Some Common Terms you should know

Heat Declared Winner (HDW)

This means that the fastest swimmer from all of the heats in a particular event will be declared the winner. There is no final race amongst the 6 or 8 swimmers in the appropriate age group who record the fastest times.

Spearheading

In Club Championships, Open competitions or even Heat Declared Events the final heat or Final (if there is one) is usually spearheaded. The fastest swimmers are placed in the lanes in the middle of the pool with swimmers with slower times in the outer lanes. The objective is to increase the standard of competition by placing the fastest swimmers together.

Double Age Categories/Year Bands

Currently the year of birth determines the competition age group for swimmers in most league competitions. Entry to a competition is usually related to your age on a particular date in the year.

In some league galas a swimmer may be required to swim out of age and compete with swimmers who may be a year older. These are double age category events.

In most other competitions, e.g. Open meets and Counties, a swimmer is asked to swim in events based on their age on the last day of the competition.

One Start Rule

A false start or movement on the block by one or more swimmers will result in their automatic disqualification. This may be on completion of the race, unless the Referee or Starter believes that the unfair start may have caused the other swimmers a disadvantage. In this case the race will be stopped and re-run.