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When you hear someone talking about swim meets, most people don't know what they are talking about. I'm going to share what I think swim meets are, because I swim in them a lot! Swim meets are where a team of swimmers go to compete to win ribbons, trophies, and times for special meets. The ribbons and trophies are only reward to the first few finishers who have the fastest time at the meet. For the special times, there are many additional meets that a person can attend, if they get a certain time. There are AA times, which is the slowest of these meets, but still rewarding to go to. Then there are Zones. If you want to be considered fast, you have to attend this meet. Then there are the VERY hard meets to get into. There are Nationals and Junior Olympics. You have to be the best swimmer to go to this meet. Only a very small handful go.
In those swim meets, there are 4 strokes, 2 different types of relays, and a few special events. The for stokes are Freestyle, Backstroke, Butterfly, and Breaststroke. With in those strokes, there're different distances; 25, 50, 100, and 200. For Freestyle, you can swim up to a mile. The different relays consist of The Free Relay and The Medley Relay. Those are swam by 4 different swimmers and you can do the 100, 200, or 400 relay. The medley relay has all four strokes in it. There are a few special events. There's the 100 IM, the 200 IM, and the 400 IM. The IM is all the strokes in this order; Fly, Back, Breast, Free. As you get older, you move up age groups, which means times get faster and faster. The swim meets themselves can take from 2-12 hours depending on how large the meet is. If it's a dual meet, then 2-4 hours, if it is a Championship 7-12 hours. It's very rare if a meet is 8-12 hours long. If that happens, then the meet is spilt up into 2, or even, 3 days.
In those swim meets, there are 4 strokes, 2 different types of relays, and a few special events. The for stokes are Freestyle, Backstroke, Butterfly, and Breaststroke. With in those strokes, there're different distances; 25, 50, 100, and 200. For Freestyle, you can swim up to a mile. The different relays consist of The Free Relay and The Medley Relay. Those are swam by 4 different swimmers and you can do the 100, 200, or 400 relay. The medley relay has all four strokes in it. There are a few special events. There's the 100 IM, the 200 IM, and the 400 IM. The IM is all the strokes in this order; Fly, Back, Breast, Free. As you get older, you move up age groups, which means times get faster and faster. The swim meets themselves can take from 2-12 hours depending on how large the meet is. If it's a dual meet, then 2-4 hours, if it is a Championship 7-12 hours. It's very rare if a meet is 8-12 hours long. If that happens, then the meet is spilt up into 2, or even, 3 days.