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Following are some terms you
may hear from your children or other parents in the stands at swim
meets.
Most terms are standard, though some apply mostly to older
swimmers.
Backstroke: One of the four competitive strokes.
The swimmer must remain on the back, using an alternating arm
stroke and "flutter" kick.
Backstroke Flags: The pennant flags hung over the
pool five yards from both ends. The flags let swimmers know that
the wall is coming up for a turn or finish.
Backstroke start: Using the starting block while
in the water to begin a backstroke event. Ideally, the swimmer
launches his/herself up and over the water in sort of a ‘back
dive,’ then kicks underwater some distance before surfacing.
Swimmers are not allowed to swim under water further than 15 meters
off a start or a turn.
Break out: The transition from the push off or
dive into the full swimming pattern.
Breaststroke: One of the four competitive strokes.
The arms move simultaneously and recover underwater. The legs also
move simultaneously in a "frog" or whip kick movement.
Butterfly: One of the four competitive strokes.
The arms move simultaneously and recover over the water. The pull
is similar to a double crawl stroke. The legs move simultaneously
in a "dolphin" kick movement.
Carbo loading: Eating foods with a high level of
complex carbohydrates before a major competition so that the
swimmer’s energy supply is well-stocked. Often pasta, breads,
and salad constitute a typical meal during this time.
Catch phase: The beginning part of the stroke
where the arms and hands "catch" the water and start to propel the
body.
Consolation Final: The second fastest group of
swimmers (usually 6 or 8) who qualify for finals from the
preliminary heats. The final 7th-12th or 9th-16th places are
determined from this heat.
Cuts: A cut is a time standard that serves as a
goal for the swimmer to strive for and/or a level a swimmer must
reach to qualify for a particular meet, such as
Districts.
Descend: To swim progressively faster within a set of
repeats. Example: 5 x 100 Freestyle descending on 2:00; 100 times
could be 1:35, 1:33, 1:28 1:27, 1:25 (each successive swim is
faster than the previous one).
Disqualification (DQ): A violation of the rules of
the meet which results in a swimmer’s time to be discarded; a
disqualified swimmer cannot score points for his/her team, either.
DQs are determined by a meet official. We tell our younger swimmers
that a DQ is an opportunity to learn.
Districts: Our Eastern Mass YMCA League meet, for
which swimmers must qualify. The qualifying times are relatively
easy, and selected so that most of the league’s swimmers can
qualify. Districts is the ’easiest’ of our championship
meets.
Dive Start: Using the starting blocks and
diving into the water from the side of the pool as opposed to
pushing off from the side while in the water
Dolphin kick: Used in the butterfly stroke where
the thrust of the kick comes from the hips, and the feet and legs
are held together.
Drag: A training technique. Wearing more than one
suit and/or hose in practice increases the drag, or resistance, of
the water against a swimmer’s body, and builds strength and
endurance.
Drill: An exercise that focuses on one part of a
particular stroke. Commonly meant to be done with precision, not
speed. Examples: finger-tip drag, 3kick/1pull breaststroke.
Easy: Refers to a distance of relaxed swimming
used as part of a recovery from a more intense set of swims.
Sometimes referred to as active recovery.
Event: Any race or series of races in a given
stroke and/or distance. The entrants are assigned to specific heats
(see below).
Final: Championship final. The fastest 6 or 8
swimmers as determined by the preliminary heats. The final 1st-6th
or 1st-8th places are determined by this heat.
Flip turn: Competitive racing turn accomplished by
doing a ¾ somersault and then pushing off the wall. Used in
freestyle and backstroke. In freestyle, if a swimmer misses the
wall, he/she is allowed to return to the wall and
tag it.
Flutter kick: Used in both Freestyle and
Backstroke where the feet and toes are slightly pointed and kick in
an alternating motion.
Freestyle: One of the four competitive strokes.
The swimmer may do any stroke and kick he/she wishes, though
usually the swimmer will use an alternating arm stroke and
"flutter" kick (crawl stroke).
Heat: A group of swimmers in an event who compete
at the same time. Most heats are arranged by seed time, though
pyramid seeding is arranged differently. All the heats in any one
event are run from slowest to fastest. Within any one heat, the
swimmers are arranged in lanes so that the fastest swimmers are in
the middle. In a 6-lane pool, the swimmers (based on their seed
times) would be assigned to lanes fastest to slowest thusly:
3-4-2-5-1-6. That is why many events finish in kind of an
"arrowhead" pattern. At a seeded meet, when you see a swimmer win
an event from an outside lane, that swimmer is probably having a
good swim.
Heat sheet: A meet program which lists each event
and the swimmers entered in that event. It will usually cost a few
dollars to purchase a heat sheet.
Individual Medley: An event in that comprises all four
competitive strokes, swum in equal distances, the order of strokes
is butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. The IM is
swum in the following distances: 100, 200, 400.
Interval: A specific time in which swimmers are to
swim a specific distance and get rest before repeating. For example
swim a set of 5 x 100 on an interval of 2:00. If you swim the first
100 yards in 1:45, your rest would be 15 seconds before starting
the next 100 yard swim. If you swim the second 100 in 1:40, your
rest would be 20 seconds before starting the next 100 yard
swim.
Kicking: Using only the legs for propulsion.
Sometimes done with the use of a kickboard or fins, or vertically
(treading water).
