CRAWLEY SWIMMING CLUB

GLOSSARY OF SWIMMING TERMS

There are lots of acronyms used in swimming along with technical terms, below is a list of the most common, if we have missed any please let us know and we will add them in.

 

AOE - Automatic Officiating Equipment

A system used to automatically record and display race times.

Backstroke ledge

A horizontal bar which sits against the timing pad and gives swimmers something to support their feet on for backstroke starts. Swimmers must have at least one toe from each foot in contact with the timing pad. Use of these ledges is optional when they are offered. They won’t be available at all levels of Meet. It’s the responsibility of the Swimmer to adjusted it if required.

Closing date

An important one! The date by which our open meets team needs your entry. The official closing date for submission of entries by CSC to the external club hosting the meet will be a week or two later. We need this time interval to process everything, check queries, send summary forms and calculate and submit payment.

DNF - Did Not Finish

A code on the results when a swimmer did not complete a race.

DNS - Did Not Start

A code on the results when a swimmer did not start a race.

DQ - Disqualification

When a swimmer during a race does, or doesn’t do, something specified in World Aquatic rules, as observed by an Official. No time will be recorded in the results. Coaches are able to find out, if necessary, what the infraction was.

Event

A race - a specific distance / stroke - eg. the 200m backstroke.

EXB - Exhibition Swim or Time Trial (TT)

You can sometimes, if the conditions allow, request a time trial or exhibition swim at a meet. The normal scenario for this is if you request to be entered into a race after the closing date or if you have request to be entered even though you are outside of the qualifying times.

Assuming the swimmer races the race, they will get an official time but will not be placed within their age group or be eligible for a medal.

Freestyle

An event where each swimmer is free to choose the stroke of their choice. As the fastest stroke is normally front-crawl this is the stroke normally chosen.

HDW - Heat Declared Winners

All swimmers swim in order according to their entry times, slowest first to fastest last. This is irrespective of age. The top places in each age band are then announced when all swimmers have swum that particular event.

Heats

Where an event has more than 8 swimmers, the competitors are divided into heats. Following which HDWs are announced or finals are swum.

Heat Sheet

Printed just before the start of the session it contains all the swimmers on it with what lane they are in and what order they race.

Hot Heat

A Hot Heat is a heat at a gala where there is a prize for the winner of the heat.

IM - Individual Medley

A race comprising all four strokes in a set order - butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle (has to be front-crawl). Under the World Aquatics programme IM races are 100m/200m/400m.

LC - Long Course

Long Course pool is 50m. A Short Course pool is 25m. Some competitions will be LC and some SC. Long course times can be converted to short course times using pullbuoy time conversion.

Marshalling

The TMs send the swimmers to Marshalling, the Marshals ensure the swimmers are in the right order for their heat. It is important that Swimmers listen to both the TMs and the Marshalls otherwise they could miss their race.

Masters

Masters are swimmers who are aged 25 and above. Those aged between 18-24 are called Senior Age Groupers. 

Medley Relay

Where four swimmers are selected to swim a set distance divided by four and all four strokes are swum by one of the four swimmers in the following order: backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and front-crawl (this differs from the Individual Medley order of Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Front-Crawl).

Meet Fee

When the club enters a meet we have to buy poolside passes for coaches and team managers and also cover coaching expenses such as travel and accommodation. So in addition to the fee per event, swimmers pay an event surcharge to us which contributes to this expense.

Meet Levels

• Level 1 – Always Long course. Times achieved at a L1 meet can qualify you for national events such as the Summer Championship. Always uses AOE and all officials have to be qualified.
• Level 2 – Always Short Course. Times achieved at a L2 meet can qualify you for SC national events such as the Winter Championship. Always uses AOE and all officials have to be qualified.
• Level 3 – Can be short or long course. Times achieved at at L3 meet can qualify you for a County or Regional event. Always uses AOE and often a mix of qualified & trainee officials will run the event
• Level 4 – Can be short or long course, typically used for Club championships where no other clubs attend the meet. Normally a manual gala, meaning that the times recorded are from the timekeepers stopwatch. An AOE system can be used but often isn’t. Times achieved will qualify you for a County event but not regional or national events. As well as qualified and trainee officials, timekeepers can officiate as well.
• Unlicensed – a meet that is run for fun, NOTE any times achieved will not be recorded officially and can not be used to qualify for other meets. However unlicensed meets are often the most fun and generate great team spirit.

