I did it. I finally got the guts to sign up for my first masters swim meet. I am a little nervous (ok a lot nervous!) about it. From what I have read on here, the atmosphere at most places is pretty friendly and welcoming. Would anyone like to share anything with me on what to expect? How different is it than an age group (other than the obvious lack of kids and parents running around) meet or a high school meet? Those are my only meet experiences. I don't think that it is a large meet, but I am a little nervous about how this whole "masters" thing works.
Thanks!
My first meet experience was horrible. First off, I had to pay to park. Then I had to shower before entering the pool and the water was ice cold. I'm sure I had pre-entered but when I got there they had no record of me and I had to re-enter all over again, and pay another registration fee. After that was done I'm ready to swim my 1st event, get to the blocks, and then they tell me they had to change the order of events for some reason, so I had to step down (I was the only one standing on the blocks so I felt foolish). I forgot to add, when I got to the meet I realized that I didn't bring a racing suit so I had to swim in bermuda shorts. During my first race my swim cap split and was flapping on the top of my head. Also, my goggles cracked and were leaking water duing the entire swim. I didn't eat enough for breakfast so my stomach was upset and I was feeling nauseous for all my swims. During my races, the other swimmers would spit in my lane (not just the ones next to me, but every one in that heat would come over and spit, even the judges). Finally, for each and every race I could tell that the timers would start the watch 1 or 2 seconds before the gun went off and I'd have to get their attention when I finished and tell them to stop the watch. It was not a good experience at all…
Just kidding…my first meet was a lot of fun and I think you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who'll tell you otherwise. The folks I've met at meets are a bunch of easy-going people, almost too easy-going…I wonder what they're up to…
:bliss::banana::bouncing:
My first meet experience was horrible. First off, I had to pay to park. Then I had to shower before entering the pool and the water was ice cold. I'm sure I had pre-entered but when I got there they had no record of me and I had to re-enter all over again, and pay another registration fee. After that was done I'm ready to swim my 1st event, get to the blocks, and then they tell me they had to change the order of events for some reason, so I had to step down (I was the only one standing on the blocks so I felt foolish). I forgot to add, when I got to the meet I realized that I didn't bring a racing suit so I had to swim in bermuda shorts. During my first race my swim cap split and was flapping on the top of my head. Also, my goggles cracked and were leaking water duing the entire swim. I didn't eat enough for breakfast so my stomach was upset and I was feeling nauseous for all my swims. During my races, the other swimmers would spit in my lane (not just the ones next to me, but every one in that heat would come over and spit, even the judges). Finally, for each and every race I could tell that the timers would start the watch 1 or 2 seconds before the gun went off and I'd have to get their attention when I finished and tell them to stop the watch. It was not a good experience at all…
Just kidding…my first meet was a lot of fun and I think you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who'll tell you otherwise. The folks I've met at meets are a bunch of easy-going people, almost too easy-going…I wonder what they're up to…
:bliss::banana::bouncing:
