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Suggested Equipment and General
Care:
-
2 Practice Suits
- Polyester suits generally last longer but other suits work as
well. Rinse suits with
cold water and let drip dry. Do not put suits in washer or
dryer as this will shorten the lifespan of your
suits.
-
1 Competition
Suit - This may or may not be a team suit but should only
be worn at competitions. This will keep it from wearing
out. It should fit a
little more snug than regular practice suits.
-
2 Pairs of
Goggles - Always have two pairs of goggles ready! Broken straps can be
replaced with “bungee” straps that can be purchased at
any swim store or from a vendor at the meets. During summer swimming, you may
want to purchase a reflective pair to reduce glare from the
sun.
-
2 Caps - You
should have 2 caps available as one usually rips at the most
inconvenient time!
General care for caps is to rinse, dry and lightly powder the
inside. Swimmers
should wet hair before putting caps on.
Training fins,
pull buoys, and kickboards are optional equipment that you may want
to purchase. Please
see your coach for recommendations.
You can find any of the
items above at most sanctioned swim meets, local retailers and
on-line stores. Check with other parents to see what works for them
and then decide what will work best for you and your
family.
What do
I need to bring to a swim meet for me and my swimmer?
·
Suit - team or other as approved by coach
·
Extra goggles
·
Extra cap
·
2 towels per day
·
Warm clothing for between swims - It can get cold even in a warm
pool area!
·
Blanket or a large towel to sit on - Parents may want to bring a
chair. Check in
advance to see what spectator seating is available.
·
Extra fluids & snacks - Check with Coach to see what they
suggest.
·
Fun things to do in between swims - Books, cards, and games help to
keep kids occupied while they are waiting to swim. Keep in mind
that this is a moist humid area.
·
Highlighter/Sharpie
·
Small amount of cash for heat sheets, snacks, or other
items.
LABEL
EVERYTHING!!
For outside meets, you may want to
include the following:
·
Shade or shelter
·
Chairs
·
Cooler
·
Sunscreen
·
Blankets - Again, it is cold in the mornings and in the early
evenings, even in the summer.
Swimmers Glossary of
terms:
“A”
Meet - Swim meet that requires swimmers to have previously
achieved an “A” time standard in the events they wish
to enter.
“AB” Meet - Swim
meet that requires swimmers to have previously achieved an “A
or B” time standard in the events they wish to
enter.
“ABC” Meet - Swim
meet that requires swimmers to have previously achieved an
“AB, or C” time standard in the events they wish to
enter.
Age Groups – the USA
Swimming program divides swimmers into gender and age categories in
order to make races fair for each athlete. There are similar
programs of age grouping all over the swimming world. In the
United States the age groups (AG) are: 8 and under, 9-10, 11-12,
13-14, 15-16, and 17-18. There is also an “Open”
division (usual called “Senior” (SR)) where anybody can
swim regardless of age as long as they meet the qualifying standard
for that event or competition. In most AG/SR swim meets the
15-16 and 17-18 age groups are combined with 19 and older swimmers
into a “15 and over” grouping.
Backstroke – one of the
four competitive racing strokes.
Blocks - The starting platforms
located behind each lane.
Breaststroke – one of the
four competitive racing strokes.
Butterfly – one of the
four competitive racing strokes.
Bulkhead – a barrier wall
fitted near the middle a long course pool (or any pool longer than
25 yards) to convert one side into to a short course. Serves
as a cat-walk for stroke & turn officials.
Clerk of Course – one or
more administrators who typically work at a table or behind a
counter on or near the pool deck checking in swimmers and ensuring
all swimmers and relay teams are properly seeded into their lanes
and heats. These officials work especially hard before
deck-seeded events.
DQ (Disqualification) – if
a swimmer commits an infraction of the rules that is observed by an
official, a disqualification will result.
Deck Marshall –
responsible for maintaining a safe environment during warm-ups
before a swim meet. Marshals are stationed at all for corners
of the pool and each must be registered as a non-swimming athlete
under USA Swimming.
