Swimming Glossaries

• Bell Lap: In the 800m or 1500m freestyle races a bell is rung as the swimmer approaches/leaves the wall for their last lap indicating that they only have 50m (short course) or 100m (long course) to swim. 
• Blocks: The starting platform located behind each lane. 
• Bulkhead: A wall constructed to divide a pool into different courses, such as a 50 metre pool into two 25-meter courses. 
• Course: Designated distance (length of pool) for swimming competitions. Short Course (SC) = 25 meters / Long Course (LC) is 50 meters. 
• Deck: The area round the swimming pool reserved for swimmers, coaches and officials. 
• Deck Entry: Entries accepted into swimming events on the first day or later day of a meet. 
• DQ/Disqualified: This occurs when a swimmer has committed an infraction of some kind; e.g. freestyle kick in butterfly. A disqualified swimmer is not eligible to receive awards, nor can the time be used as an official time. 
• Dryland Training: Training done out of the water that aids and enhances swimming performance; usually includes stretching, calisthenics and/or weight training. 
• Event: A race or stroke over a given distance. An event equals one preliminary with its final, or 1 timed final.
• Gutter: The area along the edge of the pool in which water overflows and is recirculated through the filtration system.
• False Start: Occurs when a swimmer moves prior to the sounding of the start command. 
• Final: The championship heat of an event in which the top six or eight swimmers from the preliminaries compete, depending on the number of lanes in the pool.
• Finish: The final phase of the race: the touch at the end of the race. 
• Flags: Backstroke flags placed 5 meters from the end of the pool. They enable backstroke swimmers to execute a backstroke turn more efficiently by counting their strokes. 
• Heat Sheet: The pre-meet printed listing of swimmers’ seed times and order of swimming in the various events at a swim meet. 
• Heats: Since there are only 8 lanes in which to race and usually many more swimmers the swimmers are divided into heats. i.e. 160 swimmers in the 50 freestyle = 20 heats. Heats are usually swum slowest to fastest with final three heats “Circle Seeded”. 
• Heat Winner: This is the person who comes in first in a particular heat of an event. This does not automatically mean that the swimmer has also won the event, since there are usually multiple heats for any event.
• I.M.: Shorthand for Individual Medley. An event in which the swimmer uses all four strokes on    the following order: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle. 
• Lane Assignment: The lanes are filled from fastest to slowest in the following order: lane 4, 5, 3, 6, 2, 7 , 1 and 8. Long Course (LC): A pool 50 meters in length. Most long course meets occur in the spring and summer. 
• Relay: An event in which 4 swimmers compete together as a team to achieve one time.
• Relay Events: Short Course: 4 x 50 free, 4 x 100 free, 4 x 200 free, 4 x 50 medley, 4 x 100 medley / Long Course: 4 x 50 free, 4 x 100 free, 4 x 200 free, 4 x 50 medley, 4 x100 medley. 
• Prelims: Slang for preliminaries, also called Heats or Trials. This races in which swimmers qualify for the championship and consolation finals in an event. 
• Sanction: An official status allowing an organization (swim club) to hold a swim meet. Meet must abide by all aspects of the sanction. All times for all events will be official and recognized by all governing bodies. 
• Scratch: To withdraw from an event in a competition. 
• Session: Portion of meet distinctly separated from other portions by locale, time, type of competition or age group. Most PCS-hosted meets have two sessions each day - the preliminaries heats are usually held in the morning session. The fastest six to eight swimmers, and in some events, the next fastest 6-8 swimmers will swim again in finals. 
• Short Course (SC): A pool 25 meter in length. Most short course meets occur in the fall and winter. 
• Split: The time it takes for a swimmer to swim a specific segment of the race. Most events can be broken down into equal segments of 25 or more commonly 50 meters. i.e. a 200 meter race has 4 x 50m segments. Each 50 meter segment could/would be timed. The splits for the race could be: :28.52 + :29.87 + :29.99 + :29.01. The first split is referred to as the “takeout” split. 
• Swim Off: When two (or more) swimmers finish the preliminaries in a “finals position” with the exact same time they will race the event again at the end of preliminaries (or an agreed to time before the finals) to establish seeding or placing. Swim Off times are official times.
• Swimming Strokes: Freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, individual medley. 
• Time Standard: Also known as a Qualifying Time (QT). Some meets require swimmers to have met a qualifying standard prior to being entered in the meet. These standards are often set by the provincial section (SwimBC), the national section (SNC), the host organization, or by FINA. 
• Time Trial: A time-only swim that is not part of a regular meet. 
