Anonymous wrote:I think my kid’s team area is going to be outside at the Mako meet this weekend. Can anyone familiar with the St James explain the set up? Will the outdoor team areas be adjacent to their parking lot? I’m a little worried about my son staying with his team the whole time. At summer meets he and the other kids his age would play tag and sometimes end up kind of far away from the team area. I have explained to him that he can’t do that at this meet but if I’m not nearby to supervise I’m not sure how to fully prevent it. Kids can be impulsive and I worry about him running into a parking lot. Would an adult who has brought their child to the meet but that has to stay outside be able to have a sight line to their child’s outdoor team area? I don’t want to hover over him I just want to be able to tell him to get back to his team area if I see him leave the area.

Club meets are a lot of sitting around. It is not fun like summer meets. Kids huddle in groups (they might not be allowed this year). Kids have to regulate themselves and line of sight is not an option. It is drop off at the door and hope for the best. I find the fear of God approach works best.

In all seriousness we pamper these kids way too much. By 8, kids should be able to handle themselves and we did when we were that age.

Anonymous wrote:I think my kid’s team area is going to be outside at the Mako meet this weekend. Can anyone familiar with the St James explain the set up? Will the outdoor team areas be adjacent to their parking lot? I’m a little worried about my son staying with his team the whole time. At summer meets he and the other kids his age would play tag and sometimes end up kind of far away from the team area. I have explained to him that he can’t do that at this meet but if I’m not nearby to supervise I’m not sure how to fully prevent it. Kids can be impulsive and I worry about him running into a parking lot. Would an adult who has brought their child to the meet but that has to stay outside be able to have a sight line to their child’s outdoor team area? I don’t want to hover over him I just want to be able to tell him to get back to his team area if I see him leave the area.

Okay, very familiar with the set up. Parents will not be allowed inside or in the outside team area. So hovering will not be an option. This is why all the meet announcements are saying this year that if your kid cannot get to the area and maintain themselves then do not enter the kid in the meet. They will have volunteers to point the way for the kids as they enter. So tell your child to ask.

The outside team area is located in the back of the building away from the parking lot and not in line of sight. Club swim is not as fun and there is usually no running around. Your kid might know one other kid there. The kids will be sitting in areas. So on that note. A book, snacks, cards, etc. Stay away from electronics unless you want your kid to miss their swim event which happens all the time. Pack several towels, sweatshirt, shirt and a swim parka if you have one. It will be warmer on Saturday but the kids get cold between events.

He will probably be fine.

Anonymous wrote:I think my kid’s team area is going to be outside at the Mako meet this weekend. Can anyone familiar with the St James explain the set up? Will the outdoor team areas be adjacent to their parking lot? I’m a little worried about my son staying with his team the whole time. At summer meets he and the other kids his age would play tag and sometimes end up kind of far away from the team area. I have explained to him that he can’t do that at this meet but if I’m not nearby to supervise I’m not sure how to fully prevent it. Kids can be impulsive and I worry about him running into a parking lot. Would an adult who has brought their child to the meet but that has to stay outside be able to have a sight line to their child’s outdoor team area? I don’t want to hover over him I just want to be able to tell him to get back to his team area if I see him leave the area.

Watch your email. We just got the info including the map/layout for the team area and entrance to the pool. I'm sure you will get guidance from the coaches, but again this is NOT summer swim. You need to talk to your child about not running wild in a parking lot that has cars actively going in and out.

I think my kid’s team area is going to be outside at the Mako meet this weekend. Can anyone familiar with the St James explain the set up? Will the outdoor team areas be adjacent to their parking lot? I’m a little worried about my son staying with his team the whole time. At summer meets he and the other kids his age would play tag and sometimes end up kind of far away from the team area. I have explained to him that he can’t do that at this meet but if I’m not nearby to supervise I’m not sure how to fully prevent it. Kids can be impulsive and I worry about him running into a parking lot. Would an adult who has brought their child to the meet but that has to stay outside be able to have a sight line to their child’s outdoor team area? I don’t want to hover over him I just want to be able to tell him to get back to his team area if I see him leave the area.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea whether it’s the same for all meets in the area but I was recently told no parents allowed in unless they’re volunteering. My kid is not doing one this weekend but another one.

Yep, no spectators this year. You have to volunteer or watch livestream. Which livestream is meh.

