A
Age Group ? Division of swimmers according to age. The national age group divisions are 8 and Under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, and 15-18.
Alternate ? In a prelims/finals meet, after the finalists are decided according to the fastest times, the new two fastest swimmers other than the finalists are designated as alternates. The faster of the two being first and the next being second alternate. If a finalist can not participate, the alternates are called to take their place, often on a moments notice.
Anchor ? The final swimmer in a relay.
ASCA ? American Swim Coaches Association. The professional organization for swim coaches throughout the nation. Certifying coaches and offering many services for coaches education and career advancement.
B
Backstroke ? One of the four competitive racing strokes, basically any style of swimming on your back. Backstroke is swum as the first stroke in the Medley Relay and the second stroke in the Individual Medley.
Backstroke Flags ? Pennants that are suspended over the width of each end of the pool approximately 15 feet from the wall.
Blocks ? the starting platforms located behind each lane. Some pools have blocks at the deeper end of the pool and some pools have blocks at both ends. Blocks have a variety of designs and can be permanent or removable.
Break ? in a relay this is a bad start. One swimmer leaves the wall or block before the other swimmer in the water ahs touched the wall.
Breaststroke ? One of the four competitive racing strokes. Breaststroke is swum as the second stroke in the Medley Relay and the third stroke in the Individual Medley.
Bull Pen ? The staging area where swimmers wait to receive their lane and heat assignments for a swimming event. The area is usually away from the pool and has a row of chairs for the swimmers to sit. The Clerk of Course is in charge of the bullpen.
Butterfly ? One of the four competitive racing strokes. Butterfly (nicknamed fly) is swum as the third stroke in the Medley Relay and the first stroke in the Individual Medley.
C
Cards ? A card that is either handed to the swimmer in the bullpen or given to the timer behind the lane. Cards usually list the swimmers name, seed time, event number, event description, and the lane and heat number the swimmer will swim in. Backup times are written on these cards. Each event has a separate card.
Championship Finals ? The top 6 or 8 swimmers (depending on the number of lanes in the pool) in a prelims/finals meet who, after the prelims swim, qualify to return to the finals. The fastest heat of the finals when multiple heats are held.
Check-In ? The procedure required before a swimmer swims in a deck seeded meet. Sometimes referred to as a positive check-in, swimmers must mark their name on a list posted by the meet host.
Circle Seeding ? A method seeding swimmers when they are participating in a prelims/finals event. The fastest 18-24 swimmers are seeded in the last three heats, with the fastest swimmer being in the inside lanes. Therefore, of the fastest three times, one each will swim in the middle lane in each of the last three heats.
Consolation Finals ? After the fastest 6 or 8 swimmers, the next 6 or 8 swimmers (depending on the number of lanes in the pool) in a prelims/finals meet who after the prelims swim, qualify to return to the finals. Consolations are the second fastest heat of finals when multiple heats are held and are conducted before the championship heat.
Course ? Designated distance (length of pool) for swimming competition. Long Course = 50 meters, Short Course = 25 yards or 25 meters.
Cuts ? To make a cut means to make a time standard. For example a zone cut or a national cut.
D
Deck Entry ? Entries (see entries) for Invitational competition are turned into the host club several weeks in advance. From these advance entries the heat sheets (see heat sheet) are printed. In some Invitational?s it is possible to use a deck entry to enter an athlete that was not entered in advance. The limitations that typically apply to the deck-entered athlete are that they often can only enter events where all heats are not full. They often have to swim in the first (slowest) heat, and they are not eligible to score points for their team or to receive awards given to individual swimmers.
Deck Area ? the area immediately around the pool swimmers not competing and parents not working in the meet are asked to remain clear of the deck so that meet and practice operations can continue in a safe manner.
DQ or Disqualification ? An athlete can be disqualified due to a false start, improper stroke, illegal turn or failure to touch properly at the finish. Disqualification occurs most often with younger swimmers competing in the backstroke, breaststroke or butterfly. Judges always write the reason for disqualification on the timer?s card and will explain the mistake to the swimmer. As a supporter for the child you can help by reassuring the athlete that it is a rare swimmer that has never been DQ?d.
Dryland ? The exercises and various strength programs swimmers do out of the water.
Dual Meet ? a meet between two teams.
E
Entries ? when an athlete indicates that he/she plans to swim in a meet, the coach then turns in entries to the host team. The coach decides what events an athlete will be entered in.
Entry Fee ? The amount per event a swimmer or relay team is charged. This varies depending on the host club and type of meet.
