How to Host a Meet

Hosting your club’s own swim meet is an exciting opportunity, and Swimming Wide Bay is here to help your club with the resources and support needed to host successful, competitive meets year-round. This page is designed to be an information hub to help your club easily apply for, renew, and manage swim meets across the Swimming Wide Bay region.

If your club is new to hosting a meet, here is some useful background information:

Hosting a meet - Useful information

Enhanced Club Profile

Hosting a meet elevates your club’s presence in the swim community, rallying your committee, volunteers, swimmers, and families around a shared goal. It also offers sponsors a chance to gain visibility among a wider audience in the Wide Bay area.

Revenue Generation

Club meets can provide valuable income from event fees, entry charges, BBQs, and raffles. Clubs have the flexibility to set their own event fees, and can choose to incorporate door entry fees into their entry fees if desired.

Why Host Your Own Club Meet?

Swimming Queensland classifies competitive meets into three categories: Development, Transition, and Preparation. Each meet type has different requirements, tailored to the needs of swimmers and host clubs. Here’s a quick overview of the different meet types:

DEVELOPMENT

For beginner-level swimmers.
Development Meet Synopsis [PDF]

TRANSITION

For intermediate skill levels:
Transition Meet Synopsis [PDF]

PREPARATION

For advanced swimmers gearing up for larger competitions:
Preparation Meet Synopsis [PDF]

Refer to the Swimming Queensland Competition Policy [PDF] for full details on competition guidelines.

Choosing the right meet type for your club is important. Consider these factors when selecting the right meet type for your club.

Swimmer Age Range

One of the key differences between the meet types are the age groups involved. If your club has a lot of younger swimmers, your club may be better suited to hosting a Development meet, whereas clubs with swimmers who are mainly older should look at hosting either a Transition or Preparation meet.

Club ‘manpower’ and experience

Different meet types run for different durations, and so vary in terms of the amount of Technical Officials and volunteers to safely run them.

8-Step Meet Hosting Process

Each year Swimming Wide Bay will distribute a Host Club ’Expressions of Interest’ form for clubs to apply for their preferred meet dates for the upcoming swimming season. This form is distributed to clubs in December of each year, with expressions of interest closing generally by mid-January of the following year. Clubs will be notified of their allocated meets with a confirmation email by end February.

In the Host Club ’Expressions of Interest’ form your club will be asked:

Date Preferences

You will be asked for your top 3 meet date preferences. Please note that from time to time Swimming Wide Bay may request a date change to optimise the overall meet calendar spacing for swimmers.

Timing System equipment & Operator Requirements

Confirm if you need assistance to hire equipment or source an operator for the day.

Lead Technical Official Team

Confirm who your club has available to officiate at your meet, and which roles you require assistance from Swimming Wide Bay to source.

Type of Swim Meets

DEVELOPMENT

For beginner-level swimmers.
Development Meet Synopsis [PDF]

TRANSITION

For intermediate skill levels:
Transition Meet Synopsis [PDF]

PREPARATION

For advanced swimmers gearing up for larger competitions:
Preparation Meet Synopsis [PDF]

SWB Events Calendar

>> Click here to keep up to date with our Meet Calendar.

After successfully being selected to host a SWB Club Meet, clubs must submit their proposed meet flyer to SWB for approval no later than 10 weeks prior to their meet, for transparency to allow swimmers and coaches the ability to plan.

Please submit your meet flyer to:
President@widebayswimming.org.au and
hello@widebayswimming.org.au
for approval.

In order to run your meet on the day you will need to set-up your meet in Meet Manager (MM) and load the event into Swim Central. You will also need to upload your Meet Flyer to Swim Central prior to your event going live.

Online meet entries are required to open 3 weeks prior to nominations closing, and can be earlier if the host club wishes.

The Meet Manager BackUp File (zip file) must be emailed to Swimming Wide Bay one day after close of nominations for your meet and at the completion of the meet.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us for help with creating your meet in Swim Central. We strongly encourage all clubs to contact us prior to publishing their meet, to assist you with checking to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible.

How to create a meet in Meet Manager

https://qld.swimming.org.au/sites/default/files/assets/documents/Guide%20to%20Creating%20your%20Meet%20Manager%20File.docx

How to create a meet in Swim Central

https://qld.swimming.org.au/sites/default/files/assets/documents/Creating%20a%20meet%20in%20Swim%20Central_0.pdf

Upon approval to run your meet, the Swimming Wide Bay region will appoint a qualified Referee to your meet. In the lead-up to your meet, your Chief Referee will be in contact to confirm which Lead and Support TOs your club has, and which ones you require SWB to provide. Reimbursement of any SWB-supplied Lead TOs is expected on the day of your meet.

