OPEN SWIM MEET

WATERSKILLS AGE GROUP SWIM MEET 2023

Waterskills Age Group Swim Meet (WAGSM) provides a platform for young swimmers to showcase their abilities and compete against some other fast swimmers. We aim to inspire the next generation of swimming champions by highlighting their talents and providing a supportive environment for them to shine.

The meets are usually held in December and open to swimmers who are capable of swimming at least short course 25M. The meets are administratively important for making qualifying standards for Waterskills Championship Meets, Junior & Senior State Championship Meets, Junior National and National Championship.

WAGSM meets offer each one of the competitive strokes. Each swimmer is allowed to enter 3-5 events from the total events. The WAGSM will bring together swimmers around Oyo State under one roof to compete in short course meters (SCM).

IBADAN
2023
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EVENT INFORMATION

15th & 16th of December
2 Div Nigerian Army Ibadan, Oyo State. A short course 25M swim pool With 8 lanes, 4ft at the shallow side and 8ft at the deep side.
The meet is open to swimmers who are capable of swimming at least short course 25M. The age categories are: 10&under, 11/12, 13/14, 15/16, 17/18 and open. All ages as of 31st December in the year of competition.
Entry Fee: ₦3,000 per swimmer (fees are not refundable for any reason, even if you withdraw from the meet or fail to swim). All entries must be completed through the Waterskills Online Meet Entry at (www.*********.com). This shall be the only accepted way to enter this meet. Meet Format: Preliminaries and Finals (meaning, the meet have two parts: Prelims and Finals). Preliminaries are the qualifying heats for finals. At the conclusion of prelims, based on their prelims competition time, swimmers will be seeded for the Meet Finals (places 1-8). Everyone entered participates in prelims on Friday. How you perform in prelims determines whether or not you get to swim in the finals on Saturday. There will be relays at this meet. Sessions will be conducted by age group on both days at this meet (10&Unders first, then 11-12, 13/14, 15/16 and then 17&Overs). The meet is open to swimmers who are capable of swimming at least short course 25M. Swimmers may enter up to four events per day and up to six events total for the meet.
1st of November
₦3,000 per swimmer facility fee (fees are not refundable for any reason, even if you withdraw from the meet or fail to swim). All competitors and club/team staff in this meet will be issued with an accreditation pass which will allow them access to the event venue, designated seating areas and poolside. Accreditation passes must be worn and be visible at all times. Competitors should take their accreditation with them to the call room and marshalling areas.
Medals will be awarded for the top three swimmers and the rest will receive ribbons. Some swimmers will receive heat winner ribbons or beads if they place first in their heat.
Spectator tickets will be available to purchase before meet day and on arrival on each day of the meet at ₦1,000 per spectator from and free for children from 10&under. Food, drinks and other refreshments are available in the café at the venue or a number of local shops stand within a 1-minute walk.
Medical services will be on site at the meet.
SWIMMER’S REGISTRATION

REGISTER NOW HERE

Become a Swim Meet Volunteer

VOLUNTEER POSITION DESCRIPTIONS
Announcer
Marshal
Clerk of Course
Check Starter
Timers

We need you! Running a successful swim meet is no small feat. About 40 volunteers are needed to run a smooth and efficient swim meet. We welcome parents, friends, and family to help us out! Volunteering is a fun and rewarding way to make the Waterskills Age Group Swim Meet successful. Check out the volunteer position descriptions to learn how you can support the Waterskills Swim Team! Thanks for all your help and support – we couldn’t do it without you!

GET MORE INFO HERE

TIPS BEFORE THE MEET

When you arrive at the meet, go ahead and stake out your space. Place your chairs, towels, umbrellas, tents, coolers, etc. in a small area for your family and make sure your swimmers know where you will be for the duration of the meet. We like to encourage families from the team to sit together so swimmers and parents will get to know one another more closely throughout the season, but it is by no means compulsory.
As soon as you have set up your space, swimmers should check-in with the coaches. It is very important for the coaches to know whether your swimmer is in attendance. Please note, at a sanctioned meet, a relay team may be eliminated or disqualified for a “No Show” swimmer. On a related note, please do not leave a meet early without notifying a coach as this affects other swimmers, overall team score and can result in unnecessary expense to the team. If swimmer availability changes before a swim meet and your swimmer will no longer be able to attend, please let one of the coaches know so they can make the necessary substitutions in advance.
The time in between check-in and warm-ups provides a good opportunity to mark your swimmer with their events listed in the prelims/heat sheet. Swimmers in the bullpens and behind the blocks have limited access to heat sheets while they are preparing to swim their race. In order to stave off confusion or nervousness about where to go and when to be there, swimmers can refer to their events marked on their arm/leg in order to make sure they are in the right place at the right time.
Just as before any sporting event, swimmers also need the opportunity to warm-up before they compete. Warm-ups are important for getting swimmers loose and focused on what they need to accomplish during the meet. If competing in an unfamiliar pool, warm-ups are particularly critical in order for swimmers to also get acclimated to the change in pool environment (i.e. flags, starting blocks, touch pads, pool markings, pool depth, etc.). Warm-ups typically last anywhere from 20-30 minutes and may be swam in shifts with other teams or at the same time as other teams depending on how many teams are present or how many the meet encompasses.
Directly following warm-ups, the swimmers are expected to gather with the coaches for a brief team meeting before the meet begins. Coaches may use this time to pray, discuss last minute changes to meet protocol, pump up the team with words of focus and encouragement, or instigate the team cheer. Parents are welcome to listen in.