Entry Limit ? each meet will usually have a limit of total number of swimmers they can accept, or a time limit they can not exceed. Once an entry limit has been reached, a meet will be closed and all other entries returned.
Electronic Timing ? a timing system operated on DC current (battery). The timing system usually has touchpads in the water, junction boxes on the deck with hook up cables, buttons for backup timing and a computer type console that prints out the results of each race. Some systems are hooked up to a scoreboard that displays swimmers? times.
Event ? a race or stoke over a given distance. An event equals one preliminary with its final, or one timed final.
F
False Start ? when an athlete leaves the starting block before the horn, whistle, or gun. One false start will disqualify a swimmer or relay team, although the starter or referee may disallow the false start due to unusual circumstances.
FINA ? the international rule making organization for the sport of swimming.
Finals ? the final race of each event.
Freestyle ? one of the four competitive racing strokes (nicknamed free) is swum as the fourth and final stroke in the Medley Relay and the fourth and final stroke in the Individual Medley.
G
Gun Lap ? the part of a freestyle distance race (400 meter or 500 yards or longer) when the swimmer has two lengths to go. The starter fires a gun shot over the lane of the lead swimmer when that swimmer is at the backstroke flags.
H
Heats ? a division of an even when there are too many swimmers to compete at the same time and so they are divided into groups based on times
Heat Sheet ? the printed listings of events and the participating swimmers in the event divided into heats based on seed times
High Point ? an award given to the swimmer scoring the most points in a given age group at a swim meet. All meets do not offer high point awards: check the pre-meet information.
I
I.M. (Individual Medley) ? a swimming event using all four of the competitive strokes on consecutive lengths of the race. The order must be: Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Freestyle. Equal distances must be swum for each stroke
Interval ? a specific elapsed time for swimming or rest used during swim practice.
Invitational ? type of meet that requires a club to request an invitation to attend the meet.
J
Jump ? an illegal start done by the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th member of a relay team. The swimmer on the block breaks contact with the block before the swimmer in the water touches the wall
K
L
Lane ? the lane is divided sections of the pool designated 1 through 4, 6 or 8 in which the swimmer swims his/her practice or races in the meet. The practice lanes generally remain the same. At meets the lanes vary for each race.
Lap Counter ? the large numbered cards (or the person turning the cards) used during the freestyle events 500 yards or longer. Counting is done from the end opposite the starting end. The number on the cards are "odd numbers" only with the final lap being designated by a bright orange card.
Line Up Sheet ? this is the coach?s lineup paper that tells him/her who swims what on what day of what meet and when it occurs in regard to other events.
Long Course ? a 50 meter pool.
M
Meet Marshall ? the meet marshall is an adult who is assigned the responsibility of making sure that rules are observed and is available to answer any questions quests may have. It is the person directing the "dry side" of the meet.
Meet Officials ? typically parents who have attended training and are qualified to act as stroke judges, turn judges, and starters.
Meters ? the measurement of the length of a swimming pool that was built using the metric system. Long course meters is 50 meters and short course meters is 25 meters.
Masters Swimming ? adult fitness and competitive swimming for any swimmer 19 years of age or older.
N
Nationals ? a YMCA qualifying meet that is held in April and August usually.
NT (No Time) ? listed in a heat sheet when a swimmer has no official time for that event.
NWOSC ? Northwest Ohio Swim Cluster- the cluster that we are a part of
Negative Split ?on races from between 200 yards and a mile, it is important to maintain consistency. A negative split indicated bringing a race back faster than you started.
O
P
Pace Clock ? the large clocks with highly visible numbers and second hands, positioned at the end or side of a swimming pool so the swimmers can read their times during warm ups or swim practice.
Pacing ? on all long events a swimmer must realize that the finish is as important as the start. Pacing is knowing how much to save up at the beginning so as not to burn up all energy before the finish. Pacing is not used for sprint events.
Place Judge ? these people, usually one on each side of the pool at the finish end, will write down, in their opinion, in what order the swimmers finished. These decisions are to be given to the runner and will be used if the timing system fails or in case of ties.
Prelims/Finals ? type of meet with two sessions per day for an age group. The preliminary heats are usually held in the morning session. Then in the evening in the finals the fastest 6 or 8 swimmers return to swim the Championship Heat and the next fastest 6 or 8 swimmers swim the Consolation Heat. A swimmer who has qualified in the Consolation Finals may not place in the Championship Finals even if their finals time would place them so. The converse also applies. See also ?alternate?.
