High School Swim Meets - What to Expect

Order of Events

The order of events is always the same in high school meets. You can almost always look up at the record board in the pool for a reminder of the order of events. 

• 200 yd Medley Relay (back, breast, fly, free)
• 200 yd Freestyle
• 200 yd Individual Medley (fly, back, breast, free)
• 50 yd Freestyle
• Diving (preceded and followed by a 10 minute warm-up period)*
• 100 yd Butterfly
• 100 yd Freestyle
• 500 yd Freestyle
• 200 yd Freestyle Relay
• 100 yd Backstroke
• 100 yd Breaststroke
• 400 yd Freestyle Relay

*If no divers, or if diving meet held at separate pool, there will still be a short dive break.

Scoring

Points are awarded based on place in Varsity heats only. For relays, only 2 relay teams are allowed to score per relay event per school team. For individual events, only 3 individuals are allowed to score per event per school team.

Relays:

Place 1 = 8 points

Place 2 = 4 points

Place 3 = 2 points

Individual Events and Diving:

Place 1 = 6 points

Place 2 = 4 points

Place 3 = 3 points

Place 4 = 2 points

Place 5 = 1 point

Scoring: Varsity points from the relays, individual events & diving are added. Once a team scores 94 points they have enough points to win the meet. Many coaches will swim exhibition (which means no additional points are awarded for placing) after they pass the 94 point mark so they don’t run up the score.

Dual Meets

The majority of the meets the team participates in are the weekly dual meets. Some of these will be home meets held at Plymouth Middle School and some will be held at the opposing team's home pool. For dual meets, there will be 1 varsity heat for each individual and relay event, immediately preceded by 1 or 2 junior varsity events. For each heat, each school enters up to 3 swimmers for individual events and 3 relay teams (made up of 4 swimmers) for each relay event.

Most of the pools are 6 lane pools, but some are 5 or 8 lanes, in which case the number entered may be higher or lower.

Swimmers may enter a maximum of four events, no more than two of which can be individual events. The coach determines who swims which events.

Other Meet Types

Invitationals: Multiple teams are invited to a meet usually with the same standard order of events as a dual meet. Scoring varies based on the type of invitational, how many team entries are accepted, and how many places score. Sometimes teams are limited in the number of athletes that can attend invitationals. 

True Team Section and State Meet: This meet is designed and scored to test a team’s depth. Teams can enter four individuals and four relays in each event. All competitors score points in every event. The teams competing are the same teams that are in the section, although teams may choose to not participate. The top team qualifies for the True Team State Meet which is held the following weekend. These meets are organized and run by a group of swimming and diving coaches via the Minnesota State High School Coaches Association (MSHSCA).

Sections: Sections are organized & run by the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL). Each team may enter four individual entries and one relay per event. At this meet, athletes swim their strongest events in a preliminary session on Day 1 (usually Thursday evening). The top 16 swimmers and relay teams in each event advance to finals on Day 2 (usually Saturday afternoon). Qualifiers, place of 9-16, swim in a consolation heat. The top 8 compete in the championship heat. Medals are awarded to the top eight swimmers and a podium-ceremony is done following each event. A swimmer or relay may only qualify for state competition during the consolation and championship finals on Day 2.

State Meet (MSHSL): The top two finishers, along with any other competitors who swim a qualifying state time in each event at section finals, qualify for the Minnesota State High School Championship Meet. The State Meet is held at the University of MN Aquatic Center. The meet is a prelims/finals format over three days (Day 1 = Diving, Day 2 = Swimming Prelims, Day 3 = Swimming and Diving Finals).