Thirty-one swimmers will be heading to Boston College this weekend for a Trials/Finals meet. (We’ll get into the Trials/Finals format below.) 

Our swimmers performed beyond expectations this last weekend at the UVAC Winter Classic. Our training is on track. So, as we head down to BC we can feel confident about our performances and look ahead to swimming in a large, fast pool.

Please read the meet information for this swim meet. No food on the pool deck. No metal or glass water bottles.

Trials/Finals Format

The primary USA Swimming mission is to prepare swimmers to compete in the Olympics. As swimmers compete at higher levels they will participate in meets that more closely resemble the actual Olympics meet format. Swimmers compete in trials in the morning  session and then, if they qualify, they swim in finals in a later swimming session. This weekend, for 12 & Unders the top 10 swimmers in the preliminary heats will qualify for the finals in the evening. The top 20 13-14 year olds will swim in the evening finals. The top 30 15-18 year olds will swim in the evening finals. 

At this meet the 13 & Ups swim their preliminaries(trials) in the morning. The 12 & Unders swim their prelims in the middle of the day. If they qualify, both 13 & Ups and 12 & Unders swim in the same finals session in the evening. Evening sessions run from roughly 5-8:30pm. Finals are fun. Music is played. Swimmers are announced. There’s more time in between heats. There are fewer swimmers on deck. Swimmers usually perform well during these sessions. These are long days. It’s all about the swim meet. Rest and recovery must be managed well. (Don’t go play laser tag in between Prelims and Finals)

How do I know if my swimmer qualified for Finals? Do they have to swim Finals?
Swimmers may scratch out of their finals if they do so within a 30-minute window following the announcement of the results from that events prelim. If they’re not properly scratched(or fail to show up) they will be scratched from the rest of their events for the entire weekend. If they have no more events they will be fined $100. Seriously. So, all of our swimmers will swim their prelim races. Communicate with Pedr by text if serious situations arise which will affect your swimmer’s participation any time in the next 6 days. Obviously, Pedr, Megan and John will be closely communicating with the swimmers throughout the meet and managing the scratch process. Finals heat sheets will be posted. We will let you know if your swimmer is expected in the evening finals.

Why do we do this? 
We’re at the midpoint of the 2023-24 season. Swimmers are in very good condition. This meet format will be used at the higher level championship meets in February and March. This “December Push” is part of the overload intended to stress the swimmers before the holidays. During the holiday break we still practice, but the training emphasis is different, there are no meets and we have a few extra days off. Swimmers will bounce in recovery from this “Push.” They’ll be primed for their first meet of the new year, January 6-7 at either Colby-Sawyer or WPI.