Are you new to the Columbia Neighborhood Swim League? If so, here is some information that you may find helpful. Please feel free to contact the team managers with any questions.

Meet - Two or more swim teams compete against each other with individual swimmers and relay teams winning place ribbons; team scores are kept.

Time Trials - All swimmers from one team swim every event for their age group so that initial times can be recorded to aide coaches with their line-ups for further meets and to provide the basis for Best Time ribbons.

Age Groups - A swimmer’s age for the entire summer of dual meets and the All-City Championship Meet is determined by their age as of June 1.  Some special meets have other cut-offs.  The CNSL age groups are: 6 and Under, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, and 15 - 18.  A swimmer who “ages up” on June 2 would swim in the younger age group, while a swimmer whose birthday is June 1, would swim in the older age group.

Stroke (Free, Back, Breast, Fly)- The five recognized swimming strokes are freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and individual medley (where swimmer swims 1 length of each stroke in the order of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle).  A swimmer can swim two strokes per meet.

Relays (Free and Medley) - Relay races begin and end each swim meet.  Medley relays are the first four events, featuring four swimmers (two male and two female) in the 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, and 15-18 age groups, each swimming a different stroke beginning with back, breast, fly, and free.  Free relays are the last nine events of every meet featuring four freestyle swimmers.  There are two males and two female (mixed) for ages 6 & under, 13-14, and 15-18; and four swimmers of the same gender for ages 7-8, 9-10, and 11-12.

Event - This is defined by the age group, gender, and swimming stroke, for example: Boys’ 9-10 Backstroke.  There are 65 total events in a meet (including 13 relays).

Heat  - When an event has more swimmers entered than lanes, as is usually in the case, there are multiple heats of the event.  The fastest swimmers are assigned to the first heat.  Winners of the second, third and so forth heats will receive “Heat Winner” ribbon.

Lane - The pool is arranged into lanes by floating lane dividers so that the swimmers will not interfere with each other during a race.  Some pools have eight lanes, while other pools only have six lanes.  At dual meets, the host team swimmers use the odd-numbered lanes while the visitors use the even-numbered lanes.

Line-up -  This is the official schedule of swimmers in their assigned events, heats and lanes drawn up by coaches.  It is usually posted at the meet so that swimmers can see where they swim.

Clerk of Course - This is one of the most people at the meet.  Each team has their own Clerk of Course.  All swimmers must check in with the Clerk as soon as they arrive at the meet.  The Clerk distributes the event cards to swimmers so that times can be recorded.

Heat Winner - This is the person who comes in first place in a particular heat of an event.  This does not mean that the swimmer automatically won the event, since there are usually multiple heats for any event.  A ribbon is given to heat winners in all but the first heat of each event.

Event Place Winner - This is the person who comes in first place in the entire event comprised of all the heats of that particular event.

Best Time - Best time ribbons are awarded to swimmers each time they swim faster than their previous best time in an event.  These are the most important ribbons at a meet, because it shows that a swimmer has improved over their own time.

Starter - This is the person who starts each race with a gunshot.  The starter will announce the event, heat, stroke and distance.  Then he/she will say, “Swimmers take your mark” and then fire the gun.  Swimmers cannot move after they have taken their mark until the gun is fired.

Stroke and Turn Judge - These people are specially trained to determined whether a swimmer is swimming a particular stroke correctly, initiate a proper turn, and finish correctly.  When a swimmer makes a mistake, these people try to tell the swimmer what needs to be worked on to correct the problem.  Coaches should be consulted for clarifications.

Legal/Disqualification (DQ) - These are the terms that describe whether a stroke is being performed correctly (legally) as defined by the United States Swimming rules and the CNSL Rules and Regulations.  If a swimmer is judged by a Stoke and Turn judge to be swimming incorrectly, that swimmer is disqualified (DQ) for that event in the meet.  The swimmer should ask their coach for instructions to correct the problem before swimming the same event in another meet.  DQ does not mean that a swimmer cannot swim in further events or meets.  It is a learning tool in that swimmers can be assured that they are performing all the mechanics correctly.

