BECKENHAM SWIMMING CLUB

Affiliated to the A.S.A, A.S.A London Region and K.C.A.S.A

Founded 1893

Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ

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Beckenham Swimming Club

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have additional questions please do send these in by email and where appropriate we will post the answers here for all.

Q. Do I have to be a good swimmer to join the club?

This depends on what age you are. We are a competitive swimming club and as you move up the squads more is expected of you. Swimmers in Tadpoles 4 - 6 years need to be confident in the water and swim a width on their front and back. Swimmers in other squads have different requirements (See Squad aims). Unfortunately as we cannot get the pool time, we cannot teach non-swimmers and we can at times be full!

Q. When do swimmers move between squads?

This usually occurs up to three times a year and depends on several things: Age, Maturity, Success in Competition, attitude, attendance, commitment training and at competition.

Q. Can I pay monthly?

You need to pay membership and ASA fees in one lump sum and the squad fee can be paid by monthly standing order.

Any queries can be directed to the Beckenham SC Treasurer.

Q. What equipment will I need?

To get the most out of swimming, swimmers in our Tadpoles and Development groups need:

• Swimming costume
• Swimming hat
• Goggles
• Towel

Swimmers in all other groups will need (in addition to the above):

• Short blade training fins (short flippers) - Gold Squad upwards.
• Kick board
• Pull buoy - Bronze Squad upwards.
• Hand paddles - Top Squad upwards.
• Drinks bottle

Please note club costumes, club hats and club 'T-bags' must be worn at all events in which the club takes part. Tracksuits are optional. It helps to wear club colours at galas as spectators can see which lane you're in more easily. Swimming hats are compulsory for girls and for boys with long hair.

Q. What swimming kit do you recommend for competition?

Once your children become club swimmers and are in the water more than twice a week you need to think about what they are wearing in the water.

Training
They will probably have worn a LYCRA suit for swimming lessons which will have lasted perhaps 9 to 12 months.  LYCRA is very comfortable to wear, nice and stretchy and, for the girls, usually has very pretty patterns printed on it - the trouble is it degrades in chlorine so the more they swim the quicker the fabric will become see through.

For swimming training they need a good chlorine resistant suit or trunks, either Speedo ENDURANCE or Maru PACER. This material will not degrade at all in chlorine, your children will probably grow out of it before it becomes worn. Leaving a chlorine resistant suit or trunks in the bottom of a swimming bag soaking wet for days on end will not harm the fabric, and you'll probably find this happens occassionally!

But do take note - chlorine resistant fabric doesn't stretch so it can't be worn tight, it must be comfortable. Go up a size from the existing suit/trunks and ensure the child is comfortable in it, particularly the girls, making sure they can put their arms up vertically and not feel the straps cutting their shoulders.

Competition
So they come to their first competition - this is when they will need something LYCRA to wear as it is faster in the water. They don't need to go into the top of the range racing suits that cost a hundred pounds and upwards, all they need is something tight fitting to keep the water out and make them feel they can go faster - for the boys, a £12 pair of lycra jammers, for the girls a £16 or £17 lycra suit. If these are kept solely for competitions they should last a year.  Lycra stretches so if they go down a size it will still be tight after it has stretched. If they start with a basic suit, as they progress through to obtaining County times, Regional times and National times they can have better, faster suits that will give them that extra confidence boost.

Goggles

We have always found a pair of Speedo Futura Junior with split headstrap are the best goggles to start with as they have good suction and will hopefully stay in place as they learn to dive competitively. As they progress and will probably want mirror goggles (like the top swimmers in the club!) Maru Pulse mirror and Speedo Opals are the best to go on to as they are still quite large and sit comfortably on the bone around the eye rather than in the eye socket (and they look good!). Proper racing goggles are much smaller and many young swimmers will find them very uncomfortable until they have been wearing goggles for 3 or 4 years.

For the rest of the equipment advice should be sought from the club coach as to which kickboard/pull buoy/hand paddles/fins etc. are generally used by the club. Once they start collecting the necessary equipment a mesh sack to keep it all in is a good investment - this will stop the equipment going mouldy as it allows it to dry after each session.

