Barton Creek West Barracudas

Have you got a question about Swim Team you'd like answered? A helpful tip you'd like to share? Use the Contact Us tab to submit and we will answer your question or post your tip on this page.

Signup for jobs during registration and can't remember?  No worries!

Just "login" at the top right of the www.bcwbarracudas.com web page. Then go to "My Account".  You will be able to find your volunteer roles on that page.

The job info will also be available on the Schedule -> Swim Meets & Events page as we get closer to the events.

The BCW Swim Meets 101 presentation provides an excellent overview of our pool layout, summarizes our meet operations, and answers some common questions.

Relays are a constant source of questions from parents. How are they formed? How do I know if my child is swimming? Does my child have to swim relays? We hope this FAQ answers all these questions and many more.

Relays reflect the “team” aspect of the swim team and are an opportunity to compete together to a shared goal. Most importantly, relays are really fun and are intended to be that way! They build team spirit and help kids really feel a partnership with their fellow Barracudas.

Being placed on a relay team is a privilege and sometimes involves asking our swimmers to step outside their personal comfort zone for the good of the team. For example, swimmers might be asked to: swim-up to an older age group to complete a team, welcome a much younger swimmer to complete their team, swim a less-favored stroke to compose the fastest team, swim on relays separate than specific friends, and/or arrive early or stay late to help avoid a scratch for the teammates depending on them.

Please carefully read through the information below to better understand how these awesome events work.

What kinds of relays do we swim at meets?

There are two(2) types of relays we swim at meets, though some meets may be exceptions. Always check meet entry details carefully for changes to the events and order before entering.

(1) the Medley Relay (ages 7 and above). The Medley Relay consists of 4 kids each swimming a different stroke for one length of the pool in the following order: Backstroke (1), Breaststroke (2), Butterfly (3), and Freestyle (4). Look at the heat sheet to see when the events will be held and which swimmer is swimming which stroke.

• In most meets, these relays are usually events #11 through #18 on the heat sheet.
• Swimmers MUST have a current, legal time in a given stroke to swim that stroke in the medley relay. The computer will not pull a non-qualified swimmer into a stroke s/he does not have a valid time in.
• Stroke assignment is completed by the computer to create the fastest possible relay teams and swimmers selecting medley relay should be prepared to swim in any stroke that s/he has a qualifying time in. Attempts to change or prefer a certain stroke are not considered.
• Note that the order of strokes in the medley relay is different from the order swam in the Individual Medley (IM) individual event, in which one swimmer swims one length of the pool of each stroke in the following order: Butterfly, Backstroke, Breastroke, Freestyle.

(2) the Freestyle Relay (all age groups). The Freestyle Relay consists of 4 kids each swimming freestyle for one length of the pool.

• In most meets, these relays are events #9 and #10 for ages 6 and under and events #59+ for ages 7 and above.
• Almost all swimmers are eligible to swim on a freestyle relay team.
• Swim-ups, intrasquad programs, or other specific meet logistics may shift the order so always check meet entry details carefully for changes.

How are relay teams formed?

Our policy is that relays are computer-generated by fastest time, but our coaches evaluate and adjust if needed. This means that each meet’s relays are generated based upon their previous recorded times from official AHSL meets according to AHSL guidelines to generate the fastest teams using the available swimmers at that particular meet in that particular age group. Coaches sometimes make slight adjustments in the best interest of some age groups or overall team, but individual preferences other than no swim-ups and availability don’t factor into those adjustments.

At most meets, we are able to form 2-3 relays per age group, with most dual meets limited to 3 per age group per team and tri-meets limited at 4 per age group per team. So if there are more than 12 kids in an age group (and many of our younger age groups are very large), not all of them will be in a relay. Our goal is to get as many kids in relays as possible… which might also mean that your child will be asked to swim with older kids to fill out a relay team.

How do I RSVP properly for relays?

When signing up for a meet you plan on attending, you have four options concerning relays:

• Attending this meet and available for ANY relays (willing to swim in both relays)
• Attending this meet BUT cannot swim EARLY relays (i.e. arriving late)
• Attending this meet BUT cannot swim LATE relays (i.e. leaving early)
• Attending this meet BUT cannot swim ANY relays (not willing to swim in either relay)

Please note that the RSVP “lingo” is based on your timing schedule and NOT the type of relay since that can change based on the type of meet. Depending on swimmer age group:

• For swimmers ages 7 and above, “early relays” USUALLY means the medley relay and “late relays” USUALLY means the freestyle relays.
• For swimmers ages 6 and under, “early relays” USUALLY means the freestyle relay early in the meet BUT we can swim-up these young swimmers if needed (see swim-ups section below). If you absolutely need to leave early, please still mark “Attending, no late relays” or “No swim-ups requested” for your younger swimmer, so the relay coordinator has a full picture of availability.

If you are unsure if your swimmer actually will be able to attend a meet for any other reason, PLEASE only sign up for individual events and choose NO RELAYS. You can always withdraw from individual event entries with minimal meet disruption, and at least you will be able to participate if you end up available to swim. However, it’s a whole lot of work if you miss a relay with a domino effect of changes to the Heat Sheet that affect the Relay Coordinator, AGPs, Ready Bench, and Computer volunteers, and most importantly, scratching relays sometimes leaves 3 or more other teammates disappointed and sitting by the side of the pool.

