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FAQ's ~
PVAC Swim/Dive Team Questions
1. What is the PVAC Swim/Dive Team and why
would I want my child to participate?
It's fun. It's great exercise. It builds confidence. It's
a great way for your child to meet other kids in the neighborhood.
It's a great way for you to meet other parents.
... what are the fees, where are the registration instructions &
forms?
2. Who can answer my questions about the swim and/or diving teams?
Hopefully, most of your questions can be answered here. You may also
want to use the 'Search Our Site' feature located on the
upper left side of any PVAC webpage. Just enter your keyword and click
the gold arrow box! Or visit our PVAC website
Sitemap page here...
Also, feel free to contact our PVAC Coaches
here, our PVAC Officers here,
or use our Contact Us page here to enter
a specific question.
3. What is PVAC's Mission?
Please visit our PVAC Mission Statement
webpage here... which describes PVAC's goals, objectives, and
an overview of what we're all about!
4. What strokes do the swimmers use in competition?
Freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly.
5. What swimming strokes will my child need to know to join the
team?
If your child is 5 to 18 and can swim a lap of the pool,
then they are eligible to swim (Eligibility Rules
here...) The Coaching Staff will conduct
Swim Evaluations (described here...) at
the end of September and group the swimmers accordingly. Younger
children do not necessarily have to be proficient in the breast stroke or
butterfly in order to participate.
6. I just want my child to learn how to swim better. Do they
have to swim in competition?
No. You are encouraged to discuss this with the coach.
7. I see that there are different age groups for the swimmers.
How does that work?
The age groups are 8 & under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-18. Every other year
your child will have an "up" year when they are the oldest in their age
group and a "down" year when they are the youngest in their age group. The
system generally works well.
8. What kind of pool does PVAC have?
The length of the Perkiomen Valley Senior High School pool is 25 yards.
Most all pools we swim are also 25 yards.
9. What is the Suburban Aquatic League (or S.A.L.)?
The Suburban Aquatic League (or S.A.L.) is an organization representing 22
fall/winter swim clubs in three counties (Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware). PVAC
is one of the 22 swim clubs. You can visit the
SAL website
here... for more information.
9a. What is USA Swimming and what is the cost?
Please visit our USA Swimming page to learn
all about this offering for the Swimmer looking for more.
Please
note, the
USA registration fee
INCLUDES the fee for our PVAC competition swim team;
NO additional fee is required to participate on
the PVAC competition team.
Practices
10. How often is practice? where is practice held?
Practices are held Monday through Friday (and Saturday for Guppies) at the
Perkiomen Valley High School pool. Practices are in the evening and times
vary depending on the Group your child is in. Please visit our
Practice Schedule page here...
for exact times. For our advanced Sharks group, we've also rented time
w/ Ursinus to utilize their pool facilities (Ursinus
info here...)
11. Should I stay and watch a swim (or dive) practice?
You're welcome to watch. Please refrain from talking with the coach during
practice. Practice is when the coach spends time with the swimmers. Please
hold you questions for the coach until before or after practice. We suggest
that you make your way to the upper deck seating area at PV High School pool
area during your swimmers
practice session. This is a great time for you to unwind and relax,
read a book, or chat w/ other parents.
12. What happens if we have a conflict and my child is not able to
attend practice?
This is a normal occurrence for ALL swimmers & divers. It is not
necessary to contact the Coaches if you have a conflict w/
practice however, it is imperative that you let
the Coach know when your child will be missing a meet!
13. Does a child have to swim (or dive) in a particular number of
practices during the week in order to swim in a meet?
No. But like anything else in life, the more your child commits to
practice, the better the swimmer/diver he or she will be! Key factors
involved in a coach's decision to place a swimmer in the fastest heat is
their seed time along with their attitude, dedication, and commitment to the
sport of swimming!!
14. Does my child need to wear the team swim suit during practice?
During a meet? What brand and where do I buy it?
Not during practice. In fact, to reduce wear-and-tear, the swim team suit
should probably only be worn during meets. It appears that the manufacturers
are trying to change designs each year and force us to choose a new design
every year. If that's not the case, then we get another year out of last
year's suit. Please visit our Swimsuit
& Spirit Wear page here... to view details on the purchase of
swimsuits.