More good advice on swimming kit can be found on the swim stop website.

Q. Can I buy equipment through the club?

Yes, you can buy a variety of swim wear and accessories such as club costumes, hats, tracksuits, sweatshirts, club kit bags and so on through the club shop, which is normally open on Monday evening 6 - 8 pm at Beckenham Spa.

The club also has affiliations with swim shop and mail sports, which means that when click on the links from this website and purchase swimming kit at normal or discount prices you will create funds for Beckenham Swimming Club.

Q. What are the club colours?

Club colours are navy and sky blue.

Q. What are BAGCATS?

The BAGCATs stand for the British Age Group CATegories, which introduce a points system to measure and compare swimmers' performance. The latest thinking is that swimmers at an early stage of their development should compete to win an overall category award rather than specialising in a particular event. The BAGCATs therefore define four different categories, sprint, form, distance and medley. The BAG Points are calculated from a set of age-related tables for each of the above categories as follows:

• Sprint - best 50m-sprint performance (i.e. 50m back, breast, butterfly and freestyle)
• Form - best form stroke performance (i.e. form strokes are those with a defined form according to ASA Law) thus best performance at 200m back, breast or butterfly)
• Distance - best performance at 200m, 400m or 1500m Freestyle)
• Medley - best performance at 100m, 200m or 400 Individual Medley)

To work out the BAGCAT points for an individual swimmer, you must complete at least one swim from each of the categories and the points for the best performance in each are totalled to give a single score. A useful BAGCAT points calculator can be found on PullBouy.com

Comparative performance tables are produced for senior swimmers with the maximum score of 1000 points corresponding to the average of the world all-time top eight performances. Age correction factors are applied to provide a points calculator for each event for the age group and recognize that some events are relatively more difficult for the younger swimmers. The Age group correction factors are based totally on observations of British swimming performance levels. For each age group the reference times used are the average of the ten all time top British performances in each event.

Click Here to view the ASA Technical Swimming Committee statement on BAGCAT point scoring for 2010. The ASA Swimming Committee has agreed that from 1st January 2010 all ASA events will use the FINA Points tables for scoring purposes in competitions in place of the GB points system.

Q. What does age on 31st December mean?

Most galas are run for swimmers of different age groups such as Under 12, Under 14, Under 16 and Open. If a gala is run on an 'age on 31st December' basis, it refers to how old the swimmer must be on the 31st December in the year of competition. It does not necessarily mean the age of the swimmer on the day of the competition. Thus under 12 on 31st December 2007, means no older than 11 on that date and so the swimmer must be born in or after 1996. Similarly, Under 11 on 31st December 2007 means no older than 10 and so the swimmer must be born in 1997 or later. Some events are 'age on the day' and this is self explanatory.

Q. What does U12, U14 U16, Open mean?

Most galas are run for swimmers of different age groups such as Under 12, Under 14, Under 16 and Open though some galas refer to 11/U (11& Under), 13/U (13&Under) 15/U (15&Under) and Open. Both mean the same thing.

Q. How are teams selected for galas?

Coaches select the teams for inter-club galas, for example White Horse League, National Arena Swimming League and Kent Junior League.

Q. How do I find out what times I have achieved?

After each gala or club event, individual times and positions of each swimmer will be displayed on the Results section of this web site and can be downloaded IF PEOPLE SEND THEM TO THE WEB MASTER! Please do send swimming gala results and reports to the webmaster.

Q. Can I have a password?

Yes of course if you are a club member. To get a username (ID) and password please email the Membership Secretary, and a username and password will be emailed to you. Also see your joining letter! If you subsequently leave the club, your username and password will be deleted.

Q. What is a PB?

PB stands for personal best. It is the best time an individual has achieved for a particular stroke at a given distance. The club does its best to record swimmers times and PBs though swimmers are encouraged to keep a log book if they can (see below).