• Timed Final: The race is only raced once. This often happens for the longer distance races such as the 800m and/or 1500m and is done as a time saving measure. Slower heats in the preliminaries and fastest heat in the finals. 
• Touch Pad: A large touch sensitive board at the end of each lane where a swimmer’s touch is registered and sent electronically to the timing system. 
• Warm Down (Swim Down): Low intensity swimming used by swimmers after a race or main practice set to rid the body of excess lactic acid, and to gradually reduce heart rate and respiration. 
• Warm-Up: Low intensity swimming used by swimmers prior to a main practice or race to get muscles loose and warm and gradually increase heart rate and respiration.
• DQ: Disqualify
• Dryland: Exercises or stretches that are conducted out of the pool in order to warm up, build strength and increase flexibility. 
• Event Winner: This is the swimmer who has the fastest time in the entire event consisting of all the heats of that event. 
• Finishes: This is how a swimmer ends the race by touching the wall in a legal way depending upon the stroke. 
• Flags: Backstroke flags are placed at both ends of the pool 15 feet from the end to serve as a warning to backstroke swimmers that they are nearing the wall for a turn or finish. Timers may "catch the heads" of younger swimmers who would otherwise hit the wall 
• Meet: A competition between two (dual meet) or more teams with individual swimmers, relays, place ribbons and team scores. 
• Meet Fees: Fees incurred when a swimmer is registered for a swim meet.
• Runner: A volunteer who picks up time slips, DQ slips, and other meet documentation and brings them to the computer table where the meet information is being compiled.
• Seeding: This refers to the heat and lane assignment of the swimmer. Swimmers are arranged (seeded) by the best times, with the slowest swimmers in heat 1 and so forth. Further, the fastest swimmers are seeded in the middle of the pool outward.
• Starting Block: A raised platform that swimmers dive from during competition. 
• Starts: This is the entry into the water (generally a dive) or the beginning of the backstroke (push off back dive) at the sound of the starting buzzer. 
• Streamline: Position a swimmer assumes at the start of a lap in which their body and arms are straight with the elbows behind the ears arms squeezing the back of the head. 
• Stroke Clinic: A practice with a specific goal of improving technique on one or more specific strokes. Stroke and Turn Judge: A trained volunteer who determines if swimmers are swimming each stroke legally within the guidelines set by FINA, a stroke judge determines if a swimmer will be disqualified.
• Timer: A volunteer who uses a stopwatch to record a swimmer's time during a swim meet. 
• Turns: A swimmer who is swimming more than one length of the pool in an event must perform a legal turn at each wall to continue the race. Each stroke has its own turn requirements, which are taught in practice. Turns are needed in the individual medleys, and 50 yard distances for the older swimmers.
• Deadline: The date meet entries must be "postmarked" by, to be accepted by the meet host.           Making the meet deadline does not guarantee acceptance into a meet since many meets are "full" weeks before the entry deadline.
• Deck Entries: Accepting entries into swimming events on the first day or later day of a meet
• Entry: An individual, relay team, or club roster's event list in a swim competition. 
• Entry Fees: The amount per event a swimmer or relay is charged. This varies depending on the LSC and type of meet. 
• Entry Limit: Each meet will usually have a limit of total swimmers they can accept, or a time limit they cannot exceed. Once an entry limit has been reached, a meet will be closed and all other entries returned. 
• Electronic Timing: 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. 
• False Start: When a swimmer leaves the starting block before the horn or gun. One false start     will disqualify a swimmer or a relay team, although the starter or referee may disallow the false start due to unusual circumstances.
• False Start Rope: A recall 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 1/2 way on yard pools and about 50 feet from the starting end on meter pools. 
• Meet Director: The official in charge of the administration of the meet. The person directing the "dry side" of the meet. 
• Omega: A brand of automatic timing system.
• Pace Clock: The electronic clocks or large clocks with highly visible numbers and second hands, positioned at the ends or sides of a swimming pool so the swimmers can read their times during warmups or swim practice.
• Prelims-Finals: Type of meet with two sessions. The preliminary heats are usually held in the morning session. The fastest six or eight (Championship Heat) swimmers, and the next fastest six or eight swimmers (Consolation Heat) return in the evening to compete in the Finals. 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.
• Pre-seeded: A meet conducted without a bull pen in which a swimmer knows what lane and heat they are in by looking at the heat sheet or posted meet program. 
• Psyche Sheet: An entry sheet showing all swimmers entered into each individual event. Sometimes referred to as a "Heat Sheet" or meet program. However, a “heat sheet” would show not only every swimmer in an event, but also what heat and lane they are swimming in.