Copy of `Isport - Glossary of swimming`

The wordlist doesn't exist anymore, or, the website doesn't exist anymore. On this page you can find a copy of the original information. The information may have been taken offline because it is outdated.

Isport - Glossary of swimming Category: Sport and Leisure > Swimming Date & country: 02/12/2013, USA Words: 370

LMSC
Abbreviation for Local Masters Swimming Committee.

loaf
To put minimal effort into a set or race.

LCM
Abbreviation for long course meters.

leg (of a relay)
One swimmer's portion of a relay; there are 4 legs of each relay in a meet.

lapped
Term for when the first person in a lane catches up to and passes the last person in the lane.

lapping
See lapped.

late entries
Meet entries that are received by the meet host after the entry deadline. Late entries are typically returned to the sender.

LC
Abbreviation for long course.

lane ropes
See lane line.

lane timer
See timer.

lap counter
Large, plastic cards printed with numbers. In distance freestyle events (500 yards or longer) these cards are held underwater at end opposite the starting blocks to help the swimmer keep track of where they are in the race. The counters show odd numbers, with the last panel covered by a bright orange square. When the swimmer is making the final turn into the last lap of the race, the person holding their counter will display the bright orange card, instead of a number.

lane markings
The black lines at the bottom of the pool marking the middle of each lane. The black lines end in a T at both ends to indicate that the wall is near.

lane
The space between lane lines, or between a lane line and the wall. Lanes are approximately 2.5 meters (8 feet) wide.

lactic acid
A by-product of the body's process of using energy (glucose) anaerobically (without oxygen), which it does during high-intensity activity.

land to water strength ratio
The percentage of a swimmer's strength on land that they are able to use as strength in the water. Also called land/water strength. There are a number of ways to test a swimmer's land/water strength conversion.

kick
The movement of a swimmer's legs and feet.

kickboard
A lightweight, flat flotation device used to practice kicking. Swimmers typically rest straight arms on the board.

lactate
Blood lactate is the result of several fast-acting chemical reactions in the blood stream. Those reactions begin when lactic acid releases hydrogen ions. Lactate is what physiologists typically measure in the lab when testing lactate threshold. Lactate is not the same as lactic acid.

lactate threshold
During a period of intense physical activity, the point at which lactic acid builds up in an athlete's blood faster than their body can process/remove it.

invitational
A meet in which every participating team has been invited by organizers.

JOs
Abbreviation for Junior Olympics. See Junior Olympics.

jump
See false start.

Junior Olympics
An age group championship meet offered and run by USA Swimming's local swimming committees (LSCs).

Juniors
USA Swimming's championship meet for swimmers who are 18 years or younger and meet certain qualifying times.

Hy-Tek
Swimming software that tracks meet entries and results.

individual medley
One of the events contested in a meet, in which contestants swim lengths of all four strokes in a specific order: butterfly, backstroke, breastroke, freestyle. The number of lengths of each stroke depends on the event's distance. Events offered are usually 100 yards/meters (25 yards/meters each stroke), 200 yards/meters (50 yards/meters each), and 400 yards/meters (100 yards/meters each).

horn
Sometimes used in place of a starters gun at a meet. Typically the horn is part of an automatic timing system.

hypoxic training
Sets in which breathing patterns are the main focus of the drill. (For example: 4 x 100 freestyle, breathing every 3 strokes on the first 100; every 5 strokes on the second 100; every 7 strokes on the 3rd 100; and every 9 strokes on the last 100.) Hypoxic training often includes swimming while limiting air intake. This should ALWAYS be done under the direct supervision of a coach, as it is possible to pass out (and drown).

heat award
Given to the winner of a heat at age group meets. This award, usually a ribbon, is not always given out.

heat sheet
The list of events to be contested at a meet, which shows the names of the swimmers who entered the event and their entry times. The heat sheet is often available for purchase.

high point
A USA Swimming award given to the swimmer who scores the most points in their age group at a given meet. This award is not always given out.

heat
The term for one race, when there are too many swimmers entered in an event for them to all race at once. Winners of the event are determined after all heats have raced, and the times of each swimmer have been compared to those of the swimmers in all other heats of the same event.

handbook
A book published by a club, team, local swim committee, or other organization that contains rules of competition, contact information, records, qualifying times, and more.

