8 Relay Take-Off Judges        2-4 Stroke/Turn Judges            2 Clerks of Course

Snack Bar Staff                       1 Runner

Practice
From Memorial Day to the time school closes for summer, practice is held in the late afternoon. After school closes, practice is held Monday through Friday in the AM and twice in the late afternoon. Swimmers are expected to come to the AM practices. Evening practices are intended primarily for those swimmers who are in summer school, at summer camps, have a job, or whose parents are unable to bring them in the morning if they are from out of the neighborhood. Of course, practicing two times a day is always allowed.

Developmental Group (Minis) will meet Monday through Friday beginning after school gets out in the morning and 2 evenings a week.

On Friday, the coaches read the meet sheet for Saturday’s meet and give awards for the previous week’s meets.

We expect daily attendance when possible. Recognizing that some swimmers have other summer commitments that present conflicts, we would appreciate swimmers notifying coaches when missing practice is unavoidable. Swimmers who miss practice are responsible for checking with the coaches, in their emails, and on the bulletin board for information passed along at practice. Occasional team meetings will be called. These are important and attendance is required.

Communication
Almost all communication is exchanged at practice. The coaches make announcements, sign-up sheets are passed, notices posted, etc. If a swimmer misses practice, he/she misses information. It is important to have email addresses of each swimmer's family. Much communication can be easily conveyed in this manner. Please check your email frequently.

If you have questions about swimming, practice, or the meet sheet, ask the coaches. You can talk to the coaches between or at the end of practices. Please do not interrupt them during practice. If you have questions about the general program, rules, or the coaches, ask the Team Representative. Feel free to email Head Coaches or the Team Rep. Suggestions and new ideas are always welcome, especially if they come with a volunteer. With everyone’s help and contributions, the program continues to improve itself.

Awards
Brandywine Swim Team is a community activity and great effort is taken to make every Barracuda feel important and needed by the team. At the end of the season, there is a team banquet. There are awards for effort, talent, team spirit, attitude, and sportsmanship, as well as other fun awards. Ribbons earned at meets are distributed weekly. Awards include ribbons, medals, and trophies.

Social Activities
Brandywine Swim Team is a community activity. To strengthen team spirit and rapport, we will have several social functions planned. We will have weekly Friday night Potluck/Pep Rally parties. Other activities might include movies, bowling, roller/ice skating, rock climbing, waterpark, miniature golf, paintball, trips to adventure parks, overnight lock-in at the pool, and anything else you can think of that would be a great time. Your ideas are welcome. The quality and quantity of these activities depends on the generous volunteering of time and energy of the swimmer families. Attendance is not required though it is encouraged. Sometimes a financial contribution is required for an activity. We have a good time every year and expect this year will be terrific!

Safety
All swimmers and family members are expected to abide by the pool rules and the coaches’ rules at all times. If at any time a coach believes a violation of rules jeopardizes anyone’s safety, the coach will have the offender(s) sit out.

Transportation
Swimmers are responsible for their own transportation to and from all practices, meets and functions. Sometimes swimmers and drivers meet at the pool parking lot at a designated time and caravan to a meet. Directions to the meets are posted on this website. If for some reason transportation is a problem, let the team rep or coach know so carpooling can be arranged.

Etiquette
Teams visiting our pool for a meet are our guests, and we behave as the host, making them feel welcome.Conversely, when we swim at other pools, we are the guests, and we observe their rules and traditions. After every meet, Brandywine swimmers will clean up their team area before leaving the grounds. Brandywine swimmers and families present themselves at all times in a manner that reflects well on the Brandywine community.

Who Are All These People Dressed in White?
Your first swim meet can be a bewildering experience as you encounter a vast horde of adults dressed in white and navy. USS Swimming rules specify white as the color to be worn by all officials. This is also practical as white is a good color to wear on a hot humid summer morning. NVSL requires all officials to wear white tops and navy shorts (no jeans). The rule is extended to timers and relay take-off judges as well.

