Scratch, NS, DQ, NT — they are not synonyms
Meet software squeezes a Saturday into three letters. Parents then treat those letters as one story. They are four different objects. Only one is “they raced and broke a rule.” Only one is “there was never a seed.” The other two are about whether the name should still have been on the start list.
| Code | What it actually means |
|---|---|
| Scratch / SCR / WD | Withdrawn through the meet’s procedure before the swim. Usually no “failure to compete” penalty if it was in time. |
| NS | No-show. Still entered. Did not appear. This empty lane can fine a club or bar a swimmer from later events. |
| DQ | Disqualification from a race that started — stroke, turn, finish, or a false start. |
| DFS | Declared false start — USA Swimming’s name for reporting they will not compete. Recorded as a DQ. Not a jump. |
| NT | No Time on the entry. A missing seed, not a result for skipping the race. What NT means. |
If the squad PDF still shows a seed, they were entered. If the result later says NS, nobody got them off that list. If it says DQ, they were in the water — or they left the blocks early. NT after the session is a seed that never became a clock, which is not a no-show.
The one-start rule — first jump can be a DQ
Club racing in English-speaking countries runs on World Aquatics Competition Regulations (February 2026). The start rule: any swimmer who initiates a start before the signal may be disqualified (Part Two, Article 4.4 — “SW 4.4” in older PDFs).
That is the one-start rule. There is no warning heat. If officials catch the movement before the signal, the others are stood down and the start is run again from the long whistle. If the signal has already sounded, the race continues and the offender is disqualified at the finish. The other lanes are not recalled for that mistake.
USA Swimming’s 2026 Rules and Regulations match it in Article 101.1.3, with one extra lock: the Referee must independently observe and confirm the Starter’s call. If a recall is accidentally sounded, nobody is charged with a false start (101.1.3C). A swimmer who moves because the Starter said “stand” can be relieved of the charge (101.1.3D).
Swim England licensed meets follow Swim England Regulations and the Technical Rules of Racing, which use that World Aquatics start. Swim Ireland certifies national competitions under Swim Ireland and World Aquatics rules. Canada and Australia print the same start. I am not writing a school-league exception I have not seen in those documents.
Sometimes the field dives and one child is pulled at the finish — a false start caught after the signal. Sometimes everyone stands up and walks back — a start that never happened. The DQ, if there is one, is on the child who initiated the start, not on the heat.
Scratch is a procedure. No-show is a miss.
A scratch is the club telling the recorder, in the way that meet printed, that this swimmer is off this event — a form, a QR code, a portal, or a name at a team-leaders meeting. Done in time, the heat can be reseeded. The child is not “DQ’d.” They are simply not in that race.
A no-show is the other film. The name is still on the start sheet. Marshalling does not have them. USA Swimming 101.1.5B–C is blunt: the Referee shall disqualify a swimmer who fails to appear at the starting platform ready to swim in time for the initial start of their heat, and that disqualification is not charged as a false start. Meet Mobile often prints NS. The rulebook still treats it as a DQ for failing to appear.
Missing marshalling is how a lot of no-shows are born. That map is call room and marshalling.
DFS is a US name, not a jump
USA Swimming 101.1.3E: swimmers who report to the Referee prior to the start of their race and declare they will not compete shall be disqualified, except as noted in championship scratch rule 207.11.6D(1). That is a declared false start. Coaches shorten it to DFS. The software often prints DQ. Parents hear “false start” and picture a twitch on the blocks. It was a conversation with the referee.
A DFS is the US way to get off a preliminary or timed-final heat after the scratch deadline without that meet’s no-show penalty. It is not a second scratch box. It is also not permitted in a USA Swimming championship final. Article 207.11.6D(1) treats a declared false start or a deliberate delay in a bonus, consolation or championship final as a failure to compete, which can bar the swimmer from the rest of the meet. Illness, injury, and a 30-minute “may not swim” declaration after the heat are the listed exceptions (207.11.6E).
England, Ireland, Canada and Australia do not generally print “DFS.” They print scratch, withdrawal, or NS. Do not ask a Swim England recorder to “DFS the 100 free” unless that pack uses the US term. Ask to withdraw, the way the conditions say.
What “they didn’t swim” does to the team
An empty individual lane is messy. An empty relay lane is three other children in hats with nowhere to go. Relays are usually last. Leaving after the last 50 is how a team becomes three people and a hole. That sermon already has its own page — should my child swim relays. Tell the team manager before the session, not in the car park.