Lap counters: Plastic numbered pages that a
teammate flips and sticks in the water to let a swimmer know how
many lengths he or she has done in an event 500 yards or
longer.
Long course: Competitive swimming in which one
length is 50 meters. 50-meter pools are also called "Olympic"
pools. USA Swimming, the winter season is short course, the summer
season is long course.
Negative split: To swim the second half of a
distance faster than the first half. Example: a 200 free in which
the swimmer of 1:02.5 in the first 100, and 1:01.5 in the second.
You tend to see negative splitting more often in distance
races.
No-Breathing Zone: A term Former Coach Cindy used
for the last five yards of a freestyle swim, in which Age Group
swimmers are encouraged to finish with their heads down.
On Rest: A specific and constant period one should
wait between swims in a given set. Example: 6 x 75 backstroke on 15
sec rest would be: six 75-yards backstroke swims with 15 seconds
rest after each one (regardless of how long each swim takes).
Open turn: Noncompetitive freestyle turn in which
the swimmer touches the wall with one or both hands and pushes off
with the feet. You don’t see this often because it is much
slower than a flip turn.
Pace: Hold a steady speed throughout a set, often
trying to match a goal race tempo. Example: 4 x 50 Breaststroke at
1:00 holding a 200 race pace. Most people can swim shorter
distances at a faster average speed than they can hold for longer
distances. This instruction says to swim all four 50’s at the
average speed one would normally do a 200. Swimmers will often
refer to their pace by 100’s in a distance swim.
Pulling: Using little or no kick to focus on
working the upper body. Pulling is sometimes done using paddles
and/or a pull buoy.
Pullout: Performed in the breaststroke, it is a
way to gain distance off the start and the turns. Swimmers are
allowed one pull, and one kick before their heads must
surface.
Push Off: Refers to pushing off from
the wall and into the streamline position.
Pyramid Seeding: When the last three heats of an
event are arranged so that the top 18 (or 24, depending on the
number of lanes) swimmers have the opportunity to race one of the
three fastest swimmers, who are placed in the middle lane of the
last, second-to-last and third-to-last heats.
Recovery phase: The conclusion of the stroke where
the hand and arms finish pulling and set up to start the next
stroke cycle.
Referee: The meet official in charge of the
overall conduct of the meet; the official who has jurisdiction over
the rest of the officials.
Scratch: If a swimmer cannot swim an event, the
swimmer or the coach may need to "scratch" that event. This is
especially important when a swimmer has qualified for finals after
prelims.
Sculling: A relaxing motion using the hands in a back and
forth motion under the water. Used to feel the water, especially
for warm-ups, cool downs, and easy swims. Use with a flutter, whip
kick or no kick.
Seed time: The time submitted when entering a
meet; used to "rank" the swimmer when assigning the heat and lane
for that event. In most cases, it is the swimmer’s best time.
When a swimmer has not swum the event before, the coaches usually
send in an estimated time, though you may see NT (No Time) on some
heat sheets.
Set: A part of the workout; consists of a series
of swims, usually on a set time or cycle.
Short course: Competitive swimming in which one
length is 25 yards (or, less common in the U.S., 25 meters). In USA
Swimming, the winter season is short course; the summer season is
long course.
Split: A split is a time for one segment of a race. For
example, a 200 yard time may consist of four splits, one for each
50 yard segment of the race. A split can also be one
swimmer’s segment of a relay. Because swimmers 2, 3, and 4 on
a relay get a "rolling start" those splits cannot be considered
official. Any swimmer who leads off a relay in a meet with
electronic timing (or with timers specifically there to record the
split) can count that time as official.
Sprinting: Refers to short intense swims of
usually not more than 100 yards.
Starter: The meet official in charge of starting
each race.
Streamlining: Making the body position as compact
and hydrodynamic as possible; desirable off starts and turns
because it decreases drag.
Taper workouts: Done a few days to a few weeks
prior to an important race (usually at the end of a season).
Depending on your training style and plan for racing, your taper
workout may be just dropping 200-300 yards off your total yards for
your daily workout for a week, or it could mean gradually tapering
off from 3,500 yards a day to 2,500 during the two–three week
period prior to a racing period. Many competitive swimmers
(particularly men) shave their body hair at the end of the taper
period and just before the important race. This is thought to
provide less drag and a better feel for the water in addition to
providing a psychological advantage.
Timed Final Meet: All entrants swim their event
and final placing is determined by time. This is different from
"trials and finals" meet.
Timer: A meet official responsible for timing the
races in a lane.
Touchpad: The black pad that is placed across the
lane at the finish end and is used to record the exact finish time;
connected to the timing system computer.
Transition: Generally refers to the change of strokes in
the Individual Medley event. For example: the transition from
butterfly to backstroke.
Trials/Finals Meet: A meet at which swimmers swim
their events in the morning and then the top (the number varies) 6,
8, 12, or 16 swimmers come back at night for championship finals.
The final results will reflect the championship swimmers’
time from the evening, regardless of whether it was slower than the
morning, and all of the "preliminary" swimmers times, in order.
Trials and Finals meets are generally more competitive meets.
Turnover: The speed of a swimmer’s arm
stroke.
Warm down: The concluding part of the workout, or
a swim after a race, in which the heart rate should be gradually
lowered.
Warm-up: The beginning part of the workout.
Usually builds in intensity, gearing your body and mind for more
intense swimming.
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