Glossary of Terms for New Families

 

 

Achiever Circle Swimming Disqualification (DQ) LCM Scratch State Qualifying Time
Age Groups Cool Down Entry Fee Personal Best Seed Time Time Trial
Anchor Cut False Start Postings Splash Fee Types of Meets
Backstroke Flags Deck Seeding IM & Medley Relay SCM Split Warm-Up
Block Delay of Meet Laps SCY Sprint Whistle Start


 

Achiever: An achiever moves from a lower sanctioned motivational time to a higher classification in an individual event.  Classifications progress from C (first level), B, BB, A, AA, AAA, AAAA. 

 

Age Groups: Meets are most often organized by 8 and under (8&U), 10 and under (10&U), 11&12, 13&14, & Senior (often designated as “open”).  Eight and under swimmers can swim in any 10&U race, and any swimmer can compete in open events.

 

Anchor: The swimmer who swims the last leg of a relay.

 

Backstroke Flags: A line of flags stretched across the pool 15 feet inside each end of the course to help swimmers know when they are approaching the wall.

 

Block: The starting platform

 

Circle Swimming: Performed by staying to the right of the black line when swimming in a lane to enable more swimmers to swim in each lane.

 

Cool Down: Low intensity swimming used to rid the body of excess lactic acid and keep muscles loose after a workout or a race.

 

Cut: Slang for qualifying time standard.  Time standards are necessary to attend a particular meet for event. This word is often used to refer to achieving a State Qualifying time standard.

 

Deck Seeding:  When swimmer adds an event to swim on the day of the meet IF there is space in the event.  The event will cost upwards of double the original price of an event a swimmer is registered in before the cut-off date for that meet.

 

Delay of Meet: Swimmers who do not report to the block on time or are late getting on the blocks after the whistle. This often results in a disqualification (DQ).

 

Disqualification (or DQ): USA Swimming-sanctioned officials are at every meet to insure that all strokes, dives, and turns are completed according to the rules.  Failure to do so, whether the swimmer is 6 or 16 years old, results in a disqualification.  In general, beginning swimmers will get a number of disqualifications – it just means that they need to work on their technique in practice.

 

Entry Fee: Fee paid to the host club for each individual event that a swimmer enters.  Typical cost ranges from $3 to $8 per individual event and $10 to $12 per relay (team).

 

False Start: If a swimmer moves or leaves the starting blocks too soon.

 

Heats: Swimmers are organized in “heats” if the number of individuals competing in an event is greater than the number of lanes in the pool.  Typically, the first heat is the slowest heat or populated by those that have never before swam the event (NT or “no time”).  Occasionally, host clubs will award heat ribbons to the fastest swimmer in each heat of the event (especially to the 8&U and 10&U).

 

Individual Medley & Medley Relay: The medley events feature all four strokes in one race.  In the  individual medley (or IM), a single swimmer must swim butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle in that order.  In the medley relay, teams of four swimmers swim backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle in that order.

 

Lap: Two lengths of the pool equal a lap.

 

LCM: Long Course Meter (50 meter length pool and international standard for the Olympics)

 

Officials: Officials are present at all competitions to implement the technical rules of swimming and to ensure that the competition is fair and equitable. Officials attend clinics, pass written tests and work meets before being certified. All parents are encouraged to get involved with officiating.

  • Turn Judges: Observe from each end of the pool and ensure that the turns and finishes comply with the rules applicable to each stroke.

  • Stroke Judges:  Observe from both sides of the pool, walking abreast of the swimmers to ensure that the rules relating to each stroke are being followed. The positions of Stroke Judge and Turn Judge may be combined into one position, Stroke & Turn Judge

  • Relay Takeoff Judges:  Stand beside the starting blocks to observe the relay exchange, ensuring that the feet of the departing swimmer have not lost contact with the clock before the incoming swimmer touches the end of the pool.

  • Clerk of Course: Arranges the swimmers in their proper heats and lanes before the event.  Usually there is a clerk of the course only for 10 & Under swimmers

  • Starter: Assumes control of the swimmers form the Referee, directs them to ‘take your marks’ and sees that no swimmer is in motion prior to giving the start signal.

  • Referee: Has overall authority and control of the competition, ensuring that the rules are followed, assigns and instructs all officials, and decides all questions relating to the conduct of the meet.

Violations of the rules are reported to the Referee and the rules require that every reasonable effort be make to notify the swimmer or coach of a disqualification.

Parents are reminded to be supportive rather than critical if their child is disqualified (DQ’d) in an event.  For beginning swimmers, a disqualification should be treated as a learning experience, not as a punishment. A disqualification alerts the swimmer and coach to areas of correction in the swimmer’s stroke. More information is available at www.usaswimming.org

 

Personal Best (PB):  Storm Aquatics coaches encourage swimmers to constantly improve their times.  A “personal best” or lifetime best means that the swimmer is improving his/her stroke, turn, dive, and getting stronger.  Storm Aquatics recognizes these accomplishments with “Best Time” awards. 

 

Postings: The host club of a meet typically has a specified area where the results, or “postings”, are hung.  These are the official results, and are often copied by swimmers, parents, and coaches interested in charting the progress of the swimmer.

 

SCM: Short Course Meters (25 meter length pool)

 

SCY: Short Course Yards (25 yard length pool)

 

Scratch: To withdraw from an event in the competition.

 

Seed Time: Time for an event attained at a previous meet.

 

Splash Fee: Small charge paid by each swimmer to USA swimming per meet entered.

 

Split: a swimmer’s intermediate time in a race. The split time shows the length of time taken to swim a particular section of the race.

 

Sprint: Describes the shorter events (25, 50 or 100’s)

 

State Qualifying Time: Starting at age 10 and under, swimmers that make a minimum cut-off time set by Wisconsin Swimming, Inc. are eligible for the WI State Championships.  Making this “state qualifying time” is a BIG deal for swimmers - it means that they are one of the best 50-80 swimmers in their age group per that event.

 

Time Trial: A time-only swim, which is not part of a regular meet.  A swimmer’s time counts, but their finishing order does not.

 

Types of Meets: Different meets will often give awards to recognize C and B classified swimmers.  In an A-BB-B+C; two sets of awards are given, one for A-BB-BB swimmers and one for C swimmers.  That means the top three C classification swimmers will get medals.

USS:  United States Swimming, Inc   www.usaswimming.org

 

Warm-Up: Warming up to slowly stretch out, increase blood flow in the muscles, increase muscle temperature and review swimming technique/turns/starts.

 

Whistle Start: The starter referee uses a whistle to announce to the swimmers to get ready and to climb onto the blocks.