After installation of the software on your computer you are ready to start using the software. WinSwim/Rec comes with a sample database with the name SAMPLE.MDB contained in the directory that the application was installed. It's a good idea to play with this file and see how it's used with an existing swim team already completed.
The first step is to create a new database by using the "File | Create New Database...". This will create the initial MS Access 2000 database with basically empty tables other than data automatically installed from the "[appl. directory]\defaults". Winswim provides an initial set of events, but you will end up completely replacing this data.
Okay, what's a "Table"? Logical groups of information within an MS Access 2000 relational database are grouped into what is called a table. Usually, they appear as lists of information that have a common purpose.
These are tables that contain information pertaining to creating your membership roster and events. You MUST have this information right before proceeding! You locate this information from the menus at "File | Meet Characteristics".
Note: MUST GET THIS RIGHT FIRST AND NOT CHANGE DURING THE COURSE OF A SEASON.
First, check the "Age Groups". You will be assigning each event and member of the swim team to one of these age groups. So check that these brackets contain an age group for each event and meet your associations standards. You can have these age groups bridge across different groups, such as, 10 - 11 and 9 - 11, if you want too.
Note: Get age groups right before creating the members or events!
| Event Distance | 3000-4250 ft. | 4251-6500 ft. | Above 6500 ft. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200 | .50 Sec | 1.20 Sec | 1.60 Sec |
| 400 or 500 | 2.50 Sec | 5.00 Sec | 7.00 Sec |
| 800 Free Relay | 2.00 Sec | 4.80 Sec | 6.40 Sec |
| 800 or 1000 | 5.0 Sec | 10.00 Sec | 15.00 Sec |
| 1500 or 1650 | 11.00 Sec | 23.00 Sec | 32.50 Sec |
Subtract the time indicated above from the actual time achieved at that altitude. This is the time to be used on the deck card and seeding will be based on that time held in best times.
Note: This altitude adjustment can be disabled from within the preferences conversion tab.
The conversion factors are used for converting from yard to/from meter times. The default factors shown below are loaded into the Conversion table and used to convert times before they are stored into the best times roster and for the seed times displayed on the deck cards.
|
Stroke |
---------------50's--------------- |
|---|---|
|
Butterfly |
(Meters Time) = (Yards Time) x 1.11 + 0.7 sec |
|
Backstroke |
(Meters Time) = (Yards Time) x 1.11 + 0.6 sec |
|
Breaststroke |
(Meters Time) = (Yards Time) x 1.11 + 1.0 sec |
|
Freestyle |
(Meters Time) = (Yards Time) x 1.11 + 0.8 sec |
|
Stroke |
---------------100's--------------- |
|
Butterfly |
(Meters Time) = (Yards Time) x 1.11 + 1.4 sec |
|
Backstroke |
(Meters Time) = (Yards Time) x 1.11 + 1.2 sec |
|
Breaststroke |
(Meters Time) = (Yards Time) x 1.11 + 2.0 sec |
|
Freestyle |
(Meters Time) = (Yards Time) x 1.11 + 1.6 sec |
|
Stroke |
---------------200's--------------- |
|---|---|
|
Butterfly |
(Meters Time) = (Yards Time) x 1.11 + 2.8 sec |
|
Backstroke |
(Meters Time) = (Yards Time) x 1.11 + 2.4 sec |
|
Breaststroke |
(Meters Time) = (Yards Time) x 1.11 + 4.0 sec |
|
Freestyle |
(Meters Time) = (Yards Time) x 1.11 + 3.2 sec |
|
Ind. Medley |
(Meters Time) = (Yards Time) x 1.11 + 3.2 sec |
|
Stroke |
---------------400's--------------- |
|---|---|
|
Ind. Medley |
(Meters Time) = (Yards Time) x 1.11 + 6.4 sec |
|
Stroke |
---------------50's--------------- |
|---|---|
|
Butterfly |
(Yards Time) = (Meters Time - 0.7 Sec) / 1.11 |
|
Backstroke |
(Yards Time) = (Meters Time - 0.6 Sec) / 1.11 |
|
Breaststroke |
(Yards Time) = (Meters Time - 1.0 Sec) / 1.11 |
|
Freestyle |
(Yards Time) = (Meters Time - 0.8 Sec) / 1.11 |
|
Stroke |
---------------100's--------------- |
|
Butterfly |
(Yards Time) = (Meters Time - 1.4 Sec) / 1.11 |
|
Backstroke |
(Yards Time) = (Meters Time - 1.2 Sec) / 1.11 |
|
Breaststroke |
(Yards Time) = (Meters Time - 2.0 Sec) / 1.11 |
|
Freestyle |
(Yards Time) = (Meters Time - 1.6 Sec) / 1.11 |