PBs in Licensed Meets are recorded on the National Rankings Database. Each swimmer’s ranking in their County (for Beckenham – Kent), Region (London) or Nationally can be found for each event. Click Here for the link to the current year's ranking on the British Swimming website

Please remember that swimmers cannot get PBs every time they swim and sometimes they achieve significant PBs one week which they might not be beat for several competitions. This can be down to numerous things but for all swimmers there are troughs and plateaus as well as peaks and certainly the former should not be viewed as a lack of effort either in competition or training.

Some of the more experienced swimmers may be told that the expectation at a certain Meet is PB plus 2%. So if a PB was 50 seconds for a swimmer this would mean the target time is 51 seconds i.e. 102% of the existing PB. This does not mean that the swimmer should try any less hard nor would the Coach expect them to but because for instance they might be in heavy training for another competition a few weeks hence or at a certain point in their training cycle and are therefore tired the Coach may set what he considers a more realistic target for the swimmers. Naturally if they gain PBs at that Meet everyone is delighted.

Q. What do you mean by a logbook?

Some swimmers find it useful to keep individual logbooks to record their own times. This helps swimmers maintain a record of individual progress; encourages personal achievement and also helps the club with entries to the Kent Age Group Championships as well as borough and open events. You can keep these in a diary or on a computer spreadsheet. Sometimes it is a good idea to keep a note of your training sessions and what sets you made to record your improvement. Ask your coach!

Q. What Competitions can I enter?

All Beckenham swimmers, from Blue squad up, are expected to enter our yearly club championships. This is the opportunity for you to compete with your team mates and also achieve an official time for other events you may enter. These times will be very important, as when entering any gala you will be asked to submit times for each event, the Club Championships are the starting block to achieve your first entry times to build on. Your coach will advise you on events you should enter according to your age and ability. The events take place over a series of Mondays normally starting in September see the Fixtures Page for entry forms. We would advise you to record and update your times after you swim at a gala. Every gala will sort swimmers based on their entry time. Entering an up to date time will place you in a more competitive heat for your ability.

Low level, grade C, Novice Galas.

These are designed for swimmers new to competition. The criteria is usually that swimmers enter on the basis that either there is a time restriction or they have not been placed first in a swimming gala this is to give all new swimmers the opportunity of experience in competition with similar swimmers and obtaining times to be used in future galas. Beckenham normally take part in the Orpington Ojays Novice gala, hosted in March.

Open Galas - Age 9+

Many clubs, including Beckenham, hold an annual Open Meet. Any swimmer can swim in an open gala, the majority of swimmers that enter these meets are looking to achieve a district/national time, before entering check that you meet:

a) the age requirement;

b) the qualifying time for the events you wish to enter.

There are various levels of galas aimed at different levels of swimmer. This can be indicated by the designated level if the gala is licensed and the qualifying or consideration times. In general:

Level 1 – National standard (requires qualifying times). Aimed at swimmers wanting National qualifying times.

Level 2 – Regional standard (requires qualifying times). Aimed at swimmers wanting Regional qualifying times.

Level 3 – County standard (requires qualifying times and usually has upper limit times)

There are also Level 4 and Grade B & C galas which have upper limit times.

Qualifying times mean you have to have swum faster than this time to apply for entry in that event. You cannot enter an event if your time is faster than the upper limit time. Entry times are required to enter open meets.

Open Meets have different types of events from Sprint (50m and 100m events) to 200m, and 400m events, and at some 800m and 1500m. The youngest age group at these is 9yrs (as laid down by the ASA), but some open meets start at 11yrs and under, depending on who the host club is aiming the Open Meet at. Age is as at the date of the gala.

Graded Open Galas - Age 9+

The difference in a graded open gala and the above, is that graded opens are aimed at swimmers who have not achieved national times There will be an upper time limit, usually a district time, should a swimmer exceed this time they will I be given a speeding ticket!!

Elementary Galas

Beckenham Swimming Club run these annually during the summer, they are ideal first time galas for swimmers new to competition. Usually they are for swimmers in Blue, Bronze, White, Silver and Club squads.

