Team Arrival, Check In, Credentials, GT Pool Diagram and Deck Traffic Flow

June 21, 2023

Teams,

Attached is a full diagram of the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center click on the following GT Deck Diagram and Traffic Flow covers all of the spectator seating areas, deck areas, and gives you a general idea about athlete flow around the facility and how athletes can access the bullpen areas. All teams will be seated either upstairs in the seating gallery or on the pool deck, each team will have an assigned location, this will be sent to teams by Sunday June 25. Each team will be provided additional credentials (per the orientation meeting) to have parents help keep an eye on swimmers in your team area and get kids to and from the deck for their races, more on that below.

Team Check In, Team Packs and Heat Sheets

Team check in will be done when you arrive at Georgia Tech and will be done at the FRONT entrance of the Campus Recreation Center (CRC). Teams will collect their team packs, including credentials and other meet materials and can distribute them before making your way toward the pool.. Teams can pay their entry fees at this location.

One thing missing from your team packs that would normally be included will be heat sheets. With this year’s meet and the advance entry deadline we will be e mailing teams a pdf version of the heat sheet, as well as post it on asa.swimtopia.com. TEAMS SHOULD PRINT THEIR OWN COPIES OF THE HEAT SHEET FOR THEIR OWN USE. Print as many as you want. We will NOT be providing printed copies for teams or coaches nor will they be on sale at the meet. As I mentioned, you can print your own for the price of FREE. In an effort to reflect any late entries or corrections, we will not send or post the heat sheets until about 36-48 hours before your session, so please don’t pester me about when you will get them. I will also make available entry lists including the heats and lanes for your swimmers for quick reference and to give you a chance to get a jump on getting heats and lanes on their bodies.

Team Arrival – Teams will be allowed into the building on a scheduled arrival time basis. Teams will not be allowed to enter the building until 30 minutes prior to their warmup time. A schedule of these times will be made available by Sunday, June 25. All athletes/teams must enter the venue via the FRONT entrance to the Campus Recreation Center on Ferst Drive. No teams will be allowed to enter the venue via the Tech Parkway entrance.

Teams are requested to come through the Team Entry location as one team with a coach to supervise the arrival process. Teams should enter the building as one group. Any stragglers may be collected by a coach or team representative that can escort the swimmer into the venue to your team area. There will be a meeting area outside of the Campus Recreation Center entrance where coaches and team coordinators can collect their team members before entering the venue as one group. Anyone (coach, team rep, or scheduled meet volunteer) coming onto the deck should have a credential in hand or visibly displayed and must display the credential at all times. Please do not instruct your swimmers to arrive and enter the building whenever or wherever they like. Unaccompanied athletes will NOT be allowed into the building. Please go to your designated team area and remain there until your warmup time.

TEAM AREAS

Assigned team areas will be either in the upstairs seating gallery or in the bleachers on the pool deck. Each team will be assigned a specific seating section and row(s) or bleacher and must sit in that section for the meet. Those assigned team areas will be sent to teams by Sunday, June 25 and will also be posted on the championship landing page. Athletes and coaches should remain in their team areas at all times unless they are going to the deck to warmup or compete in a race.

Teams are NOT ALLOWED to bring large coolers or other items into those seating areas, smaller coolers or bags that fit underneath one of the seats in the stands are permitted, but items larger than that are not permitted. Please keep this in mind when planning on what to bring to the meet. We advise each athlete bring their own water/sports drink and any food needed.

Teams are welcome to bring team signs, but we request you use blue painter’s tape or zip ties only to hang your team signs. Please do not use masking, scotch, athletic or duct tape to hang your signs. Damage caused by use of anything, but blue painter’s tape will be the responsibility of the offending team.

TRAFFIC FLOW TO AND FROM THE DECK AND BULLPENS

Athlete Staging and Traffic Flow in the Building- GT Deck Diagram and Traffic Flow. Athletes should remain in their team area until event is called to report to the staging areas on deck, this will usually be two to three events prior to the start of their race. There is a limit to the number of bodies allowed on the deck your cooperation with this will help us stay in compliance with these guidelines.

For individual events only. All swimmers must go through the staging areas/bullpen located on deck for their races, please do not go directly to the blocks. The staging areas are located next to the respective pools the swimmers will be competing in and are located on the near side of the pool by the spectator seating. We will have a number of trained staff and volunteers to collect the swimmers and ensure they make it to the correct lane for their race.

Swimmers seated upstairs can access the deck and staging areas/bullpen via the back stairwell located behind the spectator gallery to get to the downstairs hallway and pool deck. Signs will point athletes and coaches in the right direction. Please do not use the stairs inside of the pool by the scoreboard.