Meets
15. What is a dual meet and what other kinds of meets are there?
A Dual Meet is held between two swim teams. One swim club is the host team
and the other is the visiting team. PVAC participates in 7 dual meets.
The PVAC Dual Meet & Invitational Meet Schedule
is posted here... Additional
Invitational Meet information is posted here...
Invitational
Meets are voluntary meets open to all swimmers in our
league. Please visit our Invitational
Meets webpage here... for a detailed description.
There are two main Championship Meets: "Division
Champs" and "League Champs".
Information describing these
Championship meets may be reviewed here...
16. Can my child swim in both "Division Champs" and "League Champs"?
Yes. But they cannot swim the same event in both meets! For example,
if your swimmer qualifies for "League Champs" in 50 yard freestyle,
they cannot swim 50 yard freestyle in the "Division Champs".
17. How do will I know which events my child will swim in?
The coach will tell you or your child what event(s) they are swimming on the
day before the meet. The "meet sheet" is posted on the morning of the meet.
18. How many meets will my child participate in?
This depends on a variety of factors including your child's swimming
ability, the availability of other children within the age group, and
coaching strategy.
19. When are the meets?
A comprehensive Dual Meet, Invitational Meet, and
Championship Meet schedule may be viewed here...
20. How long does a meet last?
Approximately 3-4 hours. Of course, this varies depending on the # of
swimmers in a given meet. Smaller teams field less swimmers which
result in less heats and therefore faster meet times.
21. How does a meet operate?
For both 'home' and 'away' meets, parents usually drive
their own swimmer(s) to the pools. (Directions to
pools listed here...) Upon arrival at the pool, our team
congregates on one side of the pool. We'll be assigned a time for warm-ups in
the pool then after warm-ups are
completed, the National Anthem will be sung and the meet will begin with the
Medley Relays, proceed to the freestyle events,
back stroke events, and breast stroke events. There is usually a short break to announce the 50/50 winner and give the
scorer’s table a chance to catch up. At the mid-meet point, the
announcer will summon the 2nd half timers and judges to report to the pool
deck to relieve the 1st half timers and judges. The final events are the
butterfly, freestyle, Individual Medleys and freestyle relays.
A meet lineup will be posted on the wall listing each event that your child
swims. Coaches will verbally inform each swimmer of their events.
Coaches and Parent volunteers on the 'Ready Deck' will coordinate
the swimmers for each event. The swimmer then proceeds to the
starting blocks of that lane. At that point, the referee blows their
whistle, the starter tells the swimmers to step up. When all of the swimmers
are on the starting blocks, the starter will tell them to take their marks,
and then the starting buzzer will sound and the race will begin. Repeat 40+
times and that's your meet.
Each swimmer can swim a maximum of 2 individual events and 2 relays --OR-- 3 individual events and 1 relay.
The coaches work very hard to ensure each swimmer gets the chance to swim a
minimum of 2 events per meet.
22. What teams will we swim and dive against?
We typically compete against the other teams in our SAL Western Division. The teams in
the Western Division are listed on our
PVAC SAL Team Website list
here... You may also view our
PVAC Meet Schedule here...
23. Where can I find directions to the swim club we are visiting?
Directions to the swim club for an away meet are
available here...
24. What can I do to help prepare my child for a meet?
Have your swimmer eat a healthy diet, get plenty of sleep, bring a water
bottle to the meet, and get them to the meet on time. Advise them to
listen to the coach and to have fun! Cheer them on too! Our website
also contains Swimming Tips for your swimmer
here...
25. What are the events in a swim meet?
There are 42 events in an SAL meet (Events
listed here...) Each event consists of 1 or more heats
with up to
6 swimmers per heat. The events include medley relays, backstroke,
breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, individual medley and freestyle relays.
26. What is a "heat"?
An event may be divided into multiple "heats." A dual meet usually has
multiple heats for each event with 1 to 6 swimmers per heat depending on
the number of swimmers and the size of the pool.
Championship meets and
Invitational meets, with multiple teams, often have several heats of
each event to accommodate the large number of swimmers.
27. What is a relay? And what stroke(s) do the swimmers use?
Relays consist of four "legs" with a different child swimming each leg. The
distance varies with the age group from 100 yards (four lengths of the pool)
for the younger age groups to 200 yards for the older age groups. You can
review the full list of events here...
to get a feel for where the relays occur in the meet.
