During the season, there are typically two meets each week, "A" Meets on Saturday mornings and "B" Meets on Wednesday evenings. Placement in a meet is ultimately the decision of the coaching staff. ALL FAMILIES need to COMMIT to meets online to be entered.  See instructions here.

Deadline to Commit to B Meets - Monday before the meet

Deadline to Commit to A Meets - Thursday before the meet.

Generally, the swimmers with the fastest times swim in the “A” meets. These times are initially based on Time Trials, then subsequently on times earned in “A” meets and “B” meets throughout the season. The line-ups can change from week to week. Please be aware that some swimmers will swim in both A and B meets in the same week.

Meet Line-Ups will be completed by coaching staff and emailed as follows:

• Sat. “A” meets: on Fridays (the day before) at 8:00am
• Wed. “B” meets: on Tuesdays (the day before) at 8:00 am

What to pack

• Team suit and a spare suit
• Team cap and a spare cap
• Two pairs of goggles
• One or two towels
• Sweatshirt/pants in case it gets chilly
• Food
• Water
• Small quiet games or activities (books, card games etc.)
• Sunscreen

Time Trials

Time Trials is an unofficial swim meet that accomplishes several objectives. First, it allows coaches to get times for the swimmers in every event. Second, it allows new team members and their parents to get acquainted with the swim meet format and their responsibilities. Third, it allows new officials a chance to practice their jobs.

This is the only time scheduled for Time Trials; so as a result, we highly encourage all swimmers to attend to establish a time in all events! If a swimmer is unable to attend, please discuss alternative arrangements with the Head Coach. (Note: there will be infrequent opportunities for swim-offs during the season to help determine lineups for swim meets.)

Saturday Morning “A” Meets

Connecticut Belair participates in the Montgomery County Swim League (MCSL), an organization of 90 pool clubs within Montgomery County, www.mcsl.org. From the website: “The Montgomery County Swim League (MCSL) sponsors competitive swimming and other activities among the swimming pools and organizations in Montgomery County, Maryland. The goals of the program include helping young people establish a love for the sport of swimming, advanced aquatic skills, teamwork, and the principles of good sportsmanship.” All MCSL teams follow the Rules of Swimming established by the national governing body, USA Swimming. MCSL governs the league, certifies officials, manages competition through assignment of teams into “divisions”, and runs league-wide meets among other activities.

Connecticut Belair is one of the six teams in its Division. CB will compete against each of the other teams, head-to-head, during Saturday morning “A” meets. These head-to-head meets are known as dual meets. Additionally, we will compete against all five teams in the Division during our Relay Carnival and in the Division Championship Meet (“Divisionals”). During these two meets CB will swim against all other teams at the same time.

Saturday “A” meets typically begin at 9:00 a.m. (although warms up are much earlier) and generally end around 11:30 a.m. Swimmers should not leave a meet until it has ended, even if they have finished their events. If for some valid reason a swimmer must leave early, he/she must talk with the head coach before leaving.

For each of the two teams in an “A” meet, there are six freestyle swimmers and three each of backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly, for each age group. In addition there are Individual Medley and Relay Events. Swimmers who place 1st – 5th earn points for their team (1st place = 6 points, 2nd place = 4 points, 3rd place = 3 points, 4th place = 2 points and 5th place = 1 point). Swimmers who place 1st through 6th place receive ribbons. The team with the most points at the end wins the meet.

• For A home meets - Arrive at CB by 7:45. Warm-ups begin at 8. The meet begins at 9:00.
• For A away meets - Arrive at CB by 7:15 to caravan to the meet. Swimmers must report to CB Pool before traveling to an away A Meet or notify the coaches in writing that you will meet at the pool where we are swimming. This allows swimmers to check in with the coaching staff. If a swimmer does not check in, he/she risk being scratched from the meet and replaced by another swimmer. All the cars caravan together from CB to the meet.

Wednesday Evening “B” Meets

Connecticut Belair has relationships with several other pool clubs with which we schedule the Wednesday evening “B” meets. These are also head-to-head dual meets, just like the Saturday morning “A” meets, except that there is no cap on the number of swimmers per age group. CB will swim against some of these clubs in a “B” Relay Carnival, often scheduled for a Sunday morning. Though less formal than the “A” meets (we don’t keep team scores for “B” meets), the competition is no less exciting! Swimmers who place 1st through 6th place earn Place Ribbons. Younger swimmers who finish 7th place and up earn Finisher ribbons, and those who swim a personal best time in a given stroke are awarded “Personal Best” ribbons.

“B” meets begin at 6:00 p.m. (although warm ups are earlier) and finish around 9:00 or 9:30 pm, depending upon the size of the two clubs. After swimmers complete their events for the evening they are welcome to stay and cheer on teammates, or they are free to go as these can become late nights.

• For B home meets - Arrive at CB by 5 pm.
• For B away meets - Arrive at the pool hosting the meet by 5:00 for warm ups. The meets begin at 6 pm.

Eligibility for Meets

We typically swim unlimited heats during “B” Meets, so almost all swimmers are eligible to participate during these meets. In order to prevent the meets from going on too long, we do have some guidelines for participation in each week’s “B” meet.

The guidelines are as follows:

• Competition weeks begin on Saturday (“A” Meet) and conclude on Wednesday (“B” Meet).
• A swimmer may swim each individual stroke and one IM only once during a competition week. Swimmers may not swim the same event more than once in a week.
• Swimmers who participated in 3 or more events in an A meet must swim the remaining events of the week exhibition (non-scoring) in the B meet. An X will be next to their time in results which indicates non-scoring.
• The purpose of an exhibition event is to get times for swimmers and to allow all swimmers equal opportunities to earn points for the team
• If a swimmer has 2 or fewer events in the A meet, they may swim their remaining events in the B meet for points .
• All times, exhibition or for points, count toward A meet qualification