Clerk of Course
The Clerk of the Course is the “gatekeeper” for all swimmers in our meets. The people who perform this function get the swimmers to the right lanes for the correct race. You can’t run a race without swimmers and the Clerk of Course makes sure the right swimmer gets to the right place at the right time.

Referee
The Referee is the chief official for each swim meet. He/She is responsible for the conduct of the meets and is the final authority on the interpretation and enforcement of all swimming rules. Prior to the start of each race, the referee insures that all deck officials are ready, and the blows his whistle to signify the starter can start the race.

Starter
The Starter is responsible for insuring that all swimmers are given a fair and equitable start. The starter will inform the swimmers of the stroke and distance to be swum and then instructs them to “Take your mark”. After all swimmers are ready and still, the Starter will start the race, using a “Colorado System” (so called because it is built by Colorado Timing Systems). This system consists of a public address system, a horn, and a strobe light.

Occasionally, if a race hasn’t been started correctly, the Starter will recall the swimmers using a recall signal on the Colorado system (you’ll know it when you hear it). This can be because a swimmer never was ready (and the Starter should not have started the race), or a “False Start” has occurred. Any time that a swimmer moves after taking his/her mark, but before the starting signal, it is a false start and the Starter recalls the race if the water has been entered by any swimmer. The swimmer who false started is then disqualified from the race due to the false start. Sounds simple. Remember where the Referee has absolute authority? The Referee can unilaterally disqualify a swimmer for a false start. However, in summer league meets, the Referee and Starter usually will caucus and disqualify the swimmer only if they agree that a particular swimmer has false started. Mitigating factors can be considered such as crowd noise or a swimmer being drawn into a start due to another swimmer’s movements.

Stroke and Turn Judges
Once the race has started, the Stroke and Turn Judges are responsible for insuring that all swimmers obey all the rules for the stroke they are swimming. These people are always at the ends of the pool for starts and finishes, and they walk the sides of the pool as best they can within the physical constraints of the pool. If a Stroke and Turn Judge sees a violation of the rules, he raises his hand to signify that an infraction has occurred. A disqualification is recorded on a DQ slip, which the Referee reviews and approves, and then forwards copies to the Table Workers and the Team Rep.

Relay Take-Off Judges
During relays, you’ll see Relay Take-Off Judges at each end of the pool. Their job is to insure the swimmer touches the wall prior to the next swimmer in the relay leaving the deck. Infractions are noted as described above for the Stroke and Turn Judges.

Timers
The Timers are the most important people to every swimmer. They determine each swimmer’s time for each race. Being a Timer is a good entry-level position for new parents to help out in. Some parents have been Timers for years and wouldn’t see a swim meet from any other viewpoint. If you can start and stop a stopwatch, you can be a Timer. We’ll even provide the stopwatch. Timers start their watches on the strobe light from the Colorado System, and stop their watches when the swimmer touches the wall. There are three Timers per lane and all three times are recorded. The middle time is the official time. The Chief Timer collects the time cards from the Timers, reviews them for accuracy and completeness, and forwards them on to the Table Workers.

Table Workers
The time cards from the Timers and any DQ slips go to the Table Workers who determine the order of finish for each event, score the meet, and prepare ribbons for the participants. Several people from each team perform these functions to insure that errors are caught before the results are announced.

Team Rep
The Team Rep is the designated recipient of all DQ slips for his/her team and is the only person with any official standing to challenge any decisions made by the Referee. It sounds easy. But remember, most of the Team Rep’s job is done before the meet starts.

Coaches
During the meet, the Coaches’ primary responsibility is to encourage and praise the swimmers and to make sure that they get to the Clerk of Course in time to swim.

Other Very Important People
It would be impossible to host a swim meet without a number of people in Other Very Important Positions. These people set up the pool before and after swim meets, and sell concessions. They also announce the results, run social activities, act as Marshals in the team area, and do other jobs that need to be done. We need the help of every family in order to have a successful swim season.

