Event Terminology
This is by no means a comprehensive guide. If you come across a term or acronym and don't know the meaning, or if there is some missing below that you are aware of, please use the Contact Us page and we will get it added.
Long Course (LC or LCM) - Competitions are held in a pool, which is 50m long. This is the length of pool used in major competitions.
Short Course (SC or SCM) - Competitions are held in a pool, 25m long, which is the length of the Burnham pool.
Qualifying Times (QT) - These are the times put in by the meet organisers. They can be either: -
- Upper Qualifying Time (UQT) - This is the fastest time a swimmer can be to enter a specific race. No one with a faster time is able to enter the event. Typically, this applies to Level 3 meets.
- Lower Qualifying Time (LQT) - This is the slowest time a swimmer can be to enter a specific race. No one with a slower time is able to enter the event. County, Regional and National events and some higher level open meets.
Consideration Times (CT) - These are used in some meets where a swimmer needs to have the LQT but there may be room to have additional swimmers. If this time is being submitted, entry into the meet is not guaranteed. SW Regionals have consideration times.
Conversion Times - Times registered in one length pool can be “converted” to an equivalent time in another length pool using a conversion table. The one used by the ASA is the Equivalent Performance Table. This is available to download here.
Level X - Swim England set this up once the pools were reopened after the Covid-19 Lockdowns. The purpose was to give swimmers the chance to record times within the confines of their club “bubble”. Times have been sent to ASA rankings so that swimmers could enter meets once competitions restarted. This is now been suspended from 31st August 2021.
LTAD - Long Term Athlete Development is about the club and coaches delivering the correct training, competition and recovery throughout a young athlete’s career. It provides a framework from which all sports should encompass their training and competition plan.
Meet Mobile - Downloadable app that most Open Meet organisers use to share their meet information and provides up to the minute results. It currently costs £4.99 a year, see their website here.
ASA - Somerset Amateur Swimming Association
Counties - This is how the Somerset County Championships are often referred to. These are held annually usually between January to March and run by the Somerset ASA. The qualifying window generally runs from the start to the end of the calendar year prior to the start of each years championships. Qualifying times for each age group are usually released in July each year and are short course (although long course times can be converted to short course to qualify). Times achieved at level 4 meets and above can count for qualification.
County Qualifying Time - The time for a swimmers age group that needs to be acheived to qualify for an event.
Regionals - This is the next level of competition up from the County Championships and refers to the region that we are based in, Swim England South West. This covers the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset & Wiltshire. Any regional competition will be for swimmers from all of these counties. The regional qualification window typically runs from the start of September to the end of March.
Nationals - This is the next level of competition up from the Regional Championships and which national meet a swimmer can enter depends on their country of birth (or potentially qualifying to represent that nation through a parent or grandparent). There are national championships held for England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Irish swimmers can qualify for the unified Swim Ireland national championships.
