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Splash Bash is Back!

Last year's Olympic year recruiting campaign is back! The program had 1,250 local parties with plenty of local media coverage for the host clubs. In 2009, clubs will be able to watch NBC's broadcast of either the World Championship Trails or World Championships and showcase their club. The goal of the program is to generate local excitement around the events and leverage that excitement to assist with the clubs' recruiting efforts.

Once again, USAS provides everything needed for clubs to have a successful party - games, prizes, giveaways and decorations. In addition to the hard goods, there is a fully dedicated site for the hosts: SplashBash2009.com. The site has tips, checklists, schedules, case studies, community relations ideas, press release templates and more. If you know of any active parent, club board member, coach, athlete or anyone who needs some help recruiting and think hosting a party would benefit them or their club, send them to the host site.

In addition to the host site, there is a sweepstakes page, SplashBashSweeps.com. There are two different prizes - a trip for two to Golden Goggles and the club with the most votes will win a clinic from an Olympian. The sweepstakes benefit individuals and clubs so be sure to spread the word! Go USA!

If you have any questions about the program feel free to contact Jim Fox, Marketing Manager, USA Swimming, at jfox@usaswimming.org.

6/26/09

Meet Cancelation

The Manta Ray Mania Invitational scheduled for July 17-19, 2009 has been cancelled due to loss of team sponsorship. The Heart of America Swim Club is currently attempting to rebuild for future event participation and meet hosting capabilities.

6/22/09

MVS All-Academic Team

Applications are now being accepted for the 2008/2009 Missouri Valley All-Academic Team. To be eligible you must meet the following criteria:

• must have completed 9th Grade or higher;
• must be a USA Swimming athlete member;
• must have participated in an individual event in one of the MVS Championship meets (Level 1/2 or Division I/II Championships) or higher, such as Region VIII, Central Zones, Junior Championships, National Championships, US Open, Olympic Trials, or the Olympics;
• must have participated in 3 additional USA Swimming sanctioned meets;
• must have a minimum 3.2 grade point average on a 4.0 scale;
• must submit an Official Transcript or Report Card for the entire academic year;
• must submit the All-Academic Team application form.

The application form and your transcripts (or report card) must be received by the Academic Committee no later than August 30th. Late applications will not be accepted.

• Online Application Form
• Printable Application Form

6/15/09

KSHSAA Girls High School Championships

Below are the results of the 2009 KSHSAA Girls Championships. The meet is approved for Observed Swims time reporting. Upload requests will be taken from club coaches only, by emailing to me at the email address below the swimmer's full name (First, Middle initial, Last) and the date of birth so that information is available to properly report the time. Any requests for times uploading received after June 15, 2009 may not be included in the MVS Top Eight for the Short Course season, so timeliness of the request is important.

• 2009 Kansas State HS Girls Championships (PDF)

David C. Carpenter
Sanction Chair
Missouri Valley Swimming, Inc.
dccarpenter@cox.net

6/4/09

League/Conference Sanctions and Competitions

So that all are aware of the manner in which competitions need to be occurring in these organizations, before we embark upon the various summer schedules, please be aware of the following.

Under the USA Swimming, Inc. Rules and Regulations, the officiating requirements specify that for a DUAL MEET there needs to be AT A MINIMUM, one certified Referee AND one other official certified at least at the Starter level to Referee and Start the meet. Those persons (Referee and Starter) may also function in the roles of stroke/turn judges while performing those roles as Referee and Starter. These are requirements related to a dual meet where there is a sanction, and if that required level of officiating is not in place there is not only no sanction, there is no insurance under the USA Swimming policy.

If the meet is other than a dual meet (three or more teams), the USA Swimming, Inc. Rules and Regulations for officiating require there to be AT A MINIMUM, one certified Referee AND one other official certified at least at the Starter level to Referee and Start the meet. IN ADDITION TO THAT, there is required to be a stroke/turn judge stationed at each end of the pool. If there is an insufficient number of officials available to fill those roles, it is possible to have the Starter also function as a stroke/turn judge. In a meet that is other than a dual meet, the referee may not under any circumstances function in multiple roles at the same time. These are requirements related to a meet (other than a dual meet) where there is a sanction, and if that required level of officiating is not in place (three at a minimum) there is not only no sanction, there is no insurance under the USA Swimming policy.

Under the USA Swimming, Inc. Rules and Regulations, it is possible to have a "closed competition which is restricted to members of a single Group Member of USA Swimming", and no sanction is required for that category of competition. That would be where, for example, two or more seasonal teams in a closed league decides to have or schedules a competition, and there is not an adequate number of officials to meet the minimum requirements set forth above for a sanctioned meet. In that scenario, the USA Swimming, Inc. insurance should be in place, but it is NOT a sanctioned meet and NONE of the times may be reported for USA Swimming, Inc. purposes.

It is anticipated that this may necessitate the attendance of one or more officials into a training clinic at a higher level if it is desired to staff the closed competitions in your league/conference at a level such that it may be sanctioned.

