Our first swim meet of the season is just around the corner! Time Trials will be held on Saturday, May 30th. If you're looking at a calendar, that's just 3 days after practices start!

Declare (RSVP) Your Swimmer(s) Now
Each swimmer must "declare" (RSVP) to let us know if they will be participating in Time Trials. The deadline to RSVP is Tuesday, May 26th (that's before the first night of practice!). It is not possible to add swimmers the day of the meet, so if you think there is a chance your swimmer will attend part/all of Time Trials, you should RSVP “yes” to the meet! 

1. Log in to your SwimTopia account (login is in the upper-right corner).
2. Go to the Signup Calendar, and find 2026 Time Trials.
3. Click the green “MEET ENTRY OPEN” button. You will see your swimmer(s) listed. 
4. Click the black Edit button. 
5. For each swimmer, select from the drop-down menu: Attending/Not Attending.
6. Once you have made your selections, click Save. Your swimmer is now declared!

If your swimmer is attending the meet, return to the Signup Calendar, and click the green “JOB SIGNUP OPEN” button to select a volunteer shift. As a reminder, VOSD requires each family to volunteer at each swim meet their swimmer(s) attend(s). Time Trials requires EXTRA volunteers because there is no visiting team of volunteers.

We know many families will also be juggling spring sports over the next few weeks. If you foresee a potential conflict, please be proactive and reach out to the volunteer coordinator ([email protected]) EARLY.

What Are Time Trials?
Time Trials is a special meet that occurs at the beginning of the season. It is a chance for each swimmer to practice swimming each stroke he or she can swim.

Every swimmer is encouraged to attend Time Trials, even if your swimmer only knows the freestyle. Experienced swimmers may enter up to four individual events (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly) at Time Trials. The purpose of this is so that each swimmer can get a baseline time for each stroke. These times will be used by coaches for entering swimmers into individual and relay events at meets and will help with “seeding” these swimmers against swimmers of similar times. These times will also serve as a reference for time improvement awards. 

Since time trials are run very much like a real meet, it’s also a great chance to practice for the season. Place ribbons are not awarded at Time Trials, but swimmers will learn about reporting to the Clerk of Course and some basic meet rules. Parents can practice being a timer or recorder. And, everyone can practice getting up early and making it to the pool without forgetting something!

See you soon, Sea Devils!