GLOSSARY OF SWIMMING TERMS

AGE GROUP SWIMMING - Swimmers compete against swimmers in their own age groups; 8 and Under, 9-10, 11-12,
13-14, and senior (anyone 12 and over). The older the age group, the greater the distance a swimmer swims. The 6 and
Under age group is usually offered at YMCA Invitationals.

BACK - Short for backstroke. A swimmer must remain on his/her back during the race, never turning more than 90
degrees to one side or the other, except on turns. [ see "STROKES" below. ]

BLOCKS - These are the platforms on which the swimmer stands and pushes off to start each race.

BREAK - In a relay this is a bad start, meaning that one swimmer leaves the wall or block before the other swimmer in the

water has touched the wall.  A relay start is also referred to as a "takeoff", and a break is more commonly referred

to as a takeoff infraction or a "bad takeoff".

BREASTSTROKE - Sometimes shortened to breast. Breaststroke is a stroke in which both arms and both legs move
together. One complete stroke and one complete kick underwater is permitted on the start and on turns. As in butterfly,
[ see "FLY" below ] a two handed touch is required on turns and finish.

CLERK OF COURSE - A separate area where swimmers go to be pre-staged for the upcoming events. They are placed

on benches in the order they will swim (and normally received a lane slip before electronic timing equipment became

commonplace).  A Clerk of Course pre-staging area is more commonly used for younger (especially 8 & Under) swimmers.

Dual meets and smaller meets normally do not have a Clerk of Course setup.

DISQUALIFICATION (D.Q.) - A disqualification indicates the swimmer involved has committed some infraction of the
rules of either the start, turn or stroke of the event being swum. No points are scored, nor is a time recorded, for that swimmer

for that event.

DISQUALIFIED - A swimmer's race is declared illegal. As noted above, when disqualified, his/her time does not count.

DUAL MEET - A meet between two teams. In a six-lane pool, each team gets 3 lanes only.

EVENT - An event is a race that is defined by the stroke [ see "STROKES" below ] and distance (and usually gender/age

group), e.g. Boys 13-14 100 yard Butterfly.

FINALS - Are swum after the fastest times from the preliminary heats are grouped together. Often the fastest 16 swimmers

qualify to swim in two finals heats (in an 8-lane pool).  These top swimmers are competing for the team points and awards.

FLY - Nickname for the butterfly stroke. Butterfly (like breaststroke) is swum with the arms moving together in synchronization

with both legs. The kick is similar to the flutter kick, but both feet are together and move up and down together. The hands or

the feet may never move separately from the other. A two handed touch is required on the turns and finish.

FREE - Short for Freestyle. Freestyle is the American Crawl or any other stroke a swimmer wishes to swim.  In medley events,

"freestyle" means any stroke other than back, breast or fly.

GREAT LAKES ZONE - The YMCA Zone in which the Tigersharks compete with other YMCAs in the states of Ohio,
Michigan, West Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana.

HEAT SHEET - [see "HEATS" below ]  This is available to all spectators. It lists the event, heat, and lane each swimmer is in.

HEATS - These are groups of swimmers all competing in the same event.  Example: There are 12 swimmers entered in
the same event and only 6 lanes in which to swim. The 6 slowest swimmers will swim in Heat #1 and the next 6 will
swim in Heat #2. [ see "SEEDING" below ].

I.M. - Individual Medley. One swimmer swims a minimum of one length of each of the following strokes in this
consecutive order: butterfly, back, breast and free.

INVITATIONAL - A competition in which any team may compete.

LANE - The lanes are the divided sections of the pool designated l through 6 or 8 in which the swimmer swims his/her
practice or races in the meet. The practice lanes generally remain the same. At meets the lanes vary for each race.

LANE-SLIP - A slip of paper which identifies the swimmer, his lane, heat, event and time (generally not used with modern

electronic timing equipment).

LAP - It the length of the pool. At PCY the length of the indoor pool is 25 yards and the length of the outdoor pool is

50 meters. Most indoor pools are 25 yards in length. Most outdoor competition pools are either 25 or 50 meters.

LINEUP SHEET - This is the coach's lineup paper that tells him/her who swims which events on what day of what meet

and when it occurs relative to other events.

LONG COURSE - In the summer, the PCY meets are long course meets - meaning they are held in a 50-meter outdoor pool.

