Whitby Swimming Terminology
The pools, meet words, training terms and equipment you will hear on deck.
Our Pools
- AOP (Iroquois): Anne Ottenbrite Pool at Iroquois Park Sport Centre, 500 Victoria Street W, Whitby, ON
- TPASC: Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, 875 Morningside Ave, Toronto, ON
- Markham Pan Am: Markham Pan Am Centre, 16 Main Street, Unionville (Markham), ON
- TP: Training Pool at TPASC
- CP: Competition Pool at TPASC
- Deck: the area around the pool
- Lane Rope: the dividers between lanes that reduce waves
Starts and Turns
- Block: the platform swimmers dive from at the start of a race
- Backstroke Ledges: a starting aid used in backstroke events to help swimmers get a stronger and more stable start
- Track Start: the diving entry into the water at the beginning of most races (except backstroke)
- Flip Turn: a somersault turn used in freestyle and backstroke to reverse direction
- Streamline: the tight, straight body position used after a dive or push-off to reduce drag
Meets and Training
- Long-course: 50-metre pool
- Short-course: 25-metre pool
- Scratch/Decline: to not participate in a meet or in a single day/session of a meet
- Heat sheets: the program/schedule of events at a meet which tells swimmers when they swim and in which lane, and also includes their personal best time for that race
- Heat: a group of swimmers swimming a race at the same time (often multiple heats for each swimming event)
- NT: no time, a swimmer’s entry time is listed as “NT” when they don’t have an official time recorded for that event.
- DQ: disqualification, when a swimmer breaks a rule (e.g., wrong stroke, missed touch)
- Prelims: preliminaries, the first round of races in a championship-style meet
- Finals: the championship round of a swimming event, following prelims
- Official: a judge on the pool deck during competition
- Touchpad: a pressure-sensitive plate located at each end of the pool in competition lanes
- False Start: leaving the block before the start signal
- Anchor: the last swimmer in a relay
- PB: personal best, a swimmers fastest time ever
- Heat Winner: fastest swimmer in a particular heat (not necessarily overall)
Training
- Taper: a period before a big meet when training volume decreases so swimmers are rested
- S&C: strength and conditioning
- Drill: a focused exercise to improve stroke technique
- Set: a group of repetitions in practice
- Pace: the speed you aim to hold throughout a race
- Interval: the time allotted to complete a repetition and rest before the next one
Equipment
- Paddles: flat plates that swimmers wear on their hands, used to increase resistance in the water during practice drills
- Fins: flippers worn on the feet, used to move faster through the water, reinforcing proper kick technique
- Snorkel: centre-mounted breathing tube allowing swimmers to breathe without turning their head
- Kick-board: a buoyant foam board held in front of the body during kicking drills
- Mesh Bag: a breathable, mesh fabric bag used to carry and store swim gear
- Pull-Buoy: a foam flotation device placed between the legs to isolates the upper body so swimmers can focus on their pulling technique and arm strength