There are two types of relays: medley and freestyle. The medley relay has
four different legs: backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle. The
freestyle relay has four legs of freestyle.
28. How is it determined what swimmers will be on a relay?
The coach makes this decision. There are a variety of factors involved
including seed time, swimmer availability, meet strategy, etc.
29. How is the winner of a dual meet determined?
The fastest swimmers in each event earn points for their team using the PIAA
point scale listed at the bottom of our
Events and Scoring page here...
30. What does DQ mean?
Disqualification - this can happen for a variety of reasons including
starting early (false start), leaving the diving block early in a relay,
performing an illegal stroke, performing an illegal turn, not touching the
wall with two hands during a breaststroke turn, etc. If you'd like to learn
more or would like to become a starter/referee -or- judge, please visit our
Officials Clinics page here...
31. Are kids DQ'ed a lot?
No. The younger swimmers, especially the 8 & under age group, tend to have
more problems early in the season, but you'll see a DQ from time to time in
every age group.
If your child is disqualified, try not to get upset about it. Your swimmer
will be unhappy enough about it without having your emotions adding to the
situation. If you think there was an error made, then discuss it calmly with
the coach. Do NOT discuss it with the officials. Let the coach do that if it
is appropriate.
32. What does it mean when my child is "swimming up"?
The coach may determine that the team (and perhaps the swimmer) can best be
served by having your child swim in an older age bracket. This is a
complement to the swimmer because it shows the coach feels that the he or
she can swim effectively and will make a significant contribution to the
team.
33. Does my child have to participate in every meet? What happens if
my child has a conflict for a meet?
Without consistent participation, the team will have a poor season but
conflicts do happen. Let the coach know as soon as possible if your swimmer
will not be able to attend a meet.
34. How do swimmers earn ribbons and medals at meets?
Typically during a Dual Meet,
there are no awards presented as these are considered regular season meets.
For Invitational Meets, awards vary depending on the meet.
Medals are usually presented to the top 3 swimmers in each event and a
ribbon is usually presented to each Heat winner. In the past, PVAC's
Fall Fest Invitational awards included medals to the top 6 finalists in each
event (and top 3 relay finalists), double ribbons for places 7th-12th, and
ribbons for places 13th-18th.
For Championship Meets, policies vary.
Sometimes medals are awarded to the top 3 place finishers while ribbons are
awarded to each heat winner.
35. What are "League
Champs" and "Division Champs"?
Please visit our Meet
description page here... to view these meet descriptions.
36. How are the results of the meet posted?
The team results will be announced at the end of the meet and posted on
PVAC's Meet Results page here...
37. How can I best help the team?
Support your child by bringing them to practice, preparing them for the meet
and cheering for them and the team at the meets.
Volunteer to help out at a swim meet or with other swim team duties. It's an
all volunteer effort and there is always something more that can be done.
We now have a web-based
PVAC wiki
Volunteer Signup procedure here... which significantly
reduces confusion at meets.
Consider becoming a stroke & turn judge, starter, or referee
(SAL "Officials Clinic" dates here...)
The officiating is all volunteer and it always helps to have more people
trained to step in when others have scheduling conflicts for a meet. You may
also enjoy the meet more when you know the rules well.
Swim Meet Officials
38. How is a meet officiated and who are the officials?
A swim meet will have a referee who runs the meet, a PA
announcer who broadcasts the event and swimmers
names in the
event, a starter who announces the
event to the swimmers and starts the race, multiple stroke
and
turn judges, a head timer and multiple
timers for each lane. You'll get the hang of the flow of events at
a dual meet very quickly; we encourage you to participate as a timer (or
judge) at our annual Mock Meet which will
allow you to gain experience in these areas. The pace is rapid since there are 42 events.
39. I see some parents timing the events. Can I do that too?
Absolutely. At dual meets, invitational meets, and at championship meets,
there are 3 timers required for each lane. Each week we'll have our
PVAC online wiki
setup which will allow you to signup for various
Parent Volunteer Jobs (listed here...)
at our meets.
To establish fairness and equality, there will be two timers from the
opposing team timing your swimmer. Likewise we will have two of three
timers doing the timing for the opposing team's lanes.