My Kid Says He’s Supposed to Swim Like a Butterfly
If you’re not a former swimmer, the strokes and their rules can be a cause of bewilderment. While the stroke rules are simple enough for a six year old to understand, most people do not have a copy of the USS Swimming Rules, so we’ll briefly describe the strokes below. The rules below are the USS Swimming rules as modified for use in the NVSL. Teams in other leagues may have slightly different rules.

Freestyle
The freestyle is defined as any means of swimming across the pool. Any stroke and kick are acceptable. There are, however, a few don’ts associated with this stroke, specifically: 1) You cannot walk on the bottom or pull yourself along using the lane lines, and 2) In a 50 meter race (two lengths) you must touch the wall at the 25 meter end before touching the wall at the 50 meter end. This may seem obvious, but sometimes swimmers miss the wall at the turning end of the pool.

Backstroke
Like the freestyle, almost anything goes on the backstroke as long as you stay on your back. Watching swimmers learn the backstroke is a perverse sense of fun as they bounce off lane lines and wonder where they are. Eventually, they will learn to guide off the lane lines, use the overhead backstroke flags and the lane line markings to know where they’re at in the pool, and count strokes from the flags to the wall.

Backstroke starts are different from all others because the swimmer is in the water, feet planted against the wall, and hanging on to either another swimmer’s legs or the lip on the pool awaiting the Starter’s signal.“Legs” are to be grabbed below the knee. Persons serving in an official capacity (such as
Timers or Coaches) may not serve as Legs. If your swimmer is a backstroker, he or she will eventually learn the backstroke flip turn. This is the one exception to staying on your back and can be used only as part of a turn (not a finish) at the pool wall.

Breaststroke
The breaststroke has two components, the kick and the arm pull. The pull and its recovery must both be under the breast and cannot extend further back than the waist area. The kick is a “frog” kick and the toes must be pointed outward during the propulsive part of the kick. The arm pull and kick must be in an alternating sequence and the elbows must stay below the water except for tagging the wall at the finish.  Breaststroke turns and finishes require a simultaneous two hand touch.

Butterfly
A well-executed Butterfly (or Fly) is the most beautiful exhibition of power you’ll ever see in a swimming pool. Quite frankly, the fly is the hardest stroke for most swimmers to perfect and while they are learning it, many look like they are drowning. There are two components of the fly; the arm pull and the kick. The arm pull must be an over the water recovery (elbows breaking the surface of the water) with the arms moving simultaneously. The kick is a dolphin style kick with both legs moving simultaneously. Unlike the breaststroke, there is no requirement to alternate the kick and the pull. Turns and finishes require a simultaneous two-hand touch on the wall.

Individual Medley
The individual medley (or IM) is when an individual swims each of the four strokes in sequence; Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Freestyle. We swim a 100 meter IM, which means that 25 meters, or one pool length, of each stroke is swum. In a 100 meter IM, every turn is a stroke change and stroke finish rules apply. This means no backstroke flip turns.

Relays
There are two kinds of relays, the freestyle relay and the medley relay. Both involve a team of four swimmers, each swimming one quarter of the total distance. In the freestyle relay, each swimmer swims the freestyle. In the medley relay, the sequence is Backstroke, Breaststroke, Butterfly, and Freestyle. At the NVSL Relay Carnival, swimmers 8 & Under swim a modified medley relay where the fly leg of the relay is replaced with a freestyle leg. In all relays, each swimmer must wait until the previous swimmer touches the wall prior to leaving the deck. Running starts or pushes from teammates are not allowed.

What Do You Mean, My Kid DQ’d?
In swimming the rules must be followed in total or a disqualification or DQ, is committed. This can be traumatic the first time a swimmer is DQ’d for just one mistake, but it isn’t fair to other swimmers who swim the entire race per the rules to do otherwise.

