Sewanee Tigersharks

(RULES AND EXPECTATIONS)

The TIGERSHARKS Swimming program operates under two basic rules:

1. Respect yourself, your teammates, your coaches, and your opponents.

2. Do not do anything that would embarrass yourself, your family or our team.

GENERAL CONDUCT

Swimmers will have the following items for daily practice:

Suit, towel, and goggles and swim cap if needed

Water bottle. Each athlete should bring a water bottle with them to practice every day.

Optional equipment – fins, kickboard, pull buoy, and hand paddles

Each swimmer BEFORE Practice

• Will dress in the locker room
• Will arrive on deck with their equipment five (5) minutes before practice.
• Will put their equipment – kickboard, fins, and pull buoy – at their assigned lane

Each Swimmer DURING Practice

• Will stop talking or playing and listen to the coach when they hear – “eyes on me”
• Will hang on the edge of the pool when the coach is explaining the drill or swim set
• Will ask questions when not sure what the coach is asking them to do

Each Swimmer AFTER Practice

• Will exit the pool when told practice is over
• Will pick up their equipment and put it away or take it with them if it is their personal equipment
• Will dry off on deck and return to the locker room

Horseplay - wrestling, hitting, pushing, dunking, picking someone up, poking them – is not allowed

Harassment, bullying, or actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose will not be tolerated.

A coach will be on deck before any swimmers enter the pool deck and will remain on deck until all the swimmers leave the pool deck.

A certified lifeguard will be on deck during all practice times and swimmers will obey them. They will to make sure that basic rescue equipment is in place.

LOCKER ROOM EXPECTATIONS

Swimmers will change in the locker rooms and not in the upstairs bathrooms

Swimmers are expected to keep their areas clean – pick up towels, suits, goggles, etc. and close locker doors.

Horseplay in the locker rooms and showers is not allowed

Flushing toilets repeatedly or flushing “gobs” of toilet paper or other foreign object is not allowed

Junior coaches will oversee the locker rooms and will monitor the locker rooms. No towels or suits should be laying around after practice and all locker doors are to be closed

SAFETY

• Walk on deck as water on the deck creates slip and fall hazard
• Remove fins before getting out of the pool. There will be no walking with fins on as they are a trip hazard on deck
• Feet first entry only – NO Diving unless approved by coach.
• Be aware of water depth before entering the water at both competition and practice pools, always enter feet-first the first time.
• Swimming under the bulkhead is not allowed as you could become trapped under the bulkhead
• Swim in the diving well only with a coach’s approval and supervision -
• The use of the one-meter diving board only with a coach’s approval and supervision
• The one meter and three-meter diving is closed to all swimmers
• Swimmers should also be aware of the location of slopes or other depth variations.
• Racing Starts
  • When approved to do a racing start look before executing a head-first entry into the water and only enter with arms fully extended overhead.
  • Only use starting and head-first entries when given permission to do so by a coach at a swim meet or by the coach at practice.
  • Enter the water straight ahead from the deck or starting block.
  • Always do a shallow-angle dive when performing a racing start.
  • When practicing racing starts, never attempt to abort a poor racing start while it is in progress. Doing a somersault, pulling up quickly or rolling to one side is dangerous. The entry should be completed and the swimmer’s technique then corrected by the coach.
  • During a false start at a swim meet, never attempt to abort a poor racing start while it is in progress.
  • When entering the pool for backstroke practice or a backstroke event during a meet, enter feet-first and stay close to the end of the pool.
• Do not attempt a somersault or flip entry into a competition pool.
• Do not engage in horseplay or fool around on the starting blocks or at the edge of the pool.

ACCIDENTS - Injury is possible when swimmers:

• Misjudge the distance and get hurt by swimming into the wall.
• Hit the heels or ankles on the wall during a flip turn.
• Push off at the wrong angle—especially dangerous in shallow water.
• Push off the wall in the center of the lane, colliding with another swimmer.
• Horseplay

PRACTICE GUIDELINES

The warm-up procedures at practices are the same the swimmers will follow at meets. Always use a feet-first entry into the water. Remember racing starts are only allowed when indicated by the coach and are only allowed when instructed and supervised by a coach. Swimmers need to look before entering the water. Circle swimming is used for multiple swimmers.

When Circle Swimming swimmer will follow these guidelines:

• All swimmers keep to the right when using the counterclockwise pattern
• The start interval between swimmers, will be 5 seconds or past the flags to leave enough open water in front of and behind the swimmers to swim without interference.

• Swimmers are not to leave early.
• Swimmers should not begin a repeat before their send-off interval, since leaving early can lead to crowding and congestion in the lane.
• Passing shall only occur when the swimmer touches the slower swimmer foot and makes sure the passing side is clear. The slower swimmer will pause and let the faster swimmer go ahead.
• When waiting for send-offs swimmer shall be inline and hanging on the gutter
• When finished the swimmer shall keep the wall open for finishes by moving up the lane line.

PRACTICE AND MEET ATTENDANCE EXPECTATIONS

Swimmers are expected to attend a minimum of three practices a week. Just remember the more practices the more improvement one can expect. If a swimmer needs to miss practices due to such circumstances as family vacation, sports camp, or school camp these are excused absences. We ask the swimmer/family to let their coach know the week before for planning purposes.

Junior, Pre-Senior and Senior Swimmers are encouraged to attend morning as well as afternoon practices to improve stroke technique and conditioning.

Communication is key. If at any point a parent finds their swimmer does not want to come to practice after say three or four weeks of wanting to go, their coach should be notified. We may need to tweak our practices. Just remember swimming is not an easy sport and practices can be physically draining. Please let us know as soon as you sense an attitude change.

Swimmers must swim at least two dual meets during the season to qualify for Championships

Coaches will determine the events each swimmer will swim during the season and at Championships

MEET GUIDELINES

Swimmers should arrive at least 20 to 30 minutes before the scheduled warm up to allow time to set up and change into their suit and get their equipment.

It is expected that all swimmers will wear the team suit and if wearing a cap will wear the team cap.

Swimmers will, on their own, complete dynamic stretches taught before water warm ups.

Swimmers should be lined up in their assigned lanes 5 minutes before warm up start time.

Warm up procedures will be feet first entry and circle swimming. Remember racing starts are only allowed when indicated by the coach and are only allowed when instructed and supervised by a coach. Swimmers need to look before entering the water.

Coaches will tell the swimmers what they will swim during warm ups.

During warm up the swimmers will practice turns to make sure the walls are not slippery. They will also count their strokes from the flags for backstroke turns, and they will practice finishes.

Toward the end of warm ups the coaches will clear the lanes to allow racing starts under the supervision of an assigned coach.

After warm ups are over the swimmers will exit the pool and return to their set-up areas.

Swimmers who are 10 and under will write their name and age on the back of their right shoulder and write on their body, forearm or back, the event #, heat #, and lane # for each event they are to swim. Swimmers who are 11 and up are responsible for knowing their events and lane #’s.

Before each race the swimmer is to go to their coach for any instructions /reminders.

Swimmers, depending on age group will go to either the bull pen or the block area. If they go to the starting area they are to stand behind the lane they have been assigned and out of the way of the timers.

After each race the swimmer will go immediately to their coach to discuss their swim about what went well and where improvements could be made.

Swimmers who won ribbons will get them at the first practice after the meet.

MISCELLANEOUS

Parents may use the Fowler Center walking track, cardio room, weight room during practice provided they are paid member of the center.