Borough Championships

Every year most boroughs host a swimming competition. Beckenham take part in the Bromley Borough Championships which are normally hosted in Beckenham Spa in October. All our swimmers are eligible and your coach will advise individual swimmers on events. You may also represent your home borough i.e. if you live or go to school in Croydon you could take part in the Croydon Borough Championships as an individual. Generally a phone call to the relevant council will point you in the direction of the organiser.

Kent County Championships. Age group: 9+

These are held yearly, normally February through to March, they consist of individual events and team relays. They are hosted over several weekends. Swimmers have to achieve a Kent qualifying time to participate in these championships. These times are updated yearly and published on the Kent County website, towards the end of each year to give swimmers a chance to obtain times before the championship.

London Regional Championships

This is the next level of Championships and are held May/June. Clubs from the London Region are eligible to enter swimmers for this event who have achieved regional qualification times (these are published on the London Region website). This is a high level of competition and the club would expect swimmers obtaining these times to compete.

National Championships

This is the top level of “age group” swimming for swimmers aged 11-13 (girls) and 11-14 (boys) followed by the National Youth Championship for girls 14+ and boys 15+. It is held in July and is open to all swimmers who achieve a national qualifying time. These are available from the British ASA website.

Team galas

These are usually league galas. The Club enters teams in the following leagues:

 (a.) National Arena Swimming League

 (b.) Kent Junior League

 (c.) White Horse League

In addition the Club sometimes swim in one off Trophy Galas

Q. What is the "National Arena Swimming League"?

As the name implies it is a National Swimming League sponsored by the swimwear company, Arena. Until a couple of years ago the League was sponsored by Speedo so that for many people old habits die hard and they still call it “Speedo League”. Approximately 400 Clubs throughout England and Wales compete in 7 regional competitions. The Divisions are East Midlands, West Midlands, North West, North East (who are back in the League after a lapse of a number of years), London, South East and Western. Within each region there are a number of divisions with promotion and relegation between those divisions. Beckenham are in the South Region which has a Premier Division in which our A Team swim and below that Divisions 1 and 2 are divided into East and West Sections with our B Team in Division 1 East. 3 league galas are held in October, November and December respectively at which 6 to 8 teams from the relevant division compete against each other. Points are awarded for the performance in each gala so that the final gala in December is seeded so that the top teams points wise swim to decide who will progress to the National Club finals or who will be promoted depending on the division they are in whilst the lowest points scorers swim against each other to decide relegation.

The top 20 teams across the Country compete in the National A and B finals which are held in Sheffield in late April or early May. Beckenham has reached the National Finals Day 3 times in the last 5 years finishing 7th in the B Final in April 2010.

The events in each gala follow a similar format with each age group swimming broadly the same programme. The age groups are 9-11 (although 9 year olds may only swim in relays), 13 and under, 15 and under and Open. The age groups are calculated by reference to the age of the swimmers on 31st December in the year the 3 qualifying galas take place. There are limits on the number of events in which swimmers may compete. Each gala starts with an Open Individual Medley followed by a series of relays for each age group (all relays are 4 x 50 except the Open freestyle relays). Each age group then swims each of the 4 strokes individually followed by further relays culminating in the Women’s and Men’s 6 x 50 Open freestyle relay which can be incredibly exciting and usually bringing the crowds to the edge of their seats and of hoarseness!

Q. "How are the teams who make the National Arena Swimming League Finals worked out and how does the “Virtual Gala” work?”

The National Arena Swimming League is a nationwide swimming league divided into 7 regional leagues, East Midlands, London, North East, North West, South, West and West Midlands.

Each League is divided into a number of divisions of between 16 and 24 teams (except the North East where there are only 8 teams this year for historical reasons).

Each team in the top division of each League swims 3 rounds of galas. They are in October, November and (the final round) in December. The results in the October and November galas establish the positions of the teams in the division to go into the December gala with the top 6 or 8 teams in each League (depending on that League’s rules e.g. 6 in the South; 8 in London) qualifying to swim in the regional League Final The positions of the teams in the regional League Finals dictate which teams will be in the National Finals.

