How does a coach selects who swims for events in A meets?

[Anonymous]

My swimmer is the top 3 for all 4 events at time trials today. I am guessing the coach will pick what 3 events he will swim for the upcoming A meet. Our team only allows a swimmer to swim IM+3 events. Will he ask us our preference is?

[Anonymous]

Usually they decide Thursdays before tbe Saturday meets.

[Anonymous]

Our coaches don’t ask us. It’s all about times, and what combination of best times among which swimmers will yield the best results. Our coaches do look at swimmers at the upcoming A meet competition, and will adjust accordingly.

[Anonymous]

You’re not in NVSL, so not sure it applies, but for an NVSL A meet, it’s based on the seeding that would score the most points against the other team. Based on the competition, if your swimmer is more likely to score points in certain events, those are the events they’ll swim. (For Divisionals, it’s swimmers’ choice if they’re eligible for the spot in more than 2 events. That’s an individual meet and not a team competition. Most kids would choose the events for which they have the best chance of advancing to All Stars.)

[Anonymous]

You won't be asked for preferences for most A meets, since the goal is to maximize points for the team. A secondary goal can be advancement for the swimmer (if all-stars are a factor), but in both cases the coaches are usually going to be able to.plan better than most swimmers and their families. Let them make the call. If they want your swimmer's preferences they can and will ask for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our coaches don’t ask us. It’s all about times, and what combination of best times among which swimmers will yield the best results. Our coaches do look at swimmers at the upcoming A meet competition, and will adjust accordingly.

OP here. This is what I thought… thanks! I asked because my swimmer was number 2 in butterfly, and that’s his least favorite stroke and the others in the heat are significantly slower. Just wondering if they will ask him to swim that since there aren’t a lot of butterfly swimmers in 8 and under.

Another question I have is, does that mean he would need to swim in the other 1 stroke in a B meet to qualify for the next A meet? Sorry, this is our first true season in summer swim. He just swam all B meets last summer and wasn’t paying attention to how selections are made for A meets.

Should have mentioned earlier that we are in MCSL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You’re not in NVSL, so not sure it applies, but for an NVSL A meet, it’s based on the seeding that would score the most points against the other team. Based on the competition, if your swimmer is more likely to score points in certain events, those are the events they’ll swim. (For Divisionals, it’s swimmers’ choice if they’re eligible for the spot in more than 2 events. That’s an individual meet and not a team competition. Most kids would choose the events for which they have the best chance of advancing to All Stars.)

Op here. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

NP, and just curious…do your coaches give priority to current season times, or do they consider past performance for the ladder?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP, and just curious…do your coaches give priority to current season times, or do they consider past performance for the ladder?

OP here. In our time trial sheet today, there was no previous seed time for all swimmers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our coaches don’t ask us. It’s all about times, and what combination of best times among which swimmers will yield the best results. Our coaches do look at swimmers at the upcoming A meet competition, and will adjust accordingly.

OP here. This is what I thought… thanks! I asked because my swimmer was number 2 in butterfly, and that’s his least favorite stroke and the others in the heat are significantly slower. Just wondering if they will ask him to swim that since there aren’t a lot of butterfly swimmers in 8 and under.

Another question I have is, does that mean he would need to swim in the other 1 stroke in a B meet to qualify for the next A meet? Sorry, this is our first true season in summer swim. He just swam all B meets last summer and wasn’t paying attention to how selections are made for A meets.

Should have mentioned earlier that we are in MCSL.

PP you’re quoting - you’re welcome! We’re in MCSL, too. We just mark our swimmers as “available” or “not available” for A meets and the coaches take it from there.

For our team, selection for A meets is based on times from the A meet the week prior and the B meet a few days prior. So, if it’s close, a swimmer could potentially do well enough in a B meet to knock a kid out of an A meet. There are so many specifics, though, and it also depends on your team’s policy for kids swimming both A and B meets. For example, a kid might not be eligible to swim in a B meet in a given event based on performance/attendance at the A meet - but then be knocked out of the next week’s A meet. That would then make them eligible for the next week’s B meet, chance to win back their place, etc.

Hopefully this is clearer than mud.

[Anonymous]

^^ PS - all three of my kids finished top 3 in fly in time trials, which they also hate, but will likely swim at the upcoming A meet. We’ll see what happens at this week’s B meet, based on DQs, etc.

