SWIM-ISH     the language of swimming 

• Aerobic - Longer distance, moderate intensity, short rest period swimming sets that focus on building endurance

• Age Group Swimmer - all USA Swimming registered swimmers, 14 years of age and under, who compete in Age Categories (8&u, 9-10,  11-12, 13-14, 15&o)

• Anaerobic - Shorter distance, high intensity, long rest period swimming sets that focus on building power

• Ascending - Getting slower (i.e. the time taken increases)

• Descending - Getting faster (i.e. the time taken reduces)

• Dive Start - Diving entry from the blocks in the deep end (usually either a grab start or a track start)

• Dolphin Kick - Simultaneous leg kick used in Butterfly

• DPS - Distance Per Stroke, often measured by counting # of strokes taken per length

• Drill or DR - A controlled form of stroke designed to draw attention to a particular aspect of that stroke: Catch-Up , Drag, Salute, Elbows High, Zip-up, Doggy Paddle, Duck, and many more

• Flip Turn or FT - The flip (somersault style) turn used for Frontcrawl and Backcrawl

• Freestyle or Free or FR - Freestyle or Free (normally Frontcrawl, but any stroke will do as long as you can maintain speed)

• Send off or S/O- Time in which you have to complete a swim or set of repeat distance/times inclusive of rest time

• Grab Start - A type of Dive Start.  Can also refer to starting from in the pool holding onto the side

• Intensity - Run on a scale from 10 – 20 with 10 being easy and 20 being as hard as it gets 

• Kick - Legs only (no pulling)

• Kickboard or KB -  A flat floating board used for doing kick 

• Lactate - Lactic acid is produced in the muscles during anaerobic sets.  Swim down & stretching help disperse lactate.

• Long Course or LC - 50m pool 

• m (e.g.25m)  Meters – Training pools in the United States are generally 25 yards or 50 meters.  

• Masters - Name used for our category of adult swimming 

• Medley - All four strokes swum in a specified order  

• Medley Relay Order  - Back, Breast, Fly, Free

• Meet - a Swim Competition

• Negative Split - Go faster for the second half of the set distance than the first half

• Open Turn - The two handed touch turn completed for Breaststroke and Butterfly

• Personal best or PB - this is your best time to date for a particular stroke and distance, remember that long course (50m) times will be slower than short course (25m) so you will have pb's for each

• Percentages - Usually refers to the effort or pace being completed for that swim set. i.e. 80% is pretty hard but not maximum effort or sprint.

• Pull - Arms only (no kicking)

• Pull Buoy or PB - The figure of eight style float that goes between your legs for pull 

• Recovery or RI- the portion of a stroke cycle when the arm moves forward for the next stroke.  Can also be a recovery swim when you slow down to bring heart rate down after a high intensity set

• Rest Interval - How much rest (usually in seconds) you get after a set swim e.g. 8 x 50m FR RI 20s (20 seconds rest after each 100 yard Freestyle) - sometimes also called simply Interval

• Senior Swimmer – all USA Swimming registered swimmers age 14 and over

• Set - A self-contained part of the swimming session as ‘set’ by the coach e.g. a ‘main set’ might be 10 x 100m free

• Short Course  or SC - 25m pool (term used for describing competitions)

• Sprint or All Out or AO - as fast as you can go, breathing as little as you can.

• Steady - Swimming at a pace which is easily maintained (not easy or too hard, aiming for consistency of pace)

• Streamline or SL - Underwater body position after diving or pushing off the wall which maximises swim speed and efficiency

• Stroke Count or SC- Number of strokes per 25y or length. 

• Stroke Rate or SR- Number of strokes per minute (measured by stopwatch or calculation)

• Track Start - A type of Dive Start 

• U/W - Underwater (usually refers to kicking, using Dolphin kick)

• Warm Down - Swimming slowly and steadily at the end of the session

SWIM MEET LINGO

• Check-In (or Positive Check-In) - The procedure required before a swimmer swims an event in a deck-seeded meet. Sometimes referred to as positive check in, the swimmer must mark their name on a list posted by the meet host. 

