The optional GA Tech ASA Championship meet is a fun opportunity for your swimmers to compete against other swim teams from around Metro Atlanta. The kids really enjoy swimming in the 1996 Olympics pool and we always have a great time!

This meet runs a little differently, so please read all of the information carefully!

Aquatic Center Address:  750 Ferst Drive, Atlanta

Arrival & Team Gathering:  

• Arrive at (TBD) on Thursday (TBD) and gather on the lawn (in the shade!).  We will enter the building as a team around (TBD).  We get these times and dates closer to the event.
• Wear team shirt and team swim cap during the meet.
• If you know how to mark your swimmer's arm, please do so ahead of time.  If not, please have them see a coach.
• Also mark your swimmer's shoulder with their name and Saddle Creek in sharpie.  If you have a 6 & Under, put their first and last name on their back.

Team Seating:

• Swimmers will be seated together in (TBD).  Parents that are not assigned to monitor swimmers or working an official volunteer position should plan to sit elsewhere.
• The Boys' pool is on the left and the Girls' pool is on the right.  Keep this in mind when choosing your seats.

Warm Ups:

• Our warm up time is (TBD).  Only coaches are permitted on deck during warm-ups.

Deck Access:

• Parents without an assigned volunteer position and official deck credential will not have access to the pool deck.  If you would like deck access and the opportunity to watch your swimmer from poolside, you will need to volunteer for on the the available positions.    

Parking in the deck adjacent to the Aquatic Center can be found at this link.  It often sells out so do not hesitate to purchase it early. 

ASA provided the following overflow parking information:

Overflow Parking
W02 Lot
355 Ferst Drive

This is the Student Center parking deck and is within walking distance of the Aquatic Center.

Parking cannot be prepaid in this lot. You will either:

• Pay when you arrive, or
• Take a ticket and pay when exiting

Please plan for an additional 20 minutes to park and walk to the Aquatic Center.

If coaches post in GroupMe that they are stationed in front of GA Tech and you locate the drop-off area, you may drop your swimmer off with the coaches. However, please do not do this if you are among the first families to arrive.

Please remind your swimmers that once coaches or volunteers have moved them into the bullpen or staging area, they should remain there.

Every year we have swimmers leave staging to visit the warm-up pool. Unfortunately, if a swimmer leaves staging and misses their event, there is often very little we can do to get them back in time.

The warm-up pool is fun, but during the meet swimmers should be either:

• In the stands with the team
• In staging
• Swimming their event

For our 6 & Under swimmers, once they enter the pool deck with the coaches, they will remain on the deck until they have completed all of their events.

If we have enough swimmers to form a relay, they will swim the relay first and then be staged in the bullpen for their 25 Freestyle. After their 25 Freestyle, they will return to the bullpen to wait for their 25 Backstroke.

Once your swimmer has finished all of their events, please plan to have them sit with you for the remainder of the meet. As the meet progresses, our coaches and volunteers need to move around the deck to manage the older age groups and will no longer be able to supervise the 6 & Under swimmers.

All other swimmers are welcome to leave once they have completed their events, or they are welcome to stay through the end of the meet. Following the meet, we will gather on the lawn for team pictures, award announcements, and the distribution of medals and ribbons. We are also planning to continue our tradition of a team dinner afterward at a restaurant in Roswell, and we'd love to have anyone who is able to join us.

ASA typically provides a live stream of the meet:

https://www.youtube.com/@atlswim/streams

Unfortunately, the live stream did not work last year. Hopefully those issues have been resolved, but please note that we have no control over the stream if technical problems occur.

The championship meet follows a very different format than our regular season meets.

Important things to know:

• 6 & Under events are swum first.
• ALL relays are swum at the beginning of the meet.
• Relays that would normally appear at the end of a dual meet are moved to the beginning of the championship meet.  This means swimmers entered in relay events numbered in the 70s & 80's may actually swim very early in the session. It can be very confusing.  We will provide a heat cheet sheet digitally to help follow. 