40. Why do the timers have to go to the other end of the pool for
some events?
The 8 & unders and 9-10 groups have some 25 yard events. They dive off the
blocks (or start from the wall for backstroke) and swim one length of the
pool. The timers have to see them touch the wall so they are located at the
opposite end of the pool from the starting blocks.
By the way, it is legal to start in-the-water, from the side of the pool instead of a
starting block. You may see this with some of the younger swimmers who are
not comfortable diving yet.
The 11-12 year-olds and older have all 50, 100, or 200 yard events. They start and
end on the same edge of the pool by the starting blocks.
41. Being an official looks like fun and/or I want to help the team
by being an official. How do I find out more?
There are free clinics to teach you the rules at SAL at the beginning of the
fall/winter. Check the Suburban Aquatic League (S.A.L.) web site or visit
our PVAC "Officials Clinic" page here...
for more information.
42. Hey, my kid was just DQ'd! What can I do about it?
Please talk to your coach. Do NOT talk to the officials. Our officials
are ALL parent volunteers and are doing their best to identify illegal
swimming technique.
43. I'm sure that kid just did an illegal turn on his backstroke,
but he wasn't called for it. Who do I complain to?
It's not really a parent's place to find fault with the officiating. If you
feel strongly that there is a problem with the officiating then you should
talk with one of the swim team representatives or the coach. They can best
decide how to proceed, but the officiating is really under the direction of
the hosting club's referee.
44. That's a strange looking freestyle stroke. Is that legal?
Almost anything except a clear breaststroke, backstroke, or butterfly can be
a legal freestyle stroke. If you want the official word you should attend
one of the free clinics that Suburban Aquatic League (or S.A.L.) puts on at
the beginning of the fall/winter. (PVAC
"Officials
Clinic" schedule here...)
45. I noticed on the Suburban Aquatic League (S.A.L.) website that
there is an error in the time that my child swam in a recent meet. How
do I get that corrected?
Talk to a PVAC Swim Team representative listed here.... They will know best how to get the
situation corrected.
46. It looks like there is a lot to do to run a swim meet. Can
I help?
Yes! See a PVAC Swim Team representative listed here...
for ideas.
Coaches, Parents, Kids
47. Who are the coaches?
Please visit our PVAC Coaching Staff page
here.. for a complete list of coaches including their pictures,
contact information, and biographies.
48. How can I best help the coach help my child?
Bring them to practices regularly, prepared and on time. Be supportive and
let them enjoy the sport. Let the coaches do the coaching.
49. How do I let a coach know when we can't attend practice?
or be at a meet?
Please let the coach know as soon as possible. It's helpful to put it in
writing since the coaches are trying to coordinate 200+ swimmers on PVAC's
team and a verbal notice is more likely to be forgotten. Contact
information for any coach may be found on our
PVAC Coaching Staff page here...
50. What if I have an important message to tell the coach during a
swim meet?
Wait until the coach is not busy and then briefly tell them your message.
The coaching staff is focused on supporting the swimmers during the meet so
please leave them free to do that as much as possible.
51. Aside from the weekly Swimming & Diving Meets, do the PVAC
Parents get together socially?
Yes! Over the years, the PVAC parents have organized quite a few
social events. We've held gatherings at local fire houses,
restaurants, and during the 2009 season, the Officers organized a "Night
Out at the Trappe". We had close to 100 parents attend this event
and it was terrific. There are also intermittent, smaller gatherings
organized by various parents who've gotten to know each other on a social
level. (eg. Dad's night out, Mom's night out, etc..)
52. Is there a PVAC team banquet?
Yes, each year, we hold a team banquet (info
here...). To reduce our costs, the banquet is held at the Perk
Valley Senior High School cafeteria. Our most recent banquet
accommodated close to 500 people. PVAC has this event catered. Upon
completion of the dinner, we have our Awards ceremony. MVP swimmers &
divers in each age group are announced along with most improved swimmers and
also some "funny awards". Each and every swimmer on the PVAC Swimming
& Diving team receives a very nice gift as a reward for their dedication and
commitment to making PVAC what it is today - a competitive team in the
S.A.L. and a fantastic experience for them that they'll remember their
entire lives!
If you have additioanl questions or comments, please
visit our Contact Us page here... and submit!
Swim Fast! Have Fun!
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