March, 2013
It’s
the Championship Season!
|
March 2013 |
|||
Date | Meet | Location | Officials Contact |
7-10 | PVS Senior Championships | GMU | Mike Rubin |
7-10 | PVS Junior Championships | GMU | David Merkin |
9-10 | RMSC Mini Championships | Olney Swim Center | Scott Witkin |
14-17 | PVS 14 & U Junior Olympic Championships | Univ. of MD | Stewart Gordon |
21-24 | Speedo
Championship Series Eastern Zone Northern Sectional Meet |
Buffalo, NY | Eastern Zone |
21-24 | Speedo
Championship Series Eastern Zone Southern Sectional Meet |
Christiansburg, VA | Eastern Zone |
22-24 | RMSC Spring Finale | Germantown | Tim McIlmail |
22-24 | MSSC Spring Championships | Fairland | Lynne Gerlach |
28-30 | Eastern Zone SC Championships | Webster, NY | Eastern Zone |
Spring Championship Meets
Short
course season culminates with several championship meets this month,
one of which will afford officials the opportunity to be evaluated for
National certification. While walk-ons are always welcome, it is especially
helpful to have the roster completed before the meet. If you know if
and when you can help, please go online and submit an application to
officiate.
PVS Senior Championships will be held March 7-10 at George Mason University. Officials wishing to work at this meet should submit the application found on the PVS website. You must apply no later than March 1 for specific deck positions. However, late applications and walk-ins are also welcome and will be assigned to available positions.
PVS Senior Championships will be an “Officials Qualifying Meet,” offering the opportunity for formal evaluation at both the N2 and N3 levels. Any official interested in being evaluated at this championship meet must apply in advance. Our lead evaluator for this meet will be Paul Maker. Paul is an experienced official who has held many leadership positions in USA Swimming.
Concurrent with Senior Champs, PVS Junior Championships will likewise be held March 7-10 at George Mason University. Officials wishing to work at this meet should submit the application found on the PVS website. You must apply no later than March 1 for assigned deck positions. This meet is separate from Senior Champs and is held under a separate sanction, although the finals sessions will be swum combined with the finals of Senior Champs.
On the following weekend, March 14-17, PVS 14 & Under Junior Olympic Championships will be held at the University of Maryland. Officials wishing to work at this meet should submit the application found on the PVS website. You must apply no later than March 8 for specific deck positions. Once again, late applications and walk-ins are welcome and will be assigned to available positions.
Uniform for Championship Meets
The PVS Officials Committee has established a standard uniform for PVS
Championship meets: white polo shirt over navy blue shorts, trousers,
or skirt for Prelims; light blue oxford shirt over navy blue trousers
or skirt for Finals.
You Make the Call
In
a 200-yard freestyle event, a swimmer asks the referee if he can swim
the backstroke. The referee replies that he can but that the time can
only be used as a freestyle time. At the referee’s long whistle
the swimmer enters the water to do a backstroke start. The referee signals
to the starter that the field is his and the starter starts the race.
Was this correct?
See the answer at the bottom of this newsletter.
Yes, It’s Confusing!
In recent years USA Swimming has increased the requirements to serve
as a deck official at its swim meets. And since each of these requirements
has a different expiration date, it can be confusing to keep track of
them all.
There
are four requirements to serve on deck as a PVS official:
You can view the expiration dates for each of these requirements on your online certification card. Simply sign-in to your account on the USA Swimming website, and under “Member Resources” choose “Officials Tracking System.” Then click “My Certification Card.”
B/C is your Criminal Background Check expiration date; Reg is USA Swimming registration; APT stands for Athlete Protection Training course. PVS certification for each position is also indicated on this card.
Keep track of these expiration dates. Please remember that you are not permitted to work on deck as an official unless all four are current and up-to-date.
The 15-Meter Rule
We
all know that, in the Freestyle, Backstroke, and Butterfly, a swimmer
may be submerged at the start and after each turn, provided that the
swimmer’s head surfaces by the 15 meter mark. Why was that
rule established? It was after the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. David
Berkoff, of the U.S. developed a technique in backstroke that enabled
him to dolphin-kick underwater on his back until well past the 35-meter
mark. He would disappear at the start and reappear a body length ahead
of the rivals almost at the end of the first length. He arrived in Seoul
as world record holder and favorite for the 100m Backstroke. However,
Daichi Suzuki of Japan had been practicing the technique in secret,
and beat Berkoff at his own game. Fearing a race in which all eight
finalists would spend much of the race out of sight, FINA, the world
governing body, adopted the rule to require the swimmer to surface no
more than 15 meters from the wall out of starts and turns.
Work
a Meet Outside Our LSC - by Morgan Hurley
While every USA Swimming sanctioned meet follows the same set of rules,
many local swimming committees (LSCs) run their meets differently than
we do in PVS. Working at a meet outside PVS can provide a great opportunity
to see how other LSCs operate, and in the process learn from the experience.
We’re fortunate to have several other LSCs within close proximity
(Maryland Swimming, Virginia Swimming, and Middle Atlantic Swimming,
to name a few.) Their meets can be within a relatively short drive -
in some cases at the same pools where PVS-sanctioned meets are held!
Links to all LSC websites can be found at http://www.pvswim.org/pvs_link.htm#lsc.
Higher-level meets (zone, sectional, or national-level meets) also provide excellent learning opportunities for those who hold the appropriate national certifications. Travel assistance is available; see http://www.pvswim.org/bod061108_ofc_travel.htm.
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.
Where Are They Now?
Last month we updated some of the male Olympians. This month let’s
catch up with some of our female Olympians.
Resolution to ‘You Make
the Call’
No. In the freestyle events the forward start must be used. However,
as the starter and referee allowed the swimmer to start in the water,
the swimmer cannot be disqualified for starting in the water.