• GA Tech uses Hy-Tek, not SwimTopia, so the SwimTopia app will not provide live meet information.  If you use Meet Mobile, championship results can be followed there (paid subscription required).

Volunteer sign-ups are available in SwimTopia-you can sign up just like in any other meet: https://saddlecreekdolphins.swimtopia.com/swim_meets.  We will not have these jobs listed until a few days prior to the meet. 

I have included as much information as possible in each job description. Several families indicated they would be willing to volunteer, and I specifically requested positions that provide deck access for our team.  Deck access gives volunteers poolside viewing of their swimmer. 

ASA is extremely well staffed with officials and volunteers, and they are generally very supportive of parents briefly stepping away to watch their swimmer race. Many of these positions provide some of the best views in the facility.

If you are splitting a volunteer shift, you will need to coordinate directly with the other volunteer regarding when and where to exchange deck armbands. A good time to do this is when we gather in front of GA Tech.

Championship awards are based on overall event results, not individual heats.

Awards include:

• Top 3 relay teams: Medals
• Top 10 individual finishers: Medals
• Ribbons awarded beyond medal places (typically through 30th place)

Occasionally a ribbon is missed. If your swimmer does not receive a ribbon they earned, we can contact ASA and provide information on how to obtain it from their Johns Creek location.  It will be up to the family to retrieve the missed ribbon/medal.

Awards are typically finalized about 20ish minutes after the meet concludes.

Families who would like to leave with their medals and awards should wait outside the Aquatic Center for Summer and the coaches to distribute them.

Families who leave before awards are distributed may pick them up from  Summer's front porch through July 2 at noon.

• Security: Georgia Tech now requires all spectators to go through security screening to enter the Campus Recreation Center. Athletes and coaches do not have to go through this screening. This includes metal detectors and bag screenings. Please build some extra time into your schedule to account for possible delays in entering the building. The less you bring with you the quicker you will get through.
• There are DQs at this meet-they occur every year. The Coaches will be our best source to find out what the DQ was.
• Remember 6 & Unders will finish during the first half of the meet. Coaches will be in contact with the attending parent to meet the parent.  Please make sure a coach or supervising parent knows that you have taken your swimmers with you. 

• Meets last between 3.5 hours to 4.5 hours depending on how many attend.  All relays occur at the beginning of the meet so if your swimmer is in a relay, they will swim early on in the meet.
• Due to the low number of 6 & Under swimmers who attend, 6 & Under swimmers are unlikely to be placed in a relay.  
• GA Tech is a large facility with a lot of swimmers and spectators. If your swimmer is hesitant or nervous at a regular meet, they may be nervous in this facility. 

1) A bag that can get wet--everything gets wet

2) Goggles

3) Arrive dressed in their suit

4) A sweatshirt --it got chilly for swimmers around the pool last year

5) Change of clothes--there are bathrooms on the deck for swimmers only, however, many will opt to change up stairs where the bathrooms are less wet

6) Water, healthy snacks, possibly dinner.  (If swimmers are on the deck, it may be tricky to get them to concessions and back to the deck in a timely manner without deck access)

7) Towel - you may want to have an extra, dry towel with you

8) Label everything & do not send items that can get lost. The coaches will clean up the area and will bring items that are labeled, but they will also be surrounded by other teams and will not be able to determine the difference if not labeled. 

9) Money for Merch-They do sell googles, swimsuits, pictures, t-shirts, and more at this meet. If you forget googles or swim caps, we will also have some with us that can be purchased through our team store if you forget yours. (Goggles $8, caps $10 from us).

1. Declare your swimmer(s) on the Sign Up Calendar like any other meet.  This is how we will know you plan on attending.

2. Pay the entry fee of $XX/swimmer to Summer. You can pay cash to Summer directly or via Venmo (@Summer-Bolte, last 4 digits of cell 4617). Payment and commitment are due by Wednesday, June 17 at 8:00 am.  Any requests to attend after the deadline will be subject to ASA late fees of $$50-70 per event.   Entries will not be submitted to ASA without payment. 

3.  Join the GroupMe.  This will be our primary way to communicate on meet day!