Parents Guide to Swim Meets Handbook

Timing Chair How-To

DEFINITIONS  (Downloadable copy)

  • Age Groups:  Until a swimmer reaches Senior / Sectional / National standards they compete in groups by age.  The age groups are:  5-8, 7-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15 & Over.  Time standards for each of these age groups get faster and faster as the swimmer gets older.
  • Automatic Check In:  Meet is pre-seeded and heat and lane assignments are assigned prior to the meet. This is standard for the Senior and above meets.  Exceptions are the distance races and ‘excess’ events.  Sometimes swimmers are allowed to enter more events than the max number they can swim.  The ‘excess’ events must be scratched.  Scratch rules for events that must be scratched are in the meet sheet.
  • B/BB/A/AA/AAA/AAAA  are USA Swimming Motivational time standards.  These are time groupings within age groups, within events.  Every swimmer begins as No Time (NT).  The “time” they get assigns them to a group based on how fast their time was.  B times are faster than 'C' times and BB times are faster than B times, etc.  These times qualify swimmers for future events.  Note:  It’s entirely possible for a swimmer to have a 'C' time in one event, a 'B' time in another event, a 'BB' time in still another event, etc.
  • Bonus Events:  SCS championship and senior level meets may allow for ‘Bonus’ events.  Bonus events may have no time standards or time standards slightly less than the qualifying times. The meet sheet defines if the meet allows bonus events, the time standards for the bonus events, and how many bonus events are allowed depending on how many qualifying events the swimmer has.  The swimmer must qualify for at least one ‘A’ event to enter bonus events.
  • C Times: SCS is using the designation 'C' times for swimmers having times slower than 'B' times.
  • DQ - DisQualification:  Every stroke has certain technical ‘standards/rules’ that have to be met in order to ensure fairness and performance.  If a swimmer violates one of these ‘rules’ the referee will “DQ” them.  Immediately after the event the referee will let the swimmer know what the DQ was.  The coach will let the swimmer know what to do to correct the problem.  DQ’s are not to be looked upon as a failure, but rather as a learning experience and an opportunity to make technical corrections in training.  Even the most experienced, highly ranked swimmers DQ on occasion. 
  • Dryland Training:  Dryland training is a “DRY” training done out of the water.  It helps a swimmer develop explosive power and flexibility. When it comes to developing explosive power in the water, which is particularly critical for sprinting, dry land contributes more than swim training. However, because of the exquisite sensitivity to increasing frontal drag with small changes in shape, one has to be extremely careful about developing bulk strength. Swimming is a sport where bigger and stronger does not necessarily make one faster. In fact, we often see the opposite. Consequently, most good strength trainers familiar with our sport have evolved into programs focusing on developing swim-specific strength, building the core muscles involved in the correct swimming motions, while largely ignoring the rest. Becoming strong while remaining lean is a key to fast swimming.
  • H/F: Heats & Finals (Age group meets).  This means there will be preliminary events, usually in the morning, and finals events, usually in the late afternoon/evening.  The top 16 times (sometimes only 8) quality for finals in the evening.  Places 9-16 swim in the B-Consolation and places 1-8 swim in the ‘A’ Final.  Swimmers who qualify for the finals have 30 minutes to declare their intent to scratch after the finalists are announced. Otherwise, they are automatically entered.
  • JAG:  June Age Group championships.  LCM championship level meet for age group swimmers.  Usually held in the middle of June. Time standards are set by SCS
  • JO:  Junior Olympics.  These are championship level meets for the age group swimmers. Time standards are set by SCS
  • LCM – Long Course Meters:  Length of competition lane is 50 meters.  This is the same length the Olympic swimmers swim.  Long course season begins around April and continues through July.  These meets very often are geared towards the more experienced, faster swimmers and are often designated as A/BB/B meets (meaning swimmers competing in these meets must have at least a B time in an event to qualify).  Swimmers with a B time in a short course event may use that time to qualify for the long course event and vice versa.
