2021 State Swimming & Diving Coaches & Competitor Information

State Meet Information:  Congratulations on qualifying to the 56th Iowa Girls State Swimming and Diving Meet. It is our goal that you and your athletes have a memorable experience at the state meet. For things to go well, we ask that coaches and competitors read the information below carefully.

Competitors List and Entry Form: This form can be downloaded here. The form MUST be received by the State Office by 4:00 p.m. Monday, November 9. Forms should be e-mailed to Jason Eslinger at ([email protected]). No faxes. 

YMCA Gymnasium To Be Utilized by Teams:  Swim teams will have their team headquarters in the YMCA/YWCA gymnasium only (No belongings in the main pool or the cool down pool). Swimmers will be in the gymnasium or the cool down pool when they are not competing. All bags, coolers and team items are to be put in the gymnasium. There will be monitors in the gymnasium for swimmers to view the races as well as personnel to help swimmers report to their races.  Competitors may also utilize the east side bleachers to sit if they have upcoming events. To gain access to the east side seating, swimmers should enter and exit the pool area through the south doors of the wet hall. No spectators will be allowed in the gymnasium.

COACHES AND COMPETITOR SEATING: There will be a seating section for coaches on the south side of the natatorium and there will be a portion of the southwest corner of the deck to stand.

Competitor Seating: There are two areas for competitors to view the meet. Competitors may utilize the first three rows of bleachers on the south stands and also sit on the bleachers on the east side of the pool. We want everyone to cheer on their teammates but respectfully ask competitors to utilize the gymnasium or warm-up pool if none of their teammates are competing so other swimmers may utilize the available space to cheer on their teammates.

No competitors will be allowed in this deck area.  Coaches will situate themselves so that the deck official in that area will not be hampered in performing his/her duties. Coaches should also stay out of the staging area where the event and award parades are being organized. 

No Event Parades During Friday’s Preliminary Meet: There will be no event parades before each event on Friday night. Competitors will need to report to the blocks on their own. There will be closed-circuit monitors in the gymnasium along with available personnel to help alert competitors report. However, it is the athlete’s responsibility to report to the starting blocks.

Grand March on Friday – Please read carefully. The grand march of teams will rerun and takes place on Friday night. When the pool closes at 4:45, teams must report to the YMCA/YWCA gymnasium to be lined up. Each team will have an Olympic-style placard that has the school name on it that they will carry as they march into the gymnasium. Teams will march in alphabetic order. Since athletes will be marching from the gymnasium, athletes must wear some sort of footwear for the parade. Once the march has ended, there will be a short presentation honoring the power point team coaches service awards and regional coaching and athlete meet award, followed by the National Anthem. Coaches, if you feel that your swimmers in the 200 Freestyle need to continue to warm-up they may do so after participating in the parade. Once your team has been recognized and lined up with the other teams, your 200 freestyle swimmers are free to return to the warm-up area to prepare for the race. If your team is not competing on Friday and will not be at the preliminary meet, please let me know for scripting purposes.

Team Photo Needed: Although we are back to having teams march this year, I'd like to have each team competing to email a team photo to me at [email protected]. I''ll incorporate those photoa to be shown on the screen when teams are marching. Please have the team photos to me by noon on Wednesday, November 10. 

PASS GATE: ONLY actual contestants (qualifiers) including one designated alternate per relay, head coach, assistant coach, and team manager may enter through the pass gate. Packets with bag tags and deck passes are to be picked up at the pass gate. Reminder, only coaches employed by the school will be allowed on deck. This does NOT include club and volunteer coaches. DECK PASSES WILL BE LIMITED TO THREE (3) PER SCHOOL - NO EXCEPTIONS. A purchased wristband will not allow deck access. You MUST have a deck pass. Schools that make passes available to non-school coaches, parents or athletes in addition to those who qualified risk forfeiture of team allowance.

MANAGER’S PASS: To keep the south deck less congested, a  pass for your team manager will be in included in your packets. The pass is designated for managers and gives them access to the back hall, gymnasium, and warm-up/cool-down pool. It does NOT give them access to any deck areas. We are trying to keep this area restricted only to coaches with deck passes. 

DIVING SHEETS: We ask coaches to turn in diving sheets during warm-up for computer operators to input data. Finalized diving sheets must be filled out and turned in to the Diving Referee no later than 9:00 a.m. Friday morning. A reminder, the Excel-based diving sheet must be used. Click hereto download the Diving Sheet. No swimming competitors will be allowed on deck during the diving competition Friday morning - all must be in the bleachers. Diving awards will be presented immediately following the diving competition.

NOTE: The natatorium will be cleared immediately following the diving competition and the natatorium will be closed as YMCA/YWCA personnel prepare for the Friday night preliminary meet. Competitors, coaches, and team personnel may go back to the gymnasium. The competition pool will not be open until 3:00 p.m. for warm-ups on Friday afternoon.