Meet Mobile

An app you can download, and you will see the results of races as they come in (not all meets use Meet Mobile), Click here to find out more.  

NT - No Time

If you haven’t swam an event before instead of an entry time you will see NT on the heat sheet.

Officials

These are the people wearing white that you see poolside at galas and meets. They are all qualified (or training) and registered officials who are there to make sure that swimmers abide by the official rules. Open meets are dependent on having a certain number of officials to comply with their license so if you want to support the club’s activities this is a great way to get involved, click here to find out more 

• TK – Timekeeper
• J1(T) – Judge Level 1 (Trainee)
• J2 (T) – Judge Level 2 (Trainee)
• J2S (T) – Starter (Trainee)
• Ref - Referee

One Start Rule

Under World Aquatic Technical Rules swimmers are not allowed to initiate the start before the starting signal is given. Initiating the start is typically interpreted as forward movement, so you no longer have to be still on the starting platform.

Over the Top Starts

At the end of a race the swimmers remain in the water while the referee starts the next race. This assists in quickening and streamlining the pace of the meet. This is not normally used for backstroke events.

PB - Personal Best

This is the fastest time a swimmer records for a particular stroke and distance.

Psych Sheet

A ranking by seeding times for all the swimmers entered in each race of a meet, sometimes used at meets in place of a heat sheet.

QT - Qualification Time

Often the conditions of a meet will require you to have swum a minimum (and occasionally maximum) time at a licensed meet in order to qualify.

Regions

CSC is part of Sussex County Amateur Swimming Association (ASA), which in turn is part of the SouthEast Region which is part of Swim England all of which falls under the umbrella of Aquatics GB:

•          Sussex County ASA hosts County Championships.

•          SouthEast Region hosts regionals competitions.

•          Swim England host National competitions.

 

SC - Short Course

A short Course pool is 25m. A Long Course pool is 50m. Some competitions will be SC and some LC. Short course times can be converted to long course times. You can find your converted times on the Swim England ranking page 

Sign in meet

A sign in meet requires all swimmers to sign in to their races. If they don’t sign in by the cut off time they are automatically withdrawn – you will not get a refund on the race. It is worth supporting your swimmer with this as it can be quite confusing.

Starts and false starts

At the start of the race the referee blows a series of whistle blasts followed by one long whistle blast.. This tells the swimmers to mount the starting blocks/enter the water for backstroke. For backstroke events the Referee will then blow another long whistle to invite the swimmers to get into position. The Referee will then hand over the race to the starter by extending their arm. The starter then starts the race. The race may be stopped if the false start is as a result of an electronic error or if the start is unfair.

Swimming Seasons

The short course season is from September to Christmas and the long course season is from January to July. The seasons ‘finish’ with the SC National Winter Championships in December & the LC National Championship at the end of July.

Team Manager (TM)

A trained volunteer who is DBS checked from the Club, who remains poolside with the swimmers during a gala or a meet session. They help to organise and keep an eye on the swimmers. Swimmers are expected to listen to and respect their team managers. Volunteering as a TM is a great way to support the Club. Click here to read more 

TT - Time Trail or Exhibition Swim (EXB)

You can sometimes, if the conditions allow, request a time trial or exhibition swim at a meet. The normal scenario for this is if you request to be entered into a race after the closing date or if you have request to be entered even though you are outside of the qualifying times.

Assuming the swimmer races the race they will get an official time but will not be placed within their age group or be eligible for a medal.

Touchpad / Timing Pad

Part of the electronic timing equipment. Touchpads are placed at the end of the pool and are sensitive to a hand/foot touch at the turns and finish, they act as a stopwatch.

Withdrawals

If you are withdrawing a swimmer from a race ensure you inform the TMs/Coach/entries co-ordinator and IMPORTANTLY complete the withdrawal before the withdrawal window closes. Each meet is different, but you will always be told who to contact to action a withdrawal. You may be able to withdraw the swimmer yourself, you must however communicate with club, so the TMs are not looking for a swimmer who is not there. Once withdrawals are closed the meet organisers run the software and determine the heats. It is very frustrating when there are empty lanes, and the session could have finished earlier.

Volunteers

There is any army of volunteers that run the club, to find out more click here