Greenbriar Dolphin Swim Team

There are two basic types of meets. Saturday meets are scored dual meets and Monday meets are un-scored dual meets.

Saturday meets consist of 40 individual events and 12 relays. The events swum for each stroke and age group are shown below. Remember, each pool length is 25 meters.

NOTES:

1. The order of events is to go down each column starting on the left side except that the mixed age relays are the last two events of the meet..
2. The mixed age relays are swum by, in order: an 11-12-year-old, a 10-and-under, a 13-14-year-old, and a 15-18-year-old.

These meets are to see who can score the most points, so swimmers are selected based on ladder/best times by the head coach to give the team the best chance to win the meet. Three swimmers can be entered in each individual event and no swimmer can swim more than two individual events, plus relays.

For the first Saturday meet only, swimmer times from the previous season may be considered at the coach’s discretion. For all remaining meets, only current season times will be considered.

Since swimmers take vacations and go places such as scout camp, and a swimmer can swim in only two events (plus relays) in any meet, you don't necessarily have to be one of the three fastest swimmers to swim in a Saturday meet. 

A swimmer will be disqualified (or DQd) if he/she does not follow the rules of the stroke or false starts. These are covered in more detail in chapter 7.

In Saturday meets, the home team has lanes 1, 3, and 5, while the visiting team has lanes 2, 4, and 6. The fastest swimmers swim in lanes 3 and 4, the next fastest in lanes 2 and 5, and the next fastest in lanes 1 and 6. Swimmers are seeded based upon their fastest times attained in prior competition. Lane 1 is always on the right side as you stand facing the pool at the starting end.

While all NVSL meets have an announcer, the best way to follow the meet is with a meet sheet, which lists all the events and swimmers. Meet sheets are typically posted on the event website or emailed prior to the meet so you can download and print as desired.

In the individual events, a first place finish earns 5 points for the team, a second place earns 3 points, and a third place earns 1 point. Relays are scored as 5 points for the winner and 0 points for the loser. There are 420 points up for grabs in a Saturday meet. Unless there are one or more places not awarded in an event due to DQs or lack of swimmers, you need 211 points to win.

In the event of a tie, the points for the places involved are equally split among the swimmers. For example, in a two-way tie for second place, each swimmer earns 2 points (3 points for second plus 1 point for third equals 4 points, with half awarded to each swimmer). No third place would be awarded because the next swimmer is fourth. For a third place tie, each swimmer is awarded 1/2 of a point.

Monday meets are run similar to Saturday meets, with the following exceptions:

• In freestyle and backstroke, a 6 & under age group is added
• There is a 6 & under kickboard event held at the option of the competing teams
• IM events are added for 10 & unders, 11-12s, 13-14s and 15-18s
• There are no relays
• There are usually multiple heats for each event
• Swimmers can choose which strokes they want to swim and can sign up for 2 individual strokes plus the 100 IM
• Times from Monday meets count towards both A-meet selection and Divisionals selection
• New and younger (10 and under) swimmers are encouraged to sign up for strokes they can legally swim. They should start with freestyle and backstroke and check with a coach before signing up for breaststroke, butterfly and IM
• Older (11 and up) swimmers are strongly encouraged to swim a variety of strokes at as many Monday nights possible to maximize their chances of being selected for Saturday meets, divisional relays and divisionals

In relay carnivals, teams are not seeded. Each team’s lane assignment for the first event is based upon luck of the draw and the teams then rotate one lane to the left after each event. The meet sheet lists only the team swimming in each lane in each event (except for All Star Relay Carnival).