The National Finals comprise an A Final and a B Final each of 10 teams.

The 10 teams in the A Final are:

(a.) The 7 League winners plus

(b.) The 3 teams other than the league winners with the best results in the Virtual Gala (see below) (this can but need necessarily be teams who are League runners up)

The 10 teams in the B final are:

(a.) All Leagues’ runners up (other than those in the A Final) plus

(b.) The teams with the next best sets of results from the Virtual Gala who are not in the A Final so as to make the number of teams in the B Final up to 10.

The Virtual Gala takes the results of the top 6 teams in each regional League final and compares all their times for each of the 50 events that make up the Regional League Final galas. Points are awarded to each team for each event. As there are 7 Leagues with 6 teams from each League being included in the Virtual Gala the results of 42 teams are compared. 42 points will be awarded to team with fastest time in each event, 41 to the second fastest down to 1 point for the 42nd fastest. No points are given where there is a disqualification. As a result every swim in the League Regional final is crucial as even if a swimmer finishes last in the actual gala he may find that his swim is still say the 10th best in the Virtual Gala giving his team a good number of points.

The points from all the virtual races are totted up and the teams put in order from 1 to 42. Because the winners and runners up of each League are guaranteed places in either the A Final or the B Final the results of the Virtual Gala do not guarantee that the teams with best 20 scores are in the A or B Final. Historically teams from the East and West Midlands Leagues have recorded lower scores than teams from other regional League Finals and their Leagues’ runners up have been in the A and B Finals at the expense of other teams with better results in the Virtual Gala.

Q. What is the "Kent Junior League"?

The Kent Junior League (formerly the North Kent Junior league) is a league competition for 9 to 13 year olds and follows a similar format to the National Arena swimming league – i.e. freestyle and medley relays for both boys and girls in each age group and 50m (for the younger swimmers) and 100m (for the older swimmers) individual races in each of the 4 strokes. Sometimes there are variations to the programme so that some age groups swim 200m freestyle, 200m or 100m individual medley or mixed boys/girls relays. Virtually all the competitive swimming clubs in Kent enter the competition which is divided into 5 divisions of 6 teams each. The competition is run over 3 galas in June, September and November in each year with the top team in each gala gaining 6 points, the second 5 points and so on down to 1 for 6th place. Promotion and relegation is operated on a one up one down basis. Generally the Club’s fastest swimmers will be selected for each of the four age groups which are9/10 years (9 year olds may only swim in the relays), 11 years, 12 years and 13 years. The age groups are calculated as at 31st December in each year.

Beckenham are in the Division 1 (the top division) with Thanet, City of Canterbury, Black Lion, Sevenoaks and Orpington O’Jays. We are defending the title which we have retained for a number of years and currently lie joint top with Thanet so all to play for in the next gala will be on 20 November at Sevenoaks.

Q. What does 'Licensed meet' mean?

Licensed Meets are Open Meets which have been sanctioned by the ASA as being either a Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 or Level 4 Meet. To be licensed the Meet organisers have to meet certain criteria imposed by the ASA. The Meet is Licensed by a Regional Licensing Authority so for instance the Club’s Rising Stars Meet was licensed by the London Region Licensing Authority.

The most obvious benefit of licensing is that all times recorded will be shown in the National Rankings. Consequently if a swimmer needs to prove a time for entry into a certain Meet he can do so by reference to the National Rankings which is open to everyone to see. This is particularly important for qualification into Regional or National Events where qualification can only be achieved at certain Levels of Meet e.g. for Regional events only times at Levels 1,2 or 3 Meets are acceptable.

The Criteria include the following:

• Pools used for licensed meets should be a minimum of 25 metres long.
• Electronic timing must be used for Meets at level 1,2 and 3.
• Anti-turbulence lane lines, starting blocks and turning flags must be provided.
• Adequate provision must be made for swimmers to warm up.
• Ages shall be at the last day of the meet/series of meets.
• A maximum of 7½ hours swimming can take place in any competition day.
• The minimum requirements for officials at each Level of Meet.

