How to Pack for a Swim Meet

Last Updated on March 19, 2023 by admin

**To correctly pack for a swim meet requires some pre-planning and consideration**

In this article, we’ll provide advice, hacks and tips on how to correctly pack for a swim meet or swimming gala.

Swimmers need to ensure they have all the kit, equipment, nutrition and hydration they will require for the competition, to enable them to successfully compete at their optimum.

Swimming meets/galas can range from team events lasting a few hours.
To open meets/galas lasting all day, through to swimming championships lasting several days.
They can take place in either indoor or outdoor venues.
Therefore, correctly packing for a swim meet requires some pre-planning and consideration.
Many swimmers find it very useful to produce a checklist, to ensure they pack all the essentials.

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Pre-meet/gala preparation

To avoid any unnecessary anxiety, it’s best to pack for a swim meet the night before the competition.

Remember the saying, ‘failing to prepare is preparing to fail’.
To enable identification of swimmers and to have a ‘team’ look, all swimmers are usually expected to wear their club’s polo shirt/tee-shirt or tracksuit when on the poolside/deck, and a team swim cap/hat when in competition.
Swimmers should ensure that every piece of the kit is named.
Swimming kit, especially club kit, is sometimes difficult to identify without it being named, and it’s common for swimmers to mistakenly pick up the wrong items.
Unmarked items usually end up in lost property.
Swimmers should ensure that everything is neatly put away in their kit bag when they are not using it, especially during warm-ups and races.
This will ensure that items such as goggles and hats/caps can be quickly located before they are needed for an event.

**Poor nutrition or hydration can have a negative effect on a swimmer’s performance**

Pre-event nutrition and hydration

Swimmers require a large quality of nutrition and hydration during competition.

This requires careful consideration when it comes to packing for a swim meet, as poor or inadequate nutrition and/or hydration can have a negative effect on a swimmer’s performance.

Pre-competition meals

Swimmers should eat a meal 1 to 3 hours before training, accompanied by a drink of water. Some examples of nutritious and healthy pre-training meals include,

Jacket potato with cheese, tuna or baked beans plus salad
Pasta with tomato-based sauce or pesto, with vegetables
Rice or noodles with chicken, fish or beans
A sandwich filled with tuna, cheese, chicken or peanut butter with wholemeal, granary or brown bread.

Pre-competition snacks

If a swimmer doesn’t have time for a meal, they should have a snack approximately 1 to 2 hours before the competition, with a drink of water. Swimmers should never compete on an empty stomach.

Suggested pre-training snacks include,

A banana (or other fresh fruit)
A handful of nuts (not salted)
A handful of dried fruit (e.g. raisins, apricots)
A cereal bar, fruit bar or sesame snap
A pot of fruit yoghurt and an apple
A couple of slices of bread or toast with honey
Two or three mini pancakes
A couple of rice cakes with peanut butter

Pre-competition hydration

To ensure swimmers are adequately hydrated before competition:

Swimmers should drink a pint of water (20 fluid ounces/just over half a litre) two hours before the start of the competition.
Swimmers should also drink a further half a pint of water (10 fluid ounces/just over a quarter of a litre) 30 minutes before the start of the competition.

Post competition Hydration

Swimmers should ensure they are fully hydrated, to start to aid the recovery process.

The best time to achieve full rehydration is within 30 minutes after the competition.

Recommended swimming kit

Money for a locker

Many meet/gala venues have changing room lockers, where swimmers can store their kit bags during the event. These are usually coin-operated.

Dryland warm-up

Dryland warm-ups are performed before a swimmer enters the pool, to ensure their muscles are warm and supple before swimming.

These are sometimes referred to as blood-flow stretching and are usually performed in two parts, first some warming-up exercises, followed by dynamic stretching.
Therefore, swimmers should pack their preferred dryland warm-up equipment such as:

Skipping rope
Stretch bands/cords

Pool warm-up

As swimmers often compete in different events and at different distances, most have differing warm-up requirements.

As a result, there is no standard distance or time for an effective pool warm-up.
However, most coaches prefer a pool warm-up lasting between 25 and 30 minutes.
This should include some kicking, with a focus on stroke technique.
Therefore, swimmers should pack their preferred pool warm-up equipment such as:
Warm-up costume
Swim cap/hat

All swimmers should wear a club swimming hat/cap for races and have a spare one available.

Galas/meets often have dozens of swimmers, swimming many events, it’s very difficult for a coach to spot a swimmer from their club who is not wearing a club hat.
Swim hats/caps tear.
Swimmers shouldn’t rely on you being able to borrow one from someone more organised than them.

Warm-up goggles

Swimmers should also have at least one spare (tried and tested) pair of goggles, or spare straps and clips.
Goggles can break.
Last-minute borrowed goggles may leak or fall off.

Pool buoy
Kickboard
Fins
Snorkel
Earplugs
Nose clip
Towel/shammy

Swimmers could be in and out of the water all day, so make sure they bring more than one towel.

Shammy Towels are just like a larger version of the ‘chamois’ leather that is used to wash a car, only this is a larger size.
This is very useful at all-day meets/galas, for preventing the swimmer’s main towel from getting too wet
Due to them needing to ‘dry off’ between warm-ups, competition and cool-downs.