Should you have questions about this, let me know.

David C. Carpenter
Sanction Chair
Missouri Valley Swimming, Inc.
dccarpenter@cox.net

5/7/09

Clarification of Rule Change for Racing Starts

Effective May 1, 2009, USA Swimming’s Board of Directors modified the racing start rule, 103.2.2, to further clarify that racing starts should only be taught under the direct supervision of a USA Swimming member coach, and to expand the definition of teaching racing starts to make clear that no swimmer who has not been certified as proficient by his or her coach should be performing racing starts into less than six feet of water.

Please keep in mind that the only change to this USAS rule is that there is now a requirement for a coach to document, by means of a checklist, the fact that in their professional judgment a swimmer has been taught how to properly execute a racing start. The requirement to teach swimmers to properly execute racing starts has been in place in our rules for a long time, with or without a checklist. The procedures that should take place at a meet are no different now than they were before the checklist was implemented. Coaches should be doing whatever they were doing in the past with respect to swimmers who had not yet been taught to properly execute a racing start. The checklist does not change a thing except to require a coach to document the process and there is no need to add any additional procedures at a swim meet as a result of this. If you need further information or clarification, please let me know.

The following USAS documents will help explain this rule change:

• Amendment to Article 103.2.2 of the USAS Rules
• Racing Start Certification Checklist
• USA Swimming Safety Notice to Member Clubs and Coaches
• USA Swimming Safety Notice to Parents
• Frequently Asked Questions

Bruce W. Stratton
Chairman, Rules & Regulations Committee
bruce@strattoncpa.com
(208) 336-4953

4/27/09

Make-A-Splash Partnership Opportunity with USA Swimming

Sponsored by USA Swimming, Make-a-Splash is a national child-focused water safety initiative created by the USA Swimming Foundation to save lives. Launched in 2007, Make-a-Splash works by aligning the nation’s top learn-to-swim resources in an effort to save lives. Make-a-Splash educates parents through a national awareness campaign, saves lives by joining forces with grassroots learn-to-swim programs, and reaches thousands of children through wide-reaching in-school materials. Make-a-Splash partners with USA Swimming member clubs and non-member organizations through the Local Partner program. The Local Partner program provides the opportunity to make a difference in your community using the power of Make-a-Splash. The Make-a-Splash campaign will help you locally to expand awareness about the importance of water safety, the need to learn to swim, and to make your learn-to-swim program services become more visible in your community. To learn more or to participate, see the USA Swimming publications below.

• Make-a-Splash Program Information
• Local Partner Application Information
• Local Partner Application Checklist
• Local Partner Application Form

4/25/09

Assisting a Coach

USAS Article 502.4.3: Anyone who coaches athletes at a USA Swimming practice or competition must be a coach member of USA Swimming and must have satisfactorily completed safety training and background screening required by USA Swimming.

The above article was passed by the USA Swimming House of Delegates and is published in the 2009 USA Swimming rulebook. Effective January 1, 2009, any type of coaching including, but not limited to, swimming and dry land training, must be provided by a registered USA Swimming member Coach. Coaching by any other person who is not a registered coach member, including USA Swimming Athlete Members, is not permitted.

For someone other than a coach member to assist the coach in coaching activities, that person must be under the "direct supervision" of the USA Swimming coach and must be a USA Swimming member (i.e. athlete or non-athlete, non-coach member). This means the coach must be on deck at all times and must be directly involved in whatever activity with which the non-coach member is assisting. For instance, an athlete could demonstrate strokes to younger swimmers and the athlete would not have to be a coach member in that instance. However, a good example of what is not allowed would be an athlete who is working with a group of swimmers while the coach is separately working with a second group of swimmers. This would not be classified as "direct supervision" and the athlete would have to be a coach member in order to work with the separate group.

Specific questions about this rule should be addressed to Member Services Staff at USA Swimming Headquarters at 719-866-4578.

4/6/09

Swimming Scholarships Available

Notre Dame College in Euclid, OH is in the process of recruiting student-athletes for the 2009-10 season. All student-athletes that are accepted to Notre Dame College receive scholarship money. If interested or to apply, please see the Letter of Opportunity posted below, or contact Michael R. Gallagher, Head Swimming and Diving Coach, Notre Dame College, at mgallagher@ndc.edu.

• Notre Dame College Letter of Opportunity
• Website for Notre Dame Falcons

4/1/09

Central Zone Hotel Rooms

Hi all you Missouri Valley Zone swimmers! As you all know the Zone meet for us this summer is in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The pool is fast and the town is really friendly to swimmers. They are on the ball up there too and have already released a list of hotels for the meet. Remember that Missouri Valley does not do this meet as a team trip any longer so it is your responsibility to get hotel reservations. This link will take you to a list of hotels. More info about the meet and the team will be coming in the future. Work hard, swim fast, go to Zones and be great!

Coach Mike Lewellyn
Missouri Valley Age Group Chair

2/4/09