Swimming

Great Britain is considered the first modern country to have developed the sport of swimming. Modern swimming competitions began in 1837 in several London pools that had already existed. In 1896, swimming was recognized at the modern Olympic Games in Athens. The events were only for men and they consisted of the 100 and 1500 m freestyle in open water. Women were allowed to swim in the 1912 Olympic Games, competing in freestyle events. Stroke development began over the next decades, refining the freestyle and breaststroke.

In 1934, David Ambruster discovered a way to make the breaststroke arm recovery more efficient. A double arm, out of water “butterfly” technique was used to gain more speed but required more conditioning and training. The following year, the dolphin fishtail kick was developed by Jack Sieg, of the University of Iowa. Swimmers were not allowed to use the dolphin kick along with the out of water recovery until 1952 when the butterfly became an official swimming stroke. The final four strokes that have been developed and refined over the past century are; butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. Swimming at the Olympic Games has grown into 32 swimming races; 16 for men and 16 for women. 

Swimming was featured at the first Canada Summer Games in 1969. Since then, the program has grown at the Games, featuring opportunities for able-bodied swimmers, swimmers with disabilities, and special Olympic swimmers.

A Province/Territory may enter:

•           One team per relay event;

•           Up to four (4) swimmers in the preliminaries of individual events;

•           Up to two (2) swimmers in the time final events (800 m free, 1500m free and 5km open water).

Based on preliminary results, only two (2) swimmers per Province/Territory are eligible to advance to the finals (A or B).

An able body competitor may compete in up to seven (7) individual events (including Open Water) plus relays. 

A PS competitor may compete in up to seven (7) PS events.

A SOC competitor may compete in all five (5) SOC events.  

Competitors: Male 16 Female 16

Two (2) of the female team positions and two (2) of the male team positions are reserved exclusively for PARA swimmers classified under the IPC Swimming Classification procedure: classes S1 – S10 functional; classes S11 – S13 visual; class S14 Intellectual.

Two (2) of the female team positions and two (2) of the male team positions are reserved exclusively for Special Olympic Canada registered swimmers

Able-Body Events

Events will be swum according to Swimming Canada rules however information contained in this technical package shall supersede Swimming Canada rules where a discrepancy exists.

Able Body swimmers will swim time finals for the Men’s and Women’s 800 and 1500 m freestyle; 5 km open water, and all relays.  All other events will include preliminaries, and a “B” final followed by an “A” final.

Paralympic / Special Olympic Events

“PS” designates events for Para-swimmers (classes S/SB/SM1 – S/SB/SM14). These events will be swum according to IPC Swimming Rules and Regulations.  The Swimming Canada scratch rule will apply to PS events.

“SOC” designates events for Special Olympics Canada. 

PS and SOC swimmers will swim preliminaries and an “A” final only, regardless of the number of entries per event.

There are seven (7) Para-swimming events. Para-swimmers are to enter their sport class event as listed below. The top 8 swimmers from the preliminaries of each of the PS events will advance to finals based on rankings determined by using the Swimming Canada Para-swimming Points Chart.

Order of Events

Seeding

The 800m (men) and 1500m (women) freestyle events (time final) will be seeded slowest to fastest.

The 800m (women) and 1500m (men) freestyle events (time final) will run the fastest heat being during the finals session. All remaining heats will be run slowest to fastest in the preliminary session. 

Relay time finals will be seeded slowest to fastest. Relay events on Day 2, 3, 4 and 5 will swim in the finals session.

Scratches

The scratch deadline for all preliminary heats on the first day of competition (including time finals) will be 30 minutes following the end of the Technical Meeting.

The scratch deadline for preliminary heats and time finals on days 2 to 5 shall be 30 minutes after the completion of the previous night finals session. This also includes the fastest heat of time final events that will be swum in the final session.

The scratch deadline for finals shall be 30 minutes following the conclusion of the preliminary session.

The scratch deadline for time final relay events (excluding Day 1) will be 30 minutes following the conclusion of the preliminary session on the day that the relays will be swum.

Late Scratches, “No-Shows, “Step-downs” and “Unexcused incomplete swims” will be ranked 27th or lower regardless of whether or not there are 26 swimmers ranked above them.

Rankings

Swimmers who qualify for the A final will be ranked 1 – 8 in order of finish in the A final. Swimmers who qualify for the B final will be ranked 9 – 16 in order of finish in the B final.

Should a Province/Territory qualify only one (1) swimmer for the A or B final, the swimmer from that Province/Territory with the next fastest time will be ranked 17^th – 26^th according to their preliminary time.

Should a Province/Territory not qualify any swimmers for the A or B final, the two (2) swimmers with the fastest times will be ranked 17 – 26^th according to their preliminary time.

The 3^rd and 4^th finishers from each Province/Territory from the preliminaries will automatically be ranked 27^th through last place according to their preliminary time, regardless of whether or not there are 26 swimmers ranked above them.

The PS ‘A final’ swimmers will be determined by ranking individual preliminary performances 1 – 8 utilizing the Swimming Canada Para-swimming Points Chart.

Warm-ups

Swimming Canada Competition Warm-up Safety Procedures (Nov 25, 2014) will apply.

Backstroke – In the backstroke, the swimmer must stay on his or her back at all times. The stroke is an alternating motion of the arms. At each turn a swimmer must touch the wall with some part of the body. Swimmers must surface within 15 m after the start and each turn. Backstroke race distances are 50, 100 and 200 m.

