Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our team doesn't send around a ladder. I do think that would be helpful. But I kind of get why they don't.. we have some competitive parents.

We don’t send out the ladder and not all meet entries are based on the ladder.

If a kid has a good time but never shows up for practice, and I’m not talking about kid who swim club, we won’t put them in.

There are also times when the ladder can be wrong like a kid who gets a good time at a B meet, but should have had a DQ/isn’t really legal in a stroke.

Coaches also take 25 m splits for kids who swim 50s and use those to pick the relays.

So Johnny swam freestyle to get a fast time in breaststroke and no one noticed? Yeah, right. Most of the time the kids who aren't legal in a stroke are really slow simply because they haven't mastered the proper technique. They aren't sniffing the top of the ladder except maybe on a team struggling to fill lanes.

No, not that extreme, but we often have younger swimmers that get times who are not really legal. B meet officials are often not as experienced as A meet officials and often miss minor things that the coaches notice. We aren't a D1 team so our 8u ladder for kids who can swim breast and fly isn't a mile long so, yes these kids could get put in an A meet.

Being a B meet official can also be quite challenging. Even the most experienced officials will miss a few minor infractions while trying to observe four lanes in poor lighting conditions. And the benefit of the doubt always goes to the swimmer.

DP +1 to officiating at B meets being challenging, often much more so than at A meets. DQs are rare at the latter and super common at the former. Even our experienced officials rotate through the B meets, to help keep their skills sharp. It's easy to forget what some mistakes look like when you haven't seen them in years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our team doesn't send around a ladder. I do think that would be helpful. But I kind of get why they don't.. we have some competitive parents.

We don’t send out the ladder and not all meet entries are based on the ladder.

If a kid has a good time but never shows up for practice, and I’m not talking about kid who swim club, we won’t put them in.

There are also times when the ladder can be wrong like a kid who gets a good time at a B meet, but should have had a DQ/isn’t really legal in a stroke.

Coaches also take 25 m splits for kids who swim 50s and use those to pick the relays.

So Johnny swam freestyle to get a fast time in breaststroke and no one noticed? Yeah, right. Most of the time the kids who aren't legal in a stroke are really slow simply because they haven't mastered the proper technique. They aren't sniffing the top of the ladder except maybe on a team struggling to fill lanes.

No, not that extreme, but we often have younger swimmers that get times who are not really legal. B meet officials are often not as experienced as A meet officials and often miss minor things that the coaches notice. We aren't a D1 team so our 8u ladder for kids who can swim breast and fly isn't a mile long so, yes these kids could get put in an A meet.

Being a B meet official can also be quite challenging. Even the most experienced officials will miss a few minor infractions while trying to observe four lanes in poor lighting conditions. And the benefit of the doubt always goes to the swimmer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're a lower division team, and we're on a losing streak too. Mostly because the regular A meet kids are on vacation.

This. Though we don't do A/B meets. One week 1/2 our kids didn't swim. Most other weeks we have been missing at least 1/4- 1/3 ("it was a long drive", "we were on vacation", "It was too early given the drive", "mom is out of town and I can't get 2 kids out the door"....) This is our 11th (and final) year on the team and the first that we have struggled to get kids to the meets to swim (we (swim tema board) have offered carpools, assembling breakfast bags (fruit, water, protein/cereal bars) to be given out the night before to help families troubleshoot, but it doesn't seem like the commitment is there. It's sad because almost every meet we have lost by 6-15 points meaning a couple of more kids would have made the difference and allowed us to win. Instead, we are going to lose every meet and probably drop a division.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents ruin everything. There is a parent who is literally counting points in a bid to get a plastic high point trophy for their kid. The kid doesn’t get to hang out with the team, parents don’t cheer for anyone and I’ve observed the kid crying on several occasions.

Summer swim is for hanging out with friends, doing silly cheers and eating the most disgusting candy they can possibly buy from concessions.

Don’t have a high point trophy if you don’t want people to care about getting it. It’s a big accomplishment for a kid.

Yes, for the kid. Not the parent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our team doesn't send around a ladder. I do think that would be helpful. But I kind of get why they don't.. we have some competitive parents.

We don’t send out the ladder and not all meet entries are based on the ladder.

If a kid has a good time but never shows up for practice, and I’m not talking about kid who swim club, we won’t put them in.

There are also times when the ladder can be wrong like a kid who gets a good time at a B meet, but should have had a DQ/isn’t really legal in a stroke.

Coaches also take 25 m splits for kids who swim 50s and use those to pick the relays.

So Johnny swam freestyle to get a fast time in breaststroke and no one noticed? Yeah, right. Most of the time the kids who aren't legal in a stroke are really slow simply because they haven't mastered the proper technique. They aren't sniffing the top of the ladder except maybe on a team struggling to fill lanes.

