Culpeper Barnstormers

Welcome, Barnstormer Families!

When many of our families first joined the swim team, we had no idea what a swim meet entailed. Our first season was filled with many questions. Our goal with this guide is to help new parents feel comfortable and to provide parents with a crash course in swim team jargon.

It may seem like a lot of information in the beginning, but we promise after a few meets everything will begin to make sense. Feel free to use this guide as a reference manual of sorts as we go along throughout the season, and of course always feel free to ask questions! We are happy to help!

AGE GROUPS

All swim team athletes will compete in their own age group. A child’s age for summer swim is determined by the child’s age on June 1st of the current year. The age groups are as follows:

• 8 & Under
• 9-10
• 11-12

13-14

15-18

Swimmers (especially the young ones) must remain near the team table so that the parent volunteers can make sure they are lined up for their events on time. If a child cannot be easily located to line up, they risk missing their event.

MEET EVENTS

• Boys and girls generally swim in their events separately. The boys swim in the event for their age group first, followed by the girls of the same age group.
• The events for each stroke go from youngest to oldest. (For example, the 25 Meter Freestyle would begin with the 8 & under boys, followed by the 8 & under girls, then the 9-10 boys, followed by the 9-10 girls, etc.)
• The boys events are odd-numbered, and the girls events are even-numbered.
• When an event has both male and female swimmers in the same heat, this is called a “mixed” event. This is more common with relays.

EVENT ORDER 

This is the order of events at each swim meet. In our league, meets always begin with the Butterfly and end with the Relays.

• 1.)Butterfly (25 M, 50 M)
• 2.)Freestyle (25 M, 50 M, and 100 M)
• 3.)Backstroke (25M, 50 M, and 100 M)
• 4.)Breaststroke (25M, 50M)
• 5.)Individual Medley
• 6.)Relays

EVENT DESCRIPTIONS

BUTTERFLY:

The younger swimmers race for 25 Meters in the Butterfly, older swimmers race for 50 Meters.

• 25 Meter: Ages 8 & under and 9-10
• 50 Meter: Ages 11-12, 13-14, and 15-18

FREESTYLE: 

The younger swimmers race for 25 Meters in the Freestyle, the older swimmers can race in the 50 Meter event and/or the 100 Meter event.

• 25 Meter: Ages 8 & Under and 9-10
• 50 Meter: Ages 11-12, 13-14, and 15-18
• 100 Meter: Ages 11-12, 13-14 and 15-18

BREASTSTROKE: 

The younger swimmers race for 25 Meters in the Breaststroke, the older swimmers race in the 50 Meter event.

• 25 Meter: Ages 8 & Under, 9-10
• 50 Meter: Ages 11-12, 13-14, and 15-18

BACKSTROKE: 

The younger swimmers race for 25 Meters in the Backstroke, the older swimmers race in the 50 Meter event.

• 25 Meter: Ages 8 & Under and 9-10
• 50 Meter: Ages 11-12, 13-14, and 15-18

RELAYS & MEDLEY EVENTS: 

The relay is a race in which four athletes compete as a team, rather than as individuals, to complete the distance in the fastest combined time possible. Medley is a combination of four different swimming styles—backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle—into one race. This race is either swam by one swimmer as individual medley (IM) or by four swimmers as a medley relay.

MIXED 100 METER FREESTYLE RELAY:

• This is a 100 Meter relay. Each relay team consists of 4 swimmers, who each swim 25 meters freestyle. Relay teams are mixed gendered, so any combination of males and females can make up a relay team. Ages 8 & Under, and ages 10 & Under. (If an 8 year old has a fast enough time in freestyle they may join the 9-10 year old relay team.)

100 METER I.M. (aka 100 Meter Individual Medley)

• This is a 100 Meter event in which the child swims each of the four strokes in this order: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle. The swimmer starts with butterfly for 25 meters, then backstroke for the next 25 meters, followed by breastroke for 25 meters, and finally freestyle for the last 25 meters. The IM age groups are typically ages 12 & Under, 13-14, and 15-18. Males and females swim this separately.

200 METER MEDLEY RELAY

• This is a 200 Meter relay. Each relay team consists of 4 swimmers, who each swim 50 meters of a different stroke in this order: backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle. The first swimmer starts with backstroke for 50 meters, the next swimmer follows with breaststroke for 50 meters, then the third child swims butterfly for 50 meters and the last swimmer finishes with freestyle for 50 meters.
  • For the 12 & Under age group, this relay is mixed gendered, so a combination of 2 males and 2 females can make up a relay team.
  • For the 13-18 age group, this relay is separated by teams of males and females. The male relay teams in this age group swim first followed by the female relay teams.

