Disqualifications

It is obviously really disappointing for the swimmers, coaches and parents when a swimmer is disqualified during a competition. However it would be much worse if they didn’t learn from mistakes early in their swimming career and then got disqualified in a County or Regional event.

It is therefore really important that the swimmers understand what they have been DQed for and learn from the experience.

Club events will use codes from the Sports Systems software but other clubs and venues will use different sets of codes.

The main systems are (click on code for full details):

SSSQ Sports Systems Software codes (used in club galas since start of 2011)
ASA ASA codes
FINA Codes from the Federation International de Natation
HYTK Built into Hy-Tek meet Manager, these codes are used in many open competitions

SSSQ Disqualification Codes

The disqualification codes used in results represent the best effort of the person encoding the infraction reported by the judge or other official. Sometimes this requires the use of a code which doesn’t exactly match the infraction, but has been chosen as being in some sense ‘near’.

The SportsSystems SQ codes are more complex than the other disqualification codes; in addition to encoding the infraction they also tell us on which length the infraction occurred and details of any appeal.

The code is made up of three parts:

  • The disqualification reason. This can be one of T (turn), FI (finish), S (stroke), ST (start), O (takeover), FO (fouling), L (wrong lane), M (midconduct) or E (equipment). Reason S has variants SA, SH and SL for faults in arms, head and legs respectively, while reason O has variant OM for an error in stroke change.
  • The appeal status. This is usually blank, but may be A for appeal made and X for appeal disallowed.
  • The length code. This is the number of the length on which the infraction occurred, followed by “L”. In theory code “1L” should be used where the length is not known, but the length code is often omitted.

ASA Disqualification Codes

The disqualification codes used in results represent the best effort of the person encoding the infraction reported by the judge or other official.  Sometimes this requires the use of a code which doesn’t exactly match the infraction, but has been chosen as being in some sense ‘near’.

General
7A Delaying the start
7B Start before starting signal
7C Did not finish
7D Turn not from wall or took step from bottom
7E Walking during freestyle
7F Pulled on lane ropes
7G Obstructing or interfering with another swimmer
7H Device aiding speed or buoyancy or endurance used
7I Pacemaking, plan or device or instruction given
Backstroke
2A Not on back
2B Totally submerged
2C Not on back when leaving the wall
2D Did not touch the wall during the turn
2E Not on the back at finish
Breaststroke
3A Body not on the breast
3B Stroke cycle not one arm stroke to one leg kick
3C Arm movements not simultaneous
3D Arm movements not in the same horizontal plane
3E Hands not pushed forward together from the breast
3F Elbows over water
3G Hands brought back beyond the hip line
3H Head not breaking surface during stroke
3I Head broke surface too late in 2nd stroke
3J Downward dolphin kick not followed by b-s kick
3K Leg movements not simultaneous
3L Leg movements not on the same plane
3M Feet not turned out during propulsive part of kick
3N Executed a downward dolphin kick
3O Did not touch simultaneous at turn or finish
Butterfly
1A Body not on the breast
1B Arms not brought forward together
1C Arms not brought forward over the water
1D Arms not brought backward simultaneously
1E Movements of the legs not simultaneous
1F Alternating movements of legs or feet
1G Breaststroke kick used
1H Touch single-handed or not simultaneous
1I More than one arm pull under water
1J Head did not break surface at or before 15m
1K Not on surface during stroke
Freestyle
4A Did not touch the wall at the turn or finish
4B Totally submerged
4C Head did not break surface at or before 15m mark
Individual Medley
5A Incorrect individual stroke order
5B Finish of each stroke not in accordance with rules
Relay
61 Stroke Infraction swimmer #1
62 Stroke Infraction swimmer #2
63 Stroke Infraction swimmer #3
64 Stroke Infraction swimmer #4
66 Swimmer #2 started before swimmer #1 touched
67 Swimmer #3 started before swimmer #2 touched
68 Swimmer #4 started before swimmer #3 touched
6A Incorrect medley relay order
6B Team swum in incorrect order
6C Fewer than four swimmers in a team
6D Team member enters water not to swim their length

FINA Disqualification Codes

The disqualification codes used in results represent the best effort of the person encoding the infraction reported by the judge or other official.  Sometimes this requires the use of a code which doesn’t exactly match the infraction, but has been chosen as being in some sense ‘near’.

