How to Read a Heat Sheet
A swim meet has a lot of parts to learn! There are 70 "events" at a meet. Your child will be assigned to different events each week, and that's how you'll know what order they will swim in. Learn more below!
There are 70 Events in a Meet:
There are 7 different “Strokes,” spread out into 70 “Events”. During each “Event”, there may be multiple “Heats” based on how many kids are in that age group. Seven (7) Strokes:
Events #1-10 Medley Relay Four Swimmer: Backstroke, Breaststroke, Butterfly, and Freestyle.
Events #11-20 Freestyle
Events #21-30 Butterfly
Events #31-40 Backstroke
Events #41-50 Breaststroke
Events #51-60 Individual Medley (IM) One swimmer: Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Freestyle
Events #61-70 Freestyle Relay Four different swimmers swim Freestyle
Understanding Events #1-70
A Closer Look at the Heat Sheet
WHEN DOES YOUR CHILD LINE UP FOR THIER TURN?
When your swimmer checks upon arrival before the meet, they get their Events and Heats written on their arms in sharpie marker.
Once the meet begins, it is very important that they listen to the announcer, and run to the "Zoo" when their event number is called! If they miss their turn, they will not have a chance to make it up; they will get a zero score.
You will not know a specific time, you just have to listen and pay attention to the loudspeaker for your event number!
WHAT IS A HEAT SHEET, WHAT DOES IT SAY?
The Heat Sheet is a program that shows all the participating swimmers and what events they will participate in as well as the heat number and lane number. During the 2020 Season, we may switch to our online Apps instead of printed heat sheets.
NOTE: Changes to the Heat Sheet could be made the day of the meet based on swimmers who don't arrive on time or do not attend. We could also "combine" races to speed up the meet. For example, if we have 3 girls swimming Fly in the 15-17 age group and 3 boys -- we may combine them into one heat to save time. Parents won't be required to know that; it will happen in the Zoo.
Event Number: # of event may vary meet to meet depending on the team we are swimming against. We swim the Individual Medley, Freestyle Relay, Backstroke, Freestyle, Medley Relay, Breaststroke and Butterfly.
Heat Number: In each of the events, there are HEATS. Each heat may have 5-8 swimmers - depending on the size of the pool.
Lane Number: This will tell you which lane your swimmer is scheduled to be in.
Seed Time: Once a swimmer participates legally in an event, they will have a "seed time" in that event for the next meet. Swimmers are placed in heats and relays according to their seed times. It's the swimmer's fastest time prior to this meet (if they have a previous time).
Finals Time: The time they swam at this meet
Heat Winner: First child to touch the wall. Ribbons are distributed per heat so if an event has multiple heats, each swimmer will get a ribbon relative to the heat, not the overall event
