Welcome to Competitive Swimming

Parent Handbook

A practical introduction to competitive swimming and the important role families play in helping young athletes enjoy, learn and grow through the sport.

This handbook was originally adapted from Swim Ontario and American Swimming Coaches Association parent resources. Some organizational references originated in an earlier edition of the handbook and may change over time.

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Swimming Organizations

Para Swimming

Glossary

Getting Started

Welcome to the world of competitive swimming

By joining a Swim Ontario affiliated club, your child has become part of one of Canada's best-organized youth sports.

This handbook is intended to give families a working knowledge of competitive swimming and answer some of the questions that commonly arise when a swimmer first enters the sport.

Swimming offers many benefits, including the friendships athletes and families develop along the way. The camaraderie among swimmers is unique, and many swimming friendships last a lifetime.

Swimming is also one of the most beneficial forms of cardiovascular and overall exercise and can be enjoyed throughout a person's life.

Perhaps the greatest benefits of organized swimming are the life skills young athletes develop: time management, self-discipline, goal setting, perseverance and sportsmanship.

Age-group swimming can be fun, exciting and rewarding. Younger swimmers often improve quickly as they grow and develop better technique. During these early stages, the emphasis should remain on technique, enjoyment and development rather than pressure or performance expectations.

As swimmers mature, progress does not always remain linear. An athlete may experience periods when improvements become smaller or appear to stop altogether. Training demands may increase at the same time that school, friends and other parts of teenage life become more demanding.

These periods require patience and support from both parents and coaches. A temporary plateau does not mean a swimmer's career is over.

Not every swimmer will become a national champion or record holder, but every swimmer can gain something valuable from the experience. Whatever role you eventually take on—as a supporter, volunteer, timer or official—your positive involvement can make an enormous difference in your child's swimming experience.

The Athlete Comes First

A Swimmer's Bill of Rights

Every young athlete deserves a safe, fair and positive experience in sport.

The right to an opportunity to participate in sport, regardless of ability, gender or ethnicity.
The right to qualified adult leadership.
The right to participate in a safe and healthy environment.
The right to participate as a child rather than being treated as an adult athlete.
The right to proper preparation for participation in the sport.
The right to be treated with dignity by everyone involved.
The right to equal opportunity when striving for success.
The right to have fun through sport.

Your Role as a Parent

Support the swimmer. Let the coach coach.

Competitive swimming helps young athletes develop self-discipline, sportsmanship, time-management skills and physical fitness. Competition also gives swimmers opportunities to experience both success and disappointment and learn from each.

As a parent, your major responsibility is to provide a stable, loving and supportive environment. Show interest by helping your child attend practices, attending meets when possible and taking an interest in their experience.

Parents are important contributors to a team's success, but they are not the athletes. Children often imitate the attitudes they see from adults, so parents should model good sportsmanship toward coaches, officials, teammates and competitors.

Be enthusiastic and supportive. Let your child establish personal goals and make progress toward them without imposing your own standards or expectations.

Let the coach coach

The coach is responsible for evaluating swimming performance, technique and training.

Your role is to provide encouragement and positive reinforcement.

Mistakes and disappointing swims are learning opportunities. Encourage effort, recognize what went well and allow coaches to help swimmers understand what can improve.

When an athlete has given their best effort, help them leave the pool feeling supported.

A Parent Self-Check

Are you putting too much pressure on your swimmer?

If you answer “yes” to one or more of these questions, it may be worth considering whether your support is beginning to feel like pressure.

Do you want your child to win more than they do?
Do you openly show disappointment after a poor result?
Do you feel you need to “psych up” your child before competition?
Do you feel your child can only enjoy swimming if they win or achieve a best time?
Do you regularly conduct a detailed “post-mortem” immediately after competition or training?
Do you feel you have to force your child to attend training?
Do you find yourself wanting to interfere during training or competition because you think you could do things better?
Do you find yourself disliking your child's opponents?
Are your child's swimming goals more important to you than they are to your child?
Do you provide material rewards such as money or gifts for good performances?

A parent's role is critical—and it should remain supportive.

Swimming 101

Swimming: The Sport

A quick introduction to the strokes, races and terminology you'll encounter at the pool.

Freestyle

In freestyle events a swimmer may use any stroke, although almost all swimmers use front crawl, characterized by alternating arm movements and a flutter kick.

Backstroke

Backstroke uses alternating arm movements and a flutter kick while the swimmer remains on their back, subject to specific rules governing turns and the finish.

Breaststroke

Breaststroke requires simultaneous arm and leg movements. At turns and at the finish, both hands must touch the wall at the same time.

Butterfly

Butterfly combines simultaneous over-water arm recovery with a dolphin kick. Both hands must touch the wall together at turns and at the finish.

