Warm-Up Procedures  (also contained in the NFHS Rules Book at the front of the book)

                As a matter of safety, the following guidelines for meet warm up should be implemented for ALL meets – small dual meets as well as large invitational or championship meets.  Even though meet officials arrive during or even after warm-up periods, they should be attentive to whether meet hosts are implementing these very important safety guidelines.  Avoiding the all-too-frequent injuries that occur during warm-up should be a priority for coaches and school/meet administrators.

a.        A designated supervisor shall be on the deck during the entire warm-up period (this is most likely not the coach).

b.       Swimmers shall enter the water feet-first except for starts which are limited to specified lanes.

c.        Specify Lanes 2 and 5 (six-lane pool) or Lanes 2 and 7 (eight-lane pool) as one-way sprint lanes with racing starts permitted at the starting end of the pool.

d.       Place a cone or other marker on starting platforms in lanes not specified as one-way sprint lanes.

e.        Specify center lanes for circle swimming (two lengths of the pool beginning at the starting end of the pool).

f.         Specify the outside lanes as pace lanes (swimmers swim one or two lengths from an in-water push-off position from the starting end of the pool.).

g.       May specify lanes for relay practice during the last 15 minutes of the warm up.

h.       Coaches should stand at the starting end of the pool and verbally start swimmers for sprint or pace work.

i.         Swimmers should not be allowed on a starting platform when a backstroker is executing a start in the same sprint lane.

j.         Swimmers shall not swim in the area where the diving warm up is occurring.  

Rule information interpretation and comments provided by Doug Glaeser, CIF State Rules' Interpreter.
If you have any questions please e-mail SCAF Web Master through the response page.
Revised 01-05-2004