COMMON SWIM MEET TERMINOLOGY

25M (25 Meters): This is one length of the pool, or one lap.

50M (50 Meters): This is two lengths of the pool, or two laps.

100M (100 Meters): This is four lengths of the pool, or four laps.

200M (200 Meters): This is eight lengths of the pool, or eight laps.

Backstroke (“Back” or “BA”): In the Backstroke, the swimmer must stay on their back except during the turns. Like freestyle, stroke disqualifications are rare, but disqualifications on the turns are more common. The backstroke start is made in the water with the swimmer facing the starting end of the pool, holding the platform or hand grips, with feet submerged and placed against the wall.

Breaststroke (“Breast” or “BR”): In the Breaststroke, the swimmer must stay on their breast (except during the turns) and execute simultaneous horizontal arm strokes alternating with simultaneous “frog” kicks of the legs. Swimmers may dive in from deck level or start in the water.

Butterfly (“Fly”): In the Butterfly, the swimmer must stay on their breast (except during the turns) and execute simultaneous overhead arm strokes combined with simultaneous “dolphin” kicks of the legs. Swimmers may dive in from deck level or start in the water.

Buzzer (Starting Buzzer): This may be all that is heard for the swimmer to start racing the event. He/she will hear the announcer state, “Swimmers, take your mark.” Then the swimmer will hear one of the starting signal, usually a buzzer. The swimmer should immediately begin racing.

Clerk Of Course: The clerk of course is a designated area where all swimmers must report before they can swim an event. This is where they are organized in advance of their races, in order to keep the meet running smoothly. It is the swimmer’s responsibility to ensure they report to Clerk of Course on time to be lined up for their event. For our young swimmers, parent volunteers help to make sure the swimmers know when to report.

DQ - Disqualification: A disqualification occurs if a swimmer doesn’t perform the stroke according to USA Swimming rules for their age group. Younger children are typically allowed more leeway than the older swimmers. Some examples that might result in a DQ are: if they perform an incorrect stroke (swim freestyle during a butterfly event), touch the bottom of the pool, pull on the lane line, or make another type of error in technique. Although this can be upsetting to a child, “DQs” are very common and should be regarded as part of the learning process.

Dual Meet: Two teams compete at one location

Event: The race in which a swimmer will participate

False Start: Diving or starting before the sound of the starter's signal

Finishing: There is a legal “finish” for each stroke. In breaststroke and butterfly, both hands should touch the wall together; in freestyle and backstroke you can make the touch with one hand.

Freestyle (“Free” or “FR”): In the Freestyle, the swimmer may swim any stroke desired, but will normally swim the “Australian Crawl”. Because it is “freestyle”, disqualifications are rare but may occur for such things as pushing off the bottom, using the lane line as a pull, or failing to touch the wall at the turn. Swimmers may dive in from deck level or start in the water.

Heat: In each event, there can be many swimmers competing. Depending on the size of the pool, only a limited number of swimmers can race at a time. If a pool has six lanes, then six swimmers will race in the event at a time, which is called one “heat.” An example: The 8 & Under male 25M Freestyle has 18 swimmers signed up. The pool only has 6 lanes. So the swimmers will be divided into 3 groups (heats), with six swimmers in each. Heats are grouped together based on the swimmer’s times in previous events, fastest swimmers being placed into the first heat. This keeps the heat groupings fair, fun, and challenging.

Heat Sheet: A listing of all swimmers by heat and lane assignments at a meet, seeding swimmers according to times submitted.

Individual Medley: This is when a swimmer swims four different strokes in one race. The order is butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and then freestyle. Special turns are used because swimmers need to change from one stroke to another.

Lane Number: This is the assigned lane in the pool that the swimmer will be racing in their heat. Typically, the fastest swimmers in each heat get assigned to the middle lanes.

Relays: In relays, the swimmer is one of a team of 4 people each swimming an equal distance. There are 2 types of relays; the freestyle and the medley.

Scratch : When a swimmer, scheduled for an event, is removed by the coach prior to participating. Usually a scratch occurs when a swimmer does not show up for the meet.

Seed: The placement within an event according to a swimmer’s best time in that event previously.

Seed Times: Time used to enter a swimmer in a meet. This determines a swimmer's heat and lane assignment. Most new swimmers will not have a Seed Time, and that’s okay! If no seed time is available, the acronym “NT” is used on the heat sheet which just means No Time.

Starter: Official responsible for the start of each heat and for calling swimmers to the blocks.

Stroke & Turn Judge: The official that determines the legality of a swimmer's stroke or his/her turns