Hi everyone,
I am an unattached swimmer who is looking to enter meets soon.
Do master swimmers have to stick to only competing in masters swim meets or can we branch out to meets listed on USA Swimming (I am aware that many require qualifying times)?
Second, I noticed if I am not accompanied by a coach many meets require that the swimmer be certified as proficient in starts...Below is a clip from one of the meets I was looking at. Has anyone ever done this or know the process?
"Any swimmer entered in the meet must be certified by a USA Swimming member-coach as being proficient in performing a racing start or must start each race from within the water. When unaccompanied by a member-coach, it is the responsibility if the swimmer or the swimmer’s legal guardian to ensure compliance with this requirement."
Any info would be great!!
You have to remember that the USA-Swimming rule book is written primarily from the perspective of young age group swimmers.
There are some very specific regulations for teaching young swimmers safe technique for block starts: Must be taught by a certified coach, minimum of six feet of water, progressive technique that starts from sitting on the edge of the deck, etc. There's an official form that USA-S coaches are supposed to sign off on and keep on file for each of their swimmers. Obviously, it's primarily a safety thing.
That being said, as an USA-S official, I've never seen it be an issue at any meets where I've worked as a starter, where someone asked to see a swimmer's start training certification. (A lot of kids have no clue about the start protocol and whistles, but that's another issue...).
You have to remember that the USA-Swimming rule book is written primarily from the perspective of young age group swimmers.
There are some very specific regulations for teaching young swimmers safe technique for block starts: Must be taught by a certified coach, minimum of six feet of water, progressive technique that starts from sitting on the edge of the deck, etc. There's an official form that USA-S coaches are supposed to sign off on and keep on file for each of their swimmers. Obviously, it's primarily a safety thing.
That being said, as an USA-S official, I've never seen it be an issue at any meets where I've worked as a starter, where someone asked to see a swimmer's start training certification. (A lot of kids have no clue about the start protocol and whistles, but that's another issue...).
