Also remember that the real purpose of B meets is to allow swimmers who didn’t get into an A meet to update their seed time in hopes of getting an A slot.

At our pool if you get a legal time in an A event you can’t swim that at the B meet. Some of the 10s like to swim IM at the B meet as there are usually enough 11-12s crowding them out at the A meet they don’t swim it there. An older swimmer who does do IM may want to practice their weaker strokes that they don’t swim at the A meet. It really depends

For your particular example unless I really had a vested interest in helping my swimmer develop their butterfly stroke if they are already swimming a full slate I would also think twice about staying until the end of the meet (which sometimes gets rained out anyways)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m assuming this is MCSL based on the question. The rules on this vary by team. Some teams allow a swimmer to swim strokes in B meets that they just swam in the A meet if they didn’t come in 1st or 2nd. Some teams allow it only if the swimmer didn’t score points in the event at the A meet. Some teams don’t allow it if the swimmer swam an event at the A meet, regardless of where they placed.

OP here. Yes, this is MCSL. I thought that the rules are the same for all teams? If a swimmer swam in events X, Y, and Z, then they can’t swim those events in B meets. Is it not the same for all MCSL teams? If you have a good swimmer, wouldn’t your team want you to swim in A meets vs B?

No, the rules are not the same for every team. The bigger teams tend to have the more restrictive rules because of how long their B meets can run. We used to be in MCSL and the rule for our team was the top 2 in each stroke could not swim those events again at the following B meets.

OP here. Omg you are right! I just checked the MCSL meet management handbook (page 60 for those who are interested). I have no idea. The few teams that I have checked all have the same rule of not repeating A events. Good to know that MCSL doesn’t govern this. Had no idea.

NP - our rule is that kids who finish top three in the freestyle event and/or who swim in any other A meet events (e.g., IM) cannot swim those events in B meets. Because there are more swimmers in freestyle at A meets than the other events, we don't exclude, say, a kid who finished fifth in 50 free excluded from that event in the subsequent B meet.

My kids swam in both A and B meets last year and it was a lot. This year, they're all top of their age groups, so I'm hoping it will be mostly A meets. They still want to go to the B meets to dress up and cheer, etc., and we'll do that, but it will be nice not having to stay until the bitter end.

Depending on the team and division, you might be able to swim an event at a B meet that you swam at the A meet. It just wouldn’t count for points and would be marked ‘Exhibition’ on the meet results. Typically it’s the smaller teams that allow this. Larger teams don’t have space for this.

Anonymous wrote:One mom I spoke to said she would like her DS to participate in both A and B meets. He is 8, and I know how both A and B meets work. What I want to know is if her kid qualifies to do all events, and he participates in IM, FS, backstroke, breaststroke , and relay. What is left to do is just butterfly, am I correct? Is it worth attending B meet, which is so so long to just do one event? What am I missing?

My kids who swim A meets (varies according to the year, and who is "old" vs "young") are at the B meets anyway, to support their siblings, or cousins, or because I'm volunteering, or because they're junior coaches. So, they might as well swim what they're allowed to swim.

If I had one 8 year old who was making A meets in a bunch of strokes, we might make a different choice.

Very true. Our coaches set the A meet lineups, but our swimmers are allowed to pick their B meet events and the coaches usually let them have what they ask for. The coaches control the meet length by allowing only 2 events per swimmer, and they gently counsel swimmers away from event choices that are less than ideal: struggling swimmers asking for IM, strong swimmers asking for only their best stroke over and over again, etc. They want the kids to take appropriate chances to stretch themselves.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m assuming this is MCSL based on the question. The rules on this vary by team. Some teams allow a swimmer to swim strokes in B meets that they just swam in the A meet if they didn’t come in 1st or 2nd. Some teams allow it only if the swimmer didn’t score points in the event at the A meet. Some teams don’t allow it if the swimmer swam an event at the A meet, regardless of where they placed.

OP here. Yes, this is MCSL. I thought that the rules are the same for all teams? If a swimmer swam in events X, Y, and Z, then they can’t swim those events in B meets. Is it not the same for all MCSL teams? If you have a good swimmer, wouldn’t your team want you to swim in A meets vs B?

No, the rules are not the same for every team. The bigger teams tend to have the more restrictive rules because of how long their B meets can run. We used to be in MCSL and the rule for our team was the top 2 in each stroke could not swim those events again at the following B meets.

OP here. Omg you are right! I just checked the MCSL meet management handbook (page 60 for those who are interested). I have no idea. The few teams that I have checked all have the same rule of not repeating A events. Good to know that MCSL doesn’t govern this. Had no idea.

Yea B meet is different by team. Lower division often don't have enough swimmers so they probably let everyone swim. Maybe swim up on B meet or some type of creative arrangement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m assuming this is MCSL based on the question. The rules on this vary by team. Some teams allow a swimmer to swim strokes in B meets that they just swam in the A meet if they didn’t come in 1st or 2nd. Some teams allow it only if the swimmer didn’t score points in the event at the A meet. Some teams don’t allow it if the swimmer swam an event at the A meet, regardless of where they placed.

OP here. Yes, this is MCSL. I thought that the rules are the same for all teams? If a swimmer swam in events X, Y, and Z, then they can’t swim those events in B meets. Is it not the same for all MCSL teams? If you have a good swimmer, wouldn’t your team want you to swim in A meets vs B?

No, the rules are not the same for every team. The bigger teams tend to have the more restrictive rules because of how long their B meets can run. We used to be in MCSL and the rule for our team was the top 2 in each stroke could not swim those events again at the following B meets.

Anonymous wrote:I’m assuming this is MCSL based on the question. The rules on this vary by team. Some teams allow a swimmer to swim strokes in B meets that they just swam in the A meet if they didn’t come in 1st or 2nd. Some teams allow it only if the swimmer didn’t score points in the event at the A meet. Some teams don’t allow it if the swimmer swam an event at the A meet, regardless of where they placed.

OP here. Yes, this is MCSL. I thought that the rules are the same for all teams? If a swimmer swam in events X, Y, and Z, then they can’t swim those events in B meets. Is it not the same for all MCSL teams? If you have a good swimmer, wouldn’t your team want you to swim in A meets vs B?

I’m assuming this is MCSL based on the question. The rules on this vary by team. Some teams allow a swimmer to swim strokes in B meets that they just swam in the A meet if they didn’t come in 1st or 2nd. Some teams allow it only if the swimmer didn’t score points in the event at the A meet. Some teams don’t allow it if the swimmer swam an event at the A meet, regardless of where they placed.

Yes. One can swim some events in A and some in B.

Anonymous wrote:One mom I spoke to said she would like her DS to participate in both A and B meets. He is 8, and I know how both A and B meets work. What I want to know is if her kid qualifies to do all events, and he participates in IM, FS, backstroke, breaststroke , and relay. What is left to do is just butterfly, am I correct? Is it worth attending B meet, which is so so long to just do one event? What am I missing?

Which league? (Obviously not NVSL)

Oh this can happen for sure.

I remember it’s a complicated formula for number of events and weeks that they’re allowed to do it for. Just look up your team rule book.

One mom I spoke to said she would like her DS to participate in both A and B meets. He is 8, and I know how both A and B meets work. What I want to know is if her kid qualifies to do all events, and he participates in IM, FS, backstroke, breaststroke , and relay. What is left to do is just butterfly, am I correct? Is it worth attending B meet, which is so so long to just do one event? What am I missing?