General
GA False start
GB Delay of meet
GC Unsportsmanlike manner
GD Interference with another swimmer
GE Did not swim stroke specified
GF Did not swim distance specified
GG Did not finish in same lane
GH Standing on bottom during any stroke but freestyle
GI Swimmer swam in wrong lane
GJ Swimmer made use of aids
GK Swimmer did not finish
GL Pulled on lane ropes
Backstroke
BaA Toes over the gutter
BaB Head did not break surface by 15 meters after start or turn
BaC Shoulders past vertical
BaD No touch at turn and/or finish
BaE Not on back off wall
BaF Did not finish on back
BaG Past vertical at turn: non continuous turning action
BaH Past vertical at turn: independent kicks
BaI Past vertical at turn: independent strokes
Breaststroke
BrA Head did not break surface before hands turned inside 2nd st
BrB Head did not break surface of water during each stroke cycle
BrC Arm movements not always simultaneous in horizontal plane
BrD Leg movements not always simultaneous in horizontal plane
BrE Hands not pushed forward on, under or over water
BrF Elbows not always submerged during race
BrG Feet not turned outward during propulsive part of kick
BrH Did not touch wall with both hands simultaneously
BrI Body not on breast from beginning of 1st arm stroke
BrJ Illegal downward dolphin kick
BrK Broke stroke cycle
Butterfly
BfA Head did not break surface by 15 meters after start or turn
BfB More than one arm pull ender water after start or turn
BfC Not toward breast off the wall
BfD Did not bring arms forward and/or backward simultaneously
BfE Did not bring arms forward over water
BfF Did not execute movement of both feet in same way
BfG Did not touch wall with both hands simultaneously
BfH No touch at turn and/or finish
BfI Arm movement did not continue throughout race
Freestyle
FrA No touch at turn or finish
FrB Swam under water more than 15 meters after start or turn
FrC Walked on pool bottom and/or pushed off bottom
Individual Medley
IMA Freestyle swum as backstroke, breaststroke or butterfly
IMB Not swum in right order
IMC Stroke infraction – use stroke codes
Relay
RA2 Early swimmer take-off swimmer #2
RA3 Early swimmer take-off swimmer #3
RA4 Early swimmer take-off swimmer #4
RB Medley not swum in right order
RC Changed order of swimmers
RD Non listed swimmer swam
RE1 Stroke infraction swimmer #1
RE2 Stroke infraction swimmer #2
RE3 Stroke infraction swimmer #3
RE4 Stroke infraction swimmer #4
RF Swimmer other than swimmer designated to swim entered area

HYTK Disqualification Codes

The disqualification codes used in results represent the best effort of the person encoding the infraction reported by the judge or other official.  Sometimes this requires the use of a code which doesn’t exactly match the infraction, but has been chosen as being in some sense ‘near’.

General
GA False start
GB Delay of meet
GC Unsportsmanlike manner
GD Interference with another swimmer
GE Did not swim stroke specified
GF Did not swim distance specified
GG Did not finish in same lane
GH Standing on bottom during any stroke but freestyle
GI Swimmer swam in wrong lane
GJ Swimmer made use of aids
GK Swimmer did not finish
GL Pulled on lane ropes
Backstroke
BaA Toes over the gutter
BaB Head did not break surface by 15 meters after start or turn
BaC Shoulders past vertical
BaD No touch at turn and/or finish
BaE Not on back off wall
BaF Did not finish on back
BaG Past vertical at turn: non continuous turning action
BaH Past vertical at turn: independent kicks
BaI Past vertical at turn: independent strokes
Breaststroke
BrA Head did not break surface before hands turned inside 2nd st
BrB Head did not break surface of water during each stroke cycle
BrC Arm movements not always simultaneous in horizontal plane
BrD Leg movements not always simultaneous in horizontal plane
BrE Hands not pushed forward on, under or over water
BrF Elbows not always submerged during race
BrG Feet not turned outward during propulsive part of kick
BrH Did not touch wall with both hands simultaneously
BrI Body not on breast from beginning of 1st arm stroke
BrJ Illegal downward dolphin kick
BrK Broke stroke cycle
Butterfly
BfA Head did not break surface by 15 meters after start or turn
BfB More than one arm pull ender water after start or turn
BfC Not toward breast off the wall
BfD Did not bring arms forward and/or backward simultaneously
BfE Did not bring arms forward over water
BfF Did not execute movement of both feet in same way
BfG Did not touch wall with both hands simultaneously
BfH No touch at turn and/or finish
BfI Arm movement did not continue throughout race
Freestyle
FrA No touch at turn or finish
FrB Swam under water more than 15 meters after start or turn
FrC Walked on pool bottom and/or pushed off bottom
Individual Medley
IMA Freestyle swum as backstroke, breaststroke or butterfly
IMB Not swum in right order
IMC Stroke infraction – use stroke codes
Relay
RA2 Early swimmer take-off swimmer #2
RA3 Early swimmer take-off swimmer #3
RA4 Early swimmer take-off swimmer #4
RB Medley not swum in right order
RC Changed order of swimmers
RD Non listed swimmer swam
RE1 Stroke infraction swimmer #1
RE2 Stroke infraction swimmer #2
RE3 Stroke infraction swimmer #3
RE4 Stroke infraction swimmer #4
RF Swimmer other than swimmer designated to swim entered area
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