Naperville Swim Conference

Raise your hand if you've ever watched your swimmer walk up to the block and immediately forget everything. Their event. Their heat. Their lane. Their own name. 😂

It happens. Meet nerves are real and they are powerful. Which is why swim parents have been solving this problem the same way for decades — with a Sharpie and their kid's forearm.

📝 HERE'S WHAT TO WRITE AND WHY
Before every meet, grab a permanent marker and write three things on your swimmer's forearm where they can easily see it:

EVENT # — This is the number of the race they're swimming in the overall meet lineup. Events are listed in order on the heat sheet, so knowing their event number tells them exactly when to start paying attention and getting ready.

HEAT # — Multiple swimmers compete in the same event in groups called heats. Your swimmer's heat number tells them which group they're in and when they swim. Heat 1 goes first, Heat 2 goes second, and so on. Miss your heat and you miss your race — so this number matters.

LANE # — This is the lane they'll be swimming in. Lanes are numbered 1 through 6 (or 8 at bigger meets), with lane 1 on the far left when facing the pool. Knowing their lane number means your swimmer walks straight to the right spot on the block with confidence — no scrambling, no confusion.

So the arm might look something like: Event 12 / Heat 3 / Lane 4. Simple. Clear. Impossible to forget when it's written right there in black marker.

📝 PRO TIPS FROM VETERAN SWIM FAMILIES
• Use a permanent marker — a regular pen will wash off in the warm-up pool before they even get to the block.
• Write it big enough to read in a hurry. Meet nerves make small print very hard to process.
• If your swimmer has multiple events, write them all — one per line, in order.
• Check the numbers together before you part ways on the pool deck. One quick confirmation saves a lot of chaos later.

First year swim families — this is one of those tips that seems small but makes a genuinely big difference on meet day. A confident swimmer who knows exactly where to go is a faster swimmer. Trust us.

Grab your Sharpie. You've got this. 🌊💙

The dual meet season is HERE and we want to know — who are you facing off against this week? 🏊‍♀️

Drop your team, your meet, and the one swimmer your family is cheering hardest for in the comments below. Let's get loud for every lane in the NSC! 💙

Ah, summer. The season of infinite possibilities, zero free weekends, and a family calendar that looks like someone threw a handful of confetti at it and called it a schedule. 🎉

Swim practice is at 8am. Soccer camp is Monday through Thursday. The family vacation has been booked since February. Your kid just got invited to a birthday party on meet day. Deep breath. Here's how to navigate it all. 💙

📅 START WITH THE NON-NEGOTIABLES
Map out the conflicts before the season starts. Vacation, camps, family commitments — put them on the calendar first. Then look at the swim schedule and identify what matters most. You can't do everything. Knowing that upfront removes a lot of guilt.

📅 COMMUNICATE EARLY WITH YOUR COACH
Coaches understand that summer is complicated. What they don't love is finding out the week of a meet that half the team is at soccer camp. Let them know about planned absences early.

📅 PROTECT THE BIG MEETS
Missing a dual meet here and there is part of summer life. Missing championships — especially if your swimmer has been chasing a qualifying time all season — is a much harder pill to swallow. If there's flexibility in your plans, build around Classic and City.

📅 LET YOUR SWIMMER WEIGH IN
Ask your kid what they want to prioritize. They might surprise you. Including them in the conversation teaches them something valuable about making choices and owning the outcome.

📅 GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO MISS SOMETIMES
You are not failing your swim team by going on vacation. Summer is supposed to include all of the things — the pool AND the trips AND the lazy days. The NSC is part of your summer, not the whole thing.

📅 ONE MORE THING
Kids who take a week off and come back are often MORE motivated, not less. A little time away can reignite the love for the sport in a way that grinding through a packed schedule never could. Trust the process.

Summer is short, it's full, and it goes faster every year. Do your best, communicate openly, and enjoy every chaotic, wonderful minute of it.

See you on the pool deck — whenever you can make it. 🌊💙

Nobody warned you about the concession stand.

You showed up to watch your kid swim. You did not expect to spend $47 on donuts, Gatorade, a hot dog of questionable origin, and approximately fourteen pieces of candy sold by very persuasive 9-year-olds in swim caps. And yet. Here we are. 😂

Welcome to one of the great joys of NSC swim meet season. Here is your official concession stand survival guide.

🌭 THE FOOD SITUATION
Every meet concession stand is a little different, but you can count on the classics: hot dogs, donuts, bagels, chips, and some variation of a breakfast sandwich that tastes significantly better than it has any right to at 7:30am.

What to eat: the donuts. Always the donuts. A bagel is also a solid, practical choice that won't weigh you down for a four-hour meet. The hot dog is a gamble but a beloved one.

🍬 THE CANDY SITUATION — AND OH, THERE WILL BE CANDY
Here is something nobody tells first-year swim parents: the teams sell candy. A LOT of candy. Swedish Fish. Sour Patch Kids. Airheads. Nerds ropes. Kit Kats. Skittles. Pixie Sticks. Things you haven't thought about since 1997.

And the kids selling it? Adorable. Relentless. Completely impossible to say no to. They will find you. They will make eye contact. They will hold up a bag of gummy worms with the confidence of a seasoned salesperson and you will absolutely hand over your cash.

Pro tip: bring small bills. You're going to need them.

Also worth knowing: every dollar spent on team candy goes back to supporting the team. So really, buying four bags of Swedish Fish is basically an act of community service. You're welcome.

☕ THE COFFEE SITUATION
If there is coffee, get the coffee immediately upon arrival. It will be gone. This is not a drill.

The NSC concession stand is a summer institution. Buy the candy, enjoy the donut, and embrace every gloriously chaotic, delicious minute of it.

See you out there. 🌊💙

We came across this gem from Elizabeth Wickham over on SwimSwam and had to share it with our NSC families. Elizabeth volunteered for 14 years on her kids' club swim team as a board member — so when she says swimmers are the best kids, she has earned every word of it. 💙

We think you'll agree.

⬇️ 10 REASONS SWIMMERS ARE THE BEST KIDS

ONE — They are too tired to get into trouble. They'd rather be tucked into bed watching Netflix than going out late at night.

TWO — They have unbelievable appetites and are open to trying new things. In fact, they'll eat pretty much whatever you put in front of them.

THREE — They are clean. They get a daily rinse in chlorine as well as take long showers.

FOUR — They are good students. They know they won't have time — or will be too tired to do homework later — so they work ahead and try to get it done before practice.

FIVE — They're comfortable around adults. They communicate with coaches, swim parents, and officials regularly.

SIX — They've experienced failure and know it's not the end of the world. They understand there's another chance, and that with hard work, they can do better.

SEVEN — They're strong and fit. Working out is something their bodies crave and they're in better shape than most of their classmates.

EIGHT — They are there for their teammates and friends. If someone is upset or has a problem, they're more than willing to listen and help out — and they can make hours at a meet pass by with silliness and laughter.

NINE — They are confident. They put in long hours and hard work to reach their goals. With each improvement along the way, they build self-confidence.

TEN — We know their swim friends and their families — and that they are good kids we want our children to hang out with.

To every NSC swimmer out there — this is you. All ten of these. We see it every single summer on the pool deck. 🌊

Read the full article by Elizabeth Wickham at the link below!
https://swimswam.com/10-reasons-swimmers-best-kids/