Remember that B meets are coordinated team by team and aren’t by MCSL division. Across the entire MCSL the size and competitiveness of each team varies greatly and can vary a lot season to season. B meets aren’t two teams competing against each other (no team scores). Instead, they are an opportunity for all swimmers to have the opportunity to swim the strokes they didn’t do at an A meet.

Our pool belongs to a B league of relatively nearby pools. At the start of each season we finalize any rules for the season based on balance and needs of all the teams. One rule that we have is that our top A meet swimmers (with all-star times) aren’t allowed to swim their off stroke at a B meet for a ribbon (exhibition only).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid usually swam A meets but often would swim B meets in the events he didn't do in A because he wanted to try (mostly butterfly). There weren't many kids swimming fly in his age group, so the coaches always said yes. He liked the energy of B meets and liked cheering for his friends who did't get to swim on Saturdays and they liked cheering for him because they didn't go on Saturday mornings. I saw it as a team spirit sort of thing.

That is a long time to wait though to swim just butterfly in a B meet.

Or you cheer on your team, or you go late to the meet. Better than sitting around at home!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

how do you even count points on B meets? they often don't have same amount of swimmers.

Winning or losing b meets has no bearing in seeding of the team for future seasons. There are points assigned but most teams don’t highlight who won/lost the b meet. The software used fir b meets is the same as the one used for a meets. Points are assigned based on place.

Anonymous wrote:

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?

You are missing that an 8 year old kid likes swimming and meets and you are stirring up drama because you are bored?
Maybe you need to go to more meets to pass time.

Why are you spending time on this? What am I missing?

Huh? How am I “stirring up drama?” Clearly, no one else here thinks that. I genuinely wants to know and clearly, I learned something new!

Anonymous wrote:My kid usually swam A meets but often would swim B meets in the events he didn't do in A because he wanted to try (mostly butterfly). There weren't many kids swimming fly in his age group, so the coaches always said yes. He liked the energy of B meets and liked cheering for his friends who did't get to swim on Saturdays and they liked cheering for him because they didn't go on Saturday mornings. I saw it as a team spirit sort of thing.

That is a long time to wait though to swim just butterfly in a B meet.

Fascinating. I had no idea it differed so much by team. Ours is strict: only 3 strokes plus IM total each week. If you don’t swim them all at A you can pick for B to get to your quota.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

how do you even count points on B meets? they often don't have same amount of swimmers.

They wouldn't count in placement, so their ribbon would say 'participant' or something. They couldn't come in first.

Anonymous wrote: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.

how do you even count points on B meets? they often don't have same amount of swimmers.

Every race has lanes. If there are empty lanes in a race after the necessary assignments are made, then other kids can swim in the available lanes.

Why is a child having fun? Will it hurt my child's chance at a D1 scholarship?

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?

You are missing that an 8 year old kid likes swimming and meets and you are stirring up drama because you are bored?
Maybe you need to go to more meets to pass time.

Why are you spending time on this? What am I missing?

My kid usually swam A meets but often would swim B meets in the events he didn't do in A because he wanted to try (mostly butterfly). There weren't many kids swimming fly in his age group, so the coaches always said yes. He liked the energy of B meets and liked cheering for his friends who did't get to swim on Saturdays and they liked cheering for him because they didn't go on Saturday mornings. I saw it as a team spirit sort of thing.

Anonymous wrote:
We on a larger MCSL team and our "week cycle" starts w/ the A meet on Sat and ends with the B meet on Wed. If a swimmer swims an event in the A meet on Sat, they will not swim that same event the following B meet but may swim in an event that they did compete in that previous A meet.

Similar on our large MCSL team, but it's the top 2 in every event at the A meet who are not allowed to repeat that event in the following B meet.

This means that a swimmer who may be faster than these two, but didn't swim that event at the A meet can swim it at the B meet. Generally, this is considered poor form and kids don't do it (especially older/more consistent kids) because part of the philosophy of B meets is that it is to give the other kids a chance for success/ribbons/etc. On the other hand, when there are a few top kids really close to each other in time, #3/4/5 are often swimming at B meets to earn their A spot.

We on a larger MCSL team and our "week cycle" starts w/ the A meet on Sat and ends with the B meet on Wed. If a swimmer swims an event in the A meet on Sat, they will not swim that same event the following B meet but may swim in an event that they did compete in that previous A meet.

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.

Interesting, I thought MCSL only had guidelines not rules for B meets.