Before you enter a meet, talk to your coach about the entry procedures your club uses for meets. In Pacific Swimming, clubs usually decide what meets they will attend, then the entry forms are filled out and submitted (either online or by mail) by each family. However, for some meets (league and zone championships, for example) and on some clubs, all of the individual entries for the club are submitted together by the coach. Your coach can tell you what procedure is used at your club.

Generally the deadline for entries into a meet is about 10 days before the meet, but it may be advisable to get your entries in much sooner than this, especially in cases where the meet has an entry cap (a limit on entries) and is expected to fill up. Again, talk to your coach for details and advice.

If you are a new swimmer, you will need to complete your registration with Pacific Swimming/USA Swimming before you will be able to check in and swim at your first meet. Follow this link for more information on becoming an athlete member of Pacific.

Please note also that meets in Pacific normally do not permit deck entries (that is, entries on the day of the meet). If deck entries are permitted or required, the option will be described in the meet information sheet, or publicized on the Meet Schedule page of this web site.

Most meets offer you the option of entering the meet online or by mail. Entering a meet online allows you to receive immediate confirmation of your entry into the meet. The online entry web site will also tell you if the meet has reached its entry cap and is no longer accepting entries. Please note that online entry services normally charge a processing fee for the use of their service in addition to the entry fee you are required to pay to enter the meet. The use of online entry services is voluntary and in no way required or expected of a swimmer.

If you enter a meet online, you should print out a copy of the confirmation e-mail that you receive from the online entry service provider and bring it with you to the meet.

Please note that Pacific Swimming does not provide online entry services. These services are provided by third party vendors independent from Pacific Swimming. If you have questions or problems related to entering a meet online, you should address them directly to the service provider.

You may also choose to enter a Pacific Swimming meet by filling out a hard-copy entry form that includes information on the events you want to enter and your times, and submitting it to the meet host by mail or in person. A copy of the entry form is provided on the meet information sheet. The sample to the right shows a completed entry form of this type. (Note: the registration number currently in use in Pacific/USA Swimming uses a different format and has 14 characters instead of 12.) If you are asked for the code for your LSC (Local Swimming Committee), Pacific's two-letter LSC code is PC. You will need to mail or hand deliver this entry form, with the appropriate fee, to the address on the meet sheet by the deadline given.

When you complete the online or hard-copy entry form, be sure to enter your name and your registration number just as they appear on your current Pacific Swimming registration card. Use the correct code for your club (included on the Club List page on this web site after each club's name).

Also, be sure to enter only individual events for which you qualify (your coach will enter relays). For example, in a B/C meet you may not enter events in which you have equaled or bettered an A time. Also as an example, in an A+ meet you may only enter events in which you have achieved an A time or better. Enter your best time for each event. If you are using times achieved in a short course meet to enter a long course meet, or vice versa, please read the section on short course times and long course times below.

Before every meet, the current registration status of all the swimmers entered in that meet is verified with the Pacific Registration Chairman. If the Registration Chairman has not received your registration before the date of a meet you have entered, you will have to register at the meet and must pay a surcharge of $10.00 in addition to the normal registration fee before you will be allowed to check in. You are strongly encouraged to work with your club to complete the registration process with Pacific Swimming before attending your first meet. See Section 3.B.1 in the Pacific Rules and Regulations for additional information on registration. If you are entering a meet "on the deck" -- that is, at the meet rather than in advance -- you should bring your current Pacific Swimming registration card with you so the host club can verify your membership.

If you arrive at a meet and discover that your name, age, or club are not printed correctly in the meet program, correct the error with the computer operator at the meet. Again, please enter your name and your registration number just as they appear on your current Pacific Swimming registration card. In order to maintain accurate lists of best times, the name and registration number you use on your entry must be consistent with Pacific's records.

Most meets in Pacific are deck-seeded. In this type of meet, you must check in with the clerk of course if you wish to swim in an event. If you do not check in for an event, or if you indicate when you check in that you do not want to swim the event, you will not be seeded into the event and there is no penalty if you miss the event.

So that events can be seeded and the heat and lane assignments prepared and posted, close of check-in for all events shall be no more than 60 minutes before the estimated time of the start of the first heat of the event. However, no event shall be closed more than 30 minutes before the scheduled start of the meet.

About 30 minutes before the estimated start time of each event, heat and lane assignments for those who have checked in to swim the event will be posted near the starting blocks. Once you get your heat and lane assignment, you're free to talk with your coach to plan your race, and to make your way to the starting blocks in time for your heat. Be sure to pay attention at this point so that you're ready to swim when your heat is called to the blocks.

If you've checked in for an event but decide later that you want to scratch, you can always go back to the check-in desk and scratch if the event hasn't been closed for seeding. If an event you've checked in for has already closed and you do not want to swim, see the referee on deck (that's the person with the whistle and clipboard standing next to the starter).

Occasionally, meets in Pacific are pre-seeded. In this case, there is no pre-event check-in. You will automatically receive a heat and lane assignment for each of the events you've entered. You are not penalized if you do not swim an event that you've entered.

In a zone sponsored age group meet, which is the kind of meet you're most likely to enter as a novice swimmer, there is no penalty if you check in for an event and then fail to appear at the blocks ready to swim when your heat is called.

In Pacific-sponsored age group meets such as Far Westerns, Junior Olympics, and holiday Age Group Open meets, as well as in all Pacific senior meets, you are subject to a penalty if you check in for an event and fail to appear at the blocks when the heat is called.

In meets which include trials and finals heats, there are significant penalties if you check in to swim trials or finals and then fail to appear at the blocks when your heat is called. For more information, follow this link to Pacific Swimming's Rules and Regulations, Section 3.B.5.b, which covers scratch rules, check-in procedures, and the penalties for missing an event. It is extremely important for swimmers entering meets with trials and finals heats to understand these procedures and the penalties involved.

Note that the no-show penalty that applies in a particular meet in Pacific is always noted in the meet information sheet for that meet.

Meets in Pacific Swimming are swum in both short course (25 yard or, occasionally, 25 meter) and long course (50 meter) pools.

Pacific's Rules and Regulations do not require time conversions when using a time achieved in one course to enter a meet in another course, but they do specifically require that when you have achieved a specific class level (for example, B or A) in an event in one course, you are considered to be qualified at that same level in all courses. Accordingly, you must always enter a time which maintains the class for which you've qualified in an event.

For example, if you've achieved an A time in an event at a short course meet but have never swum the event or have never achieved at this level in the event at a long course meet, you must enter at least a minimum long course A time when you enter this event in a long course meet.

For higher-level meets that require that entry times be proved (such as Junior Olympics, Far Westerns, and certain meets in Pacific's senior program), meet entry time standards will be provided in both short course and long course, and you may enter a qualifying time achieved in either course.