Four-hour rule – A USA
Swimming regulation for swim meets which reads: "With the exception
of championship meets the program in all other age group
competition shall be planned to allow the events for swimmers 12
years and younger to be completed in four (4) hours or less for a
timed finals session or in a total of eight (8) hours or less per
day for a preliminaries and finals meet.” The rule was
put in place so not to discourage new (typically young) swimmers
and families who are turned off by long meets.
Freestyle – one of the 4
competitive racing strokes.
Head Timer – the official
in charge of all the lane timers. The head timer signals the
meet referee when the lane timers are ready for the event. The
head timer starts up two or more backup watches that may be
requested by the lane timers whose own watches fail or when they
miss a start.
Heat – a division of an
event when there are too many swimmers to compete at the same
time. An event is completed when all the heats comprising it
have been swum.
Heat Sheets – the pre-meet
printed listings of swimmers’ heat and lane assignments and
seed times in the various events at a swim meet. These sheets
vary in accuracy, since the coaches submit swimmers times many
weeks before the meet. Heat sheets are sold at the admissions
table and are used mainly to make sure the swimmer has been
properly entered in all the events they signed up for. Parents
enjoy looking at the seedings prior to the race plus swimmers can
tell the order the events will be conducted and get a rough idea
how long the meet sessions will last.
Individual Medley (IM) – a
swimming event using all four of the competitive
strokes.
Lane – the specific area
in which a swimmer is assigned to swim. In pools with starting
blocks at only one end, the numbering normally goes from right
(lane 1) to left (lane 6) from the point of view of a swimmers
standing behind the blocks.
Lane Timer –
“Lane timers” are parent volunteers who provide
(usually) backup timing for each race during a swim
meet. Armed with a stop watch, timers are positioned at the
end of each lane where a swimmer finishes the race, usually two,
sometimes three per lane. Timers start their watches on the
strobe light (not the horn) fired from the starting unit positioned
on one side of the pool next to the meet referee and
starter. They stop the watches when the swimmer in their lane
touches the wall after swimming their final length of the
race. In addition to the watches, one or both timers might
also be required to operate button timers. In this case,
timers press the button (in one hand) and stop the watch (in the
other) simultaneously at the end of each race. Watch
times are recorded on “lane timer sheets” which are
collected by runners after each event. Parents typically volunteer
for 1 or 2-hour slots by signing their name to a “lane timer
signup sheet” often posted against the wall near the
lane.
Long Course Pool – an
Olympic Size swimming pool that is 50 meters from end to
end.
Oregon Swimming, Inc (OSI)
– OSI is a Local Swimming Committee that charters teams and
registers swimmers for USA Swimming in Oregon.
Qualifying Time - Official times
necessary to enter certain meets, or the times necessary to achieve
a specific category of swimmer.
SCY and SCM (Swim Courses)
– abbreviation for a short course pool which is 25 yards
(“short course yards”) or 25-meters long (“short
course meters”).
Seeding – the process of
assigning heats and lanes to all swimmers entered in a swim event
based on each swimmer’s personal best time (“seed
time”) in that event. Deck Seeding - swimmers are called
to report to the Clerk of the Course. After scratches are
determined, the event is seeded. Pre Seeding - swimmers are
arranged in heats according to submitted times, usually a day prior
to the meet.
Stroke & Turn (Rules, Judges) – USA
Swimming defines the rules for legal swim stroke technique, starts,
turns and finishes that swimmers must obey during an event at a
sanctioned meet. Certified “Judges” enforce these
“Stroke & Turn” rules during each heat of each
event in the meet. When the judges see something illegal, they
report to the referee (by completing a DQ slip) and the swimmer may
be disqualified. Judges may perform the duties of a
“Stroke”, “Turn” or “Relay
Takeoff” Judge separately, alternately or all at the same
time during a swim meet.
Time Standard – A time set for a meet or by an LSC
or Section or Zone or USA Swimming that a swimmer must achieve in a
specific event for qualification or recognition. These times,
for all events (stroke & distances) by swim course, gender and
age (for age-group competitions) when bundled together in one or
more tables are also called a “Time
Standard”.
USA Swimming, Inc – the
national governing body of the competitive swimming in the United
States; often abbreviated USA-S or U.S.S.
Warm-up - The practice session a
swimmer does before the meet or before their event is
swam.
What do I need to bring to a swim meet for me and my swimmer?
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