|
Swimming Terms:
Age Group
Swimming: The program through which USA
Swimming provides fair and open competition for its younger
members. It is designed to encourage maximum participation, provide
an educational experience, enhance physical and mental
conditioning, and develop a rich base of swimming talent.
Nationally recognized age groups are 10 and under, 11-12, 13-14,
15-16, 17-18 and 15-18. Local meets may also include events for 8
and unders, and single age categories.
Approved
meet: An officially sanctioned USA
meet.
Backstroke
flags: Lines of flags placed above the
lanes at each end to signal the backstroker that he is five yards
or meters (depending upon the course) from the
wall.
Block: the starting
platform.
Bulkhead
: A wall constructed to divide a
pool into different courses, such as a 50-meter pool into two
25-yard courses.
Course: Designated distance over
which the competition is conducted.
Cut: Slang for “qualifying
time”, or time standard necessary to attend a particular meet
or event.
Distance
: Term used to refer to events over
400 meters/500 yards.
Disqualification
(DQ): 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.
Division II Championships
(DII) - The DII meet is a championship
meet for swimmers who have not made the AGC qualifying times. The
swimmer cannot have a faster time than the event cutoff time listed
for each event. The meet is divided into age groups and is team
points are scored.
Dry land
Training: Training done out of the water
that aids and enhances swimming performance; usually includes
stretching, calisthenics and/or weight
training.
Event: Any race or series of races
in a given stroke or distance.
False
Start: Occurs when a swimmer is moving
before the start gun is sounded. In USA Swimming, one false start
will result in DQ after the event concludes.
Finals: The concluding session of a
prelim/final meet in which the fastest swimmers from prelimary
heats return to race again, usually in the
evening.
Gutter: The area along the edge of
the pool in which water overflows during a race and is circulated
through the filtration system.
Heat: A single race in an event in
which there are too many swimmers to compete at one
time.
Heat
Sheets: The swim meet program that
includes information such as the name of the events, heats, lanes
and swimmers.
I.
M.: Slang for Individual Medley event
in which the swimmer uses all four strokes in the following order:
butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and
freestyle.
Lane: The specific area in which
the swimmer is assigned to swim, i.e., lane 1, lane 2,
etc.
Lane markers, lines or
ropes: Continuous floating markers
extending from one end of the pool to the
other.
Lane
markings: Guide lines on the bottom of the
pool and in the center of each lane extending from one end of the
pool to the other.
Lap
Counter: A set of plastic display numbers
used to keep track of laps during a distance race. (also, the
person who counts for the swimmer, stationed at the opposite end of
from the start.)
Leg: The part of a relay event
that is swum by a single team member.
Local Swimming Committee
(LSC): An administrative division (e.g.
Iowa Swimming, Inc.) of the National Governing Body (USA Swimming)
with the supervisory responsibilities within certain geographic
boundaries designated by USA Swimming. Our LSC encompasses all of
the state of Kansas and Missouri east of St.
Louis.
Long
course: 50-meter pool.
Long
Distance: Term used to refer to events of
800 meters/1000 yards, to 1500 meters/1650 yards in
lengths.
Medley
Relay: A group of four swimmers each
swimming different strokes in an event; back, breast, butterfly,
and free.
Meet: A series of events held in
one program.
No Time
(NT): Seed time is entered as "No Time"
if a swimmer has never swum an event before.
Official
: A judge on the deck of the pool at
a sanctioned competition who enforces USA Swimming rules. There are
stroke and turn judges, administrative officials, starters, and
referees.
Oklahoma Age Group
Championships (AGC) - The AGC is the championship meet
for all the USA clubs in Oklahoma. For this meet the swimmer must
have the qualifying time for a given event to enter. This meet is
divided into age groups. There are two AGC meets a year, one at the
end of January, which is a short course meet and the other at the
end of July, which is a long course meet. Every swimmer with
qualifying times is needed to help make CSC #1 again in the
state.
Open
competition: Competition any club, organization
or individual may enter.
OVC (Official verification
card): A three copy form for certifying a
national qualifying time made by a swimmer and issued by a
verification official of the area in which the meet was
held.
Preliminaries/Prelims
: Races (usually held in the
morning) in which swimmers attempt to qualify for the championship
and consolation “finals” in the
events.
Q-Time: Qualifying time necessary to
compete in a particular event and/or competition. A
“cut”.
Qualifying
heats: Another name for preliminaries - a
number of heats are swum to qualify the fastest swimmers for the
finals where final placing for the event will be
determined.
Relay: An event in which 4 swimmers
compete together as a team to achieve one time.
Scratch
: To withdraw from an event in a
competition.
Sectionals
- The Sectional meet is part of a
series of meets, (Speedo Champions Series), held throughout the
USA. Oklahoma is in Region VIII, which consists of teams from
Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. A swimmer must have the
qualifying time for a given event to enter. This meet does not
divide swimmers up by age, so a 12 year old could swim against a 30
year old.
Seeding
: Swimmers are arranged in heats in
events according to submitted times and heat sheets are prepared
prior to the day of competition.
Short
Course: A pool 25 yards or 25 meters in
length. USA Swimming conducts most of its winter competition in
short course yards.
Split: A time recorded from the
official start to the completion of an initial distance within a
longer event. Also the time for one of the four individuals in a
relay. Under certain conditions, splits may also be used as
official times, for example, the lead off swim in a relay, or the
lead off portion of an event.
Sprint: Describes the shorter events
(50 and 100). In training, to swim as fast as possible for a short
distance.
Starter
: Meet official who fires gun or
sounds horn that begins each heat of an event.
Starting
blocks: Platforms from which the swimmer
enters the water at the beginning of an event.
Streamline: The
position used by swimmers when starting or pushing off the walls
designed to reduce water resistance.
"Take your mark": The
starter’s command to swimmers to which they must respond by
at once assuming a starting position.
Taper: The
final preparation phase, sometimes referred to as "rest". Prior to
major competitions, older, more experienced swimmers shave their
entire bodies to reduce resistance and heighten sensation in the
water.
Time
Trial: A time-only
swim, which is not part of a regular meet.
Timed final
heats: Each swimmer
swims that particular event one time and final placing is
determined by the times performed in those
heats.
Timers:
Volunteers who time swimmers in a specific lane during a swim
meet.
Touch
Pad: A large
sensitive board at the end of each lane where a swimmer’s
finish is registered and sent electronically to the timing
system.
Unattached: An
athlete who competes but does not represent a
club.
Warm
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
swimmer prior to a main practice set or race to get muscles loose
and warm. Warm up gradually increases heart rate, respiration and
helps to prevent injury.
|
