All the announcements that are flying around about this, that or the other thing, being legal, maybe allowed and not legal, have not helped clarify anything to me. I read the latest USMS release as:
a) we'll follow whatever FINA says, but
b) later says that we can wear whatever we want despite FINA's ruling.
Very confusing- are we following FINA or not?
As a Meet Director, I find this to be a huge problem, especially as it relates to blueSeventy suits. I am sure that there will be plenty of people wearing/wanting to wear b70s while swimming in the meet I am hosting on June 21, just after the next FINA deadline and I would like to know what I should be telling our participants to wear (or not wear), and what our officials should be allowing or disallowing.
Considering b70's level of sponsorship and the prevalence of their suits at USMS meets over the last year, I think it would be prudent for the Rules Committee to release a statement citing this particular company's suits in their examples. It would greatly help me out.
As a meet director I always felt that it was my job to organize the meet and make sure it ran smoothly but I don't think it's my job to interpret or enforce USMS rules. That said, of course the meet director is the first person that most people approach when they have a question or complaint ("Where do I park?", "I'm not in the right heat!", or "Can I wear my B70?"). If it were me and people were asking me what suit they're allowed to wear at the meet I'd direct them to the referee. Just in the same way I would if they come up and ask if they're allowed to do a fly kick on the *** pullout or something. If it were before the meet and someone was asking me I'd probably forward them to the USMS site and/or the LMSC officials. I don't believe it would be up to me to make a decision on what suits are legal or not for my meet. Just as it's the swimmers' and coaches' responsibility to know the rules for swimming a stroke it's their responsibility to know what suit they're allowed to wear. Unfortunately the confusion around this matter right now is a problem, especially since your meet is coming up. And as you know you'll probably need to deal with it on some level. Just be careful, it'll be a dangerous slope to be on if you're advising people what they can or can't wear.
But that's just my understanding of it, I could be wrong on the duties/powers associated with running a meet.
As a meet director I always felt that it was my job to organize the meet and make sure it ran smoothly but I don't think it's my job to interpret or enforce USMS rules. That said, of course the meet director is the first person that most people approach when they have a question or complaint ("Where do I park?", "I'm not in the right heat!", or "Can I wear my B70?"). If it were me and people were asking me what suit they're allowed to wear at the meet I'd direct them to the referee. Just in the same way I would if they come up and ask if they're allowed to do a fly kick on the *** pullout or something. If it were before the meet and someone was asking me I'd probably forward them to the USMS site and/or the LMSC officials. I don't believe it would be up to me to make a decision on what suits are legal or not for my meet. Just as it's the swimmers' and coaches' responsibility to know the rules for swimming a stroke it's their responsibility to know what suit they're allowed to wear. Unfortunately the confusion around this matter right now is a problem, especially since your meet is coming up. And as you know you'll probably need to deal with it on some level. Just be careful, it'll be a dangerous slope to be on if you're advising people what they can or can't wear.
But that's just my understanding of it, I could be wrong on the duties/powers associated with running a meet.