  • Meet Fees:  Every swim meet has meet fees.  Fees are per event and usually range from $3.50 - $5.50.  They may be higher for championship meets.  There is also a per swimmer surcharge.  These can range from $5 to $25 per swimmer depending on the meet.    These fees are paid by the team and billed to the family account.  Once the swimmer has been entered into events, and these entries have been approved by the coach. the fees are ‘non-refundable’ whether the swimmer swims the event or not.
  • Meet Sheets:  Every meet creates a meet sheet which contains information about the meet and the events being offered.  If there are qualifying times these will also be included.  When available they are usually attached to the event or the coach will send them out via e-mail. To locate the meet sheet select the NAME of the meet.  It will take you to the meet information page.  The meet sheet is a pdf file and it is attached under Forms/Documents.   Select it to download.
  • Relays:  Relay events are “deck entered” AT THE MEET.  If the meet is running behind they may elect to eliminate the relays.  These are the most popular events at any meet.  Four (4) swimmers form a ‘team’ and swim to beat other teams.  Relays for championship meets are pre-entered.  These are the most popular events at any meet.  Four (4) swimmers form a ‘team’ and swim to beat other teams.  The kids love to rally around their teammates and cheer them on.   Do NOT leave until you are sure your swimmer is not assigned to a relay team.  Always check with the coach before you leave.
  • SCS Age Group Championships:  Formerly “Junior Olympics”.  These are championship level meets for the age group swimmers, ages 5-18. Time standards are set by SCS
  • SCS Age Group Time Standards:  These are times, by age group, by event, that determine qualifying times for Age Group, WAG (Winter Age Group Invite), JAG (June Age Group Invite), SCS Spring and Summer Championship meets. SCS uses the USA Swimming Motivational Time Standards for the regular age group meets.  SCS sets the time standards for the WAG, SprAG, JAG, SumAG, SCSAG Elite, Senior Development meets.  The SCS time standards and can be found on the SCS web site.  www.socalswim.org
  • SCS Senior Time Standards:  SCS sets the Senior Development Time Standards.  Individual Senior level meets set their own time standards.
  • Scratch Rule:  This rule applies to all preliminary / finals swim meets, both age group and senior level.  Within a few minutes after the end of the preliminary heats for an event the announcer will announce the swimmers that qualified for the finals and say, “you have 30 minutes to scratch or declare your intent”.  If the swimmer does not want to swim the event in finals they must scratch within 30 minutes.  If the swimmer does nothing they are automatically entered in the final.   If the swimmer still has more events to swim and, depending on the results of their next events, may want to scratch the final they need to tell admin they “may want to scratch the final for the event depending on how they do in their upcoming events”.  By the end of the session the swimmer must inform the admin of their decision.  NOTE:  After each event the ‘preliminary’ results are posted.  After 30 minutes the finals results are posted … UNLESS someone has declared their intention to scratch.  In that case, the ‘preliminary’ results will remain posted UNTIL all declarations are cleared.  Failure to no-show a final heat will result in the swimmer being disqualified from the rest of the meet.  If the no-show event was the last event of the meet the team will be fined.
  • SCY – Short Course Yards:  Length of competition lane is 25 yards.  Our pool is SCY.  SCY meets are typically at the beginning of the swim season and normally run through Feb-Mar.  These meets are geared toward the beginner swimmer and are designed to give the beginner/novice swimmer an opportunity to get times and swim meet experience before moving on to the Long Course faster meets.
  • Senior Meets:  There is no age limit for these meets.  Every meet has (very fast) qualifying times and anyone who meets the qualifying times may enter.   These meets are usually for the faster swimmers.  Senior meets may be sanctioned by an LSC, a Zone (sectionals), or USA Swimming (National meets).
  • Swim Season:  Sept 1 through end of July with senior and above championship meets in August, including the Olympics.
  • Timed Finals:  There are no preliminaries.  The event is the final.
  • USA Motivational Time Standards:  These are National (Motivational) time standards published by USA Swimming.  These time standards are used to rank swimmers nationally by times.  SCS uses these time standards for all regular season Age Group Meets. 
  • WAG:  Winter Age Group championship.  SCS SCY championship level meet for age group swimmers.  Usually held around December.  Time standards are set by SCS.