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Answer:
Let me start off by saying that I have never photographed a swim meet.
However I am sure that it must be similar to other sporting events.
First you need to find a good location to position yourself for the race, you
may be limited by the officials (which is always the case) as to where you
can stand. But generally the areas that they have set aside for photographers
usually have pretty good vantage points. Basically there are two prime
locations, one is to either side of the finish line, this by far is the best.
The other is standing right in front of the winning swimmer's lane, you can
get dramatic shots of them as they approach the finish line and hopefully
they will jump when they realize that they have won, then you can capture
their joy and jubilation. The trick with this second location is picking out
who is going to win before the race starts.
You won't be able to take your first shot until the starter's pistol goes
off, your camera going off first of all can cause a false start. (I did that
once when photographing a 100m sprint race at the finals of the Canadian
Olympic try outs - I was warned if I did that again I'd get kicked off the
field, after that I was real careful not to do that again!)
As for most sporting events you'll want a bare minimum shutter speed of
1/500, faster if possible. So depending on the lighting conditions you may
need to use fast lenses and/or high speed film.
Hope these tips help,
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