Great Falls Swim and Tennis Rapids

Swim meets can be daunting for new swimmers and swim families alike. But, they are super fun. We promise. This page tries to take some of the mystery out of swim meets. 

There are MANY different types of meets, each type is described below. Some meets are "come one, come all!", while others are friendly competition where coaches set the lineup.

The Ladder

Before we talk about meets, let's discuss "The Ladder."  The ladder is a ranking of each stroke/age group based on times swum by the athletes.  The times in the ladder start fresh every season.  Every swim is recorded, and a swimmer's best time is the ladder time.  

Swimming in the competitive meets, which you will learn about below, is determined by the coaches looking at the ladder.  They look to see what swimmers have the best times on the ladder, and use this to set the lineups for the competitive meets.

The ladder is sent to the entire team after each meet. 

"Time Trials"

This is the first meet of the season.  It's open to everybody!  It also sets the first ladder.  This meet is only for the Rapids, and a swimmer can swim any and all strokes they feel comfortable swimming.  There is no limit.  We encourage all of our swimmers to swim as many strokes as they feel comfortable swimming, and get a starting spot on the ladder. 

It's super fun with lots of cheering on your teammates. It also requires LOTS of volunteers. So if your child is swimming, you should expect to volunteer.

"Rapids Intra-Squad"

Where Time Trials is the first meet of the season and sets the initial ladder, the Rapids Intra-Squad meet is the last meet of the season before Divisionals, and gives swimmers one final opportunity to advance themselves on the ladder and qualify for Divisionals. The other difference is IM is offered at Intersquad. Click HERE for more information on Divisionals.  

We also invite all of our Mini-Rapids to do their first swim! They swim with a coach in the water and the whole team cheering! It's always one of the highlights of the season and not to be missed!

Since this meet is also Rapids only, if your swimmer is participating, you should be volunteering.

"A Meet" also known as "Dual Meets"

A meets occur on Saturday mornings at 9am. These are the meets sponsored by the Northern Virginial Swim League (NVSL), which determine the League Champion. There are 17 divisions, each division having 6 teams.  The teams all swim against each other head-to-head to determine the division winner.  Points are awarded to winners, second and third place finishes.  The team with the most points at the end of the meet wins.  These are competitive meets, but the competition is friendly.  Swimmers will be asked to declare whether they are available for the meet by the Tuesday before the meet.  The coaches will set the lineup based on who's available and what lineup gives The Rapids the best chance to win the meet based on the ladder.  Swimmers will find out Thursday or Friday who's swimming which event.  

"B MEETS"

B meets occur on Monday nights at 6pm. These meets are open to everybody, and all swimmers are encouraged to swim in B Meets. These are non-competitive between clubs and places for ribbons are determined within the Rapids only.  These are great meets to "get your feet wet", try to improve your times, and/or pick a stroke you didn't swim at the A meet. We pick the teams we for our B meets, so they are usually close to home and frequently include families you know. So lots of fun happens at B Meets. 

General Meet Timelines

All meets will vary but here is a general timeline of events to help families plan for the season.

RELAY CARNIVALS

There are two relay carnivals that occur during the year: the Division Relay Carnival and the All-Star Relay Carnival. Each gender/age group has a Freestyle Relay and a Medley Relay. There is also a Mixed Age Relay for boys and girls. These meets involve only relay events Relay swimmers are determined by the coaches based on the fastest combination of swimmers for each leg. Relay Carnival is one of the most fun meets of the year.  It also includes a fun coaches relay at the end of the meet while scores are being finalized. 

** There is a VERY special meet called Divisionals, which has it's own page.  Check out the Divisionals page HERE.

General Meet Guidelines

• Arrive early. Nothing is worse than having swimmers miss warm-ups due to late arrival. Please be at the pool 15 minutes before warm-ups are scheduled to begin. This will give your swimmer a chance to put their bags down and get their caps and googles ready.
• In the event of inclement weather, the Team Reps will update the team using Swimtopia. We will push notices to the mobile app, and the postings will be on the website.  We promise, we will keep you informed. 
• Swimmers need to be mindful of when they are swimming. Swimmers must watch the progress of the meet to ensure that they are ready to report to Clerk of Course when the coaches call for their events. Swimmers should not leave the team area without notifying a coach.
• Team Spirit is the name of the game at meets.  They can be long.  They can be hot.  That doesn't matter! Go cheer on your teammates.  

What to Bring

• Two race suits, two caps (Rapids or plain), two pairs of goggles. Suits, caps and goggles can tear at unpredictable and inopportune times. No winter swim club caps are allowed at an NVSL meet.
• A refillable water container, filled with ice water.
• Light snacks (yogurt raisins, granola bars, dried fruits, etc.). Please help your swimmers think about when it's a good time to eat based on when they're swimming. A burger before 100 IM is probably not the best plan. 
• For morning A Meets, it's a good idea to eat some breakfast.  There are lots of websites with recommendations for good "race day" breakfasts. But we have kids too, and know that's not always what the want to eat. So anything goes, ideally protein and some carbs. 
• Sunscreen. Swimmers should make every effort to stay out of the sun as well.
• Two towels
• A good attitude!  
• Portable chair for the team area. Some pools have chairs available, but it's rarely enough for the whole team.

What Happens if it Thunders?

It's summer in the DC area.  Thunderstorms happen.  When the host pool hears thunder, be prepared:

• The Announcer will make an announcement, in coordination with the referee, the meet has been suspended. There are specific guidelines about how long the meet has to be suspended after the last thunder clap is heard.  
• (This should go without saying) Get away from the pool.  
• All swimmers, coaches, volunteers and spectators must exist the pool deck and return to your cars. Please do so in an orderly, respectful, non-panicked manner.  You might get wet.  The swimmers were going to get wet anyway.  Injuries happen when people run or panic on their way out of the club.  Please don't do this.
• Please do not leave things, trash or personal belongings, which can fly away in the team area.  They will fly away.  
• A team rep will send regular Alert updates through Swimtopia. We will tell you everything we know about when the meet might re-start.  (This is why it's important to download the Swimtopia app and enable notifications!)  
• Please DO NOT LEAVE until you have heard from a team rep the meet has been postponed, ESPECIALLY FOR AN A-MEET. If your swimmer leaves, they can't be replaced in the lineup, and it might cost The Rapids valuable points! 
• THIS IS ALSO TRUE FOR VOLUNTEERS! If you volunteered, and the meet is suspended, and you leave, the meet might not be able to carry on without you.  If you HAVE to leave, make sure there is somebody to fill in for your job.
• We PROMISE we will keep everybody informed through Swimtopia Alerts with any information we know as soon as we know it.  Asking the reps or the coaches will not get you more information than what we are sharing with the team.