Division I Team Championships

Although we’re just entering Short Course season, this is about the time we need to start thinking about Division 1 Ontario Team Championships. It is never easy to select a small group of representatives from such a large and deep group of team contributors and not everyone that we want with us can possibly be picked. ROW will be up against some of the strongest teams in Ontario. Last season, we only sent 14 and unders; this season, I want to send the strongest team possible and try for the best possible placing (hopefully the win). For those of you who do not know how this selection process will work, here is in inside glimpse:

- All Division 1 teams are permitted to bring 50 athletes in total. Each swimmer can swim a maximum of 5 individual events + relays.

- Points are scored by individuals placing in the top 8 and for relays placing in the top 8. Individual points – 9pts for 1st, 7pts for 2nd, 6pts for 3rd, 5pts for 4th, 4pts for 5th, 3pts for 6th, 2pts for 7th and 1pt for 8th. Relay points are doubled (for example: 18pts for 1st, 14pts for 2nd, etc). If we do not score in the top 8, we get 0.

- Swimmers MUST swim in their proper age category (obviously), but we can use a younger athlete for an older age class relay, provided that 2 of the relay participants are of the proper age (for example: we can use a 13 year old to swim on a 15&Over aged relay, but at least 2 of the swimmers on that relay must be 15 or older). There are cases where this may happen to make the most competitive relays possible.

- We are only allowed to enter a maximum 1 relay per age category, regardless of how many people we have in that age category.

- There is no minimum or maximum amount of swimmers that we must take in any age category. The team is primarily picked based on the athletes that have the highest probability to score for ROW (either in relays or individual events).

- To ensure we have the best possible relays (4x50FR and 4x50 Medley), the first events and times looked at when selecting are the 50s (FLY, BK, BR, FR). We might have 4 people that are around the same time for 50BK. The person that will likely be chosen in that case is the person with the best odds of scoring in an individual event. In the end, we may even opt to swim someone up from a lower age category for a relay and free up more space on the team.

- We also take other factors into consideration when choosing the roster. For example, swimmers with high regular attendance (both meet and practice), swimmers that are punctual (a BIG factor for team travel), swimmers that are reliable (have they performed consistently well at meets), swimmers that we know will show up for finals and cheer their hearts out (even if they’re not swimming) and swimmers with great attitudes (it’s a LONG weekend! Negative attitudes make it intolerable) will also be considered when filling the roster.

- The age groups are broken up as follows for both Girls and Boys: 10&Under, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17&Over. Relays are the same except that there is a 15&Over category. Since the age categories span 2 years and there is quite a bit of growth that happens in the 11-12, 13-14 and 15-16 categories, people that made the team last year may not make it this year. This may seem unfair to some, but if an athlete has just aged up into a new age category and they’re at the bottom end of it (for example: just turned 13, so they’re the youngest swimmer in the 13-14 age category… and 14 year olds are typically through a good growth period) it becomes difficult to contribute, and thus may not make the team (even if they were pretty good in their former age category). Sorry in advance, but that’s the reality of the rules on this meet.

- Traditionally, the weakest age categories are 10& under boys and 17 & over boys and girls. The strongest (and hardest to score in) are 10 & under girls and 11-12 girls. Freestyle is often the deepest event and the hardest to score in, especially if you’re changing age. Breaststroke is typically the least deep.

- We have decided to not include swimmers attending the International Children’s Games on this roster because of the timing of the events. Athletes will have had some time off, had a major competition and made a 20hour flight home, which is not conducive to best possible performance.

- This is a comment on alternates right out of the meet package:

In the event that one (1) or more of a team's entered swimmers cannot attend the meet, the coach may designate substitutes from any age group or gender for a full complement of swimmers.

Substitutes:

Must be designated immediately at or prior to arrival.

Will not be accepted after the start of the meet.

Will not be seeded according to entry times.

Will be placed into empty lanes when possible.

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We will still select 3 alternates. They will be notified that they are alternates, but the coaching staff reserves the right to select the appropriate alternate to fill the appropriate roster spot on the team. For example, if a 10 year old boy bails on the team, I would like to replace him with another 10 year old boy to round out the relay, but if I name a 10 year old boy as an alternate and a 14 year old boy gets hurt and cannot travel, that 10 year old boy can’t help us on the 13-14 relay.

Here is some indication of how fast last season’s Division 1 meet was: (click on the age category on the left hand side of the screen and then check the events). Believe me when I say that difficult decisions need to be made in order to piece together the most competitive, loudest and most positive contingent of our team. Our primary job as coaches and roster selectors is to put us in the best possible placing position, not to spare individual feelings (it is impossible to include everyone). We obviously want the meet to be a fun experience for all involved and come back having achieved something that ROW as a whole will be very proud of. We have to score points in order to survive.

We plan to announce the team before Friday October 31^st.