N.T. - No Time. No time means upon entering a swimmer in a certain event, that swimmer had not previously achieved a

legal time for that certain event.

NEGATIVE SPLIT - [ see "SPLIT" below]  On races from between 200 yards and a mile, it is important to maintain consistency.

A negative split indicates bringing a race back (ending laps) faster than you started.

PACING - On all long events a swimmer must realize that the finish is as important as the start. Pacing is knowing how
much to save up at the beginning so as not to burn up all energy before the finish. Pacing is not used for sprint events.

PLACE JUDGE - These people, usually one on each side of the pool at the finish end, would write down, in their opinion,
in what order the swimmers finished.  These decisions were given to the runner and were used if the timing system
failed or in case of ties.  With the widespread use of electronic timing equipment place judges are generally no longer used.

PRELIMINARIES - The heats swum prior to the finals. The preliminary heats determine which swimmers qualify to

compete in the finals.  [ see "FINALS" above ].

QUALIFYING TIME - A time standard for which a swimmer must swim at or faster than a minimum time to qualify and

therefore be eligible to enter the event.

RUNNERS - These people will collect cards from each head timer at the end of each race and run them over to the
scorer's table; runners are generally no longer used with the widespread use of electronic timing equipment.

SCORERS - These people score the meet, write out ribbons or medals for place finishes, and posts the scores and results
after every few events.

SCORING A MEET - Meets are scored according to what kind of meet it is. Teams are awarded points based upon the
place finish of each race. The number of points and number of places awarded varies with each type of meet. Some
meets are not scored.

SEEDING - This means ranking or ordering the swimmers according to each swimmer's best previous times achieved

prior to the meet.  When the swimmers are grouped into heats [ see "HEATS" above ] the fastest swimmers are in last heat.

SHORT COURSE - Refers to a 25 yard or meter pool. This (25 yards) is the distance swum in the winter season.

SPLIT - It is a segment of time for part of an event. Most common on relays where you have four individual times that
equal the sum of the four participants final time.  Split times are also often tracked on longer individual events.

SPRINT - A sprint is a high energy burst of speed for a short distance event.

STARTER - This person will see that the crowd is quiet and then will start each race with a gun or auto starter system.
It will be his/her job to determine a false start and to recall such a start (when recalls are used).

STROKES - The four competitive strokes are butterfly, back, breast and freestyle. Each stroke has a proper execution.
Failure to execute the stroke properly (as defined by the official rules) causes the swimmer to be disqualified for that race.

STROKE AND TURN JUDGES - These people will see that the swimmer does each stroke and turn properly as stated

in the official rulebook. If a stroke or turn is done improperly, the judge who observed the infraction will report it to the

scorer's table (usually over a radio headset; prior to the use of headsets the judge would write up a disqualification card

to be brought to the scorer's table).

SWOSL - South West Ohio Swim League, formerly the Southwest Cluster Swim League, is the YMCA league in which

Powel Crosley, Jr. YMCA is a member in good standing.

"TAKE YOUR MARK" - This is the command that the starter gives the swimmers at the start of each race. It tells the
swimmer to take his starting position.

TIMERS - These are people who take the times of each swimmer. There are normally 2 or 3 per lane with each having a
watch or hookup to the auto timing system. One timer also normally acts as a recorder - i.e., writes down the watch
times of the event swum in that lane.

TIMES - Throughout the season a swimmer will swim several events more than once. The time they swim is the final
result of their effort. It will determine at which level they perform that event.

TOUCH AND FINISH - These are important. For each event the touch for a finish or for a turn has definite rules. There is
a specific legal touch for each stroke.

TRI MEET - A meet between three teams. [ see also "DUAL MEET" above ].  In a six-lane pool, each team is allocated

2 lanes only.

USA SWIMMING - USA Swimming, formerly United States Swimming. USS is a governing body, which has annexed
itself from the A.A.U. This governing body directs competition. Powel Crosley, Jr. YMCA competes in this league
along with the SWOSL. To compete in USA Swimming meets, a swimmer must obtain a USA Swimming membership
card.  (Most PCY swimmers also hold USA cards.)

WARM-UPS - This is the pre-meet swimming that each swimmer should do to get a feel of the water, to loosen up their
shoulders, arms, neck, waist, and legs, and to practice the events being swum that meet.