Individual Medley

The individual medley, commonly called the IM, includes all four strokes in this order: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle.

Freestyle Relay

Four swimmers compete as a team, with each swimmer completing one quarter of the total race distance.

Medley Relay

Four swimmers each perform a different stroke in this order: backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle.

Starts & Turns

Starts and turns are critical parts of racing. Swimmers must comply with the technical rules governing the start, each stroke, turns and finishes. A swimmer who gains an unfair advantage or violates the applicable rules may be disqualified.

Race Strategy

Different races require different approaches

Sprint races such as 50m and 100m events are generally raced at very high intensity from start to finish.

Middle-distance events such as 200m and 400m races require a strong sense of pace along with the ability to finish at speed.

Distance events such as the 800m and 1500m freestyle require athletes to manage their effort carefully throughout the race.

Swimmers may aim for an even pace throughout a race or use a negative split, in which the second half is deliberately swum faster than the first.

Pools & Teams

Course and training groups

Competition pools are generally either short course (25 metres) or long course (50 metres).

Swim teams may include athletes of many ages and ability levels. Training groups are typically organized according to development, age, skill, training needs and readiness.

Coaches determine training-group placement and when a swimmer is ready to move to another level.

What Swimmers Use

Swimming Equipment

Equipment requirements vary by training group. Your swimmer's coach can tell you exactly what is required.

Equipment	Purpose
Practice Suit	A swimsuit used for regular training sessions.
Swim Cap	Latex or silicone cap used in practice or racing to manage hair and reduce resistance.
Competition Suit	A racing suit used for competition. Team or competition requirements may vary.
Fins	Used for kicking, stroke development and assisted-speed training.
Goggles	Provide underwater visibility and help protect the eyes during training and racing.
Hand Paddles	Used during selected drills and pulling exercises to develop technique and feel for the water.
Kickboard	Used to isolate and train the kicking portion of a stroke.
Pull Buoy	Placed between the legs to reduce kicking and focus training on the upper body and stroke technique.
Towels	Swimmers often bring more than one towel to longer competitions.
Team Uniform	May include a team suit, cap, T-shirt, sweatshirt, hoodie, jacket or other club apparel.

Fair Competition

Rules & Disqualifications

Swimming's technical rules are designed to provide fair and consistent conditions of competition. Each stroke has specific requirements so that no swimmer gains an unfair advantage.

Trained officials observe races and report rule infractions. If an infraction occurs, a swimmer may be disqualified from the event and will not receive an official result for that race.

Freestyle

Examples include walking on or pushing from the bottom, pulling on a lane rope, failing to touch the wall on a turn or failing to complete the prescribed distance.

Backstroke

Examples include violations related to body position, the continuous turning action, pushing off in an incorrect position or failing to finish the race correctly.

Breaststroke

Examples include an illegal kick, alternating arm actions, incorrect underwater stroke cycles or failing to touch with both hands simultaneously at a turn or finish.

Butterfly

Examples include alternating arm or leg movements, an illegal kick or failing to touch with both hands simultaneously at a turn or finish.

If your swimmer is DQ'd

Be supportive rather than critical. Especially for newer swimmers, a disqualification should be treated as a learning experience rather than a punishment.

A DQ helps the swimmer and coach identify something that needs further practice. The rule still needs to be enforced to keep competition fair for everyone, but the experience can remain constructive and positive.

Behind Every Meet

Swimming Officials

Officials help implement the technical rules of swimming and ensure that every competition is conducted fairly. Officials receive training and practical experience before advancing through officiating positions.

Parent participation in officiating is an important part of competitive swimming and is especially important for clubs that host their own meets.

Official	Role
Timekeepers	Operate timing devices and record times for swimmers.
Turn Inspectors / Judges	Observe turns and finishes to ensure they comply with the applicable stroke rules.
Stroke Judges	Observe swimmers during races to ensure stroke rules are followed.
Relay Take-Off Judges	Observe relay exchanges and determine whether departing swimmers leave legally.
Clerk of Course	Assists with the organization and administration of swimmers, heats and lanes.
Starter	Assumes control of swimmers from the Referee and conducts the start of each race.
Referee	Has overall authority for the conduct of the competition and ensures the rules are properly applied.

When a rule violation is reported, every reasonable effort is made to ensure the swimmer or coach understands the reason for the disqualification.

The Swimming Network

How competitive swimming is organized

Competitive swimming involves local clubs working within provincial and national sport organizations.

Swim Ontario

Swim Ontario is the provincial sport organization responsible for supporting and regulating competitive swimming in Ontario.

Its work includes athlete development, competition structure, officiating, coach development, club support and sport safety.

Channel Cats swimmers participate within the Swim Ontario competitive structure.

Swimming Canada

Swimming Canada is the national sport organization for competitive swimming in Canada.

