Swim Meet Events
Swim meets are organized around events.
An event is a race in a
given stroke and distance for a specific age group and sex (example:
Girls 8 & Under 25 meter breaststroke). There are usually
more swimmers than the six lanes in most community pools allow, so
events are divided into what are called heats.
The results are compiled by swimmers'
times after all heats of the event are completed. Swimmers are
assigned heats and lanes based on their seed times (fastest official
time). The fastest swimmers are in the final heat of an event and
the fastest swimmers in a heat are assigned the center lanes. Each week, the coaches enter your child in the events
they will swim at
the meet on Saturday. To place your child in events, the coaches
look
at the child's strengths and weaknesses, overall athletic ability, and
the number of times the child has swum the event. A swimmer is
allowed to compete in up to 3 events and 2 relays each meet.
Each meet is run in the same order every week A meet
program, also known as a heat sheet,
lists all the swimmers and their associated events, heats, and lane
assignments. A
heat sheet is usually available for purchase in the concession
area of the pool for about $1. Each
swimmer and their best time in
that event is listed. If a swimmer is swimming the event for the
first
time, it will be entered as a "no time" or "NT. A "NT" swimmer
will most likely swim in one of the first heats of the event.
The event schedule will be the same
each week and is as follows:
| FREESTYLE RELAYS |
15 -18 ONLY |
| MEDLEY RELAYS |
8 & UNDER, 9-10,
11-12, 13-14, 15-18 |
| FREESTYLE |
8 & UNDER, 9-10,
11-12,
13-14, 15-18 |
| I.M. (INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY) |
10 & UNDER, 11-12, 13-14, 15-18 |
| BACKSTROKE |
8 & UNDER, 9-10,
11-12, 13-14, 15-18 |
| BREASTROKE |
8 & UNDER, 9-10,
11-12, 13-14, 15-18 |
| BUTTERFLY |
8 & UNDER, 9-10,
11-12,
13-14, 15-18 |
| FREESTYLE RELAYS |
8 & UNDER, 9-10,
11-12, 13-14 |
Relays are
determined by the top times as of the previous week. The A relay is the
top 4 swimmers, B is the
next 4, and the C relay is the next 4. If your child is not on a relay,
it simply means that they did not qualify for one of the relay
positions that week. Just because the child is not on a relay one week
does not mean the child will never be on a relay.
Medley
IM stands for Individual Medley. Once a swimmer has
LEGALLY swum all four strokes, the IM is the next and last event to
learn. The IM is all four strokes combined into one event called the
100 IM. The 100 does not stand for laps, it is the number of meters.
One length is 25 meters; the 100 IM is four lengths. The order is
Butterfly,
Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Freestyle. The stroke order is
slightly modified in the medley relay: Backstroke, Butterfly,
Breaststroke, and Freestyle. Medley relay is swum by four
different swimmers, each swimmer swimming
one of the four strokes. Backstroke is the first event as backstroke is
started from the water. If backstroke was not the first event, the
starting backstroke swimmer and the finishing previous swimmer could
block each other. The remaining strokes are sorted according to the
speed, with breaststroke being the slowest and freestyle being the
fastest stroke.
Disqualification (DQ)
Our league complies with USA Swimming rules - the same rules used at
all national meets like the Olympic Time Trials. To ensure fair
competition for all swimmers, these rules are equally applied to all
swimmers, regardless of age or experience. During competition, if
a swimmer fails to comply with the stroke and turn rules, a Stroke
& Turn Judge (dressed in white shirts and blue shorts) will raise
their hand, write up a disqualification (DQ) slip, and present it to
the referee for approval. A swimmer is not disqualified until the
referee accepts the report. Almost all swimmers in all age groups
have been DQ’d at some time. This should be viewed as a learning
experience and not a failure. Swimmers should discuss the DQ with
their Coach after the race, and together they will work on a plan to
correct the mistake.
Course
The course is the designated distance over which the competition is
conducted. The
standard is 25 Meters for Summer
league meets, 50 Meters for Olympic competition, and 25 Yards for
regular year-round and college competition. In Summer League, one
length is considered 25 Meters. A lap is considered two lengths
(up and back).
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