SCORING 101

You might have heard the terms "live heats" versus "exhibition heats".  The term exhibition quickly brings up all kinds of thoughts, but what does it really mean?  This short primer is for those parents and swimmers who are new to competitive swimming.  Thanks to our very own Deb Trimmer, we have compressed the mystery of swim meet scoring into a few short paragraphs.  Let's start with the points scored by finish place.

Most of the pools we will swim in are six lanes.  By order of finish, the points assigned are as follows:

For Individual events...versus relays:

Each team can only have a maximum of 3 swimmers in each event.  The first 3 swimmers constitute the "live heat", meaning those individuals who can score points for the team.  Subsequent heats in the same event make up what is call the Exhibition Heats.  Any one team can only score a maximum of 13 points in an event, providing that team takes 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.  Ribbons are given thru 6th place, but unfortunately, no points are scored for finishing in 6th place.

For relay events, the scoring system is slightly modified:

In relay events, only the first three (3) place finishes earn points...........AND, no one team can SWEEP a relay.....thus, the maximum points that any one team can earn in a relay event is 12 points...if the 3rd place finishers are from the same team, they earn 0 points.

A word about Exhibition Events

Team scoring being what it is, makes selection of swimmers a challenging task for the coaching staff.  You definitely want to have your best swimmers in the events, where they can produce the most points for the team.  Since team members can only swim in four events; one of which can be a relay, you need to think carefully about how you use each member of the team for maximum benefit.  Exhibition events also allow the coaching staff to evaluate the skill development of each swimmer under race conditions.  It's not unusual to see an individual in an exhibition event post a time better than a swimmer that is swimming in the live heat.  It's hard to tell when a swimmer will "break out" of their normal event times to post a new "significant" personal best.  Exhibition heats allow the coaching staff to make decisions about swimmers for future events.

It's important to recognize that swimmers in exhibition heats are trying just as hard to win their events as swimmers in the live heats.  Most swimmers start their swimming careers in exhibition heats.  It's where they perfect their strokes and build their stamina and reduce their time.  Thus, they achieve their personal goals.