our home mcsl a meets usually 2:15 or less

another thing that speeds things up is calling swimmers name as they swim, not before

The medley relay is the best event, used to open the meet. Now it’s after half time, which is a not as exciting. They really made a mistake changing the event order.

Meets start at 9 and we are done 11:30-40

8U BR and FL in the first couple meets are kinda slow as there are several DQs and some kids who shouldn’t even really be entered. Usually towards the end of the season it gets straightened out

175 relays are THE most exciting part of the meet. Those little 8Us jumping in (over!) a 14 coming at them full speed is great to watch and the whole pool is screaming for them.

My 8U was super excited the first time she got picked for it as she was “swimming with the big girls”. She even told us “there might be some paper in my hair” (they tear off a corner each of the relay card and put it in their cap for luck) and she was beaming the whole day.

It’s great that there is a cross age event in MCSL - it really keeps the younger ones interested. I wish we could do a C relay as will just to give more kids the chance.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, MCSL A meets are 2.5 - 3 hours in my experience as well. And the graduated 175m relay is an absolute highlight. Kids are honored to swim it, and the entire pool going nuts over the 8u anchor length is just a blast.

Our team doesn't seed either the graduated 175 or the open 200 medley relay in advance. They're made up on the spot that day based on how kids are swimming and how the team is doing. If we've got the points to give, sometimes a slower swimmer who has been working really hard will be given a relay leg, something that is celebrated.

That's pretty cool about the 175m relays. For the 15-18s that swim 100s..for our NVSL pool, just the way the practices are strucutred for that group their workout is only about an hour max and the majoriy do not swim year-round. Is that the case for some of the MCSL teams? I think most 15-18s at our pool would struggle to finish 100s.

Yes, MCSL A meets are 2.5 - 3 hours in my experience as well. And the graduated 175m relay is an absolute highlight. Kids are honored to swim it, and the entire pool going nuts over the 8u anchor length is just a blast.

Our team doesn't seed either the graduated 175 or the open 200 medley relay in advance. They're made up on the spot that day based on how kids are swimming and how the team is doing. If we've got the points to give, sometimes a slower swimmer who has been working really hard will be given a relay leg, something that is celebrated.

It’s the job of the red to keep the meet moving. Sometimes timers or even the announcer can slow things down. Ref should push them on

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ours have been 2.5 - 3 hours. It really depends on how efficient the starter is and how many DQs there are. We had a ton of the latter in our early meets, mostly younger kids in breast and fly, and that really slows things down.

Wow, that's pretty nice. My guess is that with 15-18s swimming 100s, the marginal increase in time in swimming 100s versus 50s for the 15-18s is about an additional 45 seconds per event. How long do you think running through all the IMs take? 9-10 min?

Any takes on the 14U 175m relay? Are those pretty fun and exciting? for NVSL dual meets, it's 100m FR relay for 8U, but 100 medley relay for 9-10, 11-12, and 13-14. 15-18s NVSL it's 100m free relay for 8U, 9-10, and 11-12. 15-18s are a 200 medley relay. So it's not an open 200 medley relay the way i think MCSLdoes things.

Yeah, maybe 10 minutes for the IMs. There are only six heats of them and the older kids are pretty quick.

The 14u 175m relay is super fun. Tons of cheering. The 200m medley relay is exciting, too, but having younger kids makes the former really engaging.

2.5 hours at A meets. MCSL only has 4 total heats of relays at A meets, which provides the offset for running 100s of free, back and breast for the 15-18s and 6 heats of 100 IM.

Anonymous wrote:Ours have been 2.5 - 3 hours. It really depends on how efficient the starter is and how many DQs there are. We had a ton of the latter in our early meets, mostly younger kids in breast and fly, and that really slows things down.

Wow, that's pretty nice. My guess is that with 15-18s swimming 100s, the marginal increase in time in swimming 100s versus 50s for the 15-18s is about an additional 45 seconds per event. How long do you think running through all the IMs take? 9-10 min?

Any takes on the 14U 175m relay? Are those pretty fun and exciting? for NVSL dual meets, it's 100m FR relay for 8U, but 100 medley relay for 9-10, 11-12, and 13-14. 15-18s NVSL it's 100m free relay for 8U, 9-10, and 11-12. 15-18s are a 200 medley relay. So it's not an open 200 medley relay the way i think MCSLdoes things.

Ours have been 2.5 - 3 hours. It really depends on how efficient the starter is and how many DQs there are. We had a ton of the latter in our early meets, mostly younger kids in breast and fly, and that really slows things down.

MCSL parents,

How long do your dual meets take? Curious since 15-18s are swimming 100s instead of 50s of each stroke, 100IMs are swam as events starting with 12U as an age group, and then there's the 14U 175m relays.