Running an Open Meet

Before you start

• Download the host's promoter's conditions / meet pack (PDF).
• Download the SportSystems entry file if you need it. This is for galas that require qualification, such as counties and level 2, but not regionals.
• Check the conditions for when the host starts accepting entries. Set our internal deadline a week before that.

Steps

1. In SCM go to Club > Events and choose Add Event.
2. Select Event type > Club Event.
3. Choose Event Type > Open Meet.
4. Fill in the gala details: name, venue, dates, course (SC 25m or LC 50m), licence level (1–4 or club/league), and the age-at date the host uses.
5. Set the fees: the host fee per event (from the conditions doc) and the club admin fee of £6.
6. Tick Allow Entries To Be Edited Up To Closing Date and Ignore Deadline For Volunteers.
7. If it's a level 3 meet, tick Swimmers With No Times (slower than) so swimmers without a time can enter.
8. Click Update Event.
9. In the second section, add the members with the + Members button.
10. Choose ages 9–18 and List only swimmers.
11. Use the drop-down on the list to select 500 rows per page.
12. Click the tick box at the top right to select everyone, then click Add Members to Event.

An event template is a list of the gala's events in programme order. SCM uses it to build the event list swimmers choose from.

1. Download the blank SCM event template (Excel).
2. List the events in the same order as the event conditions.
3. Fill in the stroke and any qualifying times using the formats below.
4. Check the time type: level 3 uses slower than times; level 1 and 2 use faster than times.
5. Once the times are done, click Import Events on the event and choose your template.

1. On the event, click the ✉ Members email button.
2. Tick Select all members in the team.
3. Set the reply-to address to fixtures@teamsharks.com.
4. Choose the email template for the gala. Click into the editor before selecting a template.
5. Make sure Include link to confirm is ticked.
6. Press Send.
7. A few days before the closing date, send the same email again as a reminder.

Every gala needs each swimmer to have an entry time. This step is for galas that don't have "faster than" entry times, so everything at level 3 and level 4.

1. Click Create Team.
2. Set the list to show All per page so you can see every event.
3. Click Update Entry Times. This adds times for everyone with a PB in the event, which covers most swimmers.
4. For an entered swimmer with no time (green tick next to the entry), type a time in the format MM:SS.hh, e.g. 01:03.99 for 1 minute 3.99 seconds. It must match that format exactly. Then press the white update button beside it.
5. For swimmers without a time, either ask a coach for one or use the PB report. It estimates times from the swimmer's age, their other times and squad averages. Estimates are shown in blue in a format you can copy and paste.
6. For academy swimmers, the time trials page has data for almost all of them. Use the search box to find a swimmer.
7. Make sure every swimmer has a time before moving on.

Many Swim England hosts run SportSystems and ask clubs to enter using SportSystems Entry Manager, a free Windows program. The host sends a meet file; we add our entries and send back an export file.

1. Install or update Entry Manager from the SportSystems website. Use the latest version, because older versions sometimes can't open new meet files. The Entry Manager documentation explains how to use it.
2. Click Tools > Download valid swimmer file.
3. Go through one swimmer at a time and re-enter everyone's events. Entry Manager can't import a file of entries.
4. When you've finished, run Reports > Report Entries.
5. Check the numbers on the report match the figures in Swim Club Manager.
6. Export the entries file and send it to the host with the reports (see section 6).

1. Email our entries to the organiser, with a summary of how many swimmers and swims we've entered.
2. Level 3 meets at Coventry accept entry files from SCM. Download the zip from Club > Events > Meet Files and send it as it is.
3. Level 2 and above need the .sez file from Entry Manager. Export it with Entries > Export > Meet Entries.

Every session needs a named poolside team, and most hosts require clubs to supply technical officials in proportion to their entries.

Steps

1. Export the meet files from the gala under Club > Events > Meet Files.
2. This downloads an Excel file listing swimmers by event.
3. Format it so duplicates are removed and you have a total of swimmers per session.
4. Work out the volunteers needed per session and the pool passes needed per day (see above).

1. On the event (Club > Events), add the team managers whose children are going to the volunteers section, and email them to ask which sessions they can do.
2. When you have the responses, add the names to the gala staffing spreadsheet and check you have enough.
3. Find the pool pass requirements, usually on the host club's website, or complete the form they send. It will either be a link to a form to fill in online, or a Word document to add names to.
4. List the names and Swim England numbers of your volunteers. Find these quickly with Reports > Swimmark Club Role – Team Manager.
5. If you're sending a form by email, the host will usually want payment up front, so cc the treasurer on treasurer@teamsharks.com. Coventry issues an invoice for pool passes instead; if you're sent the invoice, forward it to the treasurer.

Hosts now generally use Swim Meet for withdrawals, which saves a lot of emailing.

1. When a swimmer withdraws via withdrawal@teamsharks.com, follow the withdrawal link the host sent.
2. Select the swimmer from the drop-down.
3. Withdraw them from individual events, or from all events.

Check the club's meets on swimmingresults.org to see if the results are up.

1. Go to Members > Swim Times > Import SE Times.
2. Fill in all the groups at the top: Academy Bronze, Silver and Gold, Development, Juniors, P1, P2, P3 and so on.
3. Enter the date range. Start from the day after the last import (we're up to date as of 22 September, so from 23 September) to the date of the gala.
4. Click Go. SCM pulls the times from the Swim England rankings.
5. Go to View Imported Times.
6. Rename the import to the gala's name so it's easy to find later.