I was explaining how to read a heat sheet to someone. English is his second language. He asked, "Why is it called a "heat?" I didn't have an answer, other than that's the term that is also used in track and field.
But it got me wondering, why is it called a "heat?" It doesn't really make sense when you think of the more common definition of the word, which has to do with temperature.
One online dictionary has 20 different definitions for the noun "heat." One of the definitions is:
Sports.
a. a single course in or division of a race or other contest.
b. a race or other contest in which competitors attempt to qualify for entry in the final race or contest.
Then I searched an etymology dictionary, and found this:
Meaning "a single course in a race," especially a horse race, is from 1660s, perhaps from earlier figurative sense of "violent action; a single intense effort" (late 14c.), or meaning "run given to a horse to prepare for a race" (1570s). This later expanded to "division of a race or contest when there are too many contestants to run at once," the winners of each heat then competing in a final race.
A footnote to Swimosaur's interesting comments on horses and "heat": Our amazing human capacity for heat dissipation allowed us to engage in "persistence hunting" where we would literally run down faster animals over long distances until they overheated. I'm guessing this has a lot to do with why we enjoy running, biking, swimming, skiing, and whatever else for long stretches at a time - a lot longer than most other animals would choose to keep moving. So yeah, in a way "heats" of races does make some sense.
I've always maintained that swimming is the best sport because our engines are water cooled (I know all old VW owners with those 40hp air cooled engines will disagree); only swimmers can lay-down smoke on the water.:D
A footnote to Swimosaur's interesting comments on horses and "heat": Our amazing human capacity for heat dissipation allowed us to engage in "persistence hunting" where we would literally run down faster animals over long distances until they overheated. I'm guessing this has a lot to do with why we enjoy running, biking, swimming, skiing, and whatever else for long stretches at a time - a lot longer than most other animals would choose to keep moving. So yeah, in a way "heats" of races does make some sense.
I've always maintained that swimming is the best sport because our engines are water cooled (I know all old VW owners with those 40hp air cooled engines will disagree); only swimmers can lay-down smoke on the water.:D
