TouchPad: Score / Scoring
Julia S. avatar
Written by Julia S.
Updated over a week ago

The Scoring screen is available by clicking Score on either the main menu or Enter Results screen. Make sure you have Set Point Values (#11 below) before you enter results.

TouchPad uses a dynamic scoring method. This means that scores are NOT kept after you print them; instead, they are calculated each time you request them.

Points are calculated during the processing of the results of an event. You must have specified your point values before entering the results of an event; otherwise scores will not be assigned. If you processed the results of some events before entering the point values, then call up these events again as if to enter results (do not re-enter the times). Then just click the Next or Prev button and as the results are saved, the correct points will be assigned. Then go to the Scoring screen and score.

This means that if you have a meet with 50 events, for example, each time you score, you should score from event 1 to whichever is the last event for which you processed results.

The advantage of this method is that the scores will always reflect any changes you might have made in earlier events.

The three boxes across the top of this window define the type of scoring you require.

1. Score Type

Select how to combine your scoring. You can either combine M/F, Male or Female only, or do it by Pentathlon scores.

When you select Pentathlon Scores it will disable the Score / Preview / Print button in the lower right since the other options do not apply. It will also open a section where you can enter events in the field or select from gender/age groups or gender/sub-age groups (when they exist).

TouchPad Pentathlon gender/age group drop down

Pick one and it will populate the field with the events matching your selection. You can edit the generated list if desired. Then click Score (or Cancel to disable Pentathlon Scores) and it will generate a report with the selected gender and age groups.

TouchPad Pentathlon event selection

Pentathlon meets are meets in which it is assumed that all athletes will compete in all events and their times will be added rather than their points to determine the winner in each group. Athletes who do not compete in all the events offered are NOT included in the scoring.

Pentathlon meets work well as an early season meet with all swimmers swimming each stroke plus an I.M. to get a base time in each event. Pentathlon meets may in fact have any number of events and team scoring is done in the usual way using points (including relays). The times are added for each individual and relays are not considered for time addition.

2. Team or Individual

Select to either Score Teams as a whole or Score Individuals (i.e., individual high point). You must select Score Teams if you want to Print Quality Point Team Totals (#9 below).

3. Breakdown by Age Groups

If your meet is an age group meet, choose whether you want No Age Group Breakdown (i.e., the scores lumped together without recognizing the age groups) or broken down by the age groups in your meet by either Event Age Groups or User Defined Age Groups. When you select the third option you will be given a pop out box to specify what these age groups will be. Meets with multi-age events cannot use User Defined Age Groups.

For example, if you have an age group meet and you would like the individual high point winners for each age group, be sure to click Score Individuals in the second box and Use Event Age Groups or User Defined Age Groups in the third box.

When you want TEAM scores for each age group, click Score Teams in the second box and Use Event Age Groups or User Defined Age Groups in the third box.

4. Score First Heat/Last Heat Only

By selecting these options only swimmers in the first heat and/or last heat will score points toward team totals. Under Award Labels, however, you may choose to print award labels either for just first heat, last heat or all the heats involved.

5. Restricted Scoring

This refers to allowing any team only a certain number of scorers in each event, which is useful when you have large teams competing against small. None means scoring will happen as per normal. A swimmer in 1st place will receive 1st place, regardless of what team they are on, 2nd will receive 2nd, and so on.

The other three selections turn on Restricted Scoring where you then specify the number of individuals and relays from each team who may earn points. When you check Only 1st place if one team entered and only one team of two or more enters an event, that team only get points for 1st place to prevent them from dominating the other team(s).

TouchPad restricted scoring


Suppose the host limits the number of individuals per team to three, there are two teams, and only places 1-5 are scored. Furthermore, suppose the swimmers on team A score 1st-4th place and a swimmer on team B scores 5th.

  • No Move Ups - Restrictions are enforced per team; swimmers on other teams will not move up into restricted scoring places. In the above scenario the swimmers on team A will only score 1st-3rd place, the 4th place swimmer is dropped out of scoring, and the swimmer on team B scores 5th.

  • Move Up Points Only - Swimmers on other teams move up and receive the points that restricted teams would have received; places remain in finish order. In the above scenario the swimmer on team B receives the points for 4th place but stays in 5th place.

  • Move Up Points and Places - Swimmers on other teams move up and receive the points and places that restricted teams would have received. In the above scenario the swimmer on team B moves up to 4th place AND receives the points for 4th place.

6. Multiple Division Scoring

Use this function for double dual meets or if you to want have three teams score as follows 1vs2, 2vs3, and 1vs3. More generally it allows you to score subsets of the teams in your meet considering the other teams as not even present. You cannot specify this scoring pattern until you have loaded the event entry files from all teams in the meet.

7. Scoring range, even/odd, based on Seeding/Results

Enter the event range to score, whether to score only even or odd events, and whether to score based on seeding or results. If you score based on the seed times that have been entered, multiple division scoring is NOT supported in the mode, nor are individual scores. This choice will produce overall team scores based on the order of the seed times.

8. Score Using FINA Base Points

FINA Scoring (FINA is the international swimming governing body) is a way of assigning points to each athlete based on his/her time as calculated in its relationship to a base time for each event. The FINA Point Scoring Table allows comparisons of results among different events. It assigns point values to swimming performances, more points for world class performances, typically 1000 or more, and fewer points for slower performances. Each swimmer receives points based on his/her time rather than the place they earned.

Points are not available for 25M long events. FINA times are only available for meters pools, so TouchPad uses SCM times for yards pools when they exist as FINA SCM times.

There are several ways to check your FINA scores. Swimming Manawatu has a good FINA Points Calculator you can play with.

9. Scoring Report Options

Make your selection for options to appear on your report. Check Print Quality Point Team Totals to use quality points instead of regular scoring if you wish to more accurately compare large and small teams in the same meet. Learn more about Quality Points. Note that this only works if you have Score Teams selected in the Team or Individual section above (see #2).

10. Show How Many Team/Individuals will show on reports

You can designate ALL or select the amount of places to appear.

11. Set Point Values

This allows you to add value to the scoring ie: 10 points for 1st place, 5 for 2nd etc. Set these before you enter results. Scoring is dynamic and will score while the meet is occurring. If you set your points after the meet, you need to go to Enter Results and click Next through all events to apply scoring.

12. Clear Points

Clears all points for the event range specified in Score FROM Event __ TO __ (see #7 above), which will require cycling through those events in Enter Results if results have been entered to rescore them.

13. Score/Preview/Print

Scores can be printed to disk in HTML format ready to post on any web site.

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