November, 2008
| Short Course
Season Continues
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Upcoming
Meets October 2008 |
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| Date | Meet | Location | Officials Contact |
| 25-26 | Speedo Eastern States Senior Circuit | PGS&LC | Tim Husson |
November 2008 |
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| Date | Meet | Location | Officials Contact |
| 1-2 | MSSC Invitational Senior Meet | Fairland | Lynne Gerlach |
| 1-2 | Fall Gator Mini Meet | Wakefield HS | Ted Berner |
| 1-2 | National Age Group Challenge Meet | Germantown | Bill Maneely |
| 7-9 | November Open | Cub
Run Mount Vernon Takoma 1 Takoma 2 |
John Firestein
Dan Young Brian Johnson Ed Dona |
| 15-16 | RMSC November Invitational | MLK Swim Center | Amy Hsu |
| 16 | YORK Friendship Mini Meet | Providence | Jim Thompson |
| 21-23 | Swim & Rock | Oak Marr | John McKenzie |
| 22-23 | FAST Qualifier | Fairland | Rick Moyer |
| 23 | Pilgrim Pentathlon Mini Meet | Claude Moore Rec Center | Art Davis |
Advanced Hy-Tek
Clinic
For the first time in many years, PVS is offering an Advanced Hy-Tek
Clinic on November 1, 2008 at the Olney Swim Center. To attend the clinic,
you should be certified in Hy-Tek for at least one year or be a PVS
Meet Director. 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. Pre-Registration
for the clinics is encouraged, but not required.
College Swimming
Is your son or daughter thinking about swimming in college? Where do
you start? What should you be looking for in a college swimming program?
What are the eligibility requirements? How do you get the attention
of college coaches? What are the NCAA regulations concerning recruitment?
You’ll find the answers to these and many other questions at “College
Swimming 101” on the USA Swimming website.
New Rule Regarding Swimsuits
USA Swimming’s House of Delegates at its meeting during
the annual convention in Atlanta voted on a number of rule changes.
One that directly affects parents and officials concerns a limitation
of certain types of swimsuits by swimmers age 12 and under at Age Group
meets: Article 102.9 - “Swimsuits worn for all 12 & under
age group defined competition shall not cover the neck, extend past
the shoulder, nor past the knee.” The rationale
behind this new rule is to keep swimming at a relatively low entry cost
by discouraging the use of expensive new technology in swimsuits by
the youngest of its competitors. This new rule becomes effective May
15, 2009.
You Make the Call
During the 100-yard Backstroke, the swimmer in lane 8 completes
her first 50 yards by touching on her back, then stops and grabs onto
the wall. She asks the timer how much further she has to go. After the
timer tells her to swim one more lap, the swimmer pushes off the wall
on her back and completes the race. The Turn Judge covering lanes 1-4
signals a disqualification and tells the referee that the swimmer did
not perform a continuous turning action. Should the referee accept the
DQ?
See the answer at the bottom of this
newsletter.
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. Check ’em out!
Did You Know?
Felix Farrell swam in the 1960 U.S. Olympic Trials only six days after
undergoing an emergency appendectomy. Not fully recovered, he finished
fourth in the 100-meter freestyle. This finish was good enough to put
him on the 800-meter and 400-meter freestyle relays, in which he recovered
sufficiently to anchor the U.S. teams to World Records in both events
at the Rome Olympics.
National Certification
USA Swimming recognizes two distinct levels of National Certification
for officials: N2 and N3. N2, the first National level in a position,
is administered by the National Officials Committee and recognizes that
an official is experienced and has been evaluated as capable of working
the position at Sectional, Zone, Grand Prix and similar higher profile
meets. N3, the second and highest National level in a position, is likewise
administered by the National Officials Committee and recognizes that
an official has the experience, skills, and knowledge to be considered
for selection to work National Championship level meets in the position.
Requirements for progression to N2 and N3 levels in the positions of
Stroke and Turn Judge, Chief Judge, Starter, Deck Referee, and Admin
Referee can be found on the USA
Swimming website.
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@potomacvalleyswimming.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@potomacvalleyswimming.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.
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.
PVS Warm-Up Policy
Potomac Valley Swimming endorses two specific warm-up formats:
Assigned warm-ups and Open warm-ups.
Assigned warm-ups are where teams are assigned to specific lanes, for specified periods of time, in proportion to the number of their entries. Open warm-ups are where there are no team lane assignments and lanes are designated for a specific activity for a specified period of time.
During Assigned warm-ups, each team may conduct their own warm-up routine provided that a team certified USA Swimming coach is stationed at the starting block of each lane assigned to the team, and that coach assumes the duties of a Marshal in supervising the warm-up in that lane.
During Open warm-ups, periods are divided equally between general and specific programs. The first half of the of warm-up will be dedicated to general warm-up and the last half of the warm-up will be dedicated to specific warm-up. During the general warm-up, no pace work or sprinting will be permitted. During the specific warm-up, the outside lanes will be designated as pace lanes and lanes 2 & 7 of an eight-lane pool, 2 & 5 of a six-lane pool, etc. will be opened for sprinting. Marshals shall clear the lane of all swimmers before opening the lane for sprinting. All sprint lanes are one-way only and the swimmer must exit at the opposite end of the pool. The use of kickboards, handpaddles, and similar training devices, are not permitted in open warm-ups.
All warm-up periods shall be supervised by the appointed marshals. Coaches shall not permit their athletes to enter the pool until the marshals have declared the pool open for warm-up. No entry is permitted across lanes, from the pool side, or from the non-start end.
Resolution to ‘You Make
the Call’
A continuous turning action in the backstroke is required only for swimmers
who choose to rotate onto the breast, immediately followed by taking
one single or double arm pull to initiate a turn. Should the swimmer
choose to complete any length in the backstroke by finishing that length
on the back, the swimmer may stop at the wall for any period of time,
but must be on the back when the swimmer leaves the wall to resume the
race. Because the swimmer in this situation completed the length on
her back and then left the wall on her back, her swim was perfectly
legal according to USA Swimming rules and the DQ should not be accepted.