head timer
The timer in charge of all other timers. The head timer is responsible for organizing timers before the meet, providing instruction prior to the start of competition, and assigning timers to lanes. The head timer also serves as a backup timer in case a watch fails or a timer misses the start of a race.

gun lap
The last two laps of a distance event. When the swimmer in the lead is under the flags just before their turn into the last two laps of the race, the starter will fire the gun once over that swimmer's lane.

gutter
Trough around the edge of a pool that collects water and directs it out of the pool and through the filter system. Some gutters are designed to keep waves from bouncing off the wall and back into the pool.

hand velocity
The speed of a swimmer's hand through the water.

green zone
Term used by some coaches to describe sets that are moderately aerobically challenging. See also blue zone and red zone.

group
Practices for most teams are organized into groups based on age, or skill, or a combination of both.

gun
See starters gun.

goggles
Protective covering worn over the eyes. Goggles come in many styles and sizes, and can be made with corrective lenses.

gravity wave
A wave created by a swimmer, which moves down and forward before bouncing off the bottom of the pool. Gravity waves cause turbulence at the surface and potentially slow the swimmer.

freestyle relay
A freestyle race in which four swimmers each swim one-fourth the total distance of the race. Two relays are contested at the Olympics: 400m (or 4 x 100m) and 800m (or 4 x 200m). Shorter races are sometimes offered at other levels of competition: 4 x 25 yards/meters, and 4 x 50yards/meters.

frog kick
See breastroke kick.

gallery
Viewing area for meet spectators.

four-hour rule
USA Swimming rule that keeps timed finals meets for 12-and-unders to 4 hours or less, and prelims/finals meets to less than 8 hours total (for both sessions).

floor marshal
Meet official responsible for making sure the warm-up pool is safe, and that swimmers are abiding the warm-up pool rules.

format
Usually refers to meet format: type of meet and order of events. See timed final and prelim/final.

forward start
A dive, or other entry in which the swimmer is facing the pool.

foul
Equipment failure/malfunction, obstruction, collision or interference that does not allow for a race to be successfully completed.

flags
Also called backstroke flags, these are the colored, triangular flags that hang across a pool, approximately 15 feet (or 5 meters) from either end. Backstrokers use the flags to anticipate where the wall is.

flip turn
Used to transition between laps by doing a forward somersault before the wall. Used in freestyle and backstroke events. The freestyle and backstroke flip turns are slightly different. There is also a backstroke-to-breastroke flip turn that is completely different than the freestyle/backstroke flip turn.

final results
Official results from a meet, typically printed and posted at the meet venue.

finals
The last, championship race of an event. The swimmers with the fastest times in the preliminary heats race in finals. See also consolation finals and timed finals.

finish (of the race)
The last 5-15 meters of a race or swim.

fins
Worn on the feet, these flexible, plastic blades help swimmers improve their kick. Sometimes swimmers will wear fins at practice so that they can swim at race speed with less exertion. Swim fins are more flexible and lighter-weight than dive fins.

FINA
The international governing body for aquatic sports, including swimming. (FINA also governs diving, synchronized swimming, water polo and open water swimming.) FINA makes the rules for the sport of swimming.

fastskin
A type of competition suit made by Speedo.

fastest to slowest seeding
A method of assigning swimmers to heats and lanes, in which the fastest swimmers are assigned to the first heat, and the slowest in the last heat. This seeding system is used in distance events, which are usually raced at the end of a session.

false start rope
A rope hung across the pool to stop swimmers who did not hear the false start. When a false start is indicated and there are swimmers still racing, officials will drop the rope into the pool. The rope is usually hung halfway across short course pools, and approximately 50 feet from the blocks in long course pools.

false start
In a race, when a swimmer leaves the starting block before the starter sounds the beep or gun. At most meets one false start disqualifies a swimmer (or a relay). The starter will let the swimmers know of the false start with multiple beeps of the electronic timing system, or a second and/or third firing of the starter's gun.

failed swim
When a swimmer does not meet the time standard for an event at a meet where proof of time standard is required.

event
A race, identified by the distance and stroke. One event often includes preliminary heats and a finals race. An event can also be a series of heats, which are timed-finals.

