A Meets
A meets are competitive meets that are swum on Saturday mornings throughout the summer. A meets keep a score, and at the end of the meet, one team or another will be declared the winner. These meets are swum against other teams in the Northern Virginia Swim League (NVSL).
How do I sign up for an A meet?
Click here for instructions on how to declare for an A meet.
Click here to declare for meets.
Swimmers should declare if they are available for every A meet at the beginning of the summer. Saying you are available does not mean you are guaranteed to swim in the meet - it just lets the coaches know you will be in town and can swim in the meet if chosen. If you forget to declare that you are available for the A meets, your swimmer may miss an opportunity to swim in them!
When are A meets?
A meets are swum on Saturday mornings; warmups usually begin at 8am for the home team, followed by warmups for the away team, and races usually begin at 9am. The A meets are usually over by noon, sometimes earlier.
Who swims in an A meet?
Not all swimmers will swim in the A meets. Our coaches will select up to three swimmers from each age group for each stroke to compete in the A meets on behalf of our team. Our coaches will generally use the team ladder - the list of fastest swimmers in each stroke on our team - to help them decide who will swim. However, note that other factors like availability, legality in a stroke, swim limits, a strategy designed to score the most points, and other factors all contribute to decisions on A meet participation.
What strokes do you swim in an A meet?
The coaches will decide what strokes a swimmer will swim in an A meet.
What limits are there for swimming in an A meet?
Each swimmer may only swim up to 2 individual events and up to 2 relay events.
When do you find out which swimmers are swimming in A meets?
Coaches will notify swimmers at the end of the week, usually on Thursday or Friday.
A meet strokes and age groups
A meets will have races for Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Butterfly, along with relays for each age group.
A meet age groups are: 8 & under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-18. There is no separate 6 & under age group in an A meet. (6 & unders may be asked to swim in an A meet, but they will compete in the 8 & under age group.)
Who is an A meet swum against?
We will swim one A meet against every other team that is in our NVSL Division for the summer. These teams are from all over Northern Virginia, which means we might have to make longer drives to get to these meets.
What is a swim-up?
In the event we do not have three swimmers available to swim an event in an A Meet, the coaches may ask a younger swimmer to compete in that race to help our team score the most points possible. Coaches will make every attempt to talk with parents before swimming a swimmer up, but if you would prefer your swimmer not be selected for swim-ups, please make sure to communicate that with the coach.
How do A meet results effect B meets?
Swimmers who come in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in an A meet race may be required to swim some events in the B meet as exhibition events. See the page on B Meets for more information.
What is the NVSL?
The Northern Virginia Swimming League was founded in 1956 to sponsor competitive swimming and diving in and among the community swimming pools in that area of Northern Virginia contiguous to the District of Columbia, and to develop in the children participating in this program a love for the sport, advanced aquatic skills, teamwork, and the principles of good sportsmanship.
NVSL is comprised of over 100 teams split among 17 divisions; Divisions are changed at the beginning of every season to ensure teams are competing against other teams which are likely to be similar in speed and strength.
