About | Parents
Being a Sequoia Parent
Whether you are a new to swimming or a veteran, this section is to help you be a better swim parent and to promote thought and discussion about what that means.
There is a lot of discussion about what makes a good swim parent or a bad swim parent. The words "good" and "bad", although often used, are not the best. Perhaps "effective" or "helpful" would be better choices. In reality being an effective and helpful swim parent is pretty simple. Here are the starting points.
It is a good idea to stress commitment and hard work at practice but not a good idea to push performance at meets. Kids will learn a lot about themselves and life through hard and dedication. The consistent hard work will also bring success at meets. Putting pressure on kids to perform at meets will most likely backfire. To fully reap all the benefits of their hard work at practice they need to be relaxed at meets. They need to race and have fun. If a swimmer ever believes that your love and respect is somehow dependent on their times at a meet, that swimmer is in trouble and they will most likely leave the sport early. "Yes you are going to practice today" is what they should hear on a regular basis and "What a great swim. I am so proud of you" is what they should hear from you after every race no matter what.
Promote and teach sportsmanship and support for their teammates. In the end no one will remember how fast your swimmer was but they will remember how they felt when they were around them.
Support the coach. It is the parent's job to raise a good human. It is the coaches job to build a fast swimmer. The parents and the coach need to support each other in respective roles. The coach should let the parents lead in parenting and the parents should let the coach lead in the coaching. Never for a second forget that the coach is working very hard for your swimmer to be successful. Perhaps the most important factor in a successful swimming career is a good relationship between the coach and the swimmer. It can be one of the most important relationships in a young person's life. It is a relationship built on trust. Negative comments, unhealthy questioning and undermining of the coaches authority can damage the relationship beyond repair.
Keep good communications with the coach. This is the responsibility of ever one involved including the coach, the parents and the swimmer. If there are questions or misunderstanding, get answers. Emails and face to face meetings should be part of every season.
Be a part of the swimming community. Sequoia Aquatics is a swimming community and every one should strive to be a good and productive member. This includes getting to know each other. Know other swimmers and their times and enjoy their successes. Support the team social functions and help when we need help.
How to Enter a Meet
To enter the meets you go to http://ome.swimconnection.com and follow the directions. Find the meet you want to enter. Click on meet sheet and down load it. The meet sheet has directions to the meet and other important details. Then go back to meet entries. At some point there is an option to be directed through the process. They will ask you for some information.
They will want to know your child's USA Swimming registration number. If you are new and you do not yet have your card you can sign up as pending. There is a formula to figure out the registration number. It is birthday, first three letters of the first name, middle initial, first four letters of the last name. So for John B. Faster who was born on October 5, 2001 the number would be 100501JOHBFAST.
The club name is Sequoia Aquatics of Marin but you can just write in Sequoia Aquatics. The club code is SAM and the LSC is PC for Pacific Swimming.
It is always best to have times so your swimmer is placed in the right heat. However you may not have all the times. Some meets allow no times(NT) but others do not. Please check the meet sheet. If you have summer league times for the event use those. If you have no time at all and you need one you can ask a coach. We can usually make an educated guess. For longer distances we use the following formulas.
- 50 = best 25 x 2 plus 8
- 100 = best 50 x 2 plus 10
- 200 = best 100 x 2 plus 20
If you have any further questions about meets feel free to ask. I can answer them but so can many veteran parents who have done it many times.
USA Swimming - Parents
Check out the link below for more information about being a good swim parent!