For many, August allows us time to reflect upon the previous year as well as plan for an upcoming season. While our new swim season quickly approaches, so does the opportunity to host swim meets. One club that is no stranger to hosting meets is Irvine Novaquatics, which has hosted numerous national meets, including recent competitions such as the 2020 Toyota U.S. Open last November and the 2021 Speedo Summer Championships West.

USA Swimming sat down with Irvine Novaquatics Business Manager, Kim Hoesterey, to talk through tips and strategies which help their swim meets to run smooth.  

What preparation was involved to host Speedo Summer Championships? 
Swim meets have a lot of moving parts, especially if you are bringing in clubs from out of the state. After running swim meets for NOVA for several years, Hoesterey’s advice on how to prepare for any type of swim meet include: 

1. Securing your venue ahead of time.  
2. Setting up as early as possible.  
3. Lining up and communicating with your key people/leads.  
4. Determining your hospitality needs.  
5. Figuring out how you will manage spectators.  
6. Determining pricing. This can include spectators, additional seating, hospitality, attire/gear, etc.  

When specifically preparing for the Speedo Summer Championships, Hoesterey relied heavily on her key people. Some examples of the individuals she leaned on had focus areas such as the facility, hospitality, registration and ticket sales. She relied on these experts to manage their respective focus group and communicate back to her. Hoesterey believes this method really benefits her team, especially when they host larger swim meets.  

How did Irvine Novaquatics provide the best atmosphere for participating athletes? 

This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, swim meets look different. Hoesterey’s goal was to make sure everyone felt comfortable and safe while at the meet. In addition to the safety precautions at Speedo Summer Championships, they were able to aerate the pool every evening. This allowed the pool temperature to be regulated and cooled off after a long day of the sun beating down.  

In pre-COVID times, Hoesterey was able to have more sharable athlete perks, including having huge water jugs set up across the pool deck for athletes to fill up their bottles as well as an athlete hospitality area.  

Lastly, Hoesterey also recommends using misters when USA Swimming member clubs have higher structures set up outside. It is a great way to keep athletes cool when the temperature is high.  

How were you able to make this swim meet a great experience for coaches? 

“Hospitality is the biggest asset to making a great experience for coaches,” Hoesterey said.  

Hoesterey’s hospitality lead provides quality food that is also healthy, so coaches are happy to eat what is available. In addition, there is always a variety of food to provide a great balance. Her last piece of advice for hospitality is to make it close to the deck. If it is too far, it isn’t as convenient, and coaches won’t be able to go over for a quick drink or snack between races.  

To make hospitality safer, the Speedo Summer Championships hospitality volunteers served coaches in a line while they held their own plates. This limited the number of people touching items in the hospitality area.  

Any hurdles you had to overcome to allow spectators on site? How were you able to accommodate viewers?  

Due to facility restrictions, NOVA needed to bring in additional seating for spectators. This can be costly, especially if you don’t plan ahead of time. One piece of advice Hoesterey had for grandstands is to set up earlier in the summer, this way you can use them for numerous swim meets and not just the one at the end of the season. It will help cover the cost and allow clubs to bring in more spectators throughout the summer months.  

Another tip is to make sure USA Swimming member clubs are effectively separating spectators from athletes on deck. For the Speedo Summer Championships, spectators did not have access to the same areas as athletes, including entrance, seating and restrooms. Hoesterey suggests having a big enough barrier or space to effectively separate the two parties.  

Any additional advice you have for other USA Swimming member clubs who might want to try hosting a swim meet this upcoming season? 

Although there are a lot of pieces which come together to host a successful swim meet, below are some tips to help leaders within a club feel prepared: 

1. Teach and educate great leads and volunteers early.  
2. Start a notebook of everything, it will help you stay organized.  
3. Get whatever you can done as early as possible.  
4. Be flexible – you must adapt to whatever arises.  
5. Cultivate great relationships with your volunteers and the city.   
6. Make sure to have backups of everything! 
7. Simplify your process if you can. Review what does and doesn’t work at the conclusion of a meet so you can make future adjustments.