Can anyone direct me to where I can find information on the what where how to insure a relatively small 30 person open water swim?
Former Member
Here is a link to the insurance section of our Guide to Operations:
www.usms.org/.../
then scroll down to the "Insurance" heading.
Feel free to give me a call about this and I can explain further. Basically, USMS offers liability and secondary accident insurance in sanctioned events. In a sanctioned event, all of the race participants must be members of USMS. Beyond that the only cost would be the cost to sanction the race, if your local governing body (LMSC) charges a sanction fee. (Some do, some don't.)
Anna Lea Matysek
Membership Coordinator
U.S. Masters Swimming
655 N. Tamiami Trail
Sarasota, FL 34236
AnnaLea {at} usms.org
941-556-6279
You should be able to find success with most independent insurance agencies. I suspect you wouldn't have much luck with the captives (State Farm, Allstate, Farm Bureau). Check with someone local and if all else fails, PM me and I'll help you secure the coverage.
I have organized an open water race and I am an independent insurance agent. For what its worth, (all areas of the country are different). I would guess that unless you were having a mega race (event then it would count on the race size etc) you cant do better than sanctioning the meet, and collecting the memberships for insurance coverage, the Certificate of Insurance that you are going to need is easy to obtain, coverage amounts are adequate, etc.