Breaststroke – Perhaps one of the most difficult strokes to master, the breaststroke requires simultaneous movement of the arms on the same horizontal plane. The hands are pushed forward from the breast on or under the surface of the water and brought backward in the propulsive stage of the stroke simultaneously. The kick is a simultaneous thrust of the legs called a frog or breaststroke kick. No flutter or dolphin kicking is allowed. At each turn a swimmer must touch with both hands at the same time. Breaststroke races are distances of 50, 100 and 200 m.

Freestyle – In the freestyle, the competitor may swim any stroke he or she wishes. The usual stroke used is the front crawl. This stroke is characterized by the alternate overhand motion of the arms. The freestyle is swum over 50, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1500 m distances.

Strategies – The sprint races (50 and 100 m) are an all-out burst of speed from start to finish. The slightest mistake can cost precious hundredths of seconds - and the race. The 200 m events require the swimmer to have a sense of pace as well as the ability to swim in a controlled speed.

The 400, 800 and 1500 m freestyle require the swimmer to constantly be aware of where they are in the water and how tired they are becoming. Swimming the first portion of the race at too fast of a pace can sap a swimmers strength and cause a poor finish. Swimming the first portion of the race too slowly can separate the swimmer from the pack and make catching up impossible.

There are two ways to swim a distance race. Swimmers may elect to swim the race evenly (holding the same pace throughout the race) or they may negative split the race. A negative split occurs when the swimmer covers the second half of a race faster than the first half.

The Racing Course: The length of a long course racing pool is 50 m. The pool has eight lanes and each lane is 2.5 m wide. The water temperature must be kept at 26 degrees Celsius.

The International Meet – There are normally 13 individual events and three relays for men and women in at the Olympics. FINA, the international governing body for swimming has recently added the 50 m events for backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke as well as the 800 m freestyle event for men and the 1500 m freestyle event for women.  These events are only contested at the World Championships and have not been added to the Olympic schedule of events.  Likewise the Open Water events of 5 km., 10 km. and 25 km. are contested at FINA events but not at the Olympics.

In 1967, for the Pan-American Games held in Winnipeg, OMEGA developed a new “Touch Pad” timing system especially tailored to swimming competition. The touch pads are installed at both ends of each lane and are equipped with sensors which react to the touch of swimmers but not to water splashes.

Finishes may be electronically recorded on video at 100 images/second. In the control room, timekeepers work in real time (1/100 second) while the net time appears on the judge’s screen; the net time is then instantaneously transmitted to the scoreboard and to the TV screen.

In November 1995, at the World Swimming Championships in Rio de Janeiro, timing technology took another step forward when the instantaneous real-time results were superimposed on the TV screen as rapidly as they were printed on paper.  For the 2000 European Swimming Championships in Athens, OMEGA introduced the concept of live timing which allows swimming fans all over the world to call up results in real time via the internet from the OMEGA timing site. 

Each starting block contains a loudspeaker which gives the signal from the starter.  When the swimmer leaves the blocks he releases a rocking contact. This information is recorded by the timekeepers and makes it possible to spot anticipated relay takeover violations or false starts.  

Officials assist swimmers by providing adequate technical supervision for the meet. They act to ensure that no swimmer gains an unfair advantage over another and that the action of one swimmer does not interfere with the performance of another. 

Meet Manager

• Prepares meet in advance (2-3 months before, depending on the size of the event)
• Sends out notices and prepares programs
• Looks after officials’ recruitment, or appoints an Officials’ Coordinator
• Administers the whole meet, ensures all positions are filled and requirements met
• Convenes scratch meeting
• Handles paperwork during meet
• Sends out results

Referee

• Chief official over all others during meet
• Ensures fairness and makes decisions as required
• Will indicate the start of each race with a whistle tone

Starter

• Starts each race by activating a starting device, ensuring the start is fair

Chief Finish Judge

• Compiles order of finish of a race based on timekeepers results sheet or Chief Judge Electronics order of finish tapes and reports

Chief Judge Electronics

• Supervises results coming from an automatic electronic judging and timing machine

Chief Timekeeper

• Responsible for all timers
• Takes time of winner in case there are not three times
• Responds promptly if Timekeeper has any trouble

Clerk of Course

• Checks-in swimmers and directs them to proper heats and lanes
• Keeps quiet and order on pool deck
• Usually has one or two Marshals on pool deck to assist him

Judges of Stroke

• One or two on each side of pool
• Observes correctness of stroke to ensure that no swimmer gets an unfair advantage

Inspectors of Turns

• From two to sixteen judges
• Observes correctness of turns at both ends of the pool

Recorder/Scorer (Desk Control)

• Checks the results, calculates individual and team scores
• Data input, results programs

Timekeepers

• Usually two-three per swimming lane.  Each timekeeper shall take the time of the swimmers in the lane assigned to him.  Need three Timekeepers for a time to officially break a record.

Electronics Operator

• Operates or assists in the operation of any SNC approved Automatic Officiating Equipment

Safety Marshal

• Ensures that all appropriate warm-up procedures are followed

Able Bodied

Male

Year of Birth: 2001 or later

Female

Year of Birth: 2002 or later

Para

Must be between 13 and 25 years of age as of January 1, 2017

Special Olympics

Must be between 13 and 25 years of age as of January 1, 2017