Ridgewood Barracudas

Meet Participation

RWB is a competitive team and swimmers are encouraged to compete in each meet. Swimmers must participate in at least two dual meets to qualify to swim at the Divisional meet.

A swimmer must declare that they will not attend a swim meet by the Tuesday before the swim meet. It is detrimental to the team when a swimmer is a no-show for an event. Any potential points are lost and another swimmer could have been entered into the event. Swimmers must attend or decline each meet through the website.

Plan ahead! If there are known dates that a swimmer will not attend a swim meet, decline attendance in advance. 

Preparation

Swim Meets last all morning so it is important to come prepared. Make sure you have a cooler packed with lots of ice cold water, swimming equipment, and clothing appropriate to the weather.

Before arriving at the pool, or shortly after, it is recommended that you write your swimmer’s event number and event name on their hand or forearm for quick reference. Swimmer’s events will be posted during practices Thursday and Friday, prior to the meet. If you are unclear as to where to find or how to read posted events, ask the nearest coach.

Items to Pack

• Team competition swimsuit and swim cap*
• Multiple pairs of goggles
• 2 towels
• Sweatpants/shirt (for cool mornings)
• Nutritious snacks
• Plenty of water
• Lawn chair/blankets
• Money for concessions
• Sunscreen
• Optional-tent or shade structure

*Team swimsuits or a solid blue or black swimsuit are required! Team caps for other teams, including year round swim teams should not be worn. Wearing the blue RWB cap is the best way for coaches, parents, and officials to distinguish swimmers. This will also assist the team photographer on deck with identifying the RWB swimmers!

Report time

Check-in time for each swim meet will be announced at practice and posted on the website. For Home meets the report time is typically no later than 5:45 a.m., 6:15 a.m. for Away meets. Swim meets start promptly at 7:00 a.m. so that the teams can be out of the community pools before opening to the public.

Prepare to arrive at each meet at-least 15 minutes before warm-ups start. This will provide time to park, stake your tent, locate goggles, ensure your swimmer gets checked in on the board and gets to warm ups on time. With the early nature of swim meets, we are often up and moving before the sun. Therefore, it may be a good idea to bring a flashlight for some added light as you navigate the sea of tents to find the next piece of open land. 

Swimmers check-in for meets before warm-ups by highlighting their name on the boards located by the pool entrance. This is also a time for them to write their events on their arm or hand in permanent marker.

Parking

Parking for the Ridgewood Pool is located along Oakwood Drive. There is no parking permitted on Old Bridge Road and the police routinely ticket offenders.

Warm-Up Policy

Each meet begins with a twenty minute warm-up. All swimmers are strongly encouraged to participate in team warm-ups. During warm-ups, the entire team is in the pool area at once. For young or new swimmers, locate your swimmer’s coach for guidance on where to go.

Following warm-ups, swimmers report to a common area to cheer and get psyched for the meet. (See Team Cheers). For Home meets, swimmers report to the diving board area. Immediately following team cheers, swimmers must report to their relay assignments. Those swimmers not assigned to a relay need to coordinate with their coach for separate instructions. Swim meets always begin with a short welcome and then the singing of the National Anthem. 

Pool Map

Time to Swim

The Clerk of Course is where younger swimmers for their events. Swimmers should report to Clerk of Course ready to swim (goggles in hand and restroom visited). During Home meets, the Clerk of Course is located in the tents at the far end of the pool.

Younger swimmers will be handed a card. This card has the swimmer’s heat and lane assignment for that event. When it is time to go on deck for that event, the Clerk of Course will direct the swimmers on where to go. Parents are not permitted in the Clerk of Course area because of space limitations. The first few meets, escort your swimmer to the area and the Clerk of Course volunteers will make sure your swimmer gets to where they are supposed to go. Just before each heat begins, someone will take the card from your swimmer. 

Older swimmers will report directly to their lane when it is time to swim. The meet will not be held up to find swimmers.