Harpers Mill Manta Rays

At each swim meet, we will compete against one other neighborhood pool in the area. The Manta Rays will have three meets at home and three away. Be sure to declare your swimmer at least four days prior to each meet.

Meets are organized by a heat sheet, which will be sent out to parents before each meet. The heat sheet is a list of all events of the meet, the heats of each event, and the lane in which each swimmer swims his/her event. It's a good idea to print out the heat sheet and bring it with you. 

Swimmers should arrive at the meets with their events already written on their arms, like so, and check in with the coaches upon arrival. Parents should check in for volunteering with the volunteer coordinator; for home meets, volunteer check-in will be at the blue announcer stand.

Swimmers compete in four official strokes: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. The individual medley, or IM, is a 100-meter or yards swim with one lap of each stroke in order: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. Not every swimmer will compete in every stroke. The coaches will decide which events they want each swimmer to compete in because they organize the heat sheet in a way that increases our chances of scoring the most points for the team. 

The first half of the meet includes freestyle and backstroke. The rest of the events are in the second half, which tends to go a bit faster than the first half. Both first half and second half volunteers need to check in with the volunteer coordinator before the meet starts. 

The pool deck can get very crowded during meets. For home meets, we will open the gates to the grassy area adjacent to the pool so that families can relax in between their events. Bring chairs, canopies, blankets, or towels because most of the pool furniture will be stacked and moved out of the way. The only people allowed behind the blocks and in the clerk of course area are the coaches, swimmers, and volunteers working in that area.

For home meets, we will have a food truck in the parking lot and a concession stand for snacks and drinks. The concession stand will accept cash, card, and Venmo.

For away meets, we will send out an email with information specific to the pool we are visiting so that you will know what to expect as far as seating and concessions.