2026 Patti Wilder State Qualifying Meet Information
- Session 1 Prelims
- Warm ups at 7:30am
- Meet starts at 9:15am
- Session 2 Finals
- Warm ups start 2 hours after Session 1 ends
- Meet starts 3 hours after Session 1 ends
- Session 3 Prelims
- Warm Ups at 7:30am
- Meet starts at 9:15am
- Session 4 Finals
- Warm ups start 2 hours after Session 3 ends
- Meet starts 3 hours after Session 3 ends
Sunday, June 28: Ages 5-8 years
Complete info at: https://cobbsummerswimleague.swimtopia.com/patti-w...
Important Dates,Times, and Locations for the Patti Wilder State Qualifying Meet (aka County Meet)
2026 Patti Wilder State Qualifying Meet Dates: June 26-28
Deadline to sign up with VE Swim Coordinators: Friday, June 12 at noon.
Meet Location: Mountain View Aquatic Center 2650 Gordy Parkway, Marietta, GA 30066
Practices:
Tuesday, June 23 and Wednesday, June 24
- Ages 5-8: 9:30-10am
- Ages 9-12:10-11am
- Ages 13-18: 11am-noon
MOUNTAIN VIEW: Thursday, June 25: Time is TBA, between 5pm-8pm. VE Head Coaches attend
Meet Info:
Friday, June 26: Ages 13-18 years
Saturday, June 27: Ages 9-12 years
*NOTE: If you make the state team, the state meet occurs July 17-18 in Douglas County. If you commit to the State Team, you MUST attend. If a swimmer commits but does not show up, the Patti Wilder organizers will place that swimmer on a ONE-YEAR BAN from participating in Patti Wilder.
What is the Patti Wilder State Qualifying Meet?
Named for the practical founder of the Cobb Summer Swim League, the Patti Wilder State Qualifying meet is Cobb County's summer swimming season's culminating event. It is designed and run as an official USA swim meet, similarly formatted to the Olympics and school swim meets, intended to build a team of elite Cobb County Swimmers to compete in the Georgia Parks and Recreation Association's State Championship Class "A" Swim Meet on July 17-18 in Douglas County. Approximately 1,000 swimmers total from the 60+ Cobb Summer Swim League teams (including Vinings Estates), plus more from the 7 West Georgia Summer Swim Association teams compete, but only about 120 qualify to join the state swim team.
How Do I Qualify to Join the Cobb State Team?
To understand how one qualifies for the state team, you must first understand the format of the Patti Wilder Meet. Firstly, the events occur in a COMPLETELY different order, and the entire meet takes place across a three-day process. Friday (6/26), swimmers ages 13-18 compete, on Saturday (6/27), swimmers ages 9-12 compete, and on Sunday (6/28) swimmers age 5-8 compete in events for long course freestyle, short course freestyle, short course breaststroke, short course backstroke, and short course butterfly. "The preliminary rounds" are swam in the morning. Every swimmer placed in a specific event participates in the preliminary round of that event just like our regular summer season meets. Across all the heats of that specific event, results are posted displaying the top ten swimmers from that event overall. The top 20 swimmers get the opportunity to compete in a "finals" round of that event in the afternoon of the same day. The 21st and 22nd place swimmers from an event qualify as alternates and are asked to return in case one of the top twenty swimmers decides not to show (this is called scratching). The top THREE place finishers from EACH event in the FINALS rounds qualify to join the Cobb State Team. ONLY SWIMMERS AGES 7-18 CAN MOVE ON TO THE STATE MEET. GRPA elected to exclude the 5-6 age group years ago. For this reason, the 5-6 age group CANNOT qualify/return for FINALS. The 5-6 year-olds can compete in the preliminary round of the County Meet, but that's as far as the competition goes for them.
How Do Relays Work in the Patti Wilder State Qualifying Meet, and Does It Change for the State Meet?
Like regular season meets, any swimmer participating in the meet can swim two relays with swimmers from his or her specific team during the county meet. This is as far as the relay competition goes. Relays for State Meet: After the Cobb State Team is built via the individual events, the state team coaches will build Cobb relay teams consisting of individual state swimmers for the GRPA State Meet.
How Many Events Can I Swim at the Patti Wilder State Qualifying Meet?
Each swimmer competing in the county meet will get to choose three individual events and two relays to compete in during the county meet totaling a maximum of five events per swimmer. our events.
How much does it cost to participate?
For the 2026 season, your swimmer can swim in 3 individual events. The entry fee for individual events is $7 per entry. Vinings Estates Dolphins will cover the cost of all relays. You can turn in your entry fees to any of the coordinators at practice along with the events your child would like to swim.
Birth Certificates- please take a copy of your swimmer's birth certificate to the Meet; swimmers that move on to the Finals sessions will need to take this with them. Those swimmers that move on and compete in the GRPA State Meet will need to turn in a copy of the birth certificate.
HOW DO WE SIGN-UP???
The deadline to sign up for the County meet is Friday, June 12 at noon. There will be no exceptions. You can sign up by turning in your entry fees along with the events that your swimmer would like to Derek Hardy
IMPORTANT: Are There Qualifying Times to Participate in the Patti Wilder State Qualifying Meet?
NOT NECESSARILY!!! The only qualification requirements are for swimmers ages 5-6 who plan to compete in freestyle or backstroke events. If your swimmer is age 5-6, then he or she MUST be able to swim 1 Lap of Freestyle and/or Backstroke in under 70 seconds!!! In the past, nearly every swimmer on our team has met this requirement. If you are unsure whether or not your swimmer fits this requirement, please do not hesitate to speak with Derek Hardy or our Head Coaches.
There are NO QUALIFICATIONS to participate for swimmers age 7 and up.