Swimmers seated on deck should approach the girl’s staging area by going underneath the diving tower. Swimmers can approach the boy’s staging area by going behind the blocks by the diving well and going through the hallway behind the timing room.

For relay events only. All teams will take their swimmers directly to the blocks and do NOT go through the staging areas/bullpens. Swimmers seated upstairs can access the deck and staging areas/bullpen via the back stairwell located behind the spectator gallery to get to the downstairs hallway and pool deck. Swimmers seated on deck can approach the blocks from either side of the pool. Please do not come to the deck and blocks until your event is called, this will help keep the number of people on the deck manageable throughout the meet.

As is the case for relay events, please do not come to the bullpen until your event has been called to report. This will usually be about 3-4 events prior to your event being swum (event 13 will likely be called to report when event 10 begins swimming).

Please stay out of this bullpen/staging area, unless you are requested to come into that area by one of our event staff.

If you have an athlete with special needs or that requires extra supervision, please have your coach coordinate that with our bullpen operators Evan Nylander, Emily Santowski or Sarah Oberholzer when you arrive at the pool. This will make for a much better experience for all involved.

When swimmers are done with their races they are requested to return back to their team areas. We will have event staff behind the finish area directing swimmers to the collection area. There will be a “collection area” located behind the announcer’s podium for each pool where teams can station coaches or credentialed parents to get these swimmers as soon as they are done competing.

Once a swimmer’s race is done they may warm down in the diving well for a limited amount of time and then must return to their team area upstairs. Athletes (and coaches) must exit the deck via the doors by the timing room next to the competition pool and then return upstairs via the back stairwell. Please do NOT use the interior stairwell by the scoreboard, we are limiting traffic in that area.

CREDENTIALS

Due to space constraints on the deck teams are requested to limit the number of coaches on the pool deck at any time. Coaches are encouraged to remain in their team areas with their athletes during the meet.

ALL non-swimmers must have and visibly display a credential at all times in the building. If you do not have a credential, you will not be allowed on the pool deck. Please inform your parents of this requirement, especially those parents who think they will just walk on to the deck at any time. This is a crucial requirement to make sure we don’t bring too many people onto the deck for each session.

Certain credentials will have deck access, those are specifically for coaches, particularly the non-swimming coaches. Teams will be allotted a limited number of relay only credentials that will grant those persons access to the deck for the relay events only. Those are specifically for teams to have extra volunteer help to transport your relays to the blocks for relay events. Once the individual events start, those credentials will no longer allow that person to remain on the deck. The Relay only credentials will be based on how many relays a team enters in the meet. Each team will receive additional deck access for parent helpers. These are specifically for teams with seating areas on deck to help coaches oversee swimmers in their team areas and help transport swimmers to the bullpen and back to the team area when an event is done. These also will be provided for teams seated upstairs to allow for some limited deck access to get swimmers to and from the deck for their races. Teams will receive one "deck helper" credential for every 15 or so swimmers entered in the meet.

Meet volunteers will also have specific credentials that will allow them access to the pool deck to complete their jobs. If you plan on having shifts of workers, that is fine, but please know that you will only be provided credentials to cover the specific job(s) that are assigned to your team. If you are assigned 2 timers, you will get 2 deck credentials for that purpose. We will provide teams with 2 sets of these worker credentials to allow for one "shift change" if teams elect to break up their work assignment into two shifts.

The only individuals allowed on deck will be participants, coaches, meet volunteers, and credentialed meet officials. Access to the deck will be monitored by meet workers and security. Please help us police this policy. Persons caught trying to pass their credential to an unauthorized person will be subject to ejection from the facility.

Many of you have asked if team coordinators will be provided credentials, the answer to that is no. Team coordinators will have to use the provided "deck helper" credentials that are allocated to teams based on their entry numbers.

Please be judicious in how you allocate these passes, and don’t lose them, I will not provide replacements. This is all designed to keep the number of bodies in the building and on the deck under the capacity limits in place for Georgia Tech. If you feel the need to try to cheat this system, do me a favor and start looking for another place to host our championship next year and beyond, we will wear out our welcome by doing so. I know parents want to see their kids up cloase and in person, but last time I checked I never saw a parent standing in goal with their child at a soccer game. Please help us with this in managing their understanding of why we have to do this.

Please be sure to share these details with your swimmers, coaches and any parents you are bringing to the meet as volunteers or credentialed team helpers. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Sincerely,

Franke Marsden ASA