By Morgan Pistorius, Swimming World Intern
The swimming world is its own bubble of isolation. Swimmers often use a totally different language when talking to their teammates as opposed to the rest of their friends. This is no surprise, as during much of practice, the only dialogues we have come in the form of out–of-breath one-liners between repeats. Swimmers understand how difficult it is to tell a joke when you only have about five seconds before you have to push off again. Unfortunately, this swimming language doesn’t always translate well to social situations and swimmers often have trouble communicating with non-swimmers. Sometimes, it seems like a translation guide could be useful, and we’re here to help with this swimming dictionary.
“Cuts”
If you tell your non-swimmer friend that you got several “cuts” at a recent meet, they will wonder why the team held a competition in such a dangerous location. To non-swimmers, a cut means it’s time to pull out the first-aid kit and assess the injury! In swimming terms, getting a cut for an important meet is a time to celebrate. If it is a real swimmer celebration, it is sure to include a lot of food and a group of people with damaged hair, dressed in parkas and flip flops in the winter.
“Taper”
Perhaps no term generates more puzzled looks from non-swimmers than a swimmer’s favorite word of all: Taper. Certain types of pants have a tapered leg, like skinny jeans. Candles can be tapered; so can haircuts. Regardless, non-swimmers just don’t get “taper.” They cannot understand why we suffer for months on end but all of a sudden we have to get extra sleep and can’t even carry the garbage to the curb. Non-swimmers think the holidays are when miracles happen; swimmers know it is actually during taper.
“Invite”
When non-swimmers talk about an invite, it is often in reference to an invitation to an exciting upcoming event or party. This may even include a dress code, or an excuse to get your nails done. For swimmers, an invite means a three-day grind of prelims and finals that few look forward to, especially when final exams are approaching. Good luck getting your homework done between sessions!
“Top” and “Bottom”
In the real world, top and bottom are simple terms to describe the location of one object or idea relative to something else; such as: “your sweater is on the top shelf” or, “my calculus grade is at the bottom of the ocean.” In the swimming world, top and bottom just tell you when rest time is over. “Top” refers to the moment when the second hand reaches the top of the pace clock, or when the digital pace clock turns over to a new minute. As for the “bottom,” it’s the 30-second mark in any given minute. These terms can also be negotiation references. For example: Your coach says, “10 100s on the top.” Swimmers reply, “How about on the next bottom?”
“Splits”
Usually, dancers and gymnasts are the only ones known for doing splits, and these splits don’t involve any math. In a swimmer’s reality, you can’t review your race without your splits. If you negative split, that’s even better! A split is that time you’ve been practicing to hit in a race, either at the 50-yard mark of a 100-yard race or the individual times for each stroke in an individual medley race.
“Butterfly”
To a non-swimmer, a butterfly is one of nature’s best magic tricks. They are delicate and beautiful creatures that seem to float and accelerate with minimal effort. A good butterflier can be described the same way. Done well, butterfly is stunning. Done poorly, it looks like someone threw a blender into the pool. Done excessively, it is torture disguised as exercise.
“DQ”
In the real world, DQ is an abbreviation for Dairy Queen. In that context, everyone wants to go to DQ. There is no ice cream reward for a swimming DQ. A DQ, or a disqualification, can mean the loss of a close meet or best time. Needless to say, the two abbreviations have very diverse connotations.
“Ketchup”
Ketchup is a delicious condiment added to improve the taste of almost anything. “Catch Up” sounds the same, but it isn’t. It does, however, help achieve that critical early high elbow and can improve your kick. I guess if you use “Catch Up” to improve your stroke, it may give your races a little more “hot sauce.”
Armed with this helpful swimming glossary, you are ready to communicate with all those people who don’t smell like chlorine when you go to your next gathering. Before you accept all those holiday invitations this month, make sure you comb your hair, and don’t wear flip-flops.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHA I totally want to tell my friends this stuff sometimes like when there like “I bet I could bet you at butterfly” and I’m all like YOU WANNA GO