Harper's Choice Challenge: Basic Swimming Definitions
Some Basic Swimming Definitions
AGE GROUPS
A swimmer's age for the entire summer of dual meets and the All-City Championship Swim Meet is determined by their age as of June 1. Some special meets may have other age cutoffs. The CNSL age groups are: 6 and Under, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, and 15-18. A swimmer, who "ages up" on June 2 would swim in the younger group, while a swimmer whose birthday is June 1, would swim in the older group. For example, a swimmer whose 9th birthday is on June 1 swims in the 9-10 age group, while a swimmer whose 9th birthday is June 2 swims in the 7-8 age group.
ALL CITY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION CUT TIMES
These are the published times that a swimmer must achieve in the various strokes in order to qualify in the separate divisions for the All City Championship Meet at the end of the season. Individual events will have either 2 or 3 divisions depending on the stroke and the age of the swimmer. Relays are not divided into divisions.
ALTERNATES FOR RELAYS
Coaches may enter as many relay teams as they can in one heat to give more swimmers a chance to swim. The fastest swimmers are put on the "A" relay team, the next fastest on the "B" relay team, etc. If it's an 8-lane pool, we can have 4 relays. Swimmers not assigned to a relay may be designated as an alternate. If any relay member is not present, then the alternate takes a spot on the last relay and the fastest person then moves up to the next fastest spot. It is important for alternates to not leave the meet without checking with the Clerk of Course, as they may be needed at the last minute.
BEST TIMES
Best time ribbons are awarded to swimmers each time they swim faster than their previous best time in an event. These are the most important ribbons at a meet--it shows that a swimmer has improved over their own time, regardless of how other swimmers finish.
BULL PEN
This is the area that the swimmers wait in once they have picked up an event card. This helps to ensure that no one lines up in the wrong heat and/or lane or misses an event. Since this area gets very crowded, we ask that parents do not wait with their children. Meet workers and coaches will make sure that the swimmers line up properly.
CARDS
These are given out by the Clerk of Course prior to each event so that a swimmer knows their heat and lane assignment and for the timers to record the times. A sign at the Clerk table alerts swimmers when it is time to pick cards for a particular stroke. No cards are given out early (to prevent lost cards) or to anyone other than the swimmer. Only officials on the deck, the Clerk of Course or coaches are permitted to make any changes to the cards.
DISTANCES
10 and under swimmers swim one lap (25 yards) in any stroke, except for the 9-10 individual medley which is 25 yards of each stroke or 100 yards total. 11 and up swimmers swim two laps (50 yards) in any stroke, except for the individual medley (again 100 yards) and 11-12 year olds still swim a 25-yard butterfly. A few pools, such as Longfellow, may be 25-meter pools, rather than 25-yard pools. Since the swimmers have to swim a little bit farther, their times have to be converted to yard times (multiply by .9) by the scorers.
EVENT
This is defined by the age group, sex and swimming stroke, such as Boys' 9-10 Backstroke. There are 65 total events in a meet (including the 13 relays).
EVENT PLACE WINNER
This is the person who comes in first in the entire event consisting of all the heats of that event.
FALSE STARTS
A swimmer is allowed one false start (moving or leaving the edge of the pool before the buzzer sounds). After the second false start, the swimmer is disqualified for that event. When a false start occurs, the starter will repeatedly press the buzzer to stop all of the swimmers and begin that heat again.
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.
HEAT
When an event has more swimmers entered than available lanes, as is usually the case, there are multiple heats of the event. The fastest swimmers are assigned to the first heat. Winners of the second, third, and so forth heats will receive "Heat Winner" ribbons.
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. A ribbon is given to heat winners in all but the fastest heats of each event.
LANE
The pool is arranged into lanes by floating lane dividers so that the swimmers will not interfere with each other during a race. Some pools have 8 lanes, while others only have 6 lanes (those meets may last longer). At dual meets, the host team swimmers use the odd-numbered lanes while the visitors use the even-numbered lanes.
LANE MARKINGS
The black lines on the bottom of the pool help the swimmers to know where the center of the lane is. They end with a "T" one yard from the wall to notify the swimmer how far it is before they turn or finish.
LEGAL/DQ
These are the terms that describe whether a stroke is being performed correctly (legally) as defined by United States Swimming rules. If a swimmer is judged by a Stroke and Turn judge to be swimming incorrectly, that swimmer is disqualified (DQ) for that event in the meet. The swimmer should ask their coach for instructions to correct the problem before swimming the same event in another meet. DQ does not mean that a swimmer cannot swim in further events or meets. It is a learning tool for swimmers.
LINE-UP
This is the official schedule of swimmers in their assigned events, heats and lanes drawn up by the coaches. It is usually posted at the meet so that swimmers can see where they will swim.
MEET
Two or more swim teams compete against each other with individual swimmers and relay teams winning place ribbons; team scores are kept. Meets are held on Saturday mornings.
RELAYS (FREE, MEDLEY)
Relay races begin and end every meet. Medley relays are the first 4 events, featuring 4 swimmers (2 male and 2 female) in the 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, and 15-18 age groups, each swimming a different stroke beginning with back, breast, fly and free. Free relays are the last 9 events of every meet featuring 4 freestyle swimmers. There are 2 males and 2 females (mixed) for ages 6 & Under, 13-14, and 15-18; and 4 swimmers of the same sex for ages 7-8, 9-10, and 11-12.
SEEDING
This refers to the heat and lane assignment of the swimmer. Swimmers are arranged (seeded) by the best times, with the fastest swimmers in heat 1 and so forth. Further, the fastest swimmers are seeded in the middle of the pool outward. This is why it is important not to make changes as it affects other swimmers.
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 buzzer.
STROKE (FREE, BACK, BREAST, FLY, IM)
The five recognized swimming strokes are freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and individual medley (where swimmer swims 1 length of each stroke in the order of fly, back, breast and free). A swimmer can swim 2 strokes per meet.
TEAM MAILBOX
This is a file box brought to all practices and meets that is the main form of communication with the swimmers and parents. Each family has a separate folder. You should check your folder each day for newsletters, reminders, entry forms for special meets, unclaimed ribbons, etc. There will also be folders for the Meet Absence Forms, results from swim meets and a current report of Best Times for you to look at. Please return these reports to the proper folder so that others can review them. Each swimmer will receive a list of their best times for the season on their participation ribbon with their trophy at the Awards Night.
TIME TRIALS
All swimmers from one team swim every event for their age group so that initial times can be recorded to aid coaches with their lineups for future meets and to provide the basis for Best Times ribbons. It is very important to be present at this meet, since this is the only way the coaches will know who can swim the various strokes legally and which swimmers to put in relays. If you miss Time Trials, you may not get another chance to swim all the strokes during the season.
TURNS
A swimmer who is swimming more than one length of the pool in an event must perform a legal turn. 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.
WARM-UPS
Each meet begins by having a warm-up period. The home team warms up first, followed by the visitors. This is very important so that swimmers do not pull muscles and also allows swimmers to get familiar with the pool.
