I'm looking for the experience and wisdom from people engaged with USA swimming across different LSCs with respect to handling / managing swimmer transfers from one team to another. While I recognize that it's good to have options for swimmers to transfer from club to club, I think excessive churn of swimmers is generally not good for the swimmer, the clubs or the LSC.
What I'm looking for is ideas for how LSCs or sub-groups of teams have (ideally) created a sufficiently open environment to enable freedom of movement while not necessarily encouraging excessive movement. What specific barriers are in place (e.g., administrative, financial, etc.) and what counter-weight measures are in place to ensure parents/swimmers know they can freely move if a certain club is not meeting their needs?
Former Member
There is a 120-day waiting period in USAS from your last attached competition until you can swim attached to your new team. During that time period, you can only compete Unattached and cannot swim on relays or earn points for any team.
So there is a built-in disincentive to transfer if it means you'll be ineligible to swim on a relay at championships meets. That can be huge.
There are also financial considerations. Most clubs have one-time activation fees and require purchase of team swimsuit/caps and other gear.
The LSC Membership/Registrar can assist families locating a team in their area and help them understand which questions they should be asking of the clubs and how to "shop".
Finally - there are rules in USA Swimming against "recruiting". Clubs are supposed to pass on to their members that it is extremely poor sportsmanship and against the rules to try to persuade a swimmer on another team to transfer. It's OK to answer questions if a swimmer has asked, but it is NOT OK to initiate that kind of conversation or belittle another team or a swimmer for representing that team. When my club heard this was going on, we would have a little talk with the guilty parties and tell them to clean up their act or face disciplinary action.
We've seen some mass migrations when new clubs and pools open up, when head coaches change, etc. Generally we have very good cooperation between the clubs in our LSC. We've also done a few referrals when we have a kid try out who really does appear to be a better fit at a different club. It's best for the kid, parent, club, coach, and sport to get the kid placed correctly in the first place.
