Swimming Glosarry
"A"
The qualifying time In a given event for the USS "A" classification level.
Age Group Meet
All USA swimming registered swimmers, 18 years of age and younger, who have met the qualifying time standard for a specific event(s) are eligible to participate in their age category. A swimmer's age on the first day of competition shall govern for the entire meet.
“B” Cut
The qualifying time in a given event for the USS "B" classification level.
BREA
The official abbreviation for the Brea Aquatics for use on all entry forms for meets and is short for Bi-County Regional Elite Aquatics.
Circle Seeding
This is the seeding system used in prelims where the final three heats of an event are arranged so that the three fastest swimmers occupy the middle or fastest lane in their heat; the next three fastest swimmers occupy the next fastest lane, etc.
Classification of Meets
A swimmer's ability level determines his or her class of competition at USA swimming meets.
A, B, and C meets are sanctioned by ISI. Each class has USS time standards for each stroke at each distance for each age group. Swimmers new to competition are classified as C swimmers in their first meet.
Our LSC, Southern California Swimming (SCS), has changed the designation of local meets to avoid confusion with National standards. Southern California swimming standards used to be known as "A", "B", and "C". They have been renamed "Blue", "Red", and "White" respectively. "Blue" is the old "A" time, "Red" is the old "B" time, and "White" is the old "C" time. (Time standards for SCS can be found on their website.
Meets are now known as BRW (Blue, Red, White), RW (Red, White), or B (Blue) meets. Any swimmer can enter a BRW meet. Only those that meet certain standards may enter RW or B meets.
Course
Designated distance over which the competition is conducted.
Cuts
Qualifying times for specific types of championship meets.
Deck Seeding
A procedure for assigning swimmers to the proper lanes and heats immediately before each event in the marshalling area.
Disqualification (DQ's)
Stroke and turn judges watch each race. Swimmers with improper form or technique are disqualified and told why. Swimmers should not be discouraged by a DQ. Most team members have had the same experience. Pay attention to the judge's remarks and work doubly hard on stroke perfection in practice. Swimmers may swim the remaining events the day and may enter the same event at the next meet.
Finals
The session of a meet where qualifying rounds (prelims) were held previously to determine the finalists (usually 1-16 depending on pool size and whether or not consolation finals are conducted). Results of the finals determine the ultimate placements in a given event.
Freestyle Relay
Four swimmers on each team, each swimmer swims one fourth of the distance using any desired stroke.
Heat
A division of an event into a series of races. Each race is one heat. Heats are needed when more swimmers enter a race than there are lanes available in the pool.
Heat Sheet
A list of swimmers entered in each event with their respective entry times. Pre-seeded meets will also list swimmers in pre-assigned heats and lanes. The host team of a meet prepares heat sheets and sells them to spectators for a nominal fee.
Individual Medley (IM)
All four of the competitive strokes are swum by one swimmer in the following order: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle.
Junior Olympics
Meets held at the end of each season in each state (winter - March, summer - July). Cut-off or qualifying times are required.
Long Course
A type of competitive pool which measures 50 meters or 55 yards in length. The standard size for all International competition and all world record swims is the 50 meter course.
LSC
Local Swimming Committee. Our LSC is Southern California Swimming. We swim in the Orange group of SoCal Swimming
Marshall
The person responsible for assigning heats and lanes to swimmers.
Marshalling area
Area adjacent to the Marshall in which swimmers are assembled and assigned to a heat.
Medley Relay
Four swimmers on each team, each swimmer swims one fourth of the prescribed distance continuously in the following order: backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle.
Meet
Series of events determining the basis of competition.
DUAL - two teams in competition, generally not sanctioned.
INVITATIONAL - a sanctioned meet sponsored by a team with two or more teams invited to participate. Invitationals and USA -swimming meets are classified according to the level of competition. An "A" meet is a high level of competition restricting competition to swimmers who have achieved "A" time standards. A "B" meet is restricted to swimmers who have not achieved "A" time, but have achieved better than "C" times.
Prelims (Preliminary Heats)
In certain meets, the qualifying rounds held for each event to determine the finalists.
Qualifying Times
Some events have qualifying times. This is one of the most confusing things to understand when a swimmer enters an event. If a swimmer doesn't meet the event qualification they cannot swim in the event
In order to understand whether you qualify for a meet on a particular event you need to understand the terminology. For each event a time is listed. The time is listed as either "Minimum" or "Maximum".
Minimum - means that the time shown is the slowest time, or minimum time, that qualifies for an event. You must swim that event faster or equal to the listed time. A swimming time that is slower than the listed time does not qualify for the event. Typically Blue (B) meets are listed with minimum times on events.
Maximum - means that the time shown is the fastest time, or maximum time, that qualifies for an event. You must swim that event slower than or equal to the listed time. A swimming time that is faster than the listed time does not qualify for the event. Typically Red/White (RW) meets are listed with maximum times on events.
Referee
The official who has authority over all other officials at a meet. He/she enforces all rules, decides all questions about conduct of the meet, and is responsible for the efficient running of the meet.
Relay
An event where four swimmers are part of a single, team oriented event.
Scratch
The withdrawal of an entry from competition.
Seeding
The process by which a swimmer is assigned a certain lane and heat in an event. Competitors are assigned to lanes based on their seed times as follows:
6 lane pool - lanes numbered 3,4,2,5,1,6 (with the fastest time in lane 3)
8 lane pool - lanes 4,5,3,6,2,7,1,8 (with the fastest time in lane 4)
Senior Swim Meet
All USS registered swimmers who have met the Senior qualifying time standard for a given event are eligible to compete.
Short Course
A type of competitive pool which measures 25 yards or 25 meters.
SoCal Swimming (SCS)
Southern California Swimmering. They are our local swimming committee
Split
A per lap time that coaches often record for teaching the concept of pacing. For instance, a swimmer's time for each 25 yard leg of a 100 yard event are his or her four splits.
Starter
The official at a meet responsible for the proper, legal start of each race. The officials rotate around the pool during a meet and the person who starts the meet can change over time.
Strokes
There are four official racing strokes-. butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle.
Timed Finals
Competition in which individual heats are swum and the final placements are determined by the times performed in all of the aggregate heats. All swimmers are seeded from the slowest times to the fastest times. Each heat is set up by ascending order of times (i.e., if 48 swimmers are entered in the 50 yard backstroke, the 8 slowest times would be swum in heat #1, and the 8 fastest times would be swum in heat #6).
Time Standards
Certain qualifying times which have been set up by the Southern California Swimming and USA Swimming for all events in all levels of meets to insure that all competitors are of reasonably the same ability in their respective meets.
National Top 16
A tabulation of the National Top 16 times in every age group and every event of all USA Swimming competitions from the previous season.
Touch Pad
The part of an electronic timing system that rests in the water at the end of each lane. Swimmers times are automatically recorded when the swimmer touches the pad.
USA - Swimming
Abbreviation for United States Swimming, Inc., which is the governing body for amateur swimming in the United States. National headquarters is in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
USA Swimming Meet Rules
All USA competition is conducted in accordance with the rules of United States Swimming as set forth in Official Rules for Competitive Swimming, a rule book published annually by USA Swimming.