Gear you'll need to start swimming

Racing suit, goggles, cap, towel, water bottle, sunscreen.
Team suits and caps are available for purchase. However, they are not required.

What to expect at a Meet

• What to bring - towel(s), blanket, chair, all swim gear, sweatshirt/pants, flip flops/slides, water, healthy snacks, sunscreen, games/cards to play with friends
• Arrive in time for warm-ups. What is warm-ups? Our team will have 15 minutes of warm-up time in the pool before every meet. Warm-up time for a HOME dual meet is 5:30 and an AWAY dual meet is 5:45. Warm-up times for invitationals will be announced by our coach the day before the meet
• Volunteers should report to the table 30 minutes prior to the start of the meet.

Dual meets start at 6:15 pm – the order of events is as follows:

• Freestyle (all ages in the following order)
  
  • 8U Girls then 8U Boys
  • 10U Girls then 10U Boys
  • 12U Girls then 12U Boys
  • 14U Girls then 14U Boys
  • Open Girls (15-18) then Open boys
• Backstroke (same order of ages)
• Breaststroke (same order of ages)
• Butterfly (same order of ages)
• Freestyle Relay (same order of ages)

Meets last typically between 2-3 hours. The larger the pool (more lanes) the quicker the meet, so our home meets usually move quickly as we have the BEST pool in the county (8 lanes)!

Team Expectations

• Swimmers are encouraged to show team spirit by cheering on teammates during swim meets and practices
• Swimmers are expected to stay until the end of every meet to cheer on your team and swim in relays
• Parents should please stay off the deck during practice, the deck is reserved for coaches and swimmers
• Swimmers will sit with their team during a meet, usually in a chair or on a blanket. Parents sit close by - when you arrive at the meet, look for the other CV families – we travel well!
• Swimmers should pay attention to the order of events so they know when they are swimming next

RSVP to meets and Volunteer Sign Up 

You will need to go on the Schedule page and RSVP to every swim meet as well as sign up to volunteer at every meet. If you do not RSVP your swimmer to a meet, they will not be entered to swim in the meet.

Line up

• The coaches set the line up and will tell the swimmers what they are swimming the morning of the meet during practice
• The coaches decide what events your swimmer will swim in the dual meets
• Each swimmer may swim up to 3 events during a dual meet

CVI – Conestoga Valley Invitational

We annually host this invitational swim meet at Leola Pool and it is our largest fundraiser. Historically, this was an event only for novice swimmers, but it has been opened up to all swimmers. Please mark this on your calendar now, plan to attend and volunteering is expected.

Buddies 

The purpose of buddies is to match an older swimmer with a younger swimmer and to create a family atmosphere among the team. This gives the younger swimmers someone to look up to. We will encourage buddies to be a support system and provide encouragement and team spirit at all meets! Make your buddy a spirit sign/poster, write them a note and just verbally cheer them on at the meets. We are asking buddies/parents to forgo the “snacks/candy/junk food” bags from the years past.

Red and Blue Meet 

This is an inter-squad practice meet in the beginning of the season. The main purpose of this meet to familiarize new families with how a swim meet is run. New swimmers will learn how to line up for their events as well as other procedures of a swim meet. Parents will be asked to volunteer for jobs during this meet so they can learn how to do different volunteer roles. We encourage all parents to volunteer at this meet and step out of your comfort zone and try a job you may never have done before.

Concessions

We have a concession stand at every home meet. This is a fundraiser for our team and is usually very successful. There will be a concession stand committee who will organize the food donations and help to man the stand during home dual meets and the CVI. Parents contribute a $30 food donation fee at registration.

Apparel

CV Swim Team apparel will be available online with a percentage of the purchase going towards the team as a fundraiser

Fundraising

Our team has many expenses during the year and we rely heavily on fundraisers. Some of our fundraisers include: apparel sales, CVI, concession stand during dual meets/invitationals, and sub sale.