Why is my swimmer not in a relay if we marked “available” for relays?

Please note that "willing to swim" doesn't always mean "will swim" when it comes to relays. It means your child is available to swim, and there are often more swimmers than open spots on relay teams. We try our best to include as many happy, swimming Barracudas on the team as we safely can each season, so some age groups have many more members than the usual 12 spots per relay. Don’t be daunted if you aren’t making those relays right away because we have opportunities that may help.

What are “swim-ups” and how do they work?

Swim-ups are when a younger swimmer is added to a relay team for an older age group to complete the team and avoid a scratched race. Luckily, our team can often use swim-ups for younger, large rosters to older, less populated age groups to help them complete their relay teams. As long as one of the four relay spots on a team is occupied by a swimmer in that age group, we can fill the rest with willing Barracudas!

Though a younger swimmer might feel daunted to be with “the big kids,” those older swimmers really appreciate the bravery of the young swimmer to step up and complete a team that would otherwise scratch. And most of our older swimmers remember swimming up themselves seasons ago, so it’s a great community building aspect to our team.

Still, if your swimmer is uncomfortable with the idea of a swim-up, check the “No swim-ups requested” box during each meet’s RSVP and the computer will only consider placement of that swimmer in a relay for their assigned age group. Clicking this button has no bearing on placement in your swimmer’s own age group’s relay teams but will make their overall relay chances less likely by limiting the other spots available to them.

How can I be a good relay teammate? (aka, the RULES stuff)

BE COMMUNICATIVE

First off, RSVP properly for each meet according to your schedule. If a meet falls during a possible dance call back or baseball tournament game, select “Attending, No relays” when RSVPing and do not cause churn for our volunteers for foreseeable conflicts. If fate allows you to attend and your swimmer would like to change their availability, they can simply tell the Athlete Check-in volunteer or Relay Coordinator when they sign in on time at the beginning of the meet.

If you realize that some unforeseeable circumstance, like illness, injury, or other non-scheduling issue, does unfortunately happen after the RSVP deadline for a meet your swimmer was marked as available for relays, please email [email protected] as soon as you safely can so the volunteer team can have as much lead time as possible to make these changes. We understand that life happens and appreciate any notice possible.

BE ON TIME

Perhaps the most important rule, if you're on a relay, PLEASE SHOW UP ON TIME. If your swimmer has not signed in at the swimmer check-in by FIFTEEN MINUTES BEFORE the start of the meet, s/he will be dropped from the early relay team and either replaced or the relay team will scratch. We must have a hard stop time to allow our relay coordinator to solve for these complex last minute changes, notify all the impacted swimmers and their AGPs, and get all the changes to Ready Bench and the Computers team according to AHSL meets rules.

Yes, even if your swimmer arrives after the relay check-in deadline has passed but before the event has been swum, the swimmer will be dropped from the relay team. If your swimmer misses the relay check-in deadline and must be replaced more than once in a season, we will no longer consider that swimmer eligible for early relays that season.

In many cases, our bench of available replacements may be very small or zero for any given meet, so one late arrival may cause an entire relay team to scratch, leaving 3 other kids disappointed. Again, if you don't think you will make it, please select "not available for relays" and if the fates align, your swimmer can notify the athlete check-in volunteer of new availability and perhaps sub in or try again at a different swim meet.

BE A TEAM PLAYER

Individual requests for specific strokes of medley relays or swimming order in freestyle relays cannot be honored because the relays reflect the “team” aspect of the swim team over the individual athlete needs. A swimmer selecting medley relay should be prepared to swim in any stroke that s/he has a qualifying time in and swimmers entering the freestyle relay should be prepared to swim a leg of the relay in the order the computer assigns them to. 

• 100 IM
  
  • 7-8 Girls
  • 7-8 Boys
  • 9-10 Girls
  • 9-10 Boys
  • 11-12 Girls
  • 11-12 Boys
  • 13 & Up Girls
  • 13 & Up Boys
• Freestyle Relay
  • 6 & Under Girls
  • 6 & Under Boys
• Medley Relay
  • 7-8 Girls
  • 7-8 Boys
  • 9-10 Girls
  • 9-10 Boys
  • 11-12 Girls
  • 11-12 Boys
  • 13-14 Girls
  • 13-14 Boys
• Freestyle
  • 6 & Under Girls
  • 6 & Under Boys
  • 7-8 Girls
  • 7-8 Boys
  • 9-10 Girls
  • 9-10 Boys
  • 11-12 Girls
  • 11-12 Boys
  • 13 & Up Girls
  • 13 & Up Boys
• Backstroke
  • Same as freestyle
• Breaststroke
  • Same as freestyle
• Butterfly
  • Same as freestyle
• Freestyle Relay
  • 7-8 Girls
  • 7-8 Boys
  • 9-10 Girls
  • 9-10 Boys
  • 11-12 Girls
  • 11-12 Boys
  • 11-12 Girls
  • 11-12 Boys
  • 13-14 Girls
  • 13-14 Boys