Pre Seeded ? a meet conducted in which a swimmer knows what lane and heat they are in by looking at the meet heat sheet, or posted meet program.
Psych Sheet ? a listing of all swimmers entered in the meet by event and time with no Indication of heat and/or lane assignment.
Q
Qualifying Times ? published times necessary to enter certain meets, or the times necessary to achieve a specific category of swimmer. (Zones, Nationals)
R
Recall Rope ? a rope across the width of the racing pool for the purpose of stopping swimmers who were not aware of a false start. The rope is about half way on yard pools and about 50 feet from the starting end on the meter pools.
Referee ? the head official at a swim meet in charge of all of the "wet side" administration and decisions.
Relays ? a swimming event in which four swimmers participate as a relay team with each swimmer swimming an equal distance of the race. There are two types of relay a) Medley Relay ? one swimmer swims backstroke, one swimmer swims breaststroke, one swimmer swims butterfly, and one swimmer swims freestyle, in that order. b) Freestyle Relay ? each swimmer swims freestyle.
Runners ? these people will collect cards from each head timer at the end of each race and run them over to the scorers table.
S
Scratch ? to withdraw form an event after having declared an intention to participate. Some meets have scratch deadlines and specific scratch rules, and if not followed, the swimmer can be disqualified from remaining events.
Scorers ? these people score the meet, write out ribbons or medals for place finishes, and posts the scores and results after every few events.
Scoring a Meet ? meets are scored according to what kind of meet it is. Teams are awarded points based upon the place finish of each race. The number of point and number of places awarded varies with each type of meet.
Seeding ? seeding is a procedure in which heats are formed on the basis of swimmers? entry times. Heats include the swimmers with the times closest to each other. In each heat, the swimmers with the faster times will be assigned center lanes; slower swimmers will be placed in the outside lanes. The slowest heat will swim first, the fastest heat last.
Short Course ? a 25 yard pool or 25 meter pool.
Split ? a portion of an event, shorter than the total distance, that is times. An example would be a swimmers? first 50 time is taken as the swimmer swims the 100 race. It is common to take multiple splits for the longer distances.
Sprint ? a sprint is a high energy burst of speed for a short distance event.
Starter ? the official in charge of signaling the beginning of a race and insuring that all swimmers have a fair takeoff.
Stroke Judge ? the official positioned at the side of the pool, walking the length of the course as the swimmers race. If the stroke judge sees something illegal, he/she reports it to the referee and the swimmer may be disqualified.
Swim Off ? in a prelims/finals type of competition, a race after the scheduled event to break a tie. The only circumstance that warrants a swim-off is to determine which swimmer makes the finals or an alternate, otherwise ties stand.
Swimming World ? a monthly magazine with articles and stories about competitive swimming as well as some regional and all national meet results. Write Swimming World, Sports Publications, Inc., 228 Nevada St., Ft. Segundo, CA 90245
T
Taper ? taper is a phase of training designed to have swimmers at their physiological and psychological peak for championship meets. It involves a gradual reduction in the intensity of training taking place over the last two weeks prior to an important (championship) meet.
Take Your Mark ? this is the command that the starter gives the swimmers at the start of each race. It tells the swimmer to take his/her starting position.
Timed Finals ? competition in which only heats are swum and final placings are determined by those times.
Time Standard ? a time set by a meet that a swimmer must achieve for qualification or recognition
Timer ? the volunteers standing behind the starting blocks/finish end of the pool, who are responsible for getting backup stopwatch times for each event and activating the backup button for the timing system if there is one.
Time Trail ? an event or series of events where a swimmer may achieve or better a required time standard.
Tri Meet ? a meet between three teams
Touch and Finish ? these are important- for each event the touch for a finish or a turn has definite rules. There is a specific leagal touch for each stroke.
U
Unofficial Time ? the time displayed on a read out board or read over the intercom by the announcer immediately after the race. After the time has been checked, it will become the official time.
V
W
Warm Down ? the loosening a swimmer does after a race when pool space is available and also at the end of practice.
Warm Up ? the practice and loosening session a swimmer does before the meet or before their event is swum or at the beginning of practice.
X
Y
Yards ? the measurement of the length of a swimming pool that was built per specs using the American system.
Yardage ? the distance a swimmer races or swims in practice. Total yardage can be calculated for each practice session.
Z
Zones ? a qualifying meet usually held in March after the Northwest Ohio Swim Cluster Championships. It is a YMCA Zone in which many YMCA?s compete in the states of Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.
