Scarlet FAQ's

USA swimming is the national governing body for the sport of swimming. Every member of Scarlet Aquatics is a registered member of USA swimming. For more information about USA swimming please go to usaswimming.org. 

NJ Swimming is a member of USA swimming and is the local swim committee (LSC) that governs our

geographic area. For more information on NJ swimming please go to www.njswim.org. 

Elite Swim Club Parents Organization (ESCPO), formed in 2006, is a New Jersey registered non-profit

organization. Its purpose is to provide support to the swimmers, coaches and families of Scarlet Aquatics (formerly Elite Swim Club) by fostering a socially enriching, supportive, positive sportsmanlike, open and inclusive team

atmosphere.

In order to run a successful year round swim club, the club requires parents/legal guardians to pay all

fees and to help run swim meets.

Thus, in order for a child to be a member of the Scarlet Aquatics, there are two obligations that parents

or legal guardians commit to:

1) Payment in full of all club dues in a timely fashion

2) Willingness to work any and all swim meets that Scarlet hosts that involve one’s swimmer(s).

A full Parents Code of Conduct can be found here,

and is required to be signed with each swimmer's enrollment on the team. 

If practice is canceled because of weather, pool chemical problems, etc. an email and/or text blast will be sent out to the

team via Captyn. You can also check Scarlet's website for any practice cancellations.

If a swimmer is going to miss practice for any reason please email and/or text the head training group coach and let

them know why your child will be missing practice.

You can find your training group coach's contact information on our Captyn platform, as well as the coach bios section on our site. 

Short course is a term which is used to describe the fall/winter swimming season. The short course

swimming season last from September through March and meets are held in 25-yard or 25-meter pools. 

Long course is a term which is used to describe the spring/summer season. The long course swimming

season last from April through early August and meet are held in 50-meter pools. 

Yes, you will want to bring plenty of fluids (both water and electrolyte replenishing beverages recommended) as even though you're in a pool, you are still sweating while training in the pool. It is very important to remain hydrated throughout practice as well as the rest of the day, before and after!

Swimmers want their swim suit tight so there is no drag from the water. If a swimmer's suit is worn loose it will

make it easier for water to catch onto the suit, slowing your swimmer down. Highly recommended to wear a tech/championship suit for high level meets. 

A drag suit is a loose fitting suit  that a swimmer wears to get more resistance while

swimming practice or a meet warm up. 

Fins are a piece of equipment that goes on a swimmer’s feet. They are used in both kicking and

swimming sets to strengthen a swimmer’s kick. Most groups on Scarlet utilize fins. 

A pull buoy is a piece of equipment that is held in between a swimmer’s leg that prevents them from

kicking. Pull buoys are used when a coach wants to work on only the upper body portion of a swimmers

stroke. 

Please click here for any current Scarlet meet information. 

NJ Swimming will have qualifying times posted for NJ championship meets at njswim.org. 

USA Swimming will have qualifying times and or directory to the proper website containing said times for Zones, Sectionals, Junior Nationals and other similar meets. Times can be found at usaswimming.org. 

Entries will be posted as meet information is made available and entries are accepted by host team. You can also view your entries on Scarlet's Captyn platform. 

Please arrive to a swim meet no less than 15 minutes prior to the posted warm-up time. Being early is always best practice. Parents should take

into account travel time and parking. Swimmers who arrive after the scratch sheets are due will be

scratched from the meet. 

Team swim suit or championship swim suit (depending upon the swim meet)

- Two or more towels

-Team uniform/tee-shirt (see meet information for uniform required for each day)

-Water and food. Plenty of electrolytes and carbohydrates. 

-Pen or a marker for the swimmer to write events, heats, and lanes

-Phone, music, headphones, books, study materials

-2 pairs of goggles

-2 team swim caps

Meet results, heats, and related swimmer info can be found on the meet mobile app on race day. Results are often posted on the host team's website as well. 

It is the time a swimmer uses to enter a swim meet. This is the time that determines a swimmers heat

and lane.

A heat is a used to determine when a swimmer is swimming an event. Customarily heats are set up

slowest to fastest. In a heat the fastest swimmers will be in the middle of the pool and the slower

swimmers will be in the outside lanes.

A heat sheet is a listing by event number which will tell you a swimmers heat and lane assignment

during a swim meet. 

A child will swim no more than the allowed number of events listed on the meet announcement. At

most meets this will be three events per day. For meets that have qualifying times, a swimmer can only

swim those events that he/she qualifies for, but this will not exceed the maximum number of events per

day listed in the meet announcement.

