| dual season | 9 meets against other teams in the Metro League |
| event | A category of competition, such as "Boys Under 8, Individual Freestyle" |
| graduated relay | A relay race, 1 swimmer from each age group , swimming different distances (25 yards, 25 yards, 50 yards, 50 yards, 50 yards) |
| IM | 100 yards, 1 length each of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle |
| medley relay | A relay race, in which each swimmer swims a different stroke. |
| meet | A competition between clubs, consisting of multiple events, each of which may have multiple heats, in which multiple swimmers may compete. |
| personal best | A swimmer's personal best is their individual best time in a particular event. Swimmers should concentrate on improving their own personal best time, rather than upon the number of events they win. |
| scored heat | League rules define the number of scored heats in an event. Typically, a meet will have time for additional unscored heats. Scoring only includes wins by swimmers in scored heats. Swimmers in scored heats will be awarded "place" ribbons (eg., 1st Place, 2nd Place). Swimmers in unscored heats will be awarded Participant ribbons. |
| sweep | Taking all of the places (eg., 1st Place, 2nd Place, 3rd Place) within a event. League rules disallow sweeping of an event by a strong club. |