• Circle Seeding - A method of seeding swimmers when they are participating in a prelims/finals event. The fastest 18 to 24 swimmers are seeded in the last three heats, with the fastest swimmers being in the inside lanes.

• Clerk of Course - an area at the meet where swimmers report before their event to be arranged into their heat and lane assignments. The clerk of course is generally located near the starting area.

• Deck Seeding - a procedure of assigning swimmers to proper lanes and heats immediately before each event at the Clerk of Course on the deck. (See also: Psych Sheet).

• IM  or Individual Medley – A race done by an individual swimmer consisting of one leg of each of the competitive strokes - butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and any other stroke (generally freestyle), in that order.

• Finals (Championship or Consolation) - the session of a meet where the meet winner is determined. It is generally swum in the evening. Finalists are determined by the fastest swimmers in the preliminary rounds (generally swum earlier in the day).

• Heat Sheet - a listing of all swimmers by event number, heat, and lane assignments in the meet. These are available for purchase at the meet. Funds go toward offsetting the costs of running a meet.

• Long Course or LC  - a type of competitive pool, which measures 50 meters in length. The standard size for all international competition and all world record swimming is the 50-meter course. Typically meets conducted from the end of April through August are swum Long Course.

• Pacific Northwest Swimming (PN) - the name of the Local Swimming Committee (LSC), charged by USA Swimming to govern competitive swimming in Western Washington. 

• Prelims (Preliminaries) - in certain meets, the qualifying rounds held for each event to determine the finalists.

• Proof of Time - a requirement at some meets to make certain that all swimmers have legally met the time standards for that meet.

• Psych Sheet- a ranking by seeding times for all the swimmers entered in each race of a meet, sometimes used at meets in place of a heat sheet.

• Referee - the USA Swimming official who has the authority over all other officials at the meet. He makes all final decisions and sees to the efficient running of the meet.

• Seeding - the process of arranging swimmers into events, heats and lanes for a meet.

• Seed Time - the time a swimmer uses to enter a meet. This time, which is written on the entry card, determines one's heat and lane in the particular event.

• Senior Swim Meet - all USA Swimming registered swimmers who have met the qualifying time standard for a specific event(s) are eligible to compete.

• Short Course or SC - a type of competitive pool, which measures 25 yards or 25 meters in length. Typically meets conducted from October through the end of March are swum Short Course. 

• Split - a time per lap that coaches often record for teaching the concept of pacing. For instance, a swimmer's time for each 25-yard leg of a 100-yard event is his split.

• Starter - the USA Swimming official at a meet responsible for starting each heat and calling the next to the blocks.

• Stroke and Turn Judge - a certified USA Swimming official, who determines the legality of swimmers' strokes and disqualifies those who do not conform to USA SWIMMING rules.

• Time Standards - (aka 'time cut') certain qualifying times which have been set up annually by USA Swimming for all events in all levels of meets to insure that all competitors are of reasonably the same ability in their respective meets. The swimmer's goals should be betterment of his time progressing from the "B" standard to the Nationals.

• "Top 16" - a tabulation of the Top 16 times in every age group and every event of all USA Swimming competition from the previous season. The short course "Top 16" are published in August and the long course "Top 16" are published every December.

• Touch Pad - the part of an electronic timing system that rests in the water at the finishing end of each lane. Swimmer's times are electronically recorded when the pad is touched.

• Unattached  or 'UN' - the status a swimmer receives when changing from one USA Swimming club to another. A swimmer must be "unattached" for 120 days from their last competition with their previous USA Swimming club. During this time they may compete individually, but not in relays, without representing any club.

• USA Swimming - the governing body for all amateur swimming in the United States. National Headquarters are in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

• USA Swimming# (ID) - the personal registration number of each athlete member in USA Swimming.