What is a DQ?
A DQ is any violation of the rules observed by any appropriate official. Some of the more common reasons for DQing are as follows:

Freestyle          Failure to touch the wall at the turning end of the pool;

                          Walking on the bottom;

                          Pulling on the lane lines;

                          Exiting the pool before swimming the specified distance.

Backstroke       Past vertical towards the breast at any time except during a flip turn;

                           Leaving the wall after a turn past vertical towards the breast;

                           Improper flip turn (older swimmers).

Breaststroke     Incorrect kick, such as a Scissors kick or Flutter kick;

                          Non-Simultaneous two-hand touch or one hand touch at turn or finish;

                          Toes not pointed outward during propulsive part of the kick;

                          More than one stroke underwater with arms fully extended at start or turn;

                          Arm recovery past waist except on first stroke after start or turn;

                          Head didn’t break surface by conclusion of second arm pull underwater after start or turn.

Butterfly            Non-Simultaneous or one-handed wall touch at the turn or finish;

                         Non-Simultaneous leg movement during kicks;

                         Arms don’t break water surface during recovery (judged at the elbows);

                         Non-Simultaneous arm movement during recovery.

How Will I Know a DQ Occurred?
Unlike football, we don’t blow a whistle and announce to the world that a rules violation occurred. When a Stroke and Turn Judge observes a violation, he raises his hand to signify that he has observed a violation, then writes it up on a DQ slip. The judge then takes the slip to the Referee, who verifies that the rule has been broken and can question the Stroke and Turn Judge to insure that he was able to see the violation that was cited. The Referee then gives one copy of the DQ slip to the Team Rep and another copy to the Table Workers. Another clue that a DQ has occurred is a Stroke and Turn Judge writing and a longer than normal pause between events.

Disqualifications (DQ) and False Starts
A swimmer will be disqualified (or DQ’s) if he/she does not follow the rules of the stroke or false starts.

A Word About Officials and DQs
Every official on the deck will always give the benefit of the doubt to the swimmer. Although the difference between legal-but-ugly vs. illegal is sometimes close to call, any violation called by an official is an “I saw” not an “I think I saw”.

Protesting Disqualifications
The Team Rep is the only person who can officially question a disqualification or any other call by an official. If something happens involving your swimmer, which you do not think is right, talk to the Coach or the Team Rep. The Team Rep will initiate action in accordance with NVSL rules if thought to be appropriate.

Seeding
In Saturday meets, the home team has lanes 1, 3, and 5 while the visiting team has lanes 2, 4, and 6. The fastest swimmers swim in lanes 3 and 4, the next fastest in lanes 2 and 5 and the next fastest in lanes 1 and 6. Swimmers are seeded based upon their fastest times attained in prior competition. Lane 1 is always on the right side as you stand facing the pool at the starting end.

Meet Sheets
While all NVSL meets have an announcer, the best way to follow the meet is with a meet sheet, which lists all the events, swimmers, and seed times. Meet Sheets are usually found in the concession area and typically sell for $1.00.

Scoring
In the individual events, a first place finish earns 5 points for the team, a second place 3 points, and a third place finish 1 point. Relays are scored as 5 points for the swimmer and 0 points for the loser. There are 402 points up for grabs in a Saturday meet. Unless there are one or more places not awarded in an event due to DQ or lack of swimmers, you need 202 points to win.

In the event of a tie, the points for the places involved are equally split among the swimmers.  For example, a two-way tie for second place, each swimmer earns 2 points (3 points for second place plus 1 point for third place equals 4 points, half then for each swimmer). No third place would be awarded because the next swimmer is fourth.

Relay Carnivals
In Relay Carnivals, teams are not seeded. Each team’s lane assignment for the first event is based upon luck of the draw and the teams then rotate one lane to the left after each event. The meet sheet lists only the team swimming in each lane in each event.