Provincial organizations such as Swim Ontario are affiliated with Swimming Canada, allowing registered swimmers to participate in sanctioned competition at provincial, national and international levels.

Coaches

Swimming's coaching system provides education and professional development to help coaches guide athletes safely and effectively through each stage of competitive swimming.

Officials

Volunteer officials receive training to conduct sanctioned swim meets in accordance with the rules of swimming and the principles of fair competition.

Inclusive Competition

Para Swimming

Para swimming provides competitive opportunities for swimmers with eligible physical, visual and intellectual impairments.

Para swimmers compete within sport classes that allow athletes with different eligible impairments to compete as fairly as possible.

The traditional swimming classification system includes physical-impairment classes generally identified as S1 through S10, visual-impairment classes S11 through S13, and S14 for eligible intellectual impairment.

Classification is a formal sport process used to determine an athlete's eligibility and appropriate sport class. The process may include medical documentation and assessment of how an impairment affects swimming.

Families interested in para swimming or classification should consult current Swim Ontario and Swimming Canada information, as classification procedures and requirements may change.

Swimming Language

Glossary of Swimming Terms

New to swimming? These are some of the terms you'll hear regularly around the pool.

Age Group Swimming: Competitive swimming organized around the developmental needs and ages of younger athletes.
Block: The starting platform used by swimmers.
Bulkhead: A movable or fixed wall used to divide a pool into different courses, such as dividing a 50m pool into two 25m courses.
Circle Swimming: Swimming in a lane in a circular pattern so that several swimmers can train in the same lane safely.
Coach: A person responsible for teaching, training and guiding swimmers.
Cut: Informal term for a qualifying time required to enter a particular event or meet.
Distance Event: A longer swimming event, commonly used to describe races beyond the middle-distance range.
DQ / Disqualified: A result applied when a swimmer violates a technical or competition rule. A disqualified swimmer does not receive an official result for that race.
Drill: An exercise that isolates or emphasizes part of a stroke to improve technique.
Dry-Land Training: Training completed outside the pool to support swimming performance, such as mobility, strength or conditioning work.
False Start: A starting-rule violation occurring before the proper start of a race.
Final: A race in which swimmers who qualified through earlier heats compete for final placing.
Finish: The final phase of the race and the swimmer's touch at the wall.
Flags: Backstroke flags positioned five metres from the end of the pool to help swimmers judge their approach to the wall.
Goal: A specific achievement a swimmer is working toward. Goals may be short-term or long-term.
IM: Individual Medley. A race using all four strokes in the order butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle.
Lap Counter: A display used during longer races to help the swimmer keep track of the remaining distance.
Long Course / LC: A 50-metre swimming pool or competition course.
Long-Distance / Open-Water Swimming: Longer swimming events that may take place in natural bodies of water such as lakes, rivers or oceans.
Meet: A swimming competition where athletes race events and measure progress against their previous performances and other competitors.
Middle Distance: A term commonly used for races longer than sprint events but shorter than traditional distance races.

Negative Split: Swimming the second half of a race faster than the first half.
Official: A trained person working at a sanctioned competition to help administer the meet and apply swimming rules.
Official Time: A recognized time achieved under the conditions required by the applicable competition rules.
Pace: The speed a swimmer maintains through portions of a race or training set.
Pace Clock: A poolside clock used by swimmers and coaches to monitor intervals and training pace.
Prelim / Heats: Early rounds of an event that may be used to determine which swimmers advance to a final.
Q-Time: Qualifying time required to enter a particular competition or event.
Relay: A team event in which multiple swimmers each complete part of the race.
Safety Procedure: A procedure designed to reduce risk and prevent accidents. Pool and meet safety rules must always be followed.
Sanctioned Meet: A competition formally approved by the appropriate swimming governing organization.
Scratch: To withdraw a swimmer from an event.
Senior Swimming: Higher-level competitive swimming not necessarily organized by traditional age-group categories.
Short Course / SC: A 25-metre swimming pool or competition course.
Split: An intermediate time recorded during a race, often at regular distance intervals.
Sprint: Short, high-speed swimming. In competition this commonly refers to shorter race distances.
Streamline: A tight, straight body position used after starts and turns to reduce resistance through the water.
Taper: A planned reduction or adjustment in training before an important competition to help athletes race at their best.
Time Trial: A race or controlled competition used to record a swimmer's time outside the normal structure of a meet.
Touch Pad: An electronic timing panel mounted at the end of a lane that records a swimmer's touch.
Warm-Down: Easy swimming performed after a race or demanding training set to assist recovery.
Warm-Up: Lower-intensity swimming performed before racing or demanding training to prepare the body for effort.
Watches: Stopwatches used by timekeepers as part of manual or backup timing at swim meets.