Wanting to Compete Someday

You can start your search here: https://www.usms.org/events

Also, sometimes there are non-USMS events. Ask around with competitive swimmers at your local pool.

Got it!

Thank you so much!

Will I also need to wear a tech suit or a regular suit?

Your choice. I don't think you will feel out of place either way. Lots of women in tank suits and men in either endurance jammers or briefs at local meets. Tech suits are more common at the bigger meets like nationals, but a few folks still go low-tech.

V9Z2F welcome to USMS! Karl_S is exactly right. That link is the best way to find an event in your area. We also offer virtual events each month you can participate in: https://www.usms.org/events/fitness-events

Whatever suit you feel most comfortable in, will be fine. Our members have different goals for different meets so someone may be trying to break a club record in the same event that someone is doing their first event and that range of goals typically translates to the range of suits you will see on deck. Let us know if you have anymore questions. 

This summer, there has been quite the shortage of meets/events! I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because of the Olympics? 

Hey Karl_S!

Quick question.  Is there a link to more information about non-USMS events?  Because I was hoping to compete in a swim meet, and I can't seem to find that on the link from USMS website that you sent to me before.  

I don't know of a central source. Many states hold a "XXX State Games" and there is a "State Games of America". I've attended these and found them to be good meets. 

Other times, meets are just announced on bulletin boards at local pools. Try to get connected to the local swimming community. One of the local Y pools had a open-to-everyone meet for many years. That was very fun. An 80 year old would sometimes get a land next to 7 year old kid. They would sometimes toss in a silly event, like a t-shirt relay.

Colleges sometime have alumni meets as fundraisers. They will likely let you race even if you did not swim on their team. The level of competition can be very wide, from folks who are basically recreational lap swimmers to former NCAA competitors.

Years ago I did some races in my daughter's summer league. There were a few other adults who did the same, some without kids in the league. It's more common for women to do this than men in my experience. Summer leagues vary from extremely casual to very intense, I suspect the intense ones would be less receptive, but for the more casual ones, as long as you aren't taking a lane from a kid it seems all good. Sometimes they even needed me to fill out a relay, which was pretty fun.

It is possible to join USAS and swim in USAS meets. It's a bit of a hassle to learn how to do the meet entries, but it does open up more meets. USAS meets vary tremendously in the level of competition. Looking at past results and chatting with members of the local swim community can help identify meets with a level of competition appropriate to your skill level.

I think the late date for Spring Nationals had an impact too. There's a few LC meets locally that are usually in June but they didn't hold them this year because people were still training for SCY meets.