Swimming can be confusing to a first year athlete. Several different terms are used to describe not only the sport, but the pool, and various events at a swim meet. The following is a list of definitions to help you out.

Anchor: The last swimmer in a relay.

Course: 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.

Coping: The deck tile, usually about one foot wide, at the edge of the pool. Watch out! It can usually be very slippery.

Divisionals: The championship meet of the summer league season.

DQ: Disqualification from the event. A swimmer can be disqualified for various reasons.

Dual Meet: Any competition between two clubs.

Event: Any race or series of races in a given stroke and distance for a specific age group and sex. Example: Girls 8 & Under 25 meter breaststroke.

Lane: The specific area in which the swimmer is assigned to swim.

Lane Rope: The easily breakable, floating markers attached to a line that stretch from the starting end to the turning end to separate each lane.

Leg: The part of a relay event swum by one individual swimmer.

Meet: The swimming equivalent to a "game." Summer league meets are usually held on Saturday mornings.

Scratch: To withdraw from an event.

Seed: To distribute the swimmers among the heats & lanes according to their times. In most cases, the fastest swimmers are in the final heat of an event.

Stroke & Turn Judge: A trained swim official that judges the swimmers’ legality for the event being swum. If a stroke & turn judge finds that the swimmer's stroke is not legal, he/she disqualifies the swimmer.

Tri-Meet: Any competition between three clubs.



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