Most coach’s probably tell swimmers before the meet the expectations one way or another about attending finals and being an alternate

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I strongly encourage my kid “best times, no finals”. I want them to swim well, but really don’t need to spend another 4-6 hours at the pool. 😆

I think you make an excellent point. Do most kids swim finals or scratched ? I can’t imagine staying to be an alternate!

Alternates don't usually stay unless they are young/crazy parent families. Having your kid wait around at finals for nothing is exhausting and a waste.

As for scratches... No, there are not a lot of scratches at this meet except on Sunday when the out of town teams generally leave so they can get the kids to bed for school on Monday. So usually with the 12&U you will have a LOT of scratches on Sunday night, some for the older kids but not usually as much.

Even with the local kids that make finals, the older ones will swim finals and then rush off to try and swim in their high school meets. We have three kids that are top seeds at the meet this weekend that will be back for the late high school meet. I love it, it shows how much the love swim because once they are in high school they are driving that bus on what they want to do.

Anonymous wrote:My kids have just aged out but we sometimes would get hotel rooms for the weekend at UMD so we would go back and nap/chill. Yes, it is an indulgence but swim was important to my kids, they did make finals each session and I hated the wear and tear of morning prelims and evening finals and then fighting traffic around the Beltway 2x a day. Many families do this at the UMD Marriott. Good memories of those meets actually!

This. We are in Virginia and families as close in as Springfield from our team will rent hotel rooms for the weekend. Super common. They don't have to get up as early and they have some place close by to nap. It is definitely an indulgence but it makes the meet more meaningful and a lot less stress.

My kids have just aged out but we sometimes would get hotel rooms for the weekend at UMD so we would go back and nap/chill. Yes, it is an indulgence but swim was important to my kids, they did make finals each session and I hated the wear and tear of morning prelims and evening finals and then fighting traffic around the Beltway 2x a day. Many families do this at the UMD Marriott. Good memories of those meets actually!

Anonymous wrote:I strongly encourage my kid “best times, no finals”. I want them to swim well, but really don’t need to spend another 4-6 hours at the pool. 😆

Wow. How supportive.

Kids don’t typically scratch at winter Classic bc it is a team-scored meet with an award for the top-scoring team. I doubt anyone is scratching at KLI either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I strongly encourage my kid “best times, no finals”. I want them to swim well, but really don’t need to spend another 4-6 hours at the pool. 😆

I think you make an excellent point. Do most kids swim finals or scratched ? I can’t imagine staying to be an alternate!

A number of clubs require a commitment upon entry to the meet that if you make finals, you will swim finals. There are not a lot of scratches.

I believe you only have 30 minutes to scratch, so alternates typically would not stay and hope to have a lane in the evening session.