No, not that extreme, but we often have younger swimmers that get times who are not really legal. B meet officials are often not as experienced as A meet officials and often miss minor things that the coaches notice. We aren't a D1 team so our 8u ladder for kids who can swim breast and fly isn't a mile long so, yes these kids could get put in an A meet.

Being a B meet official can also be quite challenging. Even the most experienced officials will miss a few minor infractions while trying to observe four lanes in poor lighting conditions. And the benefit of the doubt always goes to the swimmer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our team doesn't send around a ladder. I do think that would be helpful. But I kind of get why they don't.. we have some competitive parents.

We don’t send out the ladder and not all meet entries are based on the ladder.

If a kid has a good time but never shows up for practice, and I’m not talking about kid who swim club, we won’t put them in.

There are also times when the ladder can be wrong like a kid who gets a good time at a B meet, but should have had a DQ/isn’t really legal in a stroke.

Coaches also take 25 m splits for kids who swim 50s and use those to pick the relays.

So Johnny swam freestyle to get a fast time in breaststroke and no one noticed? Yeah, right. Most of the time the kids who aren't legal in a stroke are really slow simply because they haven't mastered the proper technique. They aren't sniffing the top of the ladder except maybe on a team struggling to fill lanes.

No, not that extreme, but we often have younger swimmers that get times who are not really legal. B meet officials are often not as experienced as A meet officials and often miss minor things that the coaches notice. We aren't a D1 team so our 8u ladder for kids who can swim breast and fly isn't a mile long so, yes these kids could get put in an A meet.

Being a B meet official can also be quite challenging. Even the most experienced officials will miss a few minor infractions while trying to observe four lanes in poor lighting conditions. And the benefit of the doubt always goes to the swimmer.

Not faulting them, we get it. But our coaches also watch and know when a kid isn't really legal/their time doesn't really count

A B meet official may miss a single flutter kick, but they aren't going to miss it if an 8u kid is flutter kicking to the extent it really affects their time.

Most kids are inconsistently legal before they're consistently legal. Coaches are used to this for little ones and can take it into account in addition to times.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our team doesn't send around a ladder. I do think that would be helpful. But I kind of get why they don't.. we have some competitive parents.

We don’t send out the ladder and not all meet entries are based on the ladder.

If a kid has a good time but never shows up for practice, and I’m not talking about kid who swim club, we won’t put them in.

There are also times when the ladder can be wrong like a kid who gets a good time at a B meet, but should have had a DQ/isn’t really legal in a stroke.

Coaches also take 25 m splits for kids who swim 50s and use those to pick the relays.

So Johnny swam freestyle to get a fast time in breaststroke and no one noticed? Yeah, right. Most of the time the kids who aren't legal in a stroke are really slow simply because they haven't mastered the proper technique. They aren't sniffing the top of the ladder except maybe on a team struggling to fill lanes.

No, not that extreme, but we often have younger swimmers that get times who are not really legal. B meet officials are often not as experienced as A meet officials and often miss minor things that the coaches notice. We aren't a D1 team so our 8u ladder for kids who can swim breast and fly isn't a mile long so, yes these kids could get put in an A meet.

Being a B meet official can also be quite challenging. Even the most experienced officials will miss a few minor infractions while trying to observe four lanes in poor lighting conditions. And the benefit of the doubt always goes to the swimmer.

Not faulting them, we get it. But our coaches also watch and know when a kid isn't really legal/their time doesn't really count

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our team doesn't send around a ladder. I do think that would be helpful. But I kind of get why they don't.. we have some competitive parents.

We don’t send out the ladder and not all meet entries are based on the ladder.

If a kid has a good time but never shows up for practice, and I’m not talking about kid who swim club, we won’t put them in.

There are also times when the ladder can be wrong like a kid who gets a good time at a B meet, but should have had a DQ/isn’t really legal in a stroke.

Coaches also take 25 m splits for kids who swim 50s and use those to pick the relays.

So Johnny swam freestyle to get a fast time in breaststroke and no one noticed? Yeah, right. Most of the time the kids who aren't legal in a stroke are really slow simply because they haven't mastered the proper technique. They aren't sniffing the top of the ladder except maybe on a team struggling to fill lanes.

No, not that extreme, but we often have younger swimmers that get times who are not really legal. B meet officials are often not as experienced as A meet officials and often miss minor things that the coaches notice. We aren't a D1 team so our 8u ladder for kids who can swim breast and fly isn't a mile long so, yes these kids could get put in an A meet.

Being a B meet official can also be quite challenging. Even the most experienced officials will miss a few minor infractions while trying to observe four lanes in poor lighting conditions. And the benefit of the doubt always goes to the swimmer.

Not faulting them, we get it. But our coaches also watch and know when a kid isn't really legal/their time doesn't really count

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our team doesn't send around a ladder. I do think that would be helpful. But I kind of get why they don't.. we have some competitive parents.

