HCY Swim Team Ribbons

The HCY Stingrays Swim Team will continue the tradition that it has each year of awarding swim ribbons based on merit. These ribbons are intended to both reward and encourage swimmers of all ages. Please note the following regarding ribbons:

• HCY place ribbons (Blue for 1^st, Red for 2^nd and Yellow for 3^rd) are awarded to any swimmer who places first, second, or third in an individual event – either official or exhibition – at a dual meet.
• Unlike the Summer Swim Team, place ribbons are not awarded for relay teams during the Winter Season.
• We will strive to have Place ribbons in your family folder for your swimmer to pick up by no later than the following weekend. In response to a feedback suggestion, it is not possible to have these ribbons immediately available at the meet. The process of awarding ribbons includes obtaining a copy of the meet sheet after the conclusion of the meet, verifying the finishing places and times, creating the meet in HyTek and keying the information into the database, generating labels, labeling the ribbons, generating time buster labels (see below), labeling these ribbons, recording the number of time busters for each individual and then putting all of the ribbons for that week into each folder. This takes a little bit of time with 4 HCY teams competing, so please be patient.
• DQ’s (disqualifications) do not count for place ribbons.
• HCY awards a Time Buster ribbon (Red/White/Blue Stipes) each time a swimmer betters their best time in that stroke and distance for the season. Times for the current Winter Season start as of the date of Time Trials.
• If you do not swim a particular stroke/distance at time trials to establish a base time for this season, then the first time you swim that stroke/distance during the season – either at a dual meet or an invitational – that becomes your base time. You must better that time in order to receive a time buster and set a new personal best for the season.
• If you swim the same event twice the same day, for example – at a dual meet in the morning and at an invitational in the afternoon – and you break your best time in a particular stroke first in the morning, then again in the afternoon, you will only receive 1 time buster. The HyTek application we use goes by date, and can not differentiate between two faster times swum in the same event on the same day.
• HCY awards a Time Blaster ribbon (Rainbow) each time a swimmer betters their best time in that stroke and distance by at least 5.00 seconds. The same rules as apply to Time Busters also apply to Time Blasters.
• The total number of Time Busters a swimmer earns during the year is one factor used to determine MIP (Most Improved Swimmer) at the end of the season.
• Most pools in the winter are in Yards. A few pools are in Short Course Meters. The time that appears on your place ribbon is the time that was actually recorded at the event. Time Busters and Time Blasters convert all times to yards though, for the purpose of comparing and determining a time improvement.
• If you feel that you earned a ribbon and it is not in your folder, or if you have any question about the time on a ribbon you received, please e-mail Barbara Romano or leave a note in the Romano family folder. Barbara R. will investigate all inquiries that are put in writing and will provide you with a prompt response. Her e-mail ID is barb.romano@earthlink.net.

HCY Eligibility Lists and Sign Ups

The HCY Stingrays Swim Team submits entries to a number of YMCA and USA Invitationals throughout the season. Since host teams often limit the total number of swimmers they can accept, some teams are often “closed out” of an invitational. In order to increase the chances of our entry being accepted, we always try to have our entries submitted before the host team’s deadline. This means that sometimes there is a very short turn around time for us. Please note the following procedures for signing up to compete at an invitational:

• Most YMCA invitationals do not have qualifying times. Most USA invitationals do have time standards, either minimum or maximum qualifying times (QT). Both YMCA and USA invitationals have limits on the maximum number of events a swimmer can swim. Please read the meet information sheet carefully for each invitational you wish to attend!
• The meet information sheet that we receive from the host team will be posted on the HCY bulletin board as soon as it becomes available and extra copies will be available in the back of the family folders.
• Eligibility lists will be posted on the HCY bulletin board as soon as possible once we receive the HyTek event file from the host team. To enter the invitational, select and circle the events next to your swimmer’s name that you wish to swim. Please be sure to mark clearly, and do not exceed the maximum number of events permitted.
• All invitationals have entry fees per event. This money is subtracted from each family’s escrow account. It is your responsibility to keep your escrow account sufficiently funded throughout the year. Entries can not be submitted for you if your escrow account has a negative balance.
• If your name is NOT on the eligibility list, it could mean that you do not qualify for that event/invitational because of the time cuts, or because you do not have a time in the database (e.g., you have never done that event/distance before during the winter season). If you are interested in swimming a particular stroke/distance that does not appear next to your name on the eligibility list, you must contact Barbara Huey for a time. Please clearly write the event number and the time Coach Barbara provided on the eligibility list. This is your responsibility if you want to swim that event. Write-ins without times from Coach Barbara will not be accepted.
• Eligibility lists are posted usually for at least a week and will generally be taken down on either Thursday or Sunday night. Please do not wait until the last minute to sign up if you are interested in swimming as you may forget or the list may already be removed.
• When the eligibility list is taken down there are usually several hours of work required to produce and verify the entry files and associated paper work. The team’s entry is usually submitted electronically that night as a HyTek file, while paper copies and a team check are over-nighted the next morning. Most teams will not consider a file as entered until this check is received. If you missed the sign up deadline for an invitational, please do not ask if we can submit an amended late entry or if you can submit your own entry. Most host teams frown upon this, it is a poor reflection on HCY and it causes increased work after the meet when result files are mailed back. Wait until the next invitational.
• Championships are different from invitationals in that no team can get closed out. There are often other restrictions however, such as strict time cuts, no NT’s and tight deadlines, which will be explained when Championship eligibility lists are posted later this season. If you are looking for a QT for Championships, it is your responsibility to keep track of where/when those events are being held and when entries for those invitationals are due.