September/October, 2009
(updated: October 8, 2009)
| Welcome
to the New Season!
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Upcoming
Meets October 2009 |
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| Date | Meet | Location | Officials Contact |
| 3 | PVS Swimposium | Georgetown Prep | |
| 4 | All Freestyle Meet | Fairland | Lynne Gerlach |
| 9-10 | Red & Black Invitational | Univ. of Maryland | Carrie Tupper |
| 9-11 | Pumpkin Invitational | Claude Moore Rec Cntr | Mike Ryan |
| 10-11 | Harvest Moon | Herndon | Jim Thompson |
| 10-11 | Halloween Mini Meet | Cub Run | Ben Holly |
| 11 | All
Freestyle Meet |
PGS&LC | Tim Husson |
| 16-18 | RMSC Kickoff Meet | MLK Swim Center | Donna Considine |
| 16-18 | October Open | Mt.
Vernon Fairland 1 Fairland 2 |
Brian
Baker Art Davis Dan Young |
| 24-25 | Speedo Eastern States Senior Circuit #1 | PGS&LC | John Mason |
| 24-25 | MSSC Invitational Senior Meet | Fairland | Lynne Gerlach |
| 31-1 | Fall Gator Mini Meet | Washington-Lee HS | Ted Berner |
2009 Swimposium
The
2009 PVS Swimposium will be held at Georgetown
Prep on Saturday, October 3, 2009. It will include tracks for athletes,
parents, coaches, officials, and club business management. The athletes
track will feature Olympians Rowdy Gaines, Kate Ziegler, and Randall
Bal. Our special guest for the officials track is Dan McAllen. Dan is
a member of the USA Swimming Officials Committee and a former USA Swimming
National Officials Chair. He has been a USA Swimming Official for 29
years and is also a certified official for NCAA and NFHS. He has held
many positions on the board of his LSC, including General Chair, Officials
Chair, Board of Review Chair and Safety Chair. He has served as Meet
Referee for the USA Swimming National Championships five times.
Attendance at the 2009 PVS Swimposium can be used to fulfill the recertification clinic requirement for the Stroke and Turn, Starter, and Referee positions. It cannot be used as an initial certification clinic at any position.
Swimsuit Rules
In July, FINA passed new rules regulating the material and shape
of swimsuits. On September, 19, 2009 the USA Swimming House of Delegates
voted to adopt the FINA rule effective October 1, 2009. Highlights
of this rule include:
- Swimsuits for men may not extend above the navel or below the knee, and for women may not cover the neck or extend past the shoulders or below the knee;
- No zippers or other fastening devices are allowed except for a waist tie on a brief or jammer;
- Suits must be of textile material and must not be made of any rubberized type of material such as polyurethane or neoprene.
If the suit meets the above three criteria, it should be assumed to be an approved suit during this interim period. Coaches, officials and swimmers are urged to use common sense in this matter. Please note that we expect FINA will release a comprehensive list of allowable suits in the coming months. When that list becomes available, USA Swimming will immediately make the information available.
Bruce Stratton, Chairman of USA Swimming’s Rules and Regulations Committee, has issued a letter to all members explaining the new rules.
Officials’ E-Mail List
If you are reading this newsletter on the PVS website and did
not receive it by email, it could be for one of several reasons: 1)
the PVS Officials Committee doesn’t have your address, 2) the
address we have is incorrect, or 3) your ISP is blocking the newsletter.
If it is one of the first two reasons, you can subscribe yourself by
sending a blank email to officials-subscribe@potomacvallyeswimming.org.
You will receive an email asking you to confirm your subscription request.
Follow the instructions in that email and you will be subscribed.
If you are no longer a PVS official or you do not want to receive the newsletter and other emails from the PVS Officials Committee, you can opt-out by sending a blank email to officials-unsubscribe@potomacvallyeswimming.org. You will receive an email asking you to confirm your unsubscription request. Simply follow the instructions in that email and you will be unsubscribed.
Officials’ Clinics
The
Fall schedule of PVS
Officials’ clinics has been posted on the website. There are
clinics in both Maryland and Virginia for Stroke & Turn Judges,
Starters, Referees, Timing System Operators, and Hy-Tek Operators during
the month of October. Pre-Registration for the clinics is encouraged,
but not required. You can just show up on the date and time of the clinic.
Article 102.12.2 of USA Swimming rules states: “All officials
acting in the capacity of Referee, Starter, or Stroke and/or Turn Judge
at a swimming meet shall be certified in such position by their LSC
prior to being assigned to officiate in that capacity.” Attendance
at a clinic at least once every two years is a requirement for your
certification. Be sure to check the website throughout the year for
additional clinics.
You Make the Call
A swimmer in the 500-yard freestyle notifies the deck referee that he
will be trying for a 100-yard initial split. After completing the first
100 yards, the swimmer exits the pool. Does the 100-yard split time
count?
See the answer at the bottom of this newsletter.
Advanced Hy-Tek Clinic
Back by popular demand, PVS will once again be offering an Advanced
Hy-Tek Clinic on November 14, 2009 at the MLK Swim Center in Silver
Spring. The exact topics to be covered will be determined by the needs
of the class, but the primary focus areas will be running Hy-Tek at
a trials/finals championship-level meet and setting up a meet database.
The instructors will also be available for questions after the session.
Timing Judge’s Manual
Lanes 3 and 7 both exceed a .30 second difference between the pad time
and the button time. A late touch is reported in lane 7, but timers
report nothing out the ordinary in lane 3. Could it be a defective pad?
A missed touch? A late button? Exactly how do we determine the official
time for both lanes 3 and 7? The PVS
Timing Judge’s Manual can help. You’ll find it on the
PVS website, along with dozens of other helpful training resources.
Reviewing these documents on a regular basis can sharpen your skills,
regardless of your level of experience.
National Certification
A
reminder to officials applying for National Certification (N2 and N3):
Don’t forget to add clinics, mentoring experiences, Swimposium
participation, etc. in the Activity History area of the online
certification application. The requirements for National Certification
include continuing education, mentoring and training. These experiences
are listed in the Officials Tracking System as “other activities,”
and are generally added by the official himself/herself. If you forget
to include these activities, your application for N2 or N3 certification
will be rejected. You’ve attended the clinics, you’ve helped
mentor new officials on deck — make sure you get credit for these
activities by adding them to the Officials Tracking System.
As a result of recent revisions to the program, all officials with National Certifications (N2 and N3) expiring on or after June 30, 2008 have had their certification expiration dates extended by one year.
Questions? Suggestions?
Do you have a question about officiating or a tip you’d like to
share? Is there a rule that you’d like to have clarified? Do you
have a suggestion for a future item in this newsletter? If so, please
send your questions/comments to the newsletter editor, Jack
Neill.
Resolution to ‘You Make
the Call’
No, the swimmer left the pool prior to the completion of the race and
is disqualified for failing to complete the prescribed distance.
