WELCOME TO THE DURANGO SWIM CLUB!
We encourage you to email or call the coaches if you have questions, there is a lot of information to go through. Please look through our page, read the TEAM INFO pages and the LINKS page to give you some general swimmer information.
We ask parents to stay off the deck in practice to allow the coaches to coach and the swimmers to swim.
We ask that swimmers come to practice on time and prepared with the equipment recommended for thier group.
Meets:
The Durango Swim Club hosts three swim meets each year, one in October, December, and May. Participation is not mandatory but we encourage all swimmers to attend. We also put on some in house practice meets during the season prior to swim meets to get first time participants comfortable with swim meet activities. Please be aware of when the Durango Meet are and when the two Western Slope Championships in March and July are. We need as many people to attend as possible.
What do I need to bring to a swim meet for me and my swimmer?
- Suit - team or other as approved by coach
- Extra goggles
- Extra cap
- 2 towels per day
- Warm clothing for between swims - It can get cold even in a warm pool area!
- Blanket or a large towel to sit on - Parents may want to bring a chair. Check in advance to see what spectator seating is available.
- Extra fluids & snacks - Check with Coach to see what they suggest.
- Fun things to do in between swims - Books, cards, and games help to keep kids occupied while they are waiting to swim. Keep in mind that this is a moist humid area.
- Highlighter/Sharpie
- Small amount of cash for heat sheets, snacks, or other items.
Swimmers Glossary of terms:
Age Groups – the USA Swimming program divides swimmers into gender and age categories in order to make races fair for each athlete. There are similar programs of age grouping all over the swimming world. In the United States the age groups (AG) are: 8 and under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, and 17-18. There is also an “Open” division (usual called “Senior” (SR)) where anybody can swim regardless of age as long as they meet the qualifying standard for that event or competition. In most AG/SR swim meets the 15-16 and 17-18 age groups are combined with 19 and older swimmers into a “15 and over” grouping.
Backstroke – one of the four competitive racing strokes.
Blocks - The starting platforms located behind each lane.
Breaststroke – one of the four competitive racing strokes.
Butterfly – one of the four competitive racing strokes.
Bulkhead – a barrier wall fitted near the middle a long course pool (or any pool longer than 25 yards) to convert one side into to a short course. Serves as a cat-walk for stroke & turn officials.
Clerk of Course – one or more administrators who typically work at a table or behind a counter on or near the pool deck checking in swimmers and ensuring all swimmers and relay teams are properly seeded into their lanes and heats. These officials work especially hard before deck-seeded events.
DQ (Disqualification) – if a swimmer commits an infraction of the rules that is observed by an official, a disqualification will result.
Deck Marshall – responsible for maintaining a safe environment during warm-ups before a swim meet. Marshals are stationed at all for corners of the pool and each must be registered as a non-swimming athlete under USA Swimming.
Four-hour rule – A USA Swimming regulation for swim meets which reads: "With the exception of championship meets the program in all other age group competition shall be planned to allow the events for swimmers 12 years and younger to be completed in four (4) hours or less for a timed finals session or in a total of eight (8) hours or less per day for a preliminaries and finals meet.” The rule was put in place so not to discourage new (typically young) swimmers and families who are turned off by long meets.
Freestyle – one of the 4 competitive racing strokes.
Head Timer – the official in charge of all the lane timers. The head timer signals the meet referee when the lane timers are ready for the event. The head timer starts up two or more backup watches that may be requested by the lane timers whose own watches fail or when they miss a start.
Heat – a division of an event when there are too many swimmers to compete at the same time. An event is completed when all the heats comprising it have been swum.
Heat Sheets – the pre-meet printed listings of swimmers’ heat and lane assignments and seed times in the various events at a swim meet. These sheets vary in accuracy, since the coaches submit swimmers times many weeks before the meet. Heat sheets are sold at the admissions table and are used mainly to make sure the swimmer has been properly entered in all the events they signed up for. Parents enjoy looking at the seedings prior to the race plus swimmers can tell the order the events will be conducted and get a rough idea how long the meet sessions will last.
Individual Medley (IM) – a swimming event using all four of the competitive strokes.
Lane – the specific area in which a swimmer is assigned to swim. In pools with starting blocks at only one end, the numbering normally goes from right (lane 1) to left (lane 6) from the point of view of a swimmers standing behind the blocks.
Lane Timer – “Lane timers” are parent volunteers who provide (usually) backup timing for each race during a swim meet. Armed with a stop watch, timers are positioned at the end of each lane where a swimmer finishes the race, usually two, sometimes three per lane. Timers start their watches on the strobe light (not the horn) fired from the starting unit positioned on one side of the pool next to the meet referee and starter. They stop the watches when the swimmer in their lane touches the wall after swimming their final length of the race. In addition to the watches, one or both timers might also be required to operate button timers. In this case, timers press the button (in one hand) and stop the watch (in the other) simultaneously at the end of each race. Watch times are recorded on “lane timer sheets” which are collected by runners after each event. Parents typically volunteer for 1 or 2-hour slots by signing their name to a “lane timer signup sheet” often posted against the wall near the lane.
Long Course Pool – an Olympic Size swimming pool that is 50 meters from end to end.
Colorado Swimming, Inc (CSI) – CSI is a Local Swimming Committee that charters teams and registers swimmers for USA Swimming in Colorado.
Qualifying Time - Official times necessary to enter certain meets, or the times necessary to achieve a specific category of swimmer.
SCY and SCM (Swim Courses) – abbreviation for a short course pool which is 25 yards (“short course yards”) or 25-meters long (“short course meters”).
Seeding – the process of assigning heats and lanes to all swimmers entered in a swim event based on each swimmer’s personal best time (“seed time”) in that event. Deck Seeding - swimmers are called to report to the Clerk of the Course. After scratches are determined, the event is seeded. Pre Seeding - swimmers are arranged in heats according to submitted times, usually a day prior to the meet.
Stroke & Turn (Rules, Judges) – USA Swimming defines the rules for legal swim stroke technique, starts, turns and finishes that swimmers must obey during an event at a sanctioned meet. Certified “Judges” enforce these “Stroke & Turn” rules during each heat of each event in the meet. When the judges see something illegal, they report to the referee (by completing a DQ slip) and the swimmer may be disqualified. Judges may perform the duties of a “Stroke”, “Turn” or “Relay Takeoff” Judge separately, alternately or all at the same time during a swim meet.
Time Standard – A time set for a meet or by an LSC or Section or Zone or USA Swimming that a swimmer must achieve in a specific event for qualification or recognition. These times, for all events (stroke & distances) by swim course, gender and age (for age-group competitions) when bundled together in one or more tables are also called a “Time Standard”.
USA Swimming, Inc – the national governing body of the competitive swimming in the United States; often abbreviated USA-S or U.S.S.
Warm-up - The practice session a swimmer does before the meet or before their event is swam.
