|
Open
Meet
| At an Open Meet
swimmers are required to meet qualification times in order to
compete. |
| Graded
Meet | At a Graded Meet
a time cap is applied and only those swimmers below the cap are
allowed to
compete. |
| Speeding
Ticket |
This is what a swimmer receives for swimming
too fast at a
Graded Meet.
|
| Heat Declared Winners | This means that
there are no finals and the age group winners are announced
according to
the fastest time after all heats have been completed. |
| Disqualification | The most common
reasons why a swimmer is disqualified are that a swimmer has not
touched
the wall properly when turning or has not used the proper stroke
technique. |
| Over
the Top Starts |
This means that swimmers stay in the water
until the
next heat has started.
|
| One
Start Rule |
This means that a swimmer is automatically disqualified for provoking a
false
start.
|
| Starts
and False Starts | At the start of a
race the referee will blow three times to notify the competitors
that the
run is about to begin. The referee will then give one long blow
which
tells the swimmers to mount the starting block or, in the case of
backstroke, to enter the water. The referee will then hand over to
the
starter who will say 'take your marks'. Once all swimmers are
ready, the
starter will either fire a starter gun or press the electronic
starter
button. In the event of a false start, the starter will press the
starter
button again and/or the false start rope will be dropped into the
water.
|
| Personal
Best (PB) | This is the
fastest time that a swimmer has recorded for a particular stroke
and
length. Apart from elite level, PBs can be recorded at
internal club competitions or club time trials. |
| Long
Course/Short Course | A long course is
a 50 metre pool and short course a 25 metre pool. To convert times
from a
short Course time to a Long Course time a
conversion
table
has to be used.. |
| Dual
Meet | A competition
between two clubs. |
| Whipping Area |
The area where the swimmers meet ahead of
their race.
|
| Kickboard |
A flat rectangular piece of foam used in
kick sets
|
| Pullbouy |
A piece of foam that goes between your legs
and helps you float whilst doing
pull sets
|
| Paddles |
Flat pieces of plastic worn on the hands,
usually during pull sets.
|
| Individual
Medley or IM |
A race comprising all four strokes in the
following series
- butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and frontcrawl.
|
| Touchpad
| A board at the
end of the pool that acts as a stopwatch. When the swimmer
finishes and
hits the touchpad, it records the time. |
| Heats |
The division of an event in which there are
too many swimmers to
compete at one time.
|
| Coach | "The king of the pool and the
one that is always right" |
