Swimming TermsAnchor: The final swimmer in a relay. Backstroke Flags: A line of flags placed over the pool at a distance of 20 feet away from each end of the pool. The purpose of these flags is to help a swimmer locate the wall while doing backstroke. Bilateral: Breathing on both side of your body while swimming freestyle. DQ: Disqualification during a meet due to an infraction of the United States Swimming rules. Drag Suit: A second, loose-fitting swim suit worn by swimmers in a workout and warm-up to add a certain amount of weight and resistance to the flow of the water around the swimmer. The concept is similar to a batter swinging two or three bats while on deck in a baseball game. Drill: The drill set is an extension of warm-up. There are rarely interval times associated with this set, so that you may focus totally on stroke technique without concerning yourself with speed or rest. Again, stretch as necessary and pay close attention to your body position and form. Allow your heartrate to come up slowly. You should get 10-15 seconds of rest between each part of the Drill Set. Dryland: The exercises and various strength programs swimmers participate in out of the water. Ear Plugs: Plugs to keep water out of the swimmer's ear. Reportedly helps to prevent ear infections. False start: When a swimmer starts the race before the starting signal is given. Finish Judge: Stands at the finish end of the pool and in his view point, jots down the finish as s/he sees it. Sometime this call supersedes the stop watch time. Fins: Large, rubber, fin-type devices that fit on a swimmer's feet; they are used in swim practice, but not competition. Required for Froggers practices. Form Judge: This official walks along the side of the pool during competition and checks to see if the swimmer is swimming in a legal fashion. Goggles: Eyewear worn by swimmers in the pool to protect the swimmers' eyes from the effects of chorine in the water. Heats: In a single event, say 50 yards of freestyle. There may be 24 swimmers participating. If at the site of competition, the pool has 8 lanes, the 24 swimmers would be broken down to 3 even heats of 8 swimmers a piece. That is, the fastest 8 swimmers would probably be swimming in the 3rd heat, the next fastest in the 2nd heat and the next fastest in the 1st heat. Although the swimmers are in different heats, the top 8 among all 24 swimmers would score or be awarded. I.M.: Individual Medley, a individual race consisting of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. Interval: A specific elapsed time for swimming a designated distance or for resting; used during swim practice. Kicking: During training, an exercise in which swimmers use a kickboard and move through the water primarily by kicking and using leg muscles. Lane: The specific area in which the swimmer is assigned to swim. Lane 1 shall be on the swimmer's right when s/he faces the pool. Lane assignment: A particular lane which is assigned to a swimmer in an event . Lane line: A continuous floating marker attached to a line stretched from the lanes running from the stating end to the turning end. Lane markers:The guidelines on the bottom of the pool and in the center of the lanes running from the starting end to the turning end. Leg: The part of a relay event swum by a single member of a relay team. Also, a single stroke of an individual medley. Medley Relay: A relay in which four swimmers from the same team swim uses a different stroke in the following order: Backstroke, Breaststroke, Butterfly and Freestyle. Meters: A metric measurement of the length of a swimming pool. One meter equals 39.4 inches. Our pool is 25 meters long. Paddles: Plastic devices sometimes worn on the swimmers' hands during a practice. Practice: To do over again and through repetition , to master the correct form. Pulling: during swimming, using a pull buoy or some other device to immobilize the legs in order that only the upper body muscle group gets developed. Pull Buoy: A pull buoy consists of two foam cylinders strapped together by nylon straps or cord. Pull buoys increase the resistance in the water and inhibit the use of the swimmer's lower body, causing the swimmer to exercise the muscles of the upper body in moving through the water. Pull-Outs: A Pull-Out is a strength building exercise. It must be done in water at least 6 feet deep with the pool deck preferably much higher than the water level. Facing the wall, the swimmer will place his hands on the edge of the deck or gutter about shoulder-width apart. Without kicking, the swimmer will pull his upper body up and out of the water to the full extent of the arms. Once full extention is obtained, the swimmer will lower himself back into the water carefully. Recall Rope: A rope across the width of the pool for the purpose of stopping swimmers who are not aware of a false start. The rope is about halfway down a yards pool and about 50 feet from the starting end of meters pool. Referee: As in all sports, this official makes the decisions on disqualifications as well as other decisions that is needed on the deck. Relays: A team of four swimmers that swim in a relay format, one after the other. Repeats: A repeated distance in a given time interval. Set: In training, a number of repeats consist of a set. Split Time: Time recorded from official start to completion of an initial distance within a longer event. A time taken at different intervals of an overall race. Time maybe taken for the 1st lap, 2nd lap, 3rd lap and so on. The times are then compared to see if the swimmer had paced him/herself over the entire race. A quick look and talk from the coach can ready the swimmer for the next event, to do better. Time Finals: Competition in which only heats are swum and final placing are determined by the times performed in the heats. Out of a number of swimmers, the times are consolidated, and the top 8 swimmers are awarded points. Time Standards: The time standard for any event in a meet is the cut-off time for that event. If a swimmer betters his/her time, he/she will advance to the next higher level of competition. Time Trials: An event or series of events where a swimmer may compette and achieve or to better a required time standard. Timer: A person who times events at a swim meet. Parents are often requested to volunteer this service. At all meets, a swim club needs to provide one timer for every 5 swimmers entered. Touch Pad: A light weight pad 2 feet deep by 3 feet wide, placed at the finish wall of the lane. The pad is connected to a computer which registers a swimmer's time and place in the heat. Training: To exercise the necessary muscle groups and develop skills to perform at the level of training. Trials: Preliminary race to obtain the fastest 8/16 swimmers by time to swim in the finals. Turn Judge: This official checks to see if the swimmer touches the wall with two hands on butterfly and breaststroke. That the swimmer touches the wall on freestyle and backstroke. Warm-Up: A period of swimming designed to bring the heart rate up, warm up the muscles, and get limber. This is also a period of being mentally aware of the race to be swum. Warm-Down: A period of swimming designed to bring the heart down. After competition, the swimmer does a easy swim to stretch, move the lactic acid out of their muscles, and let the body do a 75% recovery. Yards: An American-system measurement of the length of a swimming pool. One yard equals 36 inches. Every pool, other than ours, is 25 yards in length. |