False Starts - A swimmer is allowed one false start (moving or leaving the edge of the pool before the gun goes off).  After the second false start the swimmer is disqualified for that event.  When a false start occurs, the starter will repeatedly fire the gun to stop the swimmers and begin again. 

Turns - A swimmer who is swimming more than one lap in an event must perform a legal turn.  Each stroke has its own turn requirements, which are taught in practice.  Turns are needed in the individual medleys, and 50 yard distances for the older swimmers.

Starts - This is the entry into the water (generally a dive) or the beginning of the backstroke (push off back dive) at the sound of the gun.

Finishes - This is the way a swimmer ends the race by touching the wall in a legal way depending upon the stroke. 

Warm-ups - Each meet begins by having a  warm-up period. The home team warms up first, followed by the visitors.  This is very important so that swimmers do not pull muscles and also allows swimmers to get familiar with the pool.

Flags - Backstroke flags are placed at both ends of the pool 15 feet from the end to serve as a warning to backstroke swimmers that they are nearing the wall for a turn or finish.  Timers may “catch the heads” of younger swimmers who would otherwise hit the wall.

Lane Markings - The black lines on the bottom of the pool help the swimmers to know where the center of the lane is.  They end with a ‘T’ one yard from the wall to notify the swimmer how far it is before they turn or finish.

Timers - Timers (2 for each lane) are always at the shallow end of the pool.  Events of 50, 100 or 200 yards always begin and end at the shallow end with the timers.  The 25 yard events begin at the deeper end and end at the shallow end.  The timers times are averaged  so that swimmers can be placed.

Distances - Swimmers 10 years old and younger swim one lap (25 yards) in any stroke, except for 9-10 individual medley which is 25 yards of each stroke or 100 yards total.  Swimmers 11 years old and up swim two laps (50 yards) in any stroke, except for the individual medley (100 yards) and 11-12 year olds still swim a 25 yard butterfly.  A few pools may be 25 meter pools, rather than 25 yard pools.  Since the swimmers have a swim a little bit farther, their times have to be converted to yard times (multiply by .9) by the scorers.

Cards - These are given out by the Clerk of Course prior to each event so that a swimmer know their heat and lane assignment and for the timers to record the times.  A sign at the Clerk table alerts swimmers when it is time to pick cards for a particular stroke.  No cards are given out early (to prevent lost cards) or to anyone other than the swimmer.  Only officials on deck, the Clerk of Course or coaches are permitted to make any changes to the cards.

Seeding - This refers to the heat and lane assignment of the swimmer  Swimmers are arranged (seeded) by the best times, with the fastest swimmers in heat one and so forth.  Further, the fastest swimmers are seeded in the middle of the pool outwards.  This is why it is important not to make changes as it affects other swimmers.

Alternates for Relays - Coaches may enter as many relay teams as they can in one heat to give more swimmers a chance to swim.  The fastest swimmers are put on the ‘A’ relay team, the next fastest on the ‘B’ relay team, etc.  If it’s an 8-lane pool, we can have four relays.  Swimmers not assigned to a relay may be designated as an alternate.  If any relay member is not present, then the alternate takes a spot on the last relay and the fastest person then moves up to the next fastest spot.  It is important for alternates to not leave the meet as they may be needed at the last minute.

All City Championship Division Cut Times - These are published times that a swimmer must achieve in the various strokes in order to qualify in the separate divisions for the All City Championship Meet at the end of the season.  The individual events will have either 2 or 3 divisions depending on the stroke and age of the swimmer.

Scoring - The meet is scored according to the CNSL rules.  Individual events:  5 points for first, 3 points for second, 2 points for third, and 1 point for fourth.  If a team receives more than 2 places only the highest 2 places can be scored for that team.  Relays:  5 points for first and 2 points for second.  Relays from the same team that finish first and second only score 4 points for their team and the other team receives zero.

Ribbons - The CNSL provides ribbons for 1st - 6th places for all swimmers.  Eight and under swimmers will receive a 6th place ribbon for all swimmers finishing 6th place or lower.  Every swimmer who swims a personal best time in a n event will also receive a BEST TIME ribbon. This is what the CNSL is all about - improving your own swim times.  Ribbons will be distributed after the meet as announced by the coaches.