Your first masters swim meet

You will have a blast! Don't go in worrying about times. Go in with the mindset of having fun. You will meet some neat folk. When it's time to race, go race your best...forget about it. Good Luck!

If you're experiencing 'good' nervousness about doing your best, then let those butterflies do their trick! :) But if you are nervous about doing the wrong thing, swimming slower than others, or otherwise looking foolish, then put those thoughts right out of your head! You will be so, so pleased at how inclusive these events are. An example from the Auburn meet a few weeks ago: In the first one or two heats of each event there were usually a few folks starting in the water or diving off the deck because they couldn't or wouldn't climb up on the blocks. Then there were folks diving off the blocks for the first time in their lives! There were folks doing questionable butterfly and breaststroke manuevres. And then there were folks in the latest tech suits going for USMS records. We're all in it together. Have fun!

Yeah I know what to bring to a swim meet, believe me, I have been to enough of those :) I am just not sure in terms of what to expect from older swimmers. I don't want to be that person that is super-competitive when everyone else is relaxed or vice versa. I am swimming in the Frank Clark Masters Open in Greensboro, NC. I am considering swimming the one in Warrenton if this goes well. I am definitely going to try to swim at the Colonies Zone meet at the end of April. Thanks everyone so much for the helpful words. If this is any indication of what folks are like at the meets, I have no reason to worry :) You can make it as competitive as you want. You'll have a variety of swimmers there - enjoy!

You'll have a blast. If it's not that big of a meet, you will more than likely be seeded with both women and men. It threw me off a bit when I went to my first meet - was not expecting it. Most of the meets I have gone to lately move along pretty quickly... it kind of feels like a HS meet at times. Don't get too nervous - like the above posts says, everyone is friendly and welcoming! Have fun! Bring your own snacks and drinks because there usually isn't much available for ya at the pool/facility.

I guessed on my entry times. I swim scm in my workouts, and this meet is scy. That made it a little difficult to guess. We'll just see how it goes! Today the nervousness is more of an excitement.

I think the guestimates work better with shorter swims. A good coach can make the guestimates work pretty well. Prior to a meet, I asked my coach at the time (Ron Johnson) for help with seed times. This was at the end of practice, I had already gotten out. He told me to dive in and do a 50 (I don't remember, but I think around 80%). Based on that 50, he gave me seed times all the way up to a 500 free, and they were all very close. I think the 50 was spot on, 100 within 2 sec, 200 within 3 sec, and the 500 maybe off by 5 sec. I did have a bad experience at a meet once, and took it a bit personally. Over time, I've come to accept that the experience was limited to a bad apple and not the overall view of masters swimmers. My team had hosted nationals, I had just finished an event, and hadn't done as well as I had hoped. I shared my time with someone in the warm-down pool. He said something like, "Its people like you who make these meets drag on for hours." It took me a while to get over that comment, and other than that my meet experiences have been all positive.

me with someone in the warm-down pool. He said something like, "Its people like you who make these meets drag on for hours." It took me a while to get over that comment, and other than that my meet experiences have been all positive. What a jerk this person was!

What a jerk this person was! No kidding. Probably had their cap pulled down low to cover the big 'L' on their forehead. :bolt:

I just did my first master's meet on February 14/15th and LOVED it. How close is the meet to where you live? We went up on the Friday night before, and went and swam in the pool. If that is possible, I would highly recommend it! It went a long way in easing my jitters, and I wasn't so overwhelmed when we walked on on Saturday morning. My other bit of newbie advice is to talk to all the other swimmers! They all want to help, and are glad to have another person join their sport. Good Luck, and let us know how you do!

I am very happy to say that my first meet was a success (to me). I was scared diving off of the blocks--hahaha. Funny how when we are young we do anything and then when we get older we get scared of those things! I had a good experience and would recommend this meet to anyone in the area who is looking for a good low-key meet. I enjoyed meeting other swimmers and appreciated everyone's advice!