2009 21 Nov

A Succint Overview Of Swimming As An International Sporting Event

The Federation Internationale de Natation Amateur (FINA) governs international swimming and other water athletic competitions at the amateur class. The FINA consists of national organizations from about 100 nations. These associations consist of U.S. Swimming, the Canadian Federation of Amateur Aquatics, the Amateur Swimming Union of Australia, and the Amateur Swimming Association of Great Britain. Swim meets are convened in both long-course pools, which measure 50 meters in length, and short-course swimming pools, which measure 75 feet long. Long-course swimming pools are divided into 6, 8, or 10 lanes, each of which is 2.4 meters wide. Short-course swimming pools have 6 or eight lanes. Each lane measures 7 or 8 feet wide. In U.S. championship meets, 8 lanes is required to be used in both long- and short-course swimming pools. The FINA recognizes international records established only in long-course swimming pools.

Water in a regulation pool must be no less than 4 feet in depth and have a temperature of about 78°F. Floats called lane lines run the span of the pool. They mark lane boundaries and help keep the surface of the water calm. Swimmers take part in five varieties of events – freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and individual medley. In a freestyle event, a swimmer may decide on any stroke; but swimmers always pick the front crawl since it is the quickest stroke. In the individual medley, contestants swim an equivalent space of each of the four strokes. In national and world competitions, individual freestyle competitions are run at lengths of 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1,500 meters. Breaststroke, backstroke, and butterfly events are 100 and 200 meters in length. The individual medley covers 200 and 400 meters. Team relays are among the most thrilling swimming races. A team consists of four competitors, each of whom swims an identical space. Men’s and women’s teams partake in a 400-meter freestyle relay, a 400-meter medley relay, each member of the team swims a dissimilar stroke for 100 meters.

Swimming events are held at diverse levels of competition, from local to international. So many swimmers partake in competitive swimming that qualifying times are established for large meets. Swimmers have to at least equal the qualifying times for the races that they hope to enter in order to be eligible for those races. Big meets have several officials. The lead official is the referee. The referee oversees the other officials and makes sure that the swimmers follow regulations. Each competitor in a race is given a lane. The competitors with the quickest qualifying times get the center lanes, and the slowest swimmers receive the outer lanes. The race starts at the sound of the starter’s pistol or horn. For the duration of the race, lane judges scrutinize each swimmer’s strokes and the twirls at the end of the pool. An illegitimate stroke or roll disqualifies a swimmer. In many competitions, a digital timing and judging system decides the order of finish and each competitor’s time to 1/1000 of a second. The system starts mechanically at the starter’s signal. It records the time for each swimmer as the swimmer’s hand touches a plate attached to the end of the pool. Visit http://www.houston-pool-service.com for Houston Pool Service – Houston Pool Cleaning, etc.