|
Stroke |
---------------200's--------------- |
|---|---|
|
Butterfly |
(Yards Time) = (Meters Time - 2.8 Sec) / 1.11 |
|
Backstroke |
(Yards Time) = (Meters Time - 2.4 Sec) / 1.11 |
|
Breaststroke |
(Yards Time) = (Meters Time - 4.0 Sec) / 1.11 |
|
Freestyle |
(Yards Time) = (Meters Time - 3.2 Sec) / 1.11 |
|
Ind. Medley |
(Yards Time) = (Meters Time - 3.2 Sec) / 1.11 |
|
Stroke |
---------------400's--------------- |
|---|---|
|
Ind. Medley |
(Yards Time) = (Meters Time - 6.4 Sec) / 1.11 |
Note: This time conversion can be disabled from within the preferences conversion tab.
The lane preferences are used by the automatic seeding process exclusively. This information is used to determine where the fastest swimmer is placed. As an example, see above that the fastest swimmer is put in lane 4 for an 8 lane pool. The initial setup puts the fastest swimmers in the center of the pool.
Note: Most likely you won't change this data. Especially, if you don't using the seeding feature.
This table contains the points that will be assigned for winning a place in a particular event. Typically, you would assign a higher value to 1st place than 2nd. An example would be 5 points for 1st, 3 points for 2nd and 1 point for 3rd. Any other place would receive zero points.
Note: Right now these are all whole numbers, in a future release there are plans to make this a fractional number.
Note: Relay points are only assigned for Stroke = 6 & 7.
The rank is used in conjunction with the events allowing for swimmers to escalate into higher levels of achievement and moved automatically to events specific to those swimmers. The software works on a 3 tier ranking system where everyone initially is set to a rank = 0. The default description for this rank is "Bronze", but you can change the name to anything or just make it blank.
Note: You must have the initial set of events have an entry for the rank=0 (bronze) for each stroke. Don't delete these records, but you can change the RankDesc field.
The stroke table contains the list of possible strokes that are used for descriptions on deck cards and ribbon labels. There can be any number of strokes or description created. You can even create unique events for say, Kickboard for small children or even setup diving events.
Note: This can be just about anything you want it to be.
The defaults are a set of tables containing substitution data used to provide more descriptive titles for some of the fields within WinSwim. You will most likely never change any of this data.
Note: You may want to change the descriptions for sex, say "Boys" & "Girls" or "Men" & "Women".
Now your ready to setup the list of events for your swim meets this season. These are normally the same set of events for each meet and are assigned a numeric 3 digit number starting at 001 for the first event incremented until you reach the last event of the meet. Each event is a particular stroke/distance for a sex for a age group for a particular ranking of swimmers. "Whew, that's a lot to say."
So, as an example the first event might be the individual medley for 50 yards for boys that are age 7-8 that are bronze ranking. When deck cards are created all swimmers that are boys that are in the 7-8 age group that are bronze will be automatically seeded to this event.
Note: You will completely replace all the default data provided!
You see a "Silver" and "Gold" time on each event. The "Silver" time is the YARD time that must be achieved to reach the rank of "Silver". This is automatically calculated when the meet results are applied to the best times. In the next meet, the swimmer will be seeded in the "Silver" events for that particular stroke. The same applies to achieving the "Gold" ranking. Just part of WinSwim/Rec is the fact you have to duplicate these times on each event, even if it's the same stroke.
Note: All times within WinSwim/Rec are normalized to either of YARD or METERS times even if they are captured in another measure. WinSwim/Rec uses a factor, normally 0.9144, to make the calculation. You can change this factor in the options dialog. You must pick either YARDS or METERS and set the conversion factor in the "Edit | Preferences" under the "Conversion Factors" tab.