So far as the events be included in any Licensed Meet are concerned 100m events for 9 year old swimmers are not permitted, except 4x25m Individual Medley.

Level 1 and 2 Meets must have a minimum set of qualifying standards which is set down by the ASA. No upper limit time is required. Level 1 and 2 Meets are generally aimed the higher level of swimmer such as National and Regional qualifiers and the better County Level swimmers.

Level 3 Meets require Upper limit times and qualifying times whilst in Level 4 Meets Upper limit times are required (except for Club Championships.) and no lower qualifying time is required. Level 3 Meets can attract a wide spectrum of swimmers. The upper limits are usually set at or about the national qualifying Time for each age and event so that faster swimmers are generally excluded. The qualifying times can vary widely from times which are equivalent to County qualifying times to those which can enable inexperienced swimmers to compete. Level 4 Meets are intended for either Novice events or Club Championships to enable those Meets or Championships to proceed as Licensed events with the minimum of red tape.

Level 1 Meets must be held in a 50m Pool and must include at least one distance event of 400m or over in each age group and sex. Entries are not acceptable on a first come- first served basis. Level 2 Meets must be held in a 25m Pool. Level 3 Meets can either be in a 25m or 50m Pool and Level 4 must be in a minimum of 25m Pool.

What Times can I use for entry into Open Meets?

When filling in a form to enter an Open Meet one has to be careful to ensure that the time entered is a valid time. The first thing to note is the only time which is acceptable for most Meets is an official time. This can either be a time recorded at a Licensed Meet which is recorded in the National Rankings or a time recorded by the official timekeeper at an Unlicensed Meet such as a team gala. After most team galas the Club receives a result sheet and these times can therefore be validated. Sometimes especially in Novice Events it may be acceptable to enter an estimated time particularly if a swimmer has no previous time for that event but this is only rarely the case and should be done in full consultation with swimmer’s Squad Coach.

Times recorded by parents in the stands or even by the Coaches on poolside are not official times. Only the official timekeeper can see when exactly a touch has been made. Relay splits cannot be used as entry times except the lead off legs of a freestyle or medley relay. Please remember that putting in a time faster than a swimmer’s PB is unlikely to help a swimmer unless this has been specifically agreed by the Coaches where for instance a swimmer has not swum an event for some time and other circumstances indicate that he or she is capable of going significantly faster.

Many meets will require a time from another Meet within a certain period or at a certain Level e.g. Regional Times can only be achieved at Level 1, 2 or 3 Meets so the Club Championships as Level 4 Meets would not be sufficient. Often the entry forms will require the date and name of the Meet to be entered on the entry form so that the organisers can check whether the times are acceptable for their Meet. Failure to meet the requirements will most likely result in rejection of the swimmer’s entry.

Q. At the Rising Stars Meet there were timing pads and an electronic scoreboard operating - why did the times on the Scoreboard not always agree with the times given in the results?

Where electronic timing (Automated Operating Equipment in the parlance of the Swimming rulebook or colloquially known as “AOE”) is being used at a Meet the official time given to each swimmer will be the time recorded by the AOE provided the AOE is operating properly. The primary AOE system automatically starts the clock the moment the starting signal is given. There is no need for any of the timekeepers to push anything connected with the AOE at that point (other than start their own manual stopwatches). The primary system clock is stopped on each lane the moment the swimmer in that lane touches the timing pad. However not all systems are infallible and sometimes there is a malfunction in the pad or the system or some other reason which means that the primary system has not recorded a time – most often with young swimmers it is because they have barely touched the timing pad although there is no need to hit it particularly hard as one sometimes sees swimmers do. In case of the primary AOE does not record a time the timekeepers press a button connected to the AOE which records a “back up” electronic time as well stopping their stopwatches the moment the swimmer touches the wall.

