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Time Standards

There are both national and state time standards. The purpose of time standards is to motivate swimmers to improve. Click on the levels below to access current time standards at each level of competition.

State Standards

State standards are used to set qualifying times for Illinois championship meets. You’ll find the complete list of IL championship meet time standards here.

Sunkissed Championship Standards

Time standards for the Sunkissed Championships in Charlotte change from year to year. For qualifying times, go to the Team Charlotte website. Team Charlotte hosts the Sunkissed Championships each year in late March/early April in Charlotte, North Carolina. Flying Fish qualifiers who are eleven and up attend as a team.

USA Swimming National Time Standards

The national standards are used to set qualifying times for national and international meets and for admission to the national team. These times can be found on the USA Swimming website at www.usaswimming.org.

First timers information for meets

In the week preceding a meet, those entered will get emails with meet details, including events you are swimming. It is helpful to write (with a permanent marker) these events and event numbers on your forearm. If heat sheets are available ahead of time, you can include the heat and lane to make it easier to know exactly where to go.

Swim meets (outside of the YWCA) often have “positive check-in” requirements. This means that swimmers entered need to check in or confirm their attendance and events before warming up for a meet, usually on your way into the building. You should plan to arrive at the meet 15 minutes before your warmup begins so that you have time to check in, change and stow your gear. If you don’t check in on time, you won’t be able to swim.

Swim teams usually sit as groups at meets. When you get to a meet, check in, change, then look for your coaches and teammates on the pool deck for warmup.

If a meet requires positive check in, heat and lane assignments are not usually available until 15 minutes (or less) before the meet begins. As soon as they are posted, swimmers should write their heat and lane number for each event on their hand.

Flying Fish coaches are present at every meet in which Flying Fish swimmers are entered. One of your practice group coaches will greet you on deck, help you figure out where to put your swim gear, lead your warmup and talk to you after all your races.

Parents are generally not allowed on the pool deck unless they are officiating or timing. We need to supply volunteer officials and timers for every meet we enter. If your child is swimming in a meet, please volunteer to time during a shift. Officials receive training, which is available several times a year. Let us know if you’re interested!

Coaches will help make sure that swimmers are ready for their events, but part of what the swimmers learn is the responsibility of being ready, and in the right place at the right time for their events.

Swimmers should always speak to their coaches directly after a race. Coaches watch all of their swimmers’ races and talk to them afterwards about how they’re feeling, what they did well, what they could improve upon, etc. If your child comes to you immediately after their race, feel free to give them a quick (wet!) hug, but please redirect them to their coach. Thanks!

What a swimmer should bring to a meet

• Team suit, goggles, deck shoes, and a Flying Fish swim cap. You may want to bring two pairs of goggles to play it on the safe side – they have a way of getting lost or breaking!
• Several towels.
• Jacket, parka, flannels or sweats.
• Diversions – books, games, cards, etc. There is down time between swims.
• Sports drinks, water, juice.
• Healthy snacks – fruit, bagels, crackers, granola bars, etc.

What a parent might bring

• A Sharpie marker with which to write, on the back of your child’s hand, their events, heats and lanes. This simplifies things for everyone and helps the swimmer be in the right place at the right time.
• A bleacher chair or pad to sit on if you’ll get uncomfortable sitting on a hard bleacher for hours.
• Diversions, like a book. Meets can run for 3-4 hours.

Aquatic centers get hot and humid with a few hundred of your closest friends and a large body of water. Dress accordingly!

Meets often (but not always) have booths set up where suits, caps, goggles, t-shirts, etc. are sold. If your child is having goggle problems or wants a meet t-shirt or bag tag, they’d be more than happy to accommodate you – most take cash, checks and credit cards.

There are usually food and drinks available at meets, but you never know what it will be. You may want to play it on the safe side and bring your own.

Please remember that all of the critiquing of your child’s swim needs to come from a coach, not a parent. You are there for support!

Swimming vocabulary

Bull Pen – An area for organizing swimmers into lanes and heats before their event so that they can be led out onto deck in the right order. Bull pens are primarily used for younger swimmers and are not used at every meet.

DQ – Disqualification (swimmer’s time isn’t official). Coaches are generally aware of what a swimmer has done to cause a disqualification, and will discuss the disqualification and why it happened with the swimmer after their race. Disqualifications are made by meet officials because a swimmer has done something on the start, finish, turn, or stroke that does not fall within the guidelines for what is acceptable when competing in that stroke. We view disqualifications as opportunities to learn!

Heat Sheet – A list of swimmers competing in each event, ordered by heats. Heats usually get progressively faster (i.e., the last heat to swim each event usually has the fastest swimmers based on seed time).

