|
STROKES
It makes a swim meet more interesting if you know what is going on. There are two basic categories of races: Relay and Individual. All recognized relays involve four swimmers on each team. The most common relays are medley and freestyle. In the medley, each of the 4 swimmers does an equal distance of their specific stroke. The medley order is: Backstroke — Breaststroke — Butterfly —Freestyle. in a Freestyle relay, each of the 4 swimmers swim an equal distance of the freestyle.
The individual races are broken into 5 categories: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and Individual Medley (IM). The IM consists of 4 equal distances of all the strokes in the following order: Butterfly — Backstroke —Breaststroke — Freestyle.
At each meet, you will see Stroke & Turn judges on each side of the pool. These judges are determining that the rules for each stroke are being followed. Their main objective is to determine that no swimmer gains an unfair advantage by violating the rules. If a swimmer violates the rules, they will be disqualified from that race. Stroke and Turn judges are looking primarily at the following:
Backstroke: The primary rule is that the swimmer must be on his back. The swimmer is allowed to roll onto the chest before turning.
Breaststroke: This is the most formalized of the strokes. On starts and turns, the swimmer may pull in any fashion that keeps the arms underwater at all times and is a simultaneous movement of both arms .The kick must sweep out, then end with a ‘frog kick” motion in a simultaneous movement of both legs. The swimmer is not allowed to flutter or dolphin kick (any up and down motions with the feet). When touching the walls for turns and finishes, both hands must touch at the same time.
Butterfly The butterfly is similar to the breaststroke in that all movements must be simultaneous. The swimmer must bring his arms over the top of the water when recovering from the last pull. The kick must be a simultaneous, up and down movement of both legs and both hands must touch the wall at the same time.
Freestyle: In most cases, there are 2 rules to follow
1. You must touch the wall with some part of your body when making a turn. When executing a flip turn, the feet must touch the wall in the push-off.
2. You may do anything you like to get yourself from one end of the pool to the other, Nothing is
barred, except pulling along lane lines, grabbing another swimmer or pushing off the bottom of the pool.
AQUATIC TERMINOLOGY
Block: The starting platform.
DQ (Disqualified): A swimmer who commits a stroke violation or fails to touch properly.
Event: Any race or a series of races, in a given stroke and distance.
False Start: Any swimmer who is not motionless when the starting gun is fired or who leaves the starting blocks before the gun is fired, is charged with a false start. Any swimmer charged with 2 false starts is disqualified from the particular event.
Heat: A division of an event in which there are too many swimmers to compete at one time.
I.M.: Slang for individual medley, an event in which the swimmer uses all four strokes in the following order: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle.
Lane: The specific area, marked by lane lines, in which a swimmer is assigned to swim.
Lane Lines: Continuous floating markers attached to a line stretched from the starting end of the pool to the turning end of the pool, for the purpose of separating each lane.
Leg (relay): The pad of a relay event that is swum by a single team member.
Meet: Competition designed to be a learning experience. By implementing what has been learned in practice, the swimmer tests him or her self against the clock to see how he is improving.
Relay: An event in which 4 swimmers compete together as a team to achieve one time.
Scratch: To withdraw from an event in a competition.
Split Time: The time taken at the intermediate distance.
Starting Block: The platform the swimmer stands on to begin a race.
Warning Flags: Located 15 feet from each end of the pool and strung across the pool above the water, indicating to backstroke swimmers that they are nearing the end of the pool.
|