The club, not the gallery, is usually on the entry. Championship conditions in England and Swim Ireland’s national page often levy the fine on the club. The club may then bill the family. That is club policy, not a World Aquatics rule.
At a USA Swimming championship meet, a no-show in a seeded prelim or timed final after check-in can bar the swimmer from the rest of that day’s events, and keep them unseeded on later days until they declare back in (207.11.6C). A no-show in a final can bar them from the remainder of the meet (207.11.6D). A local invitational may be gentler. The announcement is still the law that Saturday.
Scratch in time and the lane is an administrative hole. No-show and it is the club’s problem, the relay’s problem, and sometimes the rest of the meet.
What each federation actually prints
I am not writing a secret local exception. Where the rulebook says “see the meet information,” that is the answer.
| Federation | What the official text says |
|---|---|
| World Aquatics | One-start. Initiate before the signal and you may be DQ’d. Race continues if the gun has gone; recall and restart if it has not. Competition Regulations, February 2026. |
| USA Swimming | 101.1.3 false starts, including DFS. 101.1.5 failure to appear is a DQ, not a false start. 207.11.6 is the championship scratch box — finals DFS not allowed. 2026 rulebook. |
| Swim England | Licensed meets follow Swim England Regulations and the Technical Rules of Racing. Withdrawal method, deadline and fine are in that meet’s conditions — not a single national 50-minute rule. 2026 championship packs commonly ask for withdrawals 50–60 minutes before the session and fine the club for a no-show (Middlesex County 50 minutes / £25; North West 60 minutes / £15; South East long-course £10). Licensed meets. |
| Swim Ireland | National conditions: first-day withdrawals at the Team Leaders Meeting; later days at a time named there. After that, a withdrawal or no-show is a €50 fine. Finals (including reserves): 30 minutes from the announcement, then €50. Illness needs a doctor’s certificate within 72 hours, and that swimmer is then out of the rest of the meet. Regulations and Safety. Club galas print their own packs — do not assume every Level 2 is €50 unless that PDF says so. |
| Swimming Canada | Rule C3.7: scratch without penalty only as the provincial section or Meet Information Package allows. National competitions (SNC 3) add a $50 penalty after the deadline for late scratches, no-shows and unexcused incomplete swims. Rulebook, 18 September 2024. |
| Swimming Australia | CR 15, for Australian swimming events in that rulebook: written withdrawal from a semi-final or final within 30 minutes of the heat result. A late withdrawal that does not swim is fined $100 AUD unless a medical certificate is provided. Club carnivals can be milder — read the programme. Competition Rules. |
Do not treat last year’s county fine as this weekend’s rule. Do not tell a child a false-start DQ “doesn’t count because they still swam the length.” Do not leave a relay standing because the last 50 is done. Do not invent a two-start “warning” because that is how athletics works.
Heats, finals, illness — the extra lock
Timed-final Saturdays are simpler: one swim, scratch before the session, swim or NS. Championship weekends add a second door. Prelims get you into a final; the final is a separate obligation. Format: prelims vs finals. This page is only the withdrawal lock on top of it.
The repeating official pattern is a short window after the heat result — 30 minutes is the number Swim Ireland, Swimming Australia’s CR 15, and USA Swimming’s “may not intend to compete” declaration all print — then a penalty if the name is still on the final and the blocks are empty. USA Swimming 207.11.6D(2) says first and second alternates shall not be penalised if unavailable. Other packs fine reserves who fail to withdraw and then fail to appear. Listen to the announcement after the last heat.
Illness is a referee or recorder exception, not a parent tweet. Swim Ireland wants a doctor’s certificate within 72 hours and then takes that swimmer out of the rest of the meet. USA Swimming 207.11.6E gives the Referee illness, injury, and circumstances beyond the swimmer’s control. Swim England championship conditions typically waive the no-show fine for genuine illness or a proven emergency if you file the form they printed. Do not send the child back in for the 50 fly after scratching the 200 IM as injured unless that pack allows it — several of the documents above do not.
After the session, write what actually happened. A false-start DQ is a DQ. An NS is not a time. A scratch is not a PB you “would have had.” Put the official clock in Finzy when there is one, with the course. The seed on the next sheet is what a seed time is — last official best, not the swim that never started.