REC POOL (WARM-UP/COOL-DOWN): NO INDIVIDUAL is to be on the equipment (slide, boat, etc.) in the rec pool. The Rec Pool area is specifically for swimmers to warm-up or cool-down. Should an athlete be observed on the equipment, they will be disqualified from the meet. Team are not to use the warm-up pool for team headquarters.

Meet schedule

Session 1: Friday, November 12 – State Diving
8:00 a.m. – Pass gate opens for team
9:00 a.m. – Pool opens for warm-ups (divers only)
10:00 a.m. – Doors Open to Public (general admission)
10:50 a.m. – Divers Meeting
11:00 a.m. – State Diving Meet
Following the completion of the State Diving Meet, the YMCA pool will be cleared of spectators before the start of Friday night prelims.

Session 2: Friday, November 12 – Swimming Preliminary Meet
1:30 p.m. -  Doors open for swim teams
2:30 p.m. – Coaches Meeting
2:45 p.m. – Swimmers Meeting (in the gymnasium)
3:00 p.m. – Warm-ups
3:30 p.m. – Doors Open to Varsity Bound ticket holders (general admission seating)
4:00 p.m. – Doors open to the general public (general admission seating)
4:45 p.m. – Pool Closes to Swimmers
5:00 p.m. – Parade of teams/IHSCCA power point recognition award/IHSSCA Regional Awards/IHSSCA Coach /Athlete of the Year recognition/National Anthem, Start of prelim Meet

Session 3 – Saturday, November 13 – State Swimming Finals
8:30 a.m. — Swim teams may enter the YMCA
9:00 a.m. — Coaches’ meeting
9:30 a.m. — Pool opens for warm-ups
10:30 a.m. — Doors open to Varsity Bound ticket holders (general admission seating)
11:00 a.m. — Doors open to Public (general admission seating)
Noon  — Hall of Fame Ceremony/Golden Plaque of Distinction Award/Swimming Finals

FRIDAY SWIMMING WARM-UPS: Before the start of the Friday evening competition, your competitors must be advised that in the interest of safety and establishing proper warm-up conditions, swimmers will use the pool as follows: 

  • 3:00 to 3:35: all eight lanes will be used for lap (circle) swimming. 
  • 3:35 to 4:10: Lanes 6, 7 & 8 circle swim, lanes 3, 4 & 5 relay exchanges deep end/turns shallow end, lanes 1 & 2 for sprints
  • 4:10 to 4:45: lane 8 will be used for lap (circle) swimming. Lanes 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 will be used for sprints. This leaves lanes 4 and 5 in the deep end for relay starts with the shallow end being utilized for turns. 

SATURDAY SWIMMING WARM-UPS

  • 9:30 to 10:15: all eight lanes will be used for lap (circle) swimming
  • 10:15 to 11:00 lap (circle) swimming will continue in lanes 6, 7 and 8. Lanes 3, 4 and 5 in the deep end will be used for relay take offs with the same lanes in the shallow end being utilized for turns. Lanes 1 and 2 will be used for sprints. 
  • 11:00 to 11:45: lane 8 will be used for lap (circle) swimming. Lanes 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 will be used for sprints. This leaves lanes 4 and 5 in the deep end for relay starts with the shallow end being utilized for turns.

Saturday Event Parades: There will an event parade before each heat during Saturday's finals. 

AWARDS: The top six place winners in each event will be presented awards at the awards stand. To prepare for the awards presentation, the first six place finishers are to report to the southeast corner of the pool located next to the door of the warm-up pool one event following their race. At the appropriate time, award recipients will parade to the awards stand to be presented with their medals. Competitors recognized on the awards stand must be dressed appropriately. This means warm-up or other school-issued clothing must be worn over the suit. Coaches, please remind your swimmers - to be recognized on the awards stand, they must report to the appropriate location at the appropriate time. We will wait a reasonable time for your athletes to report, but we will not hold up the flow of the meet waiting for them. We will proceed without your athlete if they fail to report in a reasonable time frame. Team trophies for first, second and third place teams will be presented at the end of the meet. The awards and parade itineraries can be downloaded by clicking here.

AWARD PACKETS: All competitors will receive a medal. Award stand finishers (1-6) will receive medals with ribbons. The 7th-through-32nd place will receive medals with their placing listed. Packets for all competitors and results are to be picked up by the coach following the conclusion of the meet from Sherry Tegtmeier, located in the office adjacent to the coaches’ break room. PLEASE REMEMBER TO PICK UP YOUR AWARDS AFTER THE MEET.

STREAMING OF THE MEET: Free live streams of Friday's Diving and preliminary meet along with Saturday's finals will be posted on the IGHSAU website before the start of Friday's diving meet. This stream will also be available to swimmers to view in the gymnasium.

MERCHANDISE: Fine Designs is selling merchandise both on site and online.  Programs will also be on sale for $5.00. 

Congratulations and best of luck this week.

Jason Eslinger, Swimming and Diving Administrator.