Parents can expect their swimmer's session to run anywhere from 2-10 hours depending on meet type, if your swimmers are in different sessions, how many swimmers are in attendance, amongst other factors. 

A scratch means that a swimmer is taken out of an event because he/she is sick, injured, or did not show

up for a meet. If a swimmer is scratched from an event they are not allowed to swim that event. If they are scratched from the meet, they cannot compete in the entire meet. 

There are two main types of swim meets in New Jersey Swimming: Timed Finals and Championships.

Timed Final meets consist of a single session and does not have a separate contest for the top swimmers

in each event. The winners are determined by the top times overall in each event. Swimmers in the 12

and under age group almost always participate in timed final events. Also, distance events such as the

1000 Freestyle and the 1650 Freestyle are timed final events.

Championship meets consist of preliminary and finals sessions. Preliminaries or prelims are swum in the

morning session to determine the finalists. The Final session generally consists of the top 16 preliminary

swimmers. There is a consolation heat (9th thru 16th place in prelims) and a final heat (1st thru 8th place

in prelims). Winners are determined by their place of finish by heat. The overall event winner is the

winner of the final heat. 

New Jersey Swimming is broken up by age groups at swim meets. These age groups are 8 and Under, 9-10

11-12, 13-14, and 15 and older. Swimmers compete in these age groups based upon their birthday.

Whatever age a swimmer is on the first day of the meet is the age group he/she will compete with for

the meet.

When a swimmer gets DQ/disqualified they have done something illegal with their stroke, turn, or start.

If a swimmer gets disqualified, the time in that event does not count.

Examples of what a swimmer could get DQ/disqualified for:

1. One-hand-touch in a Breast or Fly turn/finish.

2. False start (leaving the block early on the start)

3. Not finishing (touching the wall) a backstroke swim on their back.

Officials are certified through USA Swimming to perform a specific job. These jobs include meet referee,

starter, and stroke and turn judge. Officials are responsible for making sure the swimmers strokes,

turns, and starts are all legal. When a swimmer has an illegal stroke, false starts, or has an illegal turn an

official will disqualify or “DQ” a swimmer. Officials are completely volunteer (unpaid) positions, however Officials often do not pay for meet entrance/ tickets to the venue, as well as hospitality (food and beverages) being provided while they work on deck. 

If you'd like to become an official, pertnient information can be found on USA Swimming's website. 

When you arrive at a swim meet you must see a coach and tell them that you have arrived. If a swimmer fails to

“check in with a coach” that swimmer will be scratched from that session and will not be able to

compete in that session of the swim meet, as they are assumed absent (no communication from swimmer, swimmer arrives well after scratch sheets due, etc.). 

Warm-up is the most important part of a swim meet and practice. Warm up helps get a swimmer's muscles loose,

ready to swim fast, and helps prevent injuries. Gets you acclimated to the competition pool so there are no surprises. 

Marshalling is when somebody from the host team is in charge of gathering the swimmers in an event

and places them into their heats and lanes. This person will then bring the swimmers to the pool area in

the order they were just placed and lines them up behind the blocks.

A touch pad is a part of the electronic timing system that is used at swim meets. It rest in the water at

the finishing end of each swimmer’s lane. Swimmer’s times are electronically recorded when the touch

pad is touched. Backup timers using stopwatches record times in case the electronic pad does not record properly. 

Swimmers finish at the wall with “one hand” when competing in freestyle and backstroke, using flipturns at the walls prior to finish.

Swimmers are required to touch the wall with “two hands” when competing in fly and breaststroke

races. This applies to any time the swimmer approaches and turns at the wall, or finishes at the wall. 

The Head Coach and Team Director will provide direction on volunteering obligations per family. Volunteering credits will be tracked per family via Captyn. Volunteering sign ups and assignments will be posted as soon as possible prior to meet start. 

In order to participate in a swim meet the host club requires each team to provide timers. Times from

the timers are used as a backup timing system just in case there is a problem with the electronic timing

system. These times will also be used if a swimmer doesn’t touch the touch pad hard enough or if there

is a discrepancy in a swimmers time/place.

According to USA swimming rules, parents are not allowed in the immediate competition venue unless

they are serving in an official capacity. This is mainly for safety and insurance purposes. During a swim

meet the pool deck can become very crowded and slippery. So to limit the number of people on the

deck only coaches, swimmers, timers, and officials are allowed in the competition area.