If you have one or more swimmers in the meet tomorrow – we can
really use your help!

There are a handful of openings on the Job Signup page on Swimtopia.
Many of you probably know what these jobs are, but for those who are new (or
have heretofore chosen not to learn), here’s what we need and what the jobs
entail:

Assistant Clerk of Course – we give you a Heat Sheet (the
list of who is swimming in each event and in what lane) and you help the
coaches get the swimmers organized. The coaches will take the lead, but
sometimes they can use an extra adult to assist in the ‘herding’ process. It
helps to know who the swimmers are, but that is not a pre-requisite. Many of
them have their names on their swim caps anyway. Suitable for veteran or newer
parents, though if you are really new, I might point you to Timer (see below) instead. If you have ever wondered what it is like to be a Kindergarten teacher...

Automation Assistant – you are going to see and hear words
like “Scorer” and “Verifier” – ignore those words. They are relics of a
time-gone-by, when swimmer times were written down on paper (rather than
entered into a computer) and meet scores were manually tabulated (computer does
that for us now). These days, the home team provides a laptop and a person who
enters swimmer times into the special, you’ll-never-use-it-for-any-other-reason
software. In addition to that “Computer Operator”, each team provides 1-2
Automation Assistants (my terminology) who circle middle times, proofread and otherwise
sit comfortably during the meet. Suitable for veteran or newer parents (same
disclaimer about being really new).

Awards – another seated position. Once swimmer times are
entered into the computer, the automation people print labels that show the swimmer’s
name, team, event, time, etc. The Awards person/people take those labels and
stick them on the back of ribbons. The label will say 1^st/2^nd/3^rd/etc.
The ribbons will say 1^st/2^nd/3^rd/etc. and will
be different colors. Suitable for veteran or newer parents, as well as for
students seeking SSL hours. The good news/bad news disclaimer: the Awards
person/people do not start until after the meet begins, and do not finish for
10-15 minutes after the meet ends. There is a natural delay after the last
swimmer touches the wall – timers record times, runners collect timer sheets
and deliver to Automation, Automation enters times and proofreads results,
Automation prints labels… then Awards person affixes labels to ribbons.

Timer – everyone’s favorite entry-level position. You are
provided with a stopwatch and assigned to a lane. You attend a briefing where all
instructions are provided. You start and stop the stopwatch roughly 6000 60 times.
You socialize with the other timers in your lane (or adjacent lanes if you are
really chatty). You share in the joy of achieving matching times. You commiserate
about the weather (or concessions prices or whatever-the-heck’s taking so
long). Suitable for all parents, guardians, uncles and cousins.

Tent Crew Chief – new for 2026! We have new team tents. They
look great. They need to be transported to and from our away meets. If you have
a vehicle large enough to accommodate a tent, you are qualified for this role.
Meet at the Stonegate parking lot at 7am. Load tent in vehicle. Drive to meet.
We can get a crew to help unload and assemble the tent at Woodcliffe. After the
meet, reverse the process. Suitable for anyone who drives a larger vehicle. Can
be combined with another job.

Special ‘Easter Egg’ for anyone who read this far… the Heat
Sheet for tomorrow is attached to this email. Generally speaking, I try to remember to upload the Heat Sheets into Swimtopia on Fridays. To access them on a computer, go to the Meets
& Events tab. Under Stonegate vs. Woodcliffe (or whatever meet it is), you will see a link if the Heat Sheet is uploaded. Click on link to open. On the
App, I think you’ll need to click on Visit Website and then repeat those steps. On Wednesdays, I do not typically get the Heat Sheets ahead of time, but I will upload if/when I do.