This is my second year as a swim mom and while I in no way considered myself a seasoned swim mom just yet I have learned a lot over the last two seasons.
My first swim meet I showed up with a few towels for us to sit on and maybe some sunscreen, that’s it.
Now if you’re a swim mom you probably just laughed so hard you peed yourself. If you’re not a swim mom you were probably like “okay, what more could you need?!”
Ha, let me tell you non-swim moms or one day swim moms. You need a lot. Swim Meets last for AT LEAST 4 hours and most often between when you have to be there and when it officially ends it’s more like 5-6 hours.
Here’s what our swim meets look like.
We typically arrive by 5pm, from 5pm-6pm our swimmer is checking in and doing warm-ups while the girls and I settle in. The actual meet starts around 6pm and ends between 9pm and 10pm. At my first swim meet, I had ZERO idea that it would last that long. I’m a baseball girl. I’m thinking at most we have 2 hours ahead of us HAHAHAHAHAHA. NOPE. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I was woefully unprepared. Quickly people started to spill in with huge coolers, canopies and wagons filled to the brim with supplies. Whoops. Luckily I had friends who let my kids have some snacks and next go around I was more than prepared. So here’s what we pack on a typical day regardless of if it’s a home or away meet.
Must Haves
- Sunscreen
We LOVE our Young Living 50spf Mineral Sunscreen. Even though the sun isn’t at it’s peak we still find that putting on a layer as soon as we arrive saves us any risk of getting a sun burn.
- Dinner/Snacks
I’m going to go into more details about this later but unless there’s a snack stand and you want to spend a bunch of money on not very healthy snacks for your swimmer and other children, packing snacks and/or your dinner are a must.
- Towels
We like to bring two towels for our swimmer in case it’s an especially cool night or they’re in a lot of events and their towel doesn’t get dry enough. We don’t typically need two but it doesn’t hurt to have it.
- Chairs and/or Blanket
We bring a chair for each adult. The kids run around and play or sit on a blanket when they’re hanging out with us.
- Permenant Marker in Team Color or Black
At our swim meets we have to write our swimmer’s number and events on them. We use black but also use blue which is our team color. After the meet is over we use Geranium Essential Oil to help wipe off the permenant marker/detox from the cholorine.
- Water
We bring 40oz per person in our favorite water bottles that we purchased at Costco!
Optional but still Nice to have
- Some sort of shade from the sun
So this is optional but I find it useful especially with young kids. Even though it’s only 5pm or so when we arrive it’s usually still really hot out. A canopy, sunshade or umbrella makes a huge difference.
- Bug Spray
Depending on how late the swim meet goes it’s always nice to have some sort of bug repellent on hand. We don’t always need it but I’m always glad when it’s in my bag! We use a DEET free bug spray that I feel comfortable using on my kids and around other kids.
Snack and Dinner Ideas:
We like to bring mostly healthy snacks and keep whatever dinner we’re having fairly light. We encourage our swimmer to snack on our healthy items if necessary well before his race or even after if possible.
- Fresh Fruit: Watermelon, Strawberries, Grapes, Pineapple
- Vegetables: Green Peppers, Carrots, Cucumbers
- Hummus (for dipping your vegetables in)
- Lunch Meat Sandwhiches for Dinner
- Cold Italian Pasta Salad with Chicken for dinner
I’ve also seen people grab fast food on the way in, order from the snack stand or order pizza to the meet. For our family, it just makes the most sense to pack our food!
One more thing–I know that this post might have made you a little nervous about having your kids join the swim meet but don’t let the preperation needed on meet days deter you! I’m so glad that Mason joined the swim team, he has become such a better and stronger swimmer over the last two seasons. The meets are also really exciting and a lot of fun! I’m looking forward to when Kyla joins the team next year!
Alright! I think that covers everything and I hope that helped you first season swim moms out! Seasoned swim moms, did I leave anything out?
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