Swimming terminology

does anybody know where I can find a comprehensive glossary or "encyclopaedia" of terms related to
swimming? I'm having a heck of a time following some of the jargon that I read on this group and
elsewhere.

Examples from posts:

"resource for the official format of the Quatas Skins meet, or a knock-out based meet like it?" -
what are "skins"; what's a "knock-out based meet"?

"a relatively short, high turnover stroke" - huh?

"included under FINA rules"

"I am a mid-packer / Clydesdale athlete" - I think I can figure this one out ;-)

"a WSI in my young days"

"maintaining impeccable FQS timing"

"effective catch or mid foot landing"

"trying to hold certain HR's, Paces etc."

...you get the idea...

"chwk2004" <chwk2004@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:SQlEb.743417$pl3.56832@pd7tw3no...
> does anybody know where I can find a comprehensive glossary or "encyclopaedia" of terms related to
> swimming? I'm having a heck of a time following some of the jargon that I read on this group and
> elsewhere.

like most sports or passtimes, swimming has developed its own language specific to buzzwords,
abbreviations and slang...i'll have a crack at explaining some of these for you.

> Examples from posts:
>
> "resource for the official format of the Quatas Skins meet, or a knock-out based meet like it?" -
> what are "skins"; what's a "knock-out based meet"?

instead of the conventional preliminary/heat and final meet (two swims, perhaps even three with
semi final format), swimmers keep swimming an event over a short time frame (every couple of
minutes) the slowest swimmers in that race are out...start with 8, then to 6, then to 4 then the
final 2 for example.

> "a relatively short, high turnover stroke" - huh?

the swimmer is not extending the stroke very much (starts the catch and pull almost immediately
after entry, and moves the arms at a fast tempo.

>
> "included under FINA rules"

FINA is the international governing body for swimming - equivalents are FIFA in football, IOC for
the olympics etc

> "a WSI in my young days"

WSI is an American Red Cross qualification that stands for Water Safety Instructor.

>
> "maintaining impeccable FQS timing"

FQS stands for Front Quadrant Swimming. usually meaning the recovering hand (over the water hand) is
passing the shoulder/head while the extended hand (about to pull) has yet to initiate the
catch/pull.

>
> "effective catch or mid foot landing"

effective catch, just meaning you manage to glean a good purchase hold on the water with the pulling
hand as it starts the propulsive phase.

>
> "trying to hold certain HR's, Paces etc."

a method of training to guage intensity, and give targets for the swimmers to hold/acheive.
obviosuly, pace relates to a certain speed in a given distance. somes 100 pace is faster than their
200 pace is faster than their 500 pace for example. target heart rates are physiological index to
guage effort or stress.

usually its just a case of asking or waiting till some other reply answers the question for you i
guess. its like any other clique...as for an encyclopedia of swimming terminology, i think that
might be a pretty neat idea if written satirically...

"Warm Up: a period of the workout where the coach discusses what he is doing for dinner that
evening, gossips about various parents, writes his shopping list and in the last minute tries to
figure out what he's going to do in the main body of the workout"

steve

In <SQlEb.743417$pl3.56832@pd7tw3no> chwk2004 wrote:
> does anybody know where I can find a comprehensive glossary or "encyclopaedia" of terms related to
> swimming? I'm having a heck of a time following some of the jargon that I read on this group and
> elsewhere.

Perhaps I can help with a few of these?

> "resource for the official format of the Quatas Skins meet, or a knock- out based meet like it?" -
> what are "skins"; what's a "knock-out based meet"?

No idea.

>
> "a relatively short, high turnover stroke" - huh?

This describes a swimmer who strokes unusually rapidly, but does not pull for the entire length of
his arm reach. Either his hand is entering the water close to his head rather than well ahead of his
head, or his hand is exiting the water before it reaches his hip, or both.

In the equation Velocity = (Stroke Rate) x (Stroke Length), this swimmer uses a short stroke length
but a rapid stroke rate. I'd get tired that way, but some people do quite well.

>
> "included under FINA rules"

FINA = the world governing body for competitive swimming. It sanctions all international meets.

>
> "a WSI in my young days"

Someone who has completed the Red Cross Water Safety Instructor course. A certified lifeguard.

>
> "maintaining impeccable FQS timing"

Front Quadrant Swimming. A term popularized by Terry Laughlin to describe swimming the front crawl
so that the recovering hand re-enters the water before the stroking hand gets past the swimmers
shoulder. It sounds weird but many top swimmers use it.

The four quadrants he's referring to are: 1) in the water, ahead of the shoulders, 2) in the water
below the shoulders, 3&4) out of the water. In FQS timing, at least one arm is always in quadrant 1.

The opposite would be "kayak" timing, in which the recovering hand re- enters the water when the
stroking hand is approaching the hips and exiting.

>
> "effective catch or mid foot landing"

Front crawl swimmers usually do not apply force immediately when their hand enters the water.
Instead, the hand and forearm are allowed to descend slightly while the elbow sweeps outward. Force
is not applied until the hand and forearm are at an advantageous position. The angle with the water
is usually not 90 degrees, but it's more than zero degrees. This is called "descending to a catch."

I don't know about the foot landing.

> "trying to hold certain HR's, Paces etc."

Various schemes to plan your training.

"Hold certain HR" = maintain a constant heart rate. Difficult unless you stop occasionally to check
your pulse.

"Hold pace" = maintain a constant speed. Much easier, since most pools have a nice large
clock nearby.

Ross

> does anybody know where I can find a comprehensive glossary or "encyclopaedia" of terms related to
> swimming?

Not comprehensive by any means, but the following dictionaries and glossaries are accessible online:

Glossary of Common Swimming Terms: http://www.hamiltonaquatics.com/glossary.htm Swimming glossary:
http://www.edhs.org/ik_swlgl.html Competitive Swimming Glossary:
http://www.myst.us/swimming/glossary.shtml Swimming Term Glossary:
http://www.whsd.k12.pa.us/What/Coach...r/glossary.htm Glossary of competitive swimming terms:
http://www.grrays.org/handbook_info/GLOSSARY.htm Brush up on your pool talk with this handy swimming
glossary: http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=6430 The pullbuoy swimming dictionary: http://www.pullbuoy.co.uk/cgi-
bin/glossary.pl?show=all Glossary of swimming terms:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~tcswim/Glossa...ng%20Terms.pdf Glossary of swimming terms:
http://www.swim.net/scaq/new_members....cfm?team=SCAQ Glossary of Swimming Terms:
http://www.mvm.org/practices/glossary.html Glossary of Swimming Terms:
http://www.cgbdswimming.org/Parents%.../Glossary.html Glossary of swim terms:
http://www.swimmingclub.co.uk/Glossary.htm Glossary of swimming terms: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
srv/sports/olympics/longterm/swimming/swimglss.htm Glossary of training terms:
http://www.castswim.org/glossary%20o...NG%20TERMS.htm Swim
glossary: http://www.lancasteraquaticclub.com/glossary.html Swim Dictionary:
http://www.alexandriamasters.com/terms.htm

You will find many other lists and definitions of swimming vocabulary by doing as I did, by
conducting a web search.