If things are working well both the primary and back up times are recorded and the referee receives a print out after each heat showing the positions of the swimmers in that heat and their primary and back up electronic times recorded. Usually the referee will only query the times on the sheet if they disagree with placings recorded by the finish judges and the referee or if there is a significant difference between the primary and back up times. In that case the referee will ask the Chief timekeeper to find out the manual time recorded by the timekeeper on the relevant lane. The referee may or may not adjust the official time recorded by the swimmer to take account of the placings recorded by judges or of the back up or manual times. Sometimes the timekeeper will mention a significant difference between the time on the scoreboard and the manual time he has recorded and again the referee may look into this and adjust the official time.

Q. What does 'Short course' mean?

Events held in a 25m pool.

Q. What is a Squadron relay ?

Usually the last race of a gala. A freestyle relay consisting of one swimmer from each age group or one swimmer of each sex from each age group.

Q. What does Heat Declared Winner (HDW) mean?

If a gala states HDW, (Heat Declared Winner) this means there are no finals, Therefore if you have 30 swimmers competing in a 50 metre freestyle race the winner will be the swimmer with the fastest time regardless if the swimmer swam in the first or last heat.

At many meets including our Club Championships all the swimmers in a given event will swim in heats together regardless of age, starting usually with slowest in the first heat and the fastest in the last heat. This does not mean that the 9 year olds are actually competing against 16 year olds or older as once all the heats are swum the swimmers times are sorted into the individual age groups and medals awarded accordingly. Where an event is Heat Declared Winner there are no Finals.

Q. What does 'sign in' mean?

The majority of galas require the swimmer to sign in once you have arrived at the pool. On arriving the swimmer should ask where the signing in desk is, check their name against the lists on the desk and sign, if your name is not on the list and should be see your coach immediately. If a swimmer does not sign in they will not be able to compete.

Q. My name is on a result list but has DQ by the side, what does this mean?

Unfortunately many competitive swimmers are DQ'd sometimes, this means disqualified. At the end of a pool will be time keepers, recording a final time achieved by the swimmer, by the side of the pool walking up and down are Judges. If a Judge feels that the swimmer has not touched properly performed a stroke incorrectly or false start i.e. entered the water before the starter gun/whistle this will result in a DQ.

The club results reports note cases where a swimmer has been disqualified and, where possible, includes details of the reason for disqualification. The fact of disqualification is usually indicated on results pages by annotating the result with 'DQ' or with a more specific disqualification code.

If a swimmer is disqualified then he will be given no time on the results. Any time recorded by the timekeeper will not be treated as an official time and cannot be used as a qualifying time for any event. This a bit akin to goal in Football being disallowed for offside in that although the ball crossed the line no goal is counted in the actual score.

The disqualification codes used in results represent the best effort of the person encoding the infraction reported by the judge or other official. Sometimes this requires the use of a code which doesn't exactly match the infraction, but has been chosen as being in some sense 'near'.

The SportsSystems SQ codes are more complex than the other disqualification codes; in addition to encoding the infraction they also tell us on which length the infraction occurred and details of any appeal.

Apparently these codes have been adopted by European Swimming Writers.

The code is made up of three parts:

• The disqualification reason. This can be one of T (turn), FI (finish), S (stroke), ST (start), O (takeover), FO (fouling), L (wrong lane), M (midconduct) or E (equipment). Reason S has variants SA, SH and SL for faults in arms, head and legs respectively, while reason O has variant OM for an error in stroke change.
• The appeal status. This is usually blank, but may be A for appeal made and X for appeal disallowed.
• The length code. This is the number of the length on which the infraction occurred, followed by "L". In theory code "1L" should be used where the length is not known, but the length code is often omitted.

A detailed graphical explanation of the SportsSystems SQ codes can be found here. Some examples of the more common SSSQ reason codes for being disqualified are listed below.

Other Disqualification codes of practice commonly used in swimming competitions include:

• ASA DQ codes.
• FINA Codes from the Federation International de Natation.
• HYTK. Built into Hy-Tek meet Manager, these codes are used in many open competitions.
• SportsSystems SQ codes (above) used by Beckenham SC.

Q. What does DNC or DNF mean?

A swimmers name at the bottom of a result sheet with DNC or DNF next to to it, this will mean that the swimmer DNC (Did Not Compete) or DNF (Did Not Finish).

