Kid Wrangling 101
Here's the good news: the hardest part about helping the kids get to the blocks is it's over right away! The bad news, is, of course, that the kids are nervous and excited for the medley relays. Getting everyone together needs to start before the anthem is played, because the 8 & U medley relays are Events 3 and 4, and often Events 1 and 2 are combined.
So, here's a guidelines for the medley relay
The order of events is: Back, Breast, Fly, Free. Say it with me! Back, Breast, Fly, Free. This means the first kid is swimming backstroke, from the blocks. Second kid swims breast stroke leaving from the opposite end after the backstroker arrives). Third swims fly (they may choose to dive in off the blocks for this, after the breast stroker arrives). Fourth swims freestyle, from the opposite end of the pool.
The order of the kids on the sheet is: the two kids listed in the left-hand column are kids 1 (back) and 3 (fly). These kids need to be escorted to the blocks. The two kids listed in the right hand columns are kids 2 (breast) and 4 (free). These kids need to be escorted the end of the pool, opposite the blocks. SOMETIMES the heat sheets will put numbers in front of the kids, to help you remember, but sometimes they don't. That's okay, because they are always listed in that order: left-hand column goes to the blocks, right-hand column goes to the end of the pool.
How you should organize the kids
When you are gathering the kids, it is helpful to organize them by who is going to the blocks, and who is going to the end, rather than grouping all four from a relay together. Since there should be two kid-wranglers, one person should organize the 1s and 3s left-hand column) for all our relay teams, and the other the 2s and 4s (right-hand column). **If you should find yourself without a parent partner, do yourself a favor and grab a parent of one of the swimmers in the relay and ask them to take one side or the other.
How to help the kids when you have them on deck
If the coaches are there behind the blocks or at the end of the pool, they will help with the above, but in the case of multiple teams of kids swimming relays, the parents can help.
- Double check with each swimmer that they know which stroke they are swimming.
- The first rule of backstroke is: stay on your back!
- How do we finish our breaststroke? Two-hand touch!
- How do we finish our fly? Two-hand touch!
- The swimmer who is up next may get into the water for their start ***once the kid swimming before them has begun their swim****(this typically applies to kids at the bottom of the pool). So as soon as the backstroker leaves, the breast stroker may slip into the water at their end. BUT they MUST keep one hand and two feet on the wall.
- The swimmer in the water waiting for their turn should make sure they stay out of the way of the swimmer coming toward them (who will wiggle in the lane, almost all the time, because they are small kids), so they are allowed to move back and forth in the lane, so long as they stay on the wall.
- The swimmer who is up next cannot leave the wall (or the blocks) until the swimmer before them has TOUCHED THE WALL. Help them judge that and yell, "Go!" at the appropriate time.