TIPS DURING THE MEET

Before and after each race, swimmers should stop by the coaches’ table in order to receive instruction or feedback on their race while it is still fresh in the coaches’ minds. If there is a bullpen present, swimmers should visit coaches before entering the bullpen.
The bullpen is the holding area for swimmers before they swim their event. The bullpen is usually composed of rows of numbered chairs or bleachers on which swimmers will sit when the bullpen director instructs them it is time to do so. Once swimmers are in the bullpen, they are on track to be moved forward into position behind the blocks in their respective lanes, ready to swim their race.
The events available to swimmers are the Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Butterfly, I.M. (Individual Medley), Freestyle, and Medley Relays. We encourage all swimmers to swim all events. Meets are a great place to try new or difficult strokes. You cannot succeed where you do not try. Please try to keep this in mind when attending swim meets if you are signed up for events that aren’t your favourite. If your swimmer is 8 years old or younger, they sometimes may have the option of doing a kickboard race in our splash meet and sometimes may not have the option of choosing to swim breaststroke, butterfly, or I.M. depending on which meet they are attending. They are allowed, however, to swim up an age group with older swimmers if these events are not offered to them at a particular meet and they want to swim them.
In between the events your swimmer swims, there will often be some downtime. Bringing books, games, cards, and light snacks are all acceptable ways to pass this time as well as cheering for teammates or conferring with coaches. If you bring snacks, please make sure they are healthy (i.e. fruit, water, trail mix) and avoid sodas and sugary items. We love all our swimmers, but we do ask that during this downtime swimmers do not approach the coaches’ table unless they are preparing to swim their next event or have just swam an event. No one wants their coach to miss their race. As your coaches, we want to be able to provide the best assessment of everyone’s skills and then plan our practices accordingly in order to progress as much as we can throughout the season. We will have plenty of time for socialisation before or after the meet, but during the meet we like to give 100% of our focus to swimmers in the water, swimmers about to be in the water, or swimmers most recently removed from the water.

AFTER THE MEET

All results will be posted by the end of the meet. As events are separated by age group and gender, please be sure to check for the correct results postings. If you think you see an error, please report it to the coaches and let us take care of reporting any mistakes that may have been made in the timing system to the appropriate officials.
Depending on which meet you are attending, awards will vary. Some meets, swimmers will receive ribbons directly after every race they swim, at the very end of the meet, or only if they placed in the top ten swimmers for their gender and age group. Sometimes medals will be awarded for the top three swimmers and the rest will receive ribbons. Some swimmers will receive heat winner ribbons or beads if they place first in their heat.
Even after you have completed your last race and you are ready to be done thinking about swimming for the evening, make sure to rehydrate your body or you will regret it in the morning. It’s hard to tell when you are in the pool, but you are still exerting a great amount of energy and sweating, especially if the meet is outdoors in the hot sun. Drink water or sports drinks and avoid energy drinks or sodas as they do little to nothing to replenish what nutrients your body needs.

PACKING CHECKLIST

Swim suit, Goggles, Swim cap (for anyone with shoulder length hair or longer), Towel, WATER, Footwear (make sure you don’t mind them getting wet), Dry clothes to change into after the meet, Entertainment for downtime: Books, games, cards, etc.
•Sunscreen •Sharpie: For marking swimmers with events •Highlighter: For highlighting your swimmer’s events in your heat sheet • Foldout chair(s): There may not always be deck seating. Be prepared. •Healthy snacks: Avoid sugary foods and drinks, if possible. “Sugar rush” is not a sustainable plan for gaining and retaining the kind of energy required for optimal performance at swim meets. •Blankets, towels, etc.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

EVENTS Girl AGE Male
100 Individual Medley 1 10 & Under 2
100 Individual Medley 3 11-12 4
100 Individual Medley 5 13-14 6
100 Individual Medley 7 15-16 8
100 Individual Medley 9 17-18 10
- - - -
100 Medley Relay 11 13 & Under 12
100 Medley Relay 13 14 & Older 14
- - - -
25 Freestyle 15 10 & Under 16
50 Freestyle 17 11-12 18
50 Freestyle 19 13-14 20
50 Freestyle 21 15-16 22
50 Freestyle 23 17-18 24
- - - -
25 Backstroke 25 10 & Under 26
50 Backstroke 27 11-12 28
50 Backstroke 29 13-14 30
50 Backstroke 31 15-16 32
50 Backstroke 33 17-18 34
- - - -
25 Breaststroke 35 10 & Under 36
50 Breaststroke 37 11-12 38
50 Breaststroke 39 13-14 40
50 Breaststroke 41 15-16 42
50 Breaststroke 43 17-18 44
- - - -
25 Butterfly 45 10 & Under 46
50 Butterfly 47 11-12 48
50 Butterfly 49 13-14 50
50 Butterfly 51 15-16 52
- - - -
25 Freestyle Relay 53 13 & Under 54
50 Freestyle Relay 55 14 & Older 56

 

 

WATERSKILLS AFFILIATED TO OYO STATE SPORTS COUNCIL/OYO STATE SWIMMING FEDERATION ASPIRE TO USE WATERSKILLS AGE GROUP CHAMPIONSHIP (WAGC) TO CREATE OYO STATE AGE GROUP STATE SWIM MEETS QUALIFYING STANDARD TIME

There are two swimming standards: Qualification Times All swimmers meeting the qualification time are eligible for entry in that event at the state swim meet. Consideration Times Swimmers meeting the consideration time are not automatically eligible for entry. They are alternates (meaning, generally tries to have 3 or 4 heats (24 or 32 swimmers) swim in the state preliminaries). If those entered with qualifying times results in a less than full heat (not all lanes are filled), those swimmers with consideration times, ranked by time, may be added to the preliminary meet to fill out that heat. As an example, 22 swimmers with qualifying times are entered in the 100 freestyle. The two swimmers with the fastest consideration times would then be added to the event to compete in the preliminary meet, creating 3 full heats for the 100 free.