Coaching Staff
Head Coach – Melissa Alexander
Assistant Coach – Kristy Beck

What to watch at a swimming and diving meet!

Welcome to the world of competitive swimming and diving.  The following guide will introduce you to the ins and outs of high school swimming and diving. 

The Racing Course

The pool is typically 25 yards by 6 to 10 lanes with starting blocks at either end.  The depth of the water can range from at a minimum of 36 inches to up to 9 feet deep.  The diving well can range from 9 feet in depth up to 21 feet in depth depending on the height of the diving apparatus.  Typically a pool will have at least one 1 meter springboard and one 3 meter springboard.  Pools with platform diving include a 1, 3, 5, 7.5 and 10 meter platforms.  Platform diving is typically found in college and Olympic diving programs. The front edge of the starting blocks should be at least 30 inches above the surface of the water, and the temperature should be between 65 and 75 degree’s Fahrenheit.

Freestyle Events

In a freestyle event, competitors may swim any stroke they wish, the usual stroke being the Australian crawl, characterized by the alternate overhand motion. 

Backstroke Events

In backstroke, swimmers must stay on their backs except during turns.  The stroke is an alternating motion of the arms.  Rules allow a swimmer to turn over and a flip turn as in freestyle, before touching each wall with their feet.

Breaststroke Events
Perhaps one of the most difficult strokes to master, the breaststroke requires simultaneous movements of the arms on the same upward plane.  The hands are pushed forward from the breastbone 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.  No flutter or dolphin kicking is allowed.  At each turn the swimmer must touch with both hands in parallel at the same time.

Butterfly Events

The most beautiful and physically demanding stroke, the butterfly features the simultaneous overhead stroke of the arms combined with the dolphin kick.  The Dolphin kick features both legs moving up and down together.  No flutter kicking is allowed.

Individual Medley Events

The individual medley, commonly known as the I.M, features all four competitive strokes.  The swimmer begins with butterfly, then backstroke, then breaststroke then freestyle.  In high school both men and women compete in the 200 IM.

Medley Relay

In the medley relay all four strokes are swum by different swimmers.  The relay begins with backstroke, then breaststroke, then butterfly then freestyle.  In high school both men and women compete in the 200 Medley Relay.

Freestyle Relay

There are two freestyle relays that compete over 200 and 400 yards.  Four swimmers swim a quarter of the total distance.

Starts and Turns

In the start, the swimmer is called to the starting position by the starter who visually checks that all swimmers are down and still.  Each swimmer must have at least one foot at the front of the block.  Once the starter is satisfied, the race is started by gun or electronic tone.  If the starter feels that one of the swimmers has jumped early, the race will be recalled and the offending swimmer will be disqualified.

Quick turns are essential to a good race.  In all events, the swimmer must touch the wall.  In the freestyle and backstroke, the swimmer may somersault as he/she reaches the wall, touching only with their feet.  In the other two competitive events the swimmer must touch the wall with both hands evenly before executing the turn.

Strategies

The sprint races (50 or 100 yards) are an all-out effort from start to finish. The 200 yard events require a sense of pace as well as the ability to swim a controlled sprint. The distance events (500 yards) are usually swum holding the same pace evenly throughout the race or negatively split.

Diving

In high school swimming, diving is considered an event.  There are both 6 and 11 dive meets.  Most dual meets will have 6 dives.   Most championship meets including state require 11 dives.

The Events:

In high school swimming student/athletes participate in the following events.  In Georgia men’s events precede the women’s.  At some meets where diving boards are not present, diving is dropped from the events, or if the coaches agree in advance diving may be dropped from a meet to shorten the length of the meet