Rules Corner

RULES CORNER #12 by Kathy Casey, USMS Rules Chair November, 2008 Major Changes or clarifications affecting swimming rules as passed at Convention (rule changes are effective January 1, 2009): 1. Deliberate Delay of the Start or Misconduct: Only the referee may disqualify a swimmer for delaying the start, for willfully disobeying an order or for any other misconduct taking place at the start. (Article 103.8.8A) 2. Recording Disqualifications: The swimmer’s name is no longer required on a disqualification slip. (Articles103.10.2 and 103.10.3) 3. Official Time from an Initial Distance of the IM: An official time for butterfly can be achieved from the first one-fourth of the individual medley (butterfly). (Article 103.13.2) 4. Bids for National Championship Meets: Bids for national championship meets shall be submitted no later than 60 days prior to the annual meeting of the House of Delegates, and if no timely, certifiable bid is received, the Championship Committee shall continue to solicit bids. (Article 104.3.1D) 5. Scoring for National Championship Meets: Club scoring will be tabulated in two categories; Regional Club and Local Club. A Regional Club is a club made up of swimmers who represent the club at nationals, but at competitions in the LMSC, represent an entity or subgroup (such as a workout group) that is different than the one they compete with at nationals. (Article 104.5.6) 6. Personnel Required to Run National Championship Meets: • A meet referee and an administrative referee who meet qualification standards established by the Officials Committee; • One deck referee, one starter, and one chief judge for each course; • Sufficient stroke and turn judges to provide fair and equitable jurisdictions; and • Sufficient administrative officials (including timing equipment operators) to ensure that rules and procedures are followed for seeding, determining official times, preparing results, and documenting records. • The meet referee may modify or combine assignments except that the deck referee and starter may not be the same person, and lane timers may not operate two similar timing devices simultaneously. • All officials shall be certified in the capacity to which they are assigned. (Article 104.5.10) 7. Guidelines for Officiating Swimmers with a Disability: Reference to the use of an ID card for swimmers who have an International Paralympic Committee-authorized classification has been deleted, and the language of the guidelines has been updated. (Article 108) For any questions about rules contact Kathy Casey, USMS Rules Chair, rules@usms.org.

RULES CORNER #12 by Kathy Casey, USMS Rules Chair November, 2008 Major Changes or clarifications affecting swimming rules as passed at Convention (rule changes are effective January 1, 2009): 1. Deliberate Delay of the Start or Misconduct: Only the referee may disqualify a swimmer for delaying the start, for willfully disobeying an order or for any other misconduct taking place at the start. (Article 103.8.8A) 2. Recording Disqualifications: The swimmer’s name is no longer required on a disqualification slip. (Articles103.10.2 and 103.10.3) 3. Official Time from an Initial Distance of the IM: An official time for butterfly can be achieved from the first one-fourth of the individual medley (butterfly). (Article 103.13.2) 4. Bids for National Championship Meets: Bids for national championship meets shall be submitted no later than 60 days prior to the annual meeting of the House of Delegates, and if no timely, certifiable bid is received, the Championship Committee shall continue to solicit bids. (Article 104.3.1D) 5. Scoring for National Championship Meets: Club scoring will be tabulated in two categories; Regional Club and Local Club. A Regional Club is a club made up of swimmers who represent the club at nationals, but at competitions in the LMSC, represent an entity or subgroup (such as a workout group) that is different than the one they compete with at nationals. (Article 104.5.6) 6. Personnel Required to Run National Championship Meets: • A meet referee and an administrative referee who meet qualification standards established by the Officials Committee; • One deck referee, one starter, and one chief judge for each course; • Sufficient stroke and turn judges to provide fair and equitable jurisdictions; and • Sufficient administrative officials (including timing equipment operators) to ensure that rules and procedures are followed for seeding, determining official times, preparing results, and documenting records. • The meet referee may modify or combine assignments except that the deck referee and starter may not be the same person, and lane timers may not operate two similar timing devices simultaneously. • All officials shall be certified in the capacity to which they are assigned. (Article 104.5.10) 7. Guidelines for Officiating Swimmers with a Disability: Reference to the use of an ID card for swimmers who have an International Paralympic Committee-authorized classification has been deleted, and the language of the guidelines has been updated. (Article 108) For any questions about rules contact Kathy Casey, USMS Rules Chair, rules@usms.org.