I don’t know what their problem is - fly is the best!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP, and just curious…do your coaches give priority to current season times, or do they consider past performance for the ladder?

Not the OP, but every team does this differently. Our team does not use any times from previous years-- current season only for everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our coaches don’t ask us. It’s all about times, and what combination of best times among which swimmers will yield the best results. Our coaches do look at swimmers at the upcoming A meet competition, and will adjust accordingly.

OP here. This is what I thought… thanks! I asked because my swimmer was number 2 in butterfly, and that’s his least favorite stroke and the others in the heat are significantly slower. Just wondering if they will ask him to swim that since there aren’t a lot of butterfly swimmers in 8 and under.

Another question I have is, does that mean he would need to swim in the other 1 stroke in a B meet to qualify for the next A meet? Sorry, this is our first true season in summer swim. He just swam all B meets last summer and wasn’t paying attention to how selections are made for A meets.

Should have mentioned earlier that we are in MCSL.

PP you’re quoting - you’re welcome! We’re in MCSL, too. We just mark our swimmers as “available” or “not available” for A meets and the coaches take it from there.

For our team, selection for A meets is based on times from the A meet the week prior and the B meet a few days prior. So, if it’s close, a swimmer could potentially do well enough in a B meet to knock a kid out of an A meet. There are so many specifics, though, and it also depends on your team’s policy for kids swimming both A and B meets. For example, a kid might not be eligible to swim in a B meet in a given event based on performance/attendance at the A meet - but then be knocked out of the next week’s A meet. That would then make them eligible for the next week’s B meet, chance to win back their place, etc.

Hopefully this is clearer than mud.

OP here. For our team, a swimmer cannot repeat the same events in B meet. Doesn’t matter if the swimmer is placed last.

My question is, do most swimmers swim the 4th event in B meet then? Say, if my son swim FS, backstroke, and fly. Would he need to swim breast in B meet to get a time so that he can be considered for the next A meet?

[Anonymous]

Since B meets are not actually “MCSL” meets, it’s up to the pool what they can swim. Most pools don’t let swimmers who got a time in an A meet to swim that same stroke in a B meet - what’s the point?

For A meets it’s like the other poster said - get points for the team. If your swimmer got top seeds in all events then they’d probably have them not swim the one in which the next three are closest to their time. Like if there wa ls 43/47/49/50 vs 49/50/52/60 in a pair they’d probably have them NOT swim the first as 49 vs 50 is a toss up but 52 vs 60 is a big gap

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our coaches don’t ask us. It’s all about times, and what combination of best times among which swimmers will yield the best results. Our coaches do look at swimmers at the upcoming A meet competition, and will adjust accordingly.

OP here. This is what I thought… thanks! I asked because my swimmer was number 2 in butterfly, and that’s his least favorite stroke and the others in the heat are significantly slower. Just wondering if they will ask him to swim that since there aren’t a lot of butterfly swimmers in 8 and under.

Another question I have is, does that mean he would need to swim in the other 1 stroke in a B meet to qualify for the next A meet? Sorry, this is our first true season in summer swim. He just swam all B meets last summer and wasn’t paying attention to how selections are made for A meets.

Should have mentioned earlier that we are in MCSL.

PP you’re quoting - you’re welcome! We’re in MCSL, too. We just mark our swimmers as “available” or “not available” for A meets and the coaches take it from there.

For our team, selection for A meets is based on times from the A meet the week prior and the B meet a few days prior. So, if it’s close, a swimmer could potentially do well enough in a B meet to knock a kid out of an A meet. There are so many specifics, though, and it also depends on your team’s policy for kids swimming both A and B meets. For example, a kid might not be eligible to swim in a B meet in a given event based on performance/attendance at the A meet - but then be knocked out of the next week’s A meet. That would then make them eligible for the next week’s B meet, chance to win back their place, etc.

Hopefully this is clearer than mud.

OP here. For our team, a swimmer cannot repeat the same events in B meet. Doesn’t matter if the swimmer is placed last.

My question is, do most swimmers swim the 4th event in B meet then? Say, if my son swim FS, backstroke, and fly. Would he need to swim breast in B meet to get a time so that he can be considered for the next A meet?

Wouldn’t he already have a time from time trials? Or is he not top 3 in BR?