Lead Technical Officials (Paid Positions)

These are our accredited Technical Officials who keep meets running smoothly and according to Swimming Queensland guidelines. A meet requires a minimum of seven (7) Lead TOs, including:

  • Starter
  • Inspector of Turns (x2)
  • Judge of Strokes (x2)
  • Timing System/Meet Mobile Operator

Note: Lead TOs can choose to volunteer their time unpaid to support their home club swim meet. If you have any difficulty sourcing or funding your TO team please reach out directly with Swimming Wide Bay.

Support Technical Officials (Volunteer Positions)

These roles now require no formal training and are unpaid, making it easier for clubs to engage their volunteer community & manage meet costs:

  • Check-Starter
  • Chief Timekeeper
  • Clerk of Course (Marshall)
  • Announcer
  • Timing System Operator Assistant/Results Runner
  • Back-up Timekeepers for Friday/Distance events

Although there are no formal training requirements for these positions, we do encourage people interested in these Support TO roles to become accredited. This will enable them to be eligible to officiate and be remunerated at our Swimming Wide Bay championship events, as well as continue on a pathway to officiating at State and National events. Please note that if your club needs to source Support Technical Officials from another club they are entitled to be remunerated for their time.

Remuneration schedule

  • Trainee TO (with online COES certification): $60/day
  • Accredited Level 1 (6+ full-day meets experience): $125/day
  • Accredited Level 2 (2+ years experience): $175/day
  • Accredited Level 3 (Referee & TOs with 4yrs+ experience): $250/day*
  • Timing System Operator/Meet Manager: Individually negotiated

*Note: Maximum of two Level 3 TOs at $250/day per meet

Running a successful Swimming Wide Bay meet requires the right timing equipment and a qualified operator. Here’s what you need to know:

Timing System Requirements

Different meets have different timing needs:

  • Development meets: You can use manual (stopwatch) or semi-automatic systems
  • Transition and Preparation meets: Semi-automatic systems are required

Hiring Equipment and Operators

Need timing equipment or an operator? Here’s how to get help:

  1. Equipment Hire: When you complete the ‘SWB Swim Meet Host Expression of Interest Form’, let Swimming Wide Bay know if you need to hire a timing system.
  2. Timing System Operator: You’ll need an accredited operator who can:
  • Bring and set up equipment
  • Load the meet file
  • Test the system before the meet
  • Check times for every race
  • Run the Meet Manager system throughout the event

Extra Support

  • If your club doesn’t have someone who can create the meet file, the timing operator can help – but this will be an additional charge.
  • Don’t have an accredited operator? Swimming Wide Bay can help you find one.

It is Swimming Wide Bay’s preference that meet entry list, self-marshalling list and draft timeline is distributed on the weekend prior to participating swimmers, clubs and Swimming Wide Bay.

NOTE: SWB must be cc’d into all communication with swimmers about your meet.

Please follow the below link in order to upload your final meet program (in PDF format) and your Meet Manager Backup Backup File (zip file). This must be emailed to Swimming Wide Bay one day after close of nominations for your meet and at the completion of the meet.

NOTE: after you have sent this program – NO CHANGES CAN BE MADE WITHOUT APPROVAL OF THE CHIEF REFEREE

Other document(s) you must print off and utilise on the day of your swim meet are below. These must be submitted with your results files as part of Step 8.

Swim Meet Safety Checklist

This must be completed by the Referee and Meet Director prior to the commencement of the meet, and the completed document emailed to hello@widebayswimming.org.au.

Checklist PDF here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11XUcd1daPQG52iqaJaft_8CHBubBM7oe/view

Congratulations on the successful completion of your meet!

The PDF results file must be emailed to qldresults@qld.swimming.org.au and hello@swimmingwidebay.org.au at the completion of the meet along with the Meet Manager BackUp File (zip file).

You will still need to upload your results to Swim Central – if you are unsure how to do this, read HERE.

The following documentation is required to be uploaded:

  • Meet Results (pdf file)
  • TM Results (zip file)
  • MM Backup (zip file)
Please email your files to:

hello@widebayswimming.org.au, and

qldresults@qld.swimming.org.au