GA Tech Championship Information – Please Read Carefully

We are excited to be taking 53 Dolphins to GA Tech Championships! Please read through the information below carefully, as there are several differences between a regular dual meet and championships.

Aquatic Center Address: 750 Ferst Dr, Atlanta. If you purchased parking, the parking lot is to the right of the aquatic center.

Arrival & Team Gathering

Please arrive at 2:30 PM and gather on the lawn outside the Aquatic Center.

The first Saddle Creek families to arrive should find a shady area where we can gather as a team.

Swimmers should:

• Wear their team shirt so they are easy to identify
• Wear their team swim cap during the meet

We will enter the building together as a team at approximately 3:10 PM.

Team Seating

Swimmers will be seated together in:

Section 203

• Row A
• Row B
• Row C
• Row D

Parents who are not assigned to monitor swimmers or working an official volunteer position should plan to sit elsewhere. With 53 swimmers attending, we need the majority of these seats reserved for athletes. GA Tech security is strict about parents sitting and not standing in aisles.

We are attaching the athlete check in sheet--if your swimmer or you know how to mark arms, please do so before arrival. With 53 swimmers, it will be easiest if this is taken of ahead of time. If you do not, have your swimmer tell a coach before. Keller did his best to get every swimmer in relays, but it is difficult when the numbers do not work out (example--we only had one 6 & Under boy swimmer).

Warm-Ups

Our warm-up time is 3:40–3:55 PM in the boys' pool.

Only coaches are permitted on deck during warm-ups. This information is provided simply so parents know where swimmers will be during that time.

Deck Access

Parents without an assigned volunteer position and official deck credential (armband) 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 one of the available positions.

Parking

Parking in the deck adjacent to the Aquatic Center is sold out for our session.

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.

Due to construction, access can be tricky. You will need to enter via Tech Parkway and follow the posted detour signs.

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.

GroupMe

Please join the GroupMe. This will be our primary form of communication throughout the championship meet. https://web.groupme.com/join_group/115502777/QcH0fppo

If you have trouble joining, email [email protected] and include the phone number that needs to be added.

GroupMe is also a great place to share pictures, updates, and celebrate swims throughout the day.

Live Stream

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.

Traffic Alert

There is a World Cup match the night before our session, and traffic around Atlanta is expected to be heavier than normal.

Please allow additional travel time and plan accordingly.

Volunteering

Volunteer sign-ups are available in SwimTopia-you can sign up just like in any other meet: https://saddlecreekdolphins.swimtopia.com/swim_meets

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.

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.

Coaches & Meet-Day Support

Good news—Coach Connor will be joining Coach Keller at GA Tech!

Our coaching and support plan is:

• Coach Keller: Boys pool and overall deck management
• Coach Connor: Boys pool and overall deck management
• Caroline Lanier: Girls pool point person
• Summer and team volunteers: Swimmer coordination and support
• Me: Communication and coordination from the stands

Important Swimmer Reminder

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

Order of Events

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.

We expect heat sheets tomorrow.

Once available:

• Coaches and parent volunteers will receive copies.
• Non-volunteering families will receive electronic copies.
• We will also send a championship cheat sheet showing the events in the actual order they will be swum. It is attached to this email.

GA Tech uses Hy-Tek, not SwimTopia, so the SwimTopia app will not provide live meet information.

Families who do not use SwimTopia for other teams throughout the year may want to cancel their SwimTopia Pro subscription after the season.

If you use Meet Mobile, championship results can be followed there (paid subscription required).

Awards

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, I can contact ASA and provide information on how to obtain it from their Johns Creek office.

Awards are typically finalized about 20 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 my front porch through July 2 at noon.