DEFINITIONS 2009/10

There are a number of terms and definitions that are used in swimming, and many of these may be unfamiliar to new members of the Club.

Some of the more frequently used terms are explained below.

S.V: Swimming Victoria Inc.
This is the State Swimming governing body, formed in 1893, which co-ordinates the actions of swimming clubs in this State. Victorian Clubs must abide by the rules established by Swimming Victoria and swimmers/officials who compete / officiate in competitions must firstly be affiliated with this governing body. Part of the registration fee, which you paid to join our Club, is sent to Swimming Victoria to pay for this affiliation plus insurance costs. Swimming Victoria maintains a listing of all registered swimmers/officials and uses a code to identify each person, which looks something like the following - SMIJA290573. This is unique for each person, as it comprises letters of their surname, given name and date of birth.

MSAC
This is the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre. The swimming complex is situated in Aughtie Drive , Albert Park, South Melbourne , and is the venue for all major Swimming Victoria competitions.

Meet / Carnival
These are other words commonly used for swimming competitions.

Officials
These are people (often parents of swimmers) who assist with the running of the swim meet, such as timekeepers and referees. At higher-level meets these people must have attended courses and officially qualified in the area in which they officiate.

Approved Qualifying Meet
This is a swim meet that has a full complement of qualified officials and has been approved by Swimming Victoria.

Carnival Flyers
All information relating to upcoming swim meets is contained on a flyer and is sent to either the general Secretary or the Club's Carnival Secretary. This is then posted on the Club's noticeboard. The following information will be included on this flyer:

  • meet name
  • closing date of entries
  • meet venue events being swum
  • length of pool
  • qualifying times (if applicable)
  • entry fee for races
  • date and time of meet
  • special conditions of the meet (i.e. conducted under the rules of Swimming Victoria, no false starts allowed, etc.)

Swimmers wishing to participate in a meet then need to complete their entries and submit these to the Coach, along with the entry costs. It is very important to read the information on the flyer very carefully.

Best Time (Personal Best)
This is the fastest time that you have swum for a particular event. It is important to keep a record of all your times, as you will need to use these best times when you enter races.

Entry Time
For competitions entered, will need to enter an event time for the race in which you want to compete. The time you enter needs to have been achieved at an approved qualifying meet and it needs to be entered on the Entry Card. If you are swimming in an event in which you have no time (i.e. one that you have not swum before), you can enter “NO TIME” on the form where it asks for your time. You will then be placed in the slowest heat in the program of the event.

Qualifying Times
Some swim meets only allow swimmers to compete in their races if the swimmer has achieved a certain time. The flyer for the meet will list these times for each stroke and age group and swimmers must have previously achieved a time that is equal or faster than the time that is set - you cannot enter NO TIME for these events. Using qualifying times for a meet is a method that the hosting associations (i.e. Swimming Victoria), districts or clubs use to reduce the number of participants that will enter. It is a way to ensure that the meet will operate within a certain time frame. Meets that have qualifying times are usually of a higher standard than those without them. Swimmers who compete on the day of the meet and swim more slowly than the required qualifying time will be fined an amount specified on the flyer, unless they can prove that they have previously swum the race at an approved qualifying meet.

Time Trials
These are races that are swum in competitions, but have no finals associated with them. Therefore after all the heats have been swum the three fastest swimmers are awarded the placings. There are an increasing number of competitions that adopt this method of racing to reduce the length of the meet.

Entry Card
This is one of the official entry forms used to enter a swim meet. You need to enter details of the meet, the events you wish to enter and your entry times. This form can be obtained from the Coach and once completed, it needs to be returned to them with the applicable entry fees. The Coach can then send this form and money on behalf of you to the hosting association, district or club.

Entry Fee
Many carnivals have an entry fee that must be paid to swim each race. The fee for each race varies for each competition, and is specified on the carnival flyer. This must be accompanied by your Entry Card when you submit your entries to the Coach.

Long Course and Short Course
Long Course is a competition that is held in a 50-metre pool. This is the standard length of an Olympic sized pool. A competition held in a 25-metre pool is referred to as short course.

Scratching
This is the term used when you wish to withdraw from a race that you have previously entered. If you are at a swim meet and wish to withdraw from a race, you must report to the Chief Marshall (as you would if you were intending to compete) and notify them of the race from which you wish to withdraw.

At some meets failure to officially 'scratch' from a race may result in being barred from swimming in further races in that competition. It is advisable to 'scratch' from an event as soon as possible at a meet as, if there is sufficient time, officials may decide to re-seed the race.

Seeding
This is another word for ranking. For every swim meet a program is produced which outlines the events and competing swimmers - these programs can then be purchased by competitors/parents when they attend the meet.  In each event swimmers are 'ranked' depending on their entry times. Therefore, the swimmer with the fastest time in an event is ranked 1st, the second fastest ranked 2nd, and so on - this is referred to as a swimmer's seeding. It is this seeding which determines the heats into which competitors will be placed. In the case of championship races, the normal method is to swim the slower seeded swimmers in the first heats, and each subsequent heat has slightly faster (or higher seeded) swimmers.

B.B.B Races
This type of race can be swum at handicap meets. Swimmers choose to swim the race in butterfly, backstroke or breaststroke (this is what the three B's represent). As the race is swum using the handicap method, there is no advantage to competitors who choose to swim a particular stroke. On the Entry Card you need to specify which stroke you are swimming, as this is printed in the swim meet program.

Individual Medley
This is a mixed stroke race which is to be swum by one swimmer, and can be conducted over different lengths (100, 200 or 400-metres). A competitor in this race must swim an equal distance of all 4 strokes, those being butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle, in that particular order. Therefore, in the case of a 200-metre individual medley, the swimmer will swim 50-metres butterfly, then 50-metres backstroke, 50-metres breaststroke and finally 50-metres freestyle.

Pairs Relay, Medley Relay and Mixed Relay
These types of relays are team events. The pairs relay comprises 2 swimmers. The entry time is the combined time of both swimmers (i.e. no individual times are entered). A medley relay comprises 4 swimmers. Each swimmer completes one leg of the race only. Therefore, for a 4x50metre medley relay, one swimmer performs the 50-metre backstroke leg, the next the 50-metre breaststroke, another person the 50-metre butterfly and finally another swimmer the 50-metre freestyle (in that order). Again, the entry time is the combined time of all swimmers. Note the different order of the strokes in this event, compared with the individual medley. A mixed relay comprises swimmers from different age groups. They may appear on the program as a freestyle or mixed stroke relay. The carnival flyer will specify if there are any special rules associated with the relay (for example, they might require one 10/U boy, 12/U girl, 14/U boy and 16/U girl to make up 4x50-metre relay). The entry time you use is the addition of all four swimmers' times.

'Open' Age Group
There are often a number of races in a competition that are referred to as being 'Open' events. In the case of those races which are specified as '14/15 Years' or '11 & under', they are restricted to swimmers who fall into these age categories. The 'Open' age group is available to swimmers of all ages, and is not restricted to a particular age bracket.

Kevin O'Neil
Secretary

MISSION STATEMENT

The Lara Swimming Club Inc. is in place to:

"Provide a friendly atmosphere that will encourage and assist individuals to achieve their desired goals and reach their full potential, within the Swimming Club environment."

UPCOMING MEETS:
See the Calendar for more meets ...