EVF
Abbreviation for early vertical forearm.

exchange
In a relay, when one swimmer touches the wall and the next leaves the blocks.

entry form
Form used to enter a meet.

entry limit
The maximum number of swimmers accepted to swim in a meet, often because of time or space constraints. Most meets have an entry limit.

even split
To swim the first and last halves of a race in the same amount of time. Or, in a longer race, to swim each segment (usually 50s or 100s) of the race in approximately the same amount of time.

entry deadline
The date by which meet entries must be postmarked. Online entries must be submitted by the entry deadline as well. Due to entry limits, the deadline is often moot.

entry fees
The amount charged to a swimmer for entering an event. (This fee is usually charged per event.) Relays are also charged this entry fee (one fee per relay, not per swimmer). Entry fees vary.

entry (hand)
How the hand enters the water on each stroke.

entry chair
See entry chairperson.

entry chairperson
The person responsible for making sure meet entries are received on time and are accurate. This person is associated with the club or team hosting the meet. Their duties also include notifying teams of errors on the entry forms and returning entries received after the deadline or after the meet is full (if there is an entry limit).

eligible to compete
Swimmers who are registered with their governing body (USA Swimming, for example), have paid their meet registration fees, and have met any qualification standards are eligible to compete.

easy swim
Relaxed, technique-focused swimming where speed is unimportant. Used in practice at the beginning of warm-up, for recovery between sets or repeats, and as cool-down at the end of a workout.

electronic timing
Timing system for swim meets that is integrates all the components (starters gun, block sensors, touch pads, video cameras, etc.) through a central computer system. When the starter sounds the gun at the start of each race, the computer starts the clock running in all lanes simultaneously. The clock in each lane stops only when the swimmer hits the touch pad with sufficient force (in a fully automatic system), or when the three lane timers each push their button (in a semi-automatic system). Electronic timing systems can track opening splits for swimmers in multi-lap events, finish order and other race data, including photo finishes.

early vertical forearm
Having a vertical forearm (by keeping the elbow above the wrist and fingertips) as early as possible in the stroke, ideally in front of the shoulders at the catch. Also called EVF, this is thought by many to be a critical component of fast freestyle technique.

dual meet
Meet in which two teams compete against each other.

dropped elbow
When the elbow drops below the wrist in the catch phase of freestyle. This is the opposite of EVF, or early vertical forearm.

dropped time
See personal best.

dry side
USA Swimming term for the part of their rule book that addresses the administrative rules for a meet.

dryland
Strength and flexibility exercises that swimmers do on land to complement their in-water training. Examples of dryland include: core-exercises, weight lifting, and cross-training activities such as running or cycling.

drill progression
A series of drills. The series begins with a drill that focuses the swimmer on a fundamental aspect of stroke technique. Each subsequent drill builds on that fundamental skill, and progresses toward swimming technically proficient whole strokes.

drill set
A set done in practice in which the focus is on a drill, a drill progression, or other specific aspect of a swimmer's stroke technique.

drill
An exercise that allows or requires a swimmer to focus on an aspect of their stroke technique.

double-whistle
The indication from officials that the next heat of swimmers is about to be called to step onto the blocks for their race.

DPS
Abbreviation for distance per stroke.

DQ
Abbreviation for disqualification.

drag suit
A loose suit worn over a practice suit to increase drag or resistance. This helps swimmers build strength and power, and creates the sensation of speed when swimming without a drag suit. Some swimmers buy suits specifically designed as drag suits, while others simply wear an old, loose, worn-out suit over their new one.

Dolphin arch
When the head, back and hips are arched to create an arc or part of a circle shape.

dolphin kick
The kick used in the butterfly stroke, where feet remain together, kicking up and down simultaneously. Dolphin kick is most effective when the kick begins at the hip and the knees do not bend too much.

double-dual meet
A meet in which three teams compete, and each team is scored against the other two independently.

diving well
A separate pool, or a separate section of a pool specifically designed for diving (with deep water and diving boards/platforms). At some meets, where the pool has a diving well, the area may be closed for diving and used by swimmers for warm-up and warm-down.

Division I, II and III
NCAA divisions. The largest schools are in Division I, and the smallest schools in Division III.

disabled swimming
See disability swimming.

distance
How far a swimmer swims.

distance event
Typically distance events are considered to be any races that are more than 400 meters or 500 yards.

distance per stroke
How far a swimmer travels with each stroke.

dive
Hands-first entry into a pool.

disability swimming
Competitive swimming for athletes with physical disabilities. There are highly-competitive national and international championships, including the Paralympic Games, which are held in conjunction with the Olympics every four years.