Glossary

  • Build - Increasing effort or speed.
  • Choice - You can choose to complete the set with Butterfly, Back, Breast, or Free. Check with your lane mates to see what they want to do.
  • Descend - Within a set, each given distance becomes faster as the set progresses.
  • Drill - Practicing the correct mechanical aspect of any stroke to make you a better swimmer. Ask the coach for suggestions on what drill you should do for each stroke. There are several options. The point of the set is to teach your muscles a new way of doing something. The focus is on learning instead of speed in a drill set.
  • IM - Individual Medley - This set includes all strokes done in this order: Butterfly, Back, Breast, Freestyle. For example, if told to do a "100 IM", start with a pool length of fly, followed by length of Back, then Breast, and Freestyle.
  • Interval - A specific time period in which you must swim a specified distance. For example, a set of ten 50’s on a 1:15 means that you must complete each swim in less than one minute and 15 seconds. If you complete your 50’s in 1 minute, then you have 15 seconds rest between each one. So, the faster you go, the more rest you have. Interval training is incorporated into most workouts to increase speed.
  • Negative Split - For any given distance, the second half is faster than the first half.
  • On the Top / On the Bottom - In swimming, ‘top’ means, top of the pace clock, and ‘bottom’ means bottom of the pace clock.
  • Pace Clock - Large clock with a sixty-second hand, placed either a wall or on the deck of a pool for easy viewing.
  • Pull Bouy - Usually two cylinders of Styrofoam tied together with twine and placed between the legs. It enables the swimmer to focus on his or her arm stroke without kicking.
  • Rest Interval - The time between completing one distance and beginning another distance.
  • Set - A number of repeated swims of specified distances with a rest interval between each distance.
  • Short Course / Long Course - 25-yard or 25-meter pool/50 meter pool.
  • Warm Up / Cool Down - The beginning (warm-up) or ending (cool-down) portion of a workout when the goal is to gently familiarize the body to exercise and prevent injury.