Long Course Season – Generally, the summer swim season is long course, with meets held in 50-meter pools. The shortest long-course event is a 50-meter distance.

Meters Versus Yards – Pools are constructed in two measurement dimensions: meters, as in the metric system, and yards. Meters are used for all international meets and many meets during the summer season. Long course refers to meets held in 50-meter pools. 25 meters and 50 meters are longer than 25 yards and 50 yards. (SCY means “short course yards.” SCM means “short course meters” and LCM means “long course meters.”)

N.T. – NT (no time) after a swimmer’s name on heat sheets or psych sheets indicates that the swimmer does not yet have an officially recorded time in the event.

Psych Sheet – A psych sheet is a listing that tells you all the events and all swimmers in each event: the swimmer with the fastest seed time is listed first and the swimmer with the slowest seed time is listed last. While the psych sheet does tell you all the events your child will swim in, it does not tell you precisely which heat your child is in.

Seed Time – The best time a swimmer has in an event. That time is submitted by the coach when entering swimmers for a meet. It will determine where a swimmer is “seeded” in that particular race. However, because entry forms are often due weeks before a meet, a swimmer’s seed time might not necessarily be their best time any more by the time a meet takes place.

Short Course Season – Generally, the fall through spring swim season is held in short-course, indoor pools, which are 25-yard pools. Shortest event is a 25-yard distance.

USA Swimming Safe Sport

The Flying Fish Swim Team at YWCA Evanston/North Shore is committed to USA Swimming’s Safe Sport Abuse Prevention program, which aims to provide a healthy and positive environment, free from abuse, for all participants.

Contact info for Safe Sport

• Safe Sport club coordinator: Nancy Anderson – nanderson@ywca-ens.org
• For additional help with a Safe Sport concern, contact USA Swimming at 719-866-4578 or visit https://www.usaswimming.org/safe-sport
• You can also contact the U.S. Center for Safe Sport at 833-587-7233 or find more information at http://www.uscenterforsafesport.org/
• You can report anonymously by texting 888-270-7946

Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policy (MAAPP)

We are committed to providing a healthy and positive environment free from abuse for all our members. Read more here.

Safe Sport Best Practice Guidelines

We work to follow best practice guidelines as noted here.

YWFF Action Plan to Address Bullying

Bullying of any kind is unacceptable at the YWCA Flying Fish (YWFF) and will not be tolerated. Read about how we will address it here.

Codes of Conduct

For Coaches:

At all times, adhere to USA Swimming’s rules and code of conduct.

• Set a good example of respect and sportsmanship for participants and fans to follow.
• Act and dress with professionalism and dignity in a manner suitable to the profession.
• Respect officials and their judgment and abide by the rules of the event.
• Treat opposing coaches, participants, and spectators with respect.
• Instruct participants in sportsmanship and demand that they display good sportsmanship.
• Coach in a positive manner and do not use derogatory comments or abusive language.
• Win with humility and accept disappointments with dignity.
• Treat every athlete fairly, justly, impartially, intelligently, and with sensitivity.
• Always place the well-being, health, and safety of swimmers above all other considerations, including developing performance.
• Continue to seek and maintain their own professional development in all areas in relation to coaching and teaching children.
• Always maintain a professional separation between coach and athlete.

For Parents:

• I will set the right example for our children by demonstrating sportsmanship and showing respect and common courtesy at all times to the team members, coaches, competitors, officials, parents, and all facilities.
• I will get involved by volunteering, observing practices, and cheering at meets.
• I will refrain from coaching my child from the stands during practices or meets.
• I understand that criticizing, name-calling, use of abusive language or gestures directed toward coaches, officials, volunteers, and/or any participating swimmer will not be tolerated.
• I will respect the integrity of the officials.
• I will direct my concerns first to my child’s coach; then, if not satisfied, to the head coach.

For Athletes:

• I will respect and show courtesy to my teammates and coaches at all times.
• I will demonstrate good sportsmanship at all practices and meets.
• I will set a good example of behavior and work ethic for my younger teammates.
• I will be respectful of my teammates’ feelings and personal space. I will not exhibit sexist, racist, homophobic, or otherwise inappropriate behavior.
• I will attend all team meetings and training sessions, unless I am excused by my coach.
• I will show respect for all facilities and other property (including locker rooms) used during practices, competitions, and team activities.
• I will refrain from foul language, violence, behavior deemed dishonest, offensive, or illegal.
• If I disagree with an official’s call, I will talk with my coach and not approach the official directly.
• I will adhere to all of USA Swimming’s rules and codes of conduct.