We don’t send out the ladder and not all meet entries are based on the ladder.

If a kid has a good time but never shows up for practice, and I’m not talking about kid who swim club, we won’t put them in.

There are also times when the ladder can be wrong like a kid who gets a good time at a B meet, but should have had a DQ/isn’t really legal in a stroke.

Coaches also take 25 m splits for kids who swim 50s and use those to pick the relays.

So Johnny swam freestyle to get a fast time in breaststroke and no one noticed? Yeah, right. Most of the time the kids who aren't legal in a stroke are really slow simply because they haven't mastered the proper technique. They aren't sniffing the top of the ladder except maybe on a team struggling to fill lanes.

No, not that extreme, but we often have younger swimmers that get times who are not really legal. B meet officials are often not as experienced as A meet officials and often miss minor things that the coaches notice. We aren't a D1 team so our 8u ladder for kids who can swim breast and fly isn't a mile long so, yes these kids could get put in an A meet.

Being a B meet official can also be quite challenging. Even the most experienced officials will miss a few minor infractions while trying to observe four lanes in poor lighting conditions. And the benefit of the doubt always goes to the swimmer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a child on the other team at our last A meet who did this very fast butterfly where she didn’t surface to do the arms except for a few times. She didn’t end up DQing which surprised me!

There are a number of scenarios where this isn't a DQ. She could have maintained an underwater streamlined position using only a dolphin kick for propulsion for the first 15 meters in either direction. That covers 60 percent of the race distance. An advanced swimmer would only need a few arms strokes to cover the remaining 10 meters in each direction. Alternatively some novice swimmers who aren't strong enough to keep their arms simultaneous and above the water at a high tempo will mix in just a few intermittent but simultaneous arm strokes throughout the race while relying primarily on their kick for propulsion. In this case, underwater arms are ok as long as they aren't pulling without recovering over the surface simultaneously. You'll see kids holding their arms forward while kicking for a while and then taking a legal arm stroke before resuming kicking with the arms forward again. It's not always pretty but it can be legal.

Anonymous wrote:We're a lower division team, and we're on a losing streak too. Mostly because the regular A meet kids are on vacation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our team doesn't send around a ladder. I do think that would be helpful. But I kind of get why they don't.. we have some competitive parents.

We don’t send out the ladder and not all meet entries are based on the ladder.

If a kid has a good time but never shows up for practice, and I’m not talking about kid who swim club, we won’t put them in.

There are also times when the ladder can be wrong like a kid who gets a good time at a B meet, but should have had a DQ/isn’t really legal in a stroke.

Coaches also take 25 m splits for kids who swim 50s and use those to pick the relays.

So Johnny swam freestyle to get a fast time in breaststroke and no one noticed? Yeah, right. Most of the time the kids who aren't legal in a stroke are really slow simply because they haven't mastered the proper technique. They aren't sniffing the top of the ladder except maybe on a team struggling to fill lanes.

No, not that extreme, but we often have younger swimmers that get times who are not really legal. B meet officials are often not as experienced as A meet officials and often miss minor things that the coaches notice. We aren't a D1 team so our 8u ladder for kids who can swim breast and fly isn't a mile long so, yes these kids could get put in an A meet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our team doesn't send around a ladder. I do think that would be helpful. But I kind of get why they don't.. we have some competitive parents.

We don’t send out the ladder and not all meet entries are based on the ladder.

If a kid has a good time but never shows up for practice, and I’m not talking about kid who swim club, we won’t put them in.

There are also times when the ladder can be wrong like a kid who gets a good time at a B meet, but should have had a DQ/isn’t really legal in a stroke.

Coaches also take 25 m splits for kids who swim 50s and use those to pick the relays.

I don’t know if you’re trolling, but this seems a recipe for discontent. Swimming is a timed sport, the times are what they are, I don’t know why you would voluntarily introduce these subjective variables unless you just thrive on drama. And like the PPs said, kids who should have been DQ in breast or fly are generally slower because they can’t do the stroke right and aren’t competing for A meet slots in those events.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our team doesn't send around a ladder. I do think that would be helpful. But I kind of get why they don't.. we have some competitive parents.

We don’t send out the ladder and not all meet entries are based on the ladder.

If a kid has a good time but never shows up for practice, and I’m not talking about kid who swim club, we won’t put them in.

There are also times when the ladder can be wrong like a kid who gets a good time at a B meet, but should have had a DQ/isn’t really legal in a stroke.

Coaches also take 25 m splits for kids who swim 50s and use those to pick the relays.

So Johnny swam freestyle to get a fast time in breaststroke and no one noticed? Yeah, right. Most of the time the kids who aren't legal in a stroke are really slow simply because they haven't mastered the proper technique. They aren't sniffing the top of the ladder except maybe on a team struggling to fill lanes.