I don’t think this is true PVS-wide. By some miracle, RMSC is allowing one spectator per swimmer, masked of course. That is for the October meet in Germantown where there is lots of space.

It is for meets in Virginia. The negative is no spectators but the positive is that they are swimming close to prepandemic numbers because they can spread them out. If spectators were allowed not as many kids could swim.

I think it is going to depend pool to pool in MD. As mentioned, Germantown has plenty of space, that meet is allowing 400 swimmers per session and one spectator each. The big VA pools could do that, but maybe choose not to or in partnership with host facilities have agreed to this term.

I think that they could but they don't want to crowd. Even the big facilities are not allowing spectators and really spreading the teams out. They don't want any outbreaks between teams. So they are using outdoor space as well for the swimmers, areas away from the pool, and the spectator stands.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea whether it’s the same for all meets in the area but I was recently told no parents allowed in unless they’re volunteering. My kid is not doing one this weekend but another one.

Yep, no spectators this year. You have to volunteer or watch livestream. Which livestream is meh.

I don’t think this is true PVS-wide. By some miracle, RMSC is allowing one spectator per swimmer, masked of course. That is for the October meet in Germantown where there is lots of space.

It is for meets in Virginia. The negative is no spectators but the positive is that they are swimming close to prepandemic numbers because they can spread them out. If spectators were allowed not as many kids could swim.

I think it is going to depend pool to pool in MD. As mentioned, Germantown has plenty of space, that meet is allowing 400 swimmers per session and one spectator each. The big VA pools could do that, but maybe choose not to or in partnership with host facilities have agreed to this term.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea whether it’s the same for all meets in the area but I was recently told no parents allowed in unless they’re volunteering. My kid is not doing one this weekend but another one.

Yep, no spectators this year. You have to volunteer or watch livestream. Which livestream is meh.

I don’t think this is true PVS-wide. By some miracle, RMSC is allowing one spectator per swimmer, masked of course. That is for the October meet in Germantown where there is lots of space.

It is for meets in Virginia. The negative is no spectators but the positive is that they are swimming close to prepandemic numbers because they can spread them out. If spectators were allowed not as many kids could swim.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea whether it’s the same for all meets in the area but I was recently told no parents allowed in unless they’re volunteering. My kid is not doing one this weekend but another one.

Yep, no spectators this year. You have to volunteer or watch livestream. Which livestream is meh.

I don’t think this is true PVS-wide. By some miracle, RMSC is allowing one spectator per swimmer, masked of course. That is for the October meet in Germantown where there is lots of space.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Silly question along the same lines, since parents cannot stay how do we know when to come pick up our kid? Do the kids need to have phones so that we can be in contact regarding pick up?

Yes, this! I’m also a parent of a first time club swimmer.

The day before the meet a very detailed email with the pysch sheet (lists ALL the swimmers and when each event starts) will come out and you will see when your swimmer is swimming. So let's say your kid's last event is XXX and that starts at 12:25pm and there are seven heats and your kid is in the fourth heat. Your kid would be done-ish shortly after 12:25 pm (they would swim 15 minutes after this time, then walk back to their team area, get distracted, then pack up stuff, etc) and walk out of the place. You would be in the car waiting to pick them up.

Scour the pysch sheet when it has the times listed. Some parents sit out in their cars for the blocks. And if you live far from the meet you will have to do that, but if it is close you can drop off and pick up in the window of time.

Thank you for this! Since my only experience has been summer swim, it’s nice to know that these meets are kept relatively on time. I heard everyone groaning about how long meets are but it seems like with the different warm up/start times for different age groups and a schedule being kept to that this won’t be as much of a time suck as summer swim meets (particularly the B meets).

If you have one kid, it is not that bad EXCEPT think of it this way. You have one kid and they are swimming events Saturday and Sunday. That will be a two two hour blocks or so of your day. If you have multiple kids of different ages, it is compounded.

So a summer league A meet is pretty awesome compared to this and our B meets ran three hours and involved all my kids so not hateful. I think that is why people complain. But on the plus side, your kid picks their swims and they are just trying to make the next cut time to see their improvements. It is nice to see a kid finally go from B times to BB or A, etc. Meets are important for them to make and see improvements.

This makes me glad only one of my kids does club swim! I didn’t mind A meets at all, but our B meets could be 4-5 hour slogs, so I will gladly take the 2-3 hour blocks.