Hi all,

Welcome to all the new CHF Eel families. For those I have not yet met, I’m Bryan, the team’s Meet Volunteer Coordinator.

With our first home meet right around the corner (Saturday, May 30), I wanted to provide a quick overview of what to expect.

All families with a swimmer competing in the meet are expected to volunteer for a position during the meet. We are a relatively small team, so full participation from our families is essential to helping the meet run smoothly—and efficiently/quickly.

We will have two volunteer shifts. As long as we have broad participation, each family should only need to work one shift.

Volunteer sign-ups will open on SwimTopia next week. I’ll send reminders when sign-ups are available, but I also wanted to provide a brief description of the volunteer positions we will need to fill (see below).

If you are new to swim meets, don’t worry—the jobs are very manageable, and there will be plenty of experienced volunteers available to help, including me. If you have any questions about the positions or the meets in general, please feel free to reach out.

One more thing: the evening before each of our home meets, we will need additional volunteers to help prepare the pool for the meet. This usually goes pretty quickly (less than an hour). I'll send out details about this as we get closer to the date.

Cheers,
Bryan

Meet Volunteer Positions Overview

Timers
Timers use stopwatches to record swimmers’ times in their assigned lane. Each lane has multiple timers, including at least one volunteer from each team. One timer in each lane also serves as the recorder and writes down the official times on a clipboard.

Deck Runners
Deck runners collect timing sheets and DQ slips from timers and Stroke & Turn judges and deliver them to the scorer’s table. They may also help distribute water to timers and other volunteers during the meet.

Ribbon Distributors
Ribbon distributors hand out heat ribbons to younger swimmers (10 & under) after their races. These ribbons are unofficial, but please do your best to distribute them accurately.

Ready Bench
Ready Bench volunteers help organize swimmers during the meet by lining them up in the correct event, heat, and lane order and guiding them to the blocks. You will receive an updated heat sheet upon arrival; please use that version, as it may include last-minute changes.

Concessions Pick-Up
This volunteer picks up pre-ordered concessions before the meet begins. A great option for early risers or those who want to spend more time watching the meet.

Concessions Stand
Concessions volunteers help sell food and drinks in front of the pool office. We will have two shifts, with additional volunteers needed during the busier second shift.

Awards Ribbon Maker
This volunteer adds swimmer name/time labels to official placement ribbons as they are printed near the scorer’s table.