Below are out most frequently asked questions and the answers!

What is Gulfwood Swim Team?

Gulfwood Swim Team is a recreational summer swim team that is based out of Gulfwood Pool. We are a member of the Greater Knoxville Area Interclub Swimming Association (GKAISA). This is our governing body which sets for the rules for the season, the league configuration as well as hosts the Championship Meet. The championship meet at the end of the season is for all the teams in GKAISA. Over 2,000 swimmers compete in this meet/ It is a great opportunity for kids to compete at the University of Tennessee and to compete against some great area swimmers.

What is the Little Gator Swim School?

The Little Gator Swim School is a feeder team program for swimmers who are 4-8 years old with little to no swimming experience. We teach water safety skills and the stroke basics in a very methodic sequence. This program is run by Lead Coaches and volunteer coaches who instruct from the water. All sessions are overseen by the Head Coach and other assistant coaches. 

Who can swim on the team?

The team is open for all swimmers ages 4-18 years old. We have swimmers on our team who go on to compete at the collegiate level and swimmers who strictly do this to learn the strokes and have fun! We do ask that all swimmers on the competitive team be able to swim a 25 meter lap across the pool with no assistance. 

What is the practice schedule? Do I have to attend every practice?

Click Here for the link to our 2024 Practice Schedule. Many families try to attend 4 practices per week. We do not recommend coming to each practice that is offered; however, the more consistent practice attendance the more swimmers tend to progress in their abilities.

What are the swim meets?

We typically host or attend 5 dual meets throughout the summer as well as 2 city-wide meets. We compete in our dual meets against the other teams within our GKAISA league. We will then attend the Smoky Mountain Invitational in Alcoa in early July and the GKAISA City Championship meets at the end of July at the University of Tennessee.

How do I RSVP for a swim meet?

This is the most vital part of putting together a swim meet. Please make sure you follow the RSVP instructions below to commit or decline your swimmer's attendance at the meet. It is extremely important that every swimmer (even Little Gators) have a commitment for our swim meets. Swimmers in the Little Gator Swim School are eligible for all home swim meet if they would like to participate - this is optional though. Little Gators will be entered in the 25 freestyle and will need to follow the same RSVP instructions below to commit/ decline athlete attendance.

RSVP Instructions:

1) Log-in to the website with your username and password you established

2) Click "2022 Schedule" tab

3) Go to target meet & click green "Meet Entry"

4) You swimmer(s) names will be listed on next page. Click yellow "Edit" button.

5) From drop down menu select either "Attending" or "Not Attending". Click yellow "Save."

How are entries decided for the meets?

The coaches complete all of the entries for the meet based on what each athlete is the best at and which strokes they can swim legally. For our younger swimmers many times freestyle and backstroke are the two individual events they will swim until they have mastered butterfly and breastroke strokes. Coaches also complete the relay entries strictly based on the 4 fastest and legal swimmers for each event. Relay entries are completed by the computer system automatically. Each swimmer may enter in up to 4 races in a swim meet (4 individual events, 3 individuals and 1 relay or 2 individuals and 2 relays).

What are the events in a swim meet?

The events at a swim meet are freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, individual medley, medley relay and free relay. The medley events will include all 4 swim strokes: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. Events are also broken down into age categories: 8 & under, 9 & 10 year olds, 11 & 12 year olds, 13 & 14 year olds, and 15 to 18 year olds. Ages are determined by your swimmer’s birthday – the cutoff for each age group is midnight May 31st.

How does scoring work for swim meets?

Each swim meet swimmers in Heat 1 only score points for the team. There are only a maximum of 2 scorers from each team in the first heat. 1st place - 5 points, 2nd place - 3 points, 3rd place - 2 points, 4th place -1 point, 5th place - 0 points, 6th place - 0 points. Only 1 relay for each team can score: 1st place relay - 7 points, 2nd place- 3 points. 

Swimmers in heats 2+ will still receive awards/ ribbons for their performances based on their finish within their heat. Heats are run from the fastest 6 swimmers (3 from each team) to the slowest 6 swimmers.

What is the parent involvement for the summer?

Parental Involvement is vital to the success of any swim team. Parents help get children to both practice and meets, they provide encouragement during practice and moral support during competition. Parental involvement also extends to volunteering during swim meets. A home swim meet requires over 50 Gulfwood volunteers and away meets require over 40.

Most of the work required to put on a swim meet does not require any special training. The only jobs that do require any training are the stroke & turn judge, meet referee, and the starter. In other words, signing up for your child to swim in a meet requires that a parent be willing to work one volunteer job for 1/2 of that meet. New parents to the team will be assigned a mentor to "shadow" to increase his/her comfort level with the volunteer position.

For the Smoky Mountain and City Meets we will have assigned areas to work. We try to make this as easy as possible and block schedule workers so you can work during events that your child is not entered.

What is the Aquathon?

The Aquathon is our annual team fundraiser. Swimmers will typically run a distance in the neighborhood followed by a challenging number of laps in the pool either based on the number of donations received (like a swim-a-thon) or by the coaches discretion. We follow everything up with a dessert social afterwards! The money raised from the Aquathon goes to purchases for the team to replace worn equipment, etc. 

How do we pick up our ribbons from swim meets?

Each family will have a file folder in the team's storage shed at Gulfwood Pool. This file will contain ribbons from meets. Please check your folder often, especially after meets. 

What is the Smoky Mountain Invitational?

This meet is a very large meet with lots of kids! They have said in the past that it is the largest outdoor swim meet in America! The sheer size of this meet can be a bit of a shock to new swimmers and families. It is a crowded meet with A LOT of swimmers; however, those who attend love it because it is one of a kind.

This meet is run like a dual meet; however, on a much larger scale! All swimmers regardless of age are required to go a clerk of course to be seated for their race. This is just like during our dual meets, but think on a much larger scale. The pool will have many speakers set up around the tent areas and will be "calling" when to come to the clerk of course for races. The announcer will make a 1st call, 2nd call and 3rd and final call. Swimmers who fail to report to clerk of course will not be allowed to swim their races.

It is an outdoor meet thus we are all subject to what mother nature has in store for us. I have been to this meet where it is absolutely beautiful the entire two days and I have also been where it storms over and over again. If it does storm, they must follow pool safety protocol and the meet will then be delayed. This typically does not happen but there have been years where there have been so many delays that we are at the pool well past 5:00pm. With a typical nice sunny day, the meet is over around 3:00 for our younger swimmers and 4:00-5:00 for our older swimmers.

What is the GKAISA City Meet?

City Meet is a fantastic opportunity for all swimmers from each GKAISA team to come together and race in one of the nation's best aquatic centers. There are more than 2000+ swimmers that will compete in GKAISA City Meet. Swimmers will compete at the Alan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center on the University of Tennessee's Campus. It is a great and fast pool and fun opportunity for our swimmers to compete where Olympians and NCAA champion's swim!

Although it is large it is very organized and runs fast. Inside the aquatic center there is one large 50-meter pool which will be divided into two, 9-lane 25 yard pools (one for boys and one for girls). The pools generally stay around the same event, but one pool can get ahead of the other at times (meaning different events may be being swam at the same time). Our team will provide a large tent for our families to sit under outside of the aquatic center. There will be announcers to announce when to report to the clerk of course for your swimmer's swims and parents can spectate from inside the aquatic center in the grandstands. Absolutely no parents are allowed on the pool deck unless you have volunteered to work. Our coaches will come to the team tent to talk to swimmers before warm-ups and return following warm-ups to go over all the information for the day with our swimmers and families! Once the meet begins, the coaches will remain inside the pool area to watch the races and cheer for your swimmers!