So, my 2017 Summer Nationals performance was OK, but left room for improvement and I'm thinking about planning to start training for 2018 Long Course Summer Nationals.
Oops, there is no USMS Summer Nationals in 2018, in deference to the UANA Pan American Masters Championships.
I cannot find any information about if we can participate, how one qualifies, if we have to join UANA, etc., etc.
I've checked the UANA site, the Orlando YMCA site, USMS site with no luck.
Does anyone have any information about the event and whether those of us who were expecting a USMS Summer Nationals can plan to swim at the UANA Championships?
Let me try and answer some of your questions John:
Can it be confirmed that current USMS swimmers will not need to join UANA (I know Jim said not to worry and he believed it was because USMS is a member of UANA)? Jim is correct and USMS is a member of UANA. As long as USMS athlete have a current 2018 membership they will be allowed to participate in the event just as it was a National event.
Will competitions be decided on the basis of one swim, or might there be quarter finals, semi finals and finals?
All events will be timed finals
Are there qualifying times?
No, UANA committee has requested no Qualifying times for this event. But please be aware that we MAY have to limit entries on events or even the entire competition because of this in order to have a 10 hour competition day. We re encouraging athletes to register early as we are expecting a large number of swimmers for the pool event.
Are the age groups and end-of-year basis the same for UANA as they are for USMS?
yes, we are following FINA regulations and all age groups are based on their age on Dec, 31st of that year.
Are there any differences in rules at the UANA Pan Am Masters competition relative to USMS rules?
USMS adopts FINA rules for LCM events, so there should not be anything specific besides the 18-24 age groups. We are adding this age group for all individual events to allow all USMS members the opportunity to participate in the event. We are also looking at adding another age group (72+) for relays to allow younger members the opportunity to parcitipate. We are currently working out the details of this with our Sports Timing Management team to be able to separate the relays with athletes that are 18-24 for USMS records and top 10 only.
Please let me know if anyone has any questions regarding the event.
Let me try and answer some of your questions John:
Can it be confirmed that current USMS swimmers will not need to join UANA (I know Jim said not to worry and he believed it was because USMS is a member of UANA)? Jim is correct and USMS is a member of UANA. As long as USMS athlete have a current 2018 membership they will be allowed to participate in the event just as it was a National event.
Will competitions be decided on the basis of one swim, or might there be quarter finals, semi finals and finals?
All events will be timed finals
Are there qualifying times?
No, UANA committee has requested no Qualifying times for this event. But please be aware that we MAY have to limit entries on events or even the entire competition because of this in order to have a 10 hour competition day. We re encouraging athletes to register early as we are expecting a large number of swimmers for the pool event.
Are the age groups and end-of-year basis the same for UANA as they are for USMS?
yes, we are following FINA regulations and all age groups are based on their age on Dec, 31st of that year.
Are there any differences in rules at the UANA Pan Am Masters competition relative to USMS rules?
USMS adopts FINA rules for LCM events, so there should not be anything specific besides the 18-24 age groups. We are adding this age group for all individual events to allow all USMS members the opportunity to participate in the event. We are also looking at adding another age group (72+) for relays to allow younger members the opportunity to parcitipate. We are currently working out the details of this with our Sports Timing Management team to be able to separate the relays with athletes that are 18-24 for USMS records and top 10 only.
Please let me know if anyone has any questions regarding the event.
