Does membership with USA Swimming (not USMS) require any sort of attachment to a specific club? Or, in other words, can I join USAS and go swim whatever meets they have as an "unattached" swimmer. The master's program I swim with only had USMS affiliation.
On a similar note, do times achieved in a USMS meet have any sort of merrit for making Q times for something like a Grand Prix meet?
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On a similar note, do times achieved in a USMS meet have any sort of merrit for making Q times for something like a Grand Prix meet?
Generally - for a swim time to be "provable" for qualifying for a USA Swimming Meet, the swim must be an official time recorded in the USA Swimming "SWIMS" database. That means you must be registered as a USA Swimming athlete at the time of the swim AND it took place in a meet that was sanctioned or approved by the applicable LSC. Masters meets can be dual-sanctioned (ie, both USAS and USMS) if the meet host plans it that way in advance. Sanctioning details are supposed to be part of the Meet Information.
FINA (international) meet results can also be loaded into SWIMS. I believe the liason would be to ask the National Times Coordinator for the LSC where you have registered with USA Swimming. Most of the people on this forum won't need this info and I'm not so sure of my facts as it's been a few years since I dealt with it. :)
In my LSC, the lower-level meets particularly at the beginning of the season do not require provable entry times. It is a practical matter to allow athletes new to USA Swimming to get current times. The lack of enforcement is not to be abused, so swimmers should not intentionally enter a BB meet when they know they have A or better times.
There may be a local USAS team that would be glad to have you attached to them, handle your entries, etc. They may also be able to provide some relay opportunities for you. The coach will probably be more up-to-date on meet protocols, and if you are very fast you may get some team discounts from sponsors. You'll also be kept in the loop better if there are late-breaking changes from meet management.
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Former Member
On a similar note, do times achieved in a USMS meet have any sort of merrit for making Q times for something like a Grand Prix meet?
Generally - for a swim time to be "provable" for qualifying for a USA Swimming Meet, the swim must be an official time recorded in the USA Swimming "SWIMS" database. That means you must be registered as a USA Swimming athlete at the time of the swim AND it took place in a meet that was sanctioned or approved by the applicable LSC. Masters meets can be dual-sanctioned (ie, both USAS and USMS) if the meet host plans it that way in advance. Sanctioning details are supposed to be part of the Meet Information.
FINA (international) meet results can also be loaded into SWIMS. I believe the liason would be to ask the National Times Coordinator for the LSC where you have registered with USA Swimming. Most of the people on this forum won't need this info and I'm not so sure of my facts as it's been a few years since I dealt with it. :)
In my LSC, the lower-level meets particularly at the beginning of the season do not require provable entry times. It is a practical matter to allow athletes new to USA Swimming to get current times. The lack of enforcement is not to be abused, so swimmers should not intentionally enter a BB meet when they know they have A or better times.
There may be a local USAS team that would be glad to have you attached to them, handle your entries, etc. They may also be able to provide some relay opportunities for you. The coach will probably be more up-to-date on meet protocols, and if you are very fast you may get some team discounts from sponsors. You'll also be kept in the loop better if there are late-breaking changes from meet management.
