You're a swimmer rookie, beginner, first-timer, novice ... that's alright, everyone was in your shoes at one time. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Here are some frequently asked questions by first year swimmers.

"What's the IM?"

IM stands for Individual Medley. Once a swimmer has LEGALLY swum all four strokes, the IM is the next and last event to learn. The IM is all four strokes combined into one event called the 100 IM. The 100 does not stand for laps, it is the number of yards. One lap is 25 yards; the 100 IM is four laps. The order is Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Freestyle.

"My son's gotta wear WHAT?"

Yes, you heard right. Speedo or Jammer. Boys can wear their Speedo/jammer with their baggy swim trunks over them. Parents should not say anything about taking the baggies off. The boys will decide when they are ready or a coach may suggest it. Your swimmer should have at least 2 suits. One for practice and the other for Meets. This rule applies for girls as well. The coaches can all most guarantee that the boys won't be sporting their race suits at practice, but sometimes the girls will. It is not good for a suit to be worn too often. The suit gradually becomes lose and will result in drag.

"Who picks what my child swims?"

Your coach chooses three strokes (if possible) for each swimmer to swim.

"Can my swimmer leave yet?"

If you know you will be leaving a meet early or not going to a meet at all, try to tell your coach as early as possible. If you UNEXPECTEDLY need to leave a meet, PLEASE notify a coach before you leave. If your swimmer is done swimming and you have nothing to do, stick around and cheer, you never know we may need your swimmer for a relay. Please make sure that you are not in a relay before you leave.

"She just learned to swim on her stomach, now back?"

There are five events or strokes in swimming. Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Butterfly and the Individual Medley. Your swimmer will be grouped with kids that are at the same swimming level as your child. Once a swimmer has mastered or in some cases found an understanding for a stroke the coach will introduce another. Once the swimmer knows how to swim the strokes they will concentrate on the details of each stroke. Just like in anything you do, there is ALWAYS room for improvement.

"What is the Medley Relay Order?"

IM stands for Individual Medley. Once a swimmer has LEGALLY swum all four strokes, the IM is the next and last event to learn. The IM is all four strokes combined into one event called the 100 IM. The 100 does not stand for laps, it is the number of yards. One lap is 25 yards; the 100 IM is four laps. The order is back, breast, fly, free.

"VOLUNTEER?"

You mean you need help running a meet, with an average of 600 splashes and at least 350-400 children between the ages of 5-14.  Are you sure?" YEEEEEESSSSSSS. All joking aside, this is actually a very important topic. In most sports the number of needed volunteers is not great. This is most definitely NOT true in swimming. Parent involvement in our eyes is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of a great swim season. Most parents and swimmers do not realize the amount of hours spent behind scenes. Most of us take for granted what the board and volunteers do for the swim team. All we ask is that someone from each family donate one shift for timing, recording, crowd control, runner, etc. The list goes on. When parents volunteer it makes the whole meet run smoothly.

"Meet?"

"Meet? .... haven't I met enough people already?" In swimming, when two opposing teams swim each other it is referred to as a meet. Almost every Saturday (and some Sundays) during the season, HURY has meets. Some home and some away. At meets, each swimmer can swim in at MOST 5 events (depending on the meet rules), 3 individual events and 2 relays.

"Bull Pen"?

This is the area the swimmers get in order for their event. PARENTS: It’s important to allow your child to remain at the Bull Pen staging area alone. Your swimmer will have excellent supervision and direction from parent volunteers who help at the Bull Pen.

"Pool Food"

Pool Food? What's That? Well, usually there will be veggies, chips, drinks, nachos, hot dogs candy and pizza at the pools concession stand. For the seasoned Swim Family lets not forget thoese 9:00am Hotdog Specials available for your dinning pleasure.

Psych Sheets

During invitationals “Psych Sheets” will be on sale at the concession stand. They will include the individual events, the swimmers entered in each event, and their fastest time. Swimmers will be listed fastest to slowest using their best time for each event. Swimmers who have never competed in an event before will be listed after swimmers with times. The notation NT for “no time” will be typed next to their names.

Spectating

When it’s time for your child to swim their individual race, you may stand at the “turn end” of the pool behind the area sectioned off for officials. From here you may cheer the swimmers on. At the completion of the race, please move out of this area, so that the next swimmers’ friends and family can watch their race.

WHAT’S MY TIME?

Oh No! I need to keep track of my kid's time? Swimmers learn to ask the recorder for their (unofficial) time as soon as they get out of the pool at the end of a race. Once the times for a heat are collected, the official results are posted by the Scoring Officials. The official event results (which include the swimmers’ names, their times, and event placing) are usually posted on the gym wall about an hour after completion of the event. All event results are computerized and retained for each swimmer all season, and given to each swimmer at the Awards Ceremony at the end of the season.

DISQUALIFICATION (DQ)

Now we are going to Dairy Queen? Our league complies with YMCA Swimming rules - the same rules used at all YMCA meets. To ensure fair competition for all swimmers, these rules are equally applied to all swimmers, regardless of age or experience. During competition, if a swimmer fails to comply with the stroke and turn rules, a Stroke & Turn Judge (dressed in white shirts and shorts) will raise their hand, write up a disqualification (DQ) slip, and present it to the referee for approval. A swimmer is not disqualified until the referee accepts the report. Almost all swimmers in all age groups have been DQ’d at some time. This should be viewed as a learning experience and not a failure. Swimmers should discuss the DQ with their Coach after the race, and together they will formulate a plan to correct the mistake.