Last updated on June 12th, 2023 at 02:56 pm
The team management software company SwimTopia also offers swim meet management software, Meet Maestro. It has a lot of great features but also some serious drawbacks. This post is not designed to give a Meet Maestro tutorial or comprehensive review. Rather, I’ll share some thoughts on who I think it benefits.
In short, if your team use watches to run swim meets, it’s worth your time to look into Meet Maestro. There’s a lot to like about this simple to learn, easy-to-use product. It’s a great entry-level software for running basic swim meets. If you already use Swimtopia as your team management software definitely check out Meet Maestro. You can use it to run meets at no additional cost. However, if you use touchpads at swim meets, Meet Maestro has a serious shortcoming of not yet interfacing with them. As a result, I don’t think it’s a good fit for some. The good news is, the developers at Meet Maestro are working on touchpad integration so this drawback may be short-lived. But for now, I wouldn’t recommend it to those who run more than basic timed finals swim meets or use touchpads.
NOTE: Meet Maestro is currently in private beta testing for the 5/6 & Gen 7https://help.swimtopia.com/hc/en-us/articles/360056845272-Meet-Maestro-Setting-Up-CTS-System-5-6-or-CTS-Gen-7-Timing-Consoles#h_01EYWADFFS55299R9THXRTZJP1 Colorado Timing systems and touchpads. Click to find out more or if you are interested in participating or receiving updates as they get closer to a public release.
Contents for Is SwimTopia’s Meet Maestro Right for You?
Meet Maestro’s Simple Interface is Easy to Learn and Use
One of Meet Maestro’s stand-out features is its user interface. It’s designed to be simple and easy to learn. They did a good job. This is helpful as volunteer parents are often the ones running it at swim meets. The simplicity makes it quick and easy to learn but may be a drawback for some as it comes at the cost of fewer features. I wouldn’t recommend it for high-stakes championship meets. Nonetheless, it can easily run fun dual and developmental meets for rec teams, summer leagues, high school, and beyond.
Exciting Virtual Meets with Meet Maestro
Meet Maestro makes it easy to run exciting virtual swim meets with live integrated results despite running the races at different venues. You can also have as many teams and venues as you’d like! A virtual meet allows teams or groups to swim at different locations but integrates times for results and scoring. Although the format is not new, its become more known and widespread since the COVID-19 pandemic and USA Swimming’s virtual competition format. Meet Maestro’s seamless file integration makes it easy to send results to USA Swimming’s Virtual Meet Simulator. It can import and export Hy-tek file types.
Another great feature allows the same virtual meet to run in different courses. This means that one team might swim at a short course yards pool and another at a short course meters pool. The software automatically converts the times to the home pool course and combines results.
I love Meet Maestro’s ability to hold “head-to-head” competitions at different venues with live merged results. It’s one of my favorite features! I think it helps to make our “new normal” of small, local swim meets more fun and exciting. It’s impressive how easy Meet Maestro makes this usually complex task!
NOTE: The live results are available via a paid subscription mobile app or through meet admin printed and posted reports.
Live Results: The Agony and the Ecstacy
Everyone loves live mobile results when the system is working correctly. However, “the system” relies on human input, including disqualifications and time verification. Meet Maestro boasts of a simple interface where even newbies can sit down and run it quickly. I applaud this. I think it’s a move in the right direction. However, I would like to see the ability to publish results after all event information has been received and correctly processed. In a perfect world, everything runs quickly and correctly. But none of us live in a perfect world.
Even very experienced swim meet admin people need time to process official results. Those with less experience usually require more time to think things through and do it correctly. One of the downsides I see is that the software markets itself to beginners (and rightly so) but does not allow them the flexibility to pause or turn off live results until they are finalized. I would prefer to give the admin the ability to choose when to publish results to the app. I’ve seen too many events where slow information changed the final results, and sometimes dramatically. I believe it’s best to publish results when finalized, not just when the watch times show up in the software.
Timing System Compatibility
Though not yet compatible with touchpads (see the pink font note above), Meet Maestro currently works with both regular stopwatches and Colorado Timing Systems Dolphin Wireless stopwatches. This will be a deal-breaking drawback for some and a non-issue for others. Meet Maestro plans to have Colorado Timing Systems Touchpad integration by the end of 2020.
Note: You can purchase or rent the Colorado Timing Systems Dolphin Wireless stopwatches. If renting, you can choose to rent for a single meet or the season.
Meet Maestro is Cloud-Based
Meet Maestro is an online, browser-based software. As a result, it works on both Mac and PC. It runs best on Chrome. The fact that it’s 100% online, made me a bit nervous at first. Why? Because I’ve been at pools where the internet coverage became sporadic when the swim meet crowd came in. So, you’ll want to ensure adequate internet coverage during the meet. Consider using a hot spot. The good news is, that even if internet connectivity goes down, you can still enter data offline. Also, the program does not lose data if the connection is lost. However, you must have an internet connection to score and send information to the app.
Don’t let these warnings scare you off. Rather, use them to prevent potential problems. It’s the online model that makes head-to-head virtual competition and integrated results possible. So the cloud-based system provides options you can’t get from other meet management software.
Summary
Make it fun, keep it easy, and make it exciting! This seems to be the Meet Maestro mantra and for some teams the software certainly delivers. Teams that use watches to run basic swim meets should definitely look into Meet Maestro. As it does not currently support touchpad use, I cannot recommend it to meet hosts who use them or those who run more than basic timed finals swim meets. Meet Maestro does a great job of creating exciting virtual meets, especially non-sanctioned ones. This meet management software is available for free to those who purchase Swimtopia team management software. High school, summer league, or rec teams looking to purchase or upgrade team management software should definitely look into this option. The company offers a free two-week trial of their software so if it appears to fit well with your team goals and resources, give it a try!
Preparing for a swim meet? Check out The Ultimate Swim Meet To-Do List. Then, get a bird’s eye view of Who does What at Swim Meets. Both include easy-to-follow links to related information. Doing a smaller, simpler meet? Host a High School or Developmental Swim Meet will help.
Need more help? See 20+ Ways to Get Swim Meet Timers and Officials: 20+ Ways to Get them for Swim Meets.
Also, discover a few things you can do to Increase Safety at Swim Meets. Find ideas to implement before your meet as well as last-minute quick and easy tips!