We have included an Amazon affiliate link to the Speedo unisex sports/shammy towel. If you buy this via this link, you won’t pay a penny more, but we’ll receive a small commission, which helps keep us in the water. Many thanks.

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Deck/poolside clothing

Wet bodies can get cold even in the warm atmosphere of an indoor swimming pool.

Injuries to muscles are much more likely if you are cool or have cold muscles, so the swimmer should ensure they have some warm clothes, including footwear, as a lot of heat can be lost through bare feet on a cold/wet poolside.
Foot cramp in the middle of a race is very uncomfortable. Recommended deck/poolside clothing includes:

Team Tracksuit
Team Tee/polo shirt
Pool shoes, or flip-flops/sliders or clean trainers & socks

It may also be useful to have a spare plastic bag for the swimmer’s regular clothes and any other belongings. This will help to keep them dry while the swimmer’s kit bag is on the poolside/deck.

Deck/poolside nutrition and hydration

On the poolside/deck swimmers need to eat and drink small and regular amounts.

Swimmers should pack plenty of what’s good for them and what they like.
Make sure the swimmer has packed enough healthy snacks to maintain their energy levels throughout the competition, such as bananas, raisins, cereal bars and, sports energy bars.
Swimmers should have a healthy lunch and dinner if required, ideally pasta or a salad.
Ensure swimmers pack enough fluids to last you through the competition period.
Consume a small amount of fluid before and after all heats and races.

Keeping occupied on deck/poolside

The competition day may be a long one, so the swimmer should pack something to keep them occupied, such as a book, magazine, homework etc.

By all means, if the coach allows, take your MP3 players, hand-held game consuls etc. but remember they are the swimmer’s responsibility!

Kit for the race

Swimmers often have different costumes and goggles for racing, to those they use for training and warm-ups. It’s important that these are tried and tested before they are used in competition. Recommended kit for racing:

Racing costume
Racing goggles
Team swim cap/hat
Team tracksuit
A tee shirt
Pool shoes and socks

Post-race

After their event/s, swimmers should ensure that they have packed all their post-race essentials, including:

Competition evaluation sheets

Some swimmers record their competitive performance for inclusion in their swimming log, on competition evaluation sheets. This should be regularly reviewed, to further monitor how the swimmer is progressing towards their swimming goals.

Outdoor venues

Outdoor events by their very nature are exposed to the elements.

Therefore, this should be taken into consideration when packing for an outdoor competition.
On hot sunny days, swimmers should stay out of the sun as this could have a negative effect on the swimmer’s performance.
Recommended items of kit for an outdoor meet/gala include:

For warm sunny days, swimmers may wish to pack

Sunscreen
Sunglasses
Sun hat
Plenty of hydration
Icebox/chest
Shade canopy

For cooler days, swimmers may wish to pack

A jacket/parka
Gloves
Hat

Overnight Accommodation

In order to be able to participate in certain events, the swimmer may be required to stay away in overnight accommodation.

The swimmer should ensure they have an early night.
Most children require about 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night.
Competitive swimmers may need more to help them fully recover from the rigours of training and competition.
A lack of sleep can have a negative effect on the swimmer’s performance.
Therefore, it’s important that swimmers make quality sleep as much of a priority as they do for training and nutrition.
Many swimmers find it difficult to get a good relaxing night’s sleep when staying away from home on the eve of the competition.
To try and aid a good night’s sleep, it may help if the swimmer packs their normal pillow/s, along with some earplugs and a sleep mask.
Swimmers may wish to pack a book and/or their MP3 player as reading and listening to music are great ways to help a swimmer relax.
Some hotel rooms have air conditioning, which could make the swimmer start to dehydrate; therefore, some water by their bedside is always a good idea.

Takeaway

Packing for a swim meet/gala takes pre-planning and consideration. Swimmers need to ensure that they have all the necessary kit, equipment, nutrition and hydration packed to enable them to successfully compete at their optimum.

Recommended swimming equipment

We have provided a recommended swimming equipment page, containing the swimming equipment that we and our swimmers use and recommend. You can access this page by clicking on the following link: recommended swimming equipment

Swimming Publications

EatSleepSwimCoach produces a growing range of publications on a wide range of swimming subjects.

These include competitive swimming drill publications for backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle.
Which are now available in both Amazon Kindle and paperback formats.

For information regarding our portfolio please follow the Swimming publications link on our website https://eatsleepswimcoach.com/publications/

Swimming resource library

We have provided a swimming resource library, containing links to all of our publications and blog articles. To access any article simply click on the attached page link: Swimming resource library

The Competitive Swimming Exchange – Facebook Group

We are members of the Competitive Swimming Exchange. This is a competitive swimming Facebook group to help exchange ideas and information to collectively improve the sport we love.

It’s an international group for all swimmers, coaches, teachers, masters, triathletes and swimming parents. In fact, it’s for all those who are interested in competitive swimming, either in the pool or in open water

For more information about joining this group please use the following link: The Competitive Swimming Exchange

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