Swimming Vocabulary
Some common swimming terms:
HEAT SHEET: This is the swim meet "program." It lists all of the events in order, separated by different heats. For example, the first event will be the 6 and under Girls 25 Free. There will be at least 2 heats and as many as 5 heats of girls swimming. This depends on the size of the two teams. 6 girls swim in a heat.
FREE: This is freestyle or the front crawl. 10 and under swim 25 yards of this stroke in competition at summer league meets, and 11 and up swim 50 yards.
BACK: This is backstroke. 10 and under swim 25 yards of this stroke in competition at summer league meets, and 11 and up swim 50 yards.
BREAST: This is breaststroke. 10 and under swim 25 yards of this stroke in competition at summer league meets, and 11 and up swim 50 yards.
FLY: This is butterfly. 10 and under swim 25 yards of this stroke in competition at summer league meets, and 11 and up swim 50 yards.
FREE RELAY: This is a relay of 4 swimmers swimming freestyle. In the 10 and under groups, the swimmers do a total of 100 yards (25 yards each). In the 11 and up relays, the swimmers do a total of 200 yards (50 yards each).
MEDLEY RELAY: This is a relay of 4 swimmers who each swim a different stroke. The order is backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle. In the 10 and under groups, the swimmers do a total of 100 yards (25 yards each). In the 11 and up relays, the swimmers do a total of 200 yards (50 yards each).
IM: This is called the individual medley. It is an individual swimming all 4 strokes for a total of 100 yards. The order is: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle.
STROKE AND TURN JUDGE: We have 2 judges from each team, and they sit at the ends of the pool (one judge per team at each end). They are responsible for making sure that the swimmers follow the rules of starts, turns, proper hand touches at the wall, etc. They determine the DQs (see below).
DQ: This means the swimmer has been disqualified in an event. Common DQs are for incorrect finishes (two hand touches in butterfly and breast) and incorrect turns (again with touches or an incorrect backstroke turn).
