has qualified to swim in these meets as the time gets closer.

In addition to the five regular meets, the team will also have time trials and two other special meets per swim season. One of those special meets is the Don Schaub Novice Meet which Five Oaks will host on Wednesday, July 8th. Swimmers who have not placed in the top 3 at the meets are qualified to swim. Parents will be notified by the coaches/team reps if your child has qualified to swim in this meet.

Time Trials

Time trials are a “practice” meet. This is the first meet of the year, usually in late June. We do not compete against another team at time trials. At this meet, swimmers have an opportunity to practice swimming several events for “time”. This gives the coaches and swimmers and idea of what they can do and what they need to work on.

Meets

Swimmers may be entered in up to 3 events (Teams in Division IV or lower allow swimmers to swim up to 4 events. Division III or higher teams allow 3 events)

The dual meets start at 9:00 AM. There is a warm-up period that begins one hour before the meet so that swimmers can get in the pool and warm- up. The home team warmups from 8-8:30am and the visiting team from 8:30-9am.

Lineups (How do I know what I am swimming)

Swimmers are placed into a final lineup by Wednesday. Entries for the meet will be posted no later than Friday before the meet. Entries will also be posted at the pool the morning of the meet.

Please make sure to remember your events so that you do not miss them.

Heats

Each event will be broken up into groups called "heats." A heat may have 8 or fewer swimmers and each event may have several heats, depending on the number of swimmers entered in the race. Each swimmer is seeded, based on time, with the fastest swimmers in the last heat and usually placed in the center lanes of the pool.

Scoring

Points are awarded to the team who places first, second and third in each event. The team with the most points at the end of the meet- wins.

First place- 5 points, Second place- 3 points, Third place- 1 point

Clerk of Course

The announcer will call out each event as is approaches and instruct swimmers to report to the Clerk of Course.

Parents- please listen to the announcer and get your swimmer to the clerk of course on time, when instructed. It is not the responsibility of the clerk of course or other parents to find your children and line them up. So, please pay attention and help your child get to their event in time so that your child does not miss their swims

The volunteers at Clerk of Course will line up the swimmers by event, heat, and lane numbers.

They will direct the swimmers to the starting block when it is their turn to swim.

Order of Events

Each swimmer will compete within their age group and sex. The groupings are as follows: 6&under, 8&under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, and 15-18.

1. Girl 9-10 100 I.M.
2. Boy 9-10 100 I.M.
3. Girl 11-12 100 I.M.
4. Boy 11-12 100 I.M.
5. Girl 13-14 100 I.M.
6. Boy 13-14 100 I.M
7. Girl 15-18 100 I.M.
8. Boy 15-18 100 I.M.
9. Girl 6&U 25 Free
10. Boy 6&U 25 Free
11. Girl 8&U 25 Free
21. Girl 6&U 25 Back
22. Boy 6&U 25 Back
23. Girl 8&U 25 Back
24. Boy 8&U 25 Back
25. Girl 9-10 25 Back
26. Boy 9-10 25 Back
27. Girl 11-12 50 Back
28. Boy 11-12 50 Back
29. Girl 13-14 50 Back
30. Boy 13-14 50 Back
31. Girl 15-18 50 Back
32. Boy 15-18 50 Back
33. Girl 8&U 25 Fly
34. Boy 8&U 25 Fly
35. Girl 9-10 25 Fly
36. Boy 9-10 25 Fly
37. Girl 11-12 50 Fly
38. Boy 11-12 50 Fly
39. Girl 13-14 50 Fly
40. Boy 13-14 50 Fly
41. Girl 15-18 50 Fly
42. Boy 15-18 50 Fly
43. Girl 8&U 25 Breast
44. Boy 8&U 25 Breast
45. Girl 9-10 25 Breast
46. Boy 9-10 25 Breast
47. Girl 11-12 50 Breast
48. Boy 11-12 50 Breast
49. Girl 13-14 50 Breast
50. Boy 13-14 50 Breast
51. Girl 15-18 50 Breast
52. Boy 15-18 50 Breast
53. Mixed 6&U 100 Free Relay
54. Mixed 8&U 100 F.R.*
55. Girl 9-10 200 F.R.*
56. Boy 9-10 200 F.R.*
57. Girl 11-12 200 F.R.*
58. Boy 11-12 200 F.R.*
59. Girl 13-14 200 F.R.*
60. Boy 13-14 200 F.R.*
61. Mixed 15-18 200 F.R.*

* Free Relay. Mixed Relays are 2 boys and 2 girls

Meet Official

The meet official, dressed in white, is responsible for running the meet according to the rules, starting each event and

Disqualifications

Stroke and turn judges watch the swimmers to ensure they’re doing regulation strokes and turns. If they see something incorrect during a race, the judge will raise a hand to indicate a disqualification, or DQ. After the race, many judges will explain to swimmers at the finish why they were DQ’d, for example, touching the wall with one hand in breaststroke, which must be a two handed touch. Coaches will work with the swimmers to correct their strokes so they won’t be disqualified in the next meet.

A DQ can be temporarily upsetting for young swimmers, but, it’s part of the sport and a character builder. Every swimmer will get DQ’d at some point, they will recover quickly and learn from the experience.

Meet Results

Meet results including time and place, will be posted at the pool and on the website.

Awards

Dual meet awards consist of ribbons for 1st through 7th place. If you have won an award(s), they will be placed in your mailbox in the office and are for pick up by Wednesday of the following week.

Swimming Etiquette

Swimmers in the water show courtesy to other swimmers by waiting until all swimmers have finished an event before exiting the pool. A handshake with the swimmer of either side of you is also recommended.

Team Spirit

If you are not swimming, all swimmers should be watching the pool and cheering for your fellow team mates. Your support means a lot to another swimmer.

What to wear at Meets

Early morning temperatures can be cool. Bring plenty of dry towels, sweats, and/or jackets. Remember to wear your team swimsuit which is available at Cy's Swimwear on Frederick Road.