Q. Why does the official time on the results sheet differ from that recorded by the timekeeper?

At a Meet where there is no electronic timing (AOE) such as the Club Championships the only official times are those decided on by the referee having first considered the time recorded by the timekeepers. The placing recorded by the finish judges and the referee and approved by the referee take precedence over the manual times of the timekeepers and as a result it may be necessary to adjust the times to fit in with the placings. Often one will see two or more swimmers with official times which are identical but this does not (unless the result sheet specifically states) mean that the swimmers finished tied with the same time. It merely means that the manual times recorded by the timekeeper showed the swimmer who finished ahead of the other as having a slower time - so in order to make sense of the placing the difference between the times is averaged so that the faster swimmer will be placed ahead of the slower swimmer albeit with same time.

Q. Swim 21: What is it?

Swim 21 is the ASA's Club Development model - a planning tool, based on the principles of Long Term Athlete Development, enabling clubs to help athletes, teachers, coaches and administrators to achieve their full potential. It focuses particularly on the needs of athletes - striving to provide them with the best possible support and environment.

Swim 21 Accreditation is a 'Quality mark'. It recognises nationally and regionally the clubs that are committed to providing safe, effective and quality services for the benefit of their members.

Clubs work steadily towards the attainment of a series of outcomes all of which are seen as essential if the right level of support is to be provided at each stage of an athlete's development.

Click here to download an eight page book that explains everything about the swim21 accreditation process, from which swimming clubs can apply through to how to reaccredit. Or visit the ASA website for more information.

Q. Why have qualified Officials?

At the fundamental level, the officials are there to ensure that a competition between swimmers is safe and fair. Health & Safety as with all aspects of life is fundamentally important. The promoter of a swimming event has the overall responsibility for Health & Safety, but due to it's importance, all officials on pool side must also keep their eyes peeled to try to prevent any accidents occurring. Fair play is achieved by following the laws and technical rules of the various swimming bodies, which leads to consistency not only within a single event, but also across all events in a league or championship.

Q. What types of Officials are there?

There are 5 basic levels of qualification for a technical swimming official:

• Timekeeper: Competent with a stop watch and able to act as a Chief Timekeeper at an event.
• Judge: Knows the laws of the various strokes and is able to place the finishing order of an event.
• Starter: Nice loud clear voice with the ability to settle the swimmers and start them fairly.
• Race Results: Knows how to determine the result of a race using electronic timing. Qualified to act as a Deputy Referee.
• Referee: Responsible for running the event safely and fairly.

There are also other "non-technical" officials such as recorders and announcers. These do not require any particular qualification, but are still vital for the successful running of an event and include:

• Announcer: Reads out safety announcements prior to gala and theen announces each race and any other information as directed by the referee. Poolside Job.
• Recorders: Record results of each race from slips provided by judges. Normally two recorders required, with both writing down results and cross-checking them throughout the evening. Poolside Job.
• Runners: Throughout the gala getting results sheets from the Recorders and displaying them in the gallery, behind the spectators.
• Door Money and Programme: Man a table in reception area to give out programmes and collect fee per adult spectator. For some galas there may also be raffle tickets to sell.
• Door Sign In/Registration: For certain Galas, including Club Champs, swimmers need to register that they have turned up to swim. Minimum of two people required, one to sign in boy swimmers and another the girls.
• Marshals/Whips/Stewards: To make sure swimmers know what and when they are swimming (from lists provided) and guide them towards the starting blocks at the appropriate time.

Q. How do I go about becoming an Official?

Each level of technical official consists of some training, a short examination and a practical evaluation of the skills required. Examples of the examinations and other helpful material can be found on the British Swimming Web site. If you are interested, have a look at the British Swimming site and speak to other members of your club about it. Most of the officials at an event are also approachable, so why not ask them about their experiences.

Remember, the officials are all volunteers and give up their time freely so that swimmers can enjoy their competition. Without them there would be no competitions.

If you are interested in officiating please contact John Handley on john@hamo6055.plus.com, many thanks to those who have already volunteered!

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