From Chaos to Confidence: How Old Natchez Country Club Streamlined Meets with Swimmingly
Executive Summary:
When managing a swim team with 125 young swimmers, simplicity and efficiency are vital. Old Natchez Country Club’s swim team faced the daunting challenge of hosting smooth, enjoyable meets in a short summer season. Thanks to Swimmingly, this Tennessee-based club discovered how to turn logistical chaos into effortless confidence.
Key Results:
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Significant Time Savings: By simplifying operations, the swim meets now last just three to three-and-a-half hours—saving over four hours per meet compared to their previous setup. This makes the process more manageable for families, volunteers, and organizers.
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Increased Volunteer Engagement: Swimmingly's user-friendly features reduced the learning curve for new volunteers, encouraging more parents to step into key roles with confidence. This eliminated the stress of recruiting and training for higher-level responsibilities.
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A Smoother, More Enjoyable Meet Experience: The app eliminated logistical chaos with its wireless setup, QR codes, and real-time updates, creating an efficient and stress-free environment for everyone involved—especially families with younger swimmers.
About Old Natchez Country Club and Mary
Old Natchez Country Club, located in Tennessee, has been a staple of summer swimming for years. With a swim team of 125 young swimmers, many aged six to eight, the club focuses on providing a balance of fun and competition. However, the team’s short summer season and logistical hurdles often created challenges that impacted the experience for families and volunteers alike.
At the heart of the team is Mary Hollister, a longtime member who has worn many hats over her seven years with the club—as a swimmer, coach, and parent. Mary’s unique perspective has given her insight into the complexities of running efficient swim meets. Despite her dedication, the outdated, manual systems the team relied on often resulted in stress and inefficiencies.
The Challenge: Overwhelming Logistics and Outdated Systems
For years, Old Natchez Country Club relied on manual timing systems and complex setups that often led to errors, delays, and frustration. “Running a meet is a thankless, tiring job,” said Mary Hollister, team representative and long-time cornerstone of the club. From finding and training volunteers to managing endless paper slips, organizing swim meets was an intimidating task.
Key challenges included:
- Recruiting and training volunteers: Parents were hesitant to commit to critical roles due to the steep learning curve and intimidating nature of tasks like stroke and turn judging.
- Reliance on manual processes: Outdated systems, such as paper slips and manual timing, were prone to errors, causing delays and inefficiencies during meets.
- Managing a young, inexperienced team: With most swimmers aged six to eight, meet organizers needed extra flexibility and adaptability to accommodate mistakes without penalizing the kids.
It was clear that the team needed a modern solution to address these pain points and create a more enjoyable experience for swimmers, families, and volunteers.
The Solution: Switching to Swimmingly
Mary and her team turned to Swimmingly, an app designed specifically to address the unique challenges of summer swim meets. “The wireless setup, QR codes, and streamlined operations have made meet days so much easier,” Mary noted.
“Swimmingly’s features made everything easier,” Mary shared. “We were able to cut down on delays, simplify volunteer roles, and focus on the kids enjoying the sport.”
Key Features That Transformed Their Meets:
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Wireless Timing and QR Codes: Eliminated cords, paper slips, and manual setups, streamlining operations and reducing errors.
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Ease of Volunteer Roles: Simplified training, increased parent participation, and reduced stress in filling key roles.
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Real-Time Flexibility and Results: Allowed kids to compete smoothly, even with mistakes, while providing instant updates for families.
The Results: Faster, Easier Meets with Less Stress
The results were immediate. From managing entries to real-time timing and weather-related resets, Swimmingly simplified tasks that once felt insurmountable. It even addressed flexibility during races, allowing swimmers who accidentally landed in the wrong heat or lane to still participate without penalty.
Today, Old Natchez Country Club has completely redefined its swim meet experience:
- Saved over four hours per meet: Meets now last three to three-and-a-half hours—a perfect duration for families with younger swimmers.
- Streamlined volunteer roles: The app’s ease of use empowered new volunteers, reduced the need for extensive training, and boosted participation.
- Eliminated chaos: The wireless setup and real-time updates eliminated the need for paper slips and cumbersome cords, creating a more enjoyable environment for everyone.
“Our meets used to be chaotic,” Mary reflected. “Now, we can get things up and running quickly, and there’s no need for cords or excessive setup.”
How Swimmingly Can Help Your Team
For Mary and her team, the decision to switch to Swimmingly was a no-brainer after seeing the results. She encourages other leagues to take advantage of Swimmingly’s responsive support team and intuitive features. “Once you see the difference, you won’t want to go back,” she said.
Key Benefits of Swimmingly:
✅ Wireless timing systems eliminated the need for cords and manual timing, reducing setup time and errors.
✅ QR codes and real-time updates made meet operations seamless, even with weather delays.
✅ Flexibility for young swimmers allowed children to compete even if they ended up in the wrong lane or heat.