But for all practical purposes, for any swim that would require motorized boats for safety purposes, this year anyway, USMS is effectively out of the open water swimming business :-(
I think you are exaggerating. It's probably difficult, maybe impossible, to satisfy the new rules for a swim that requires motorized boats to accompany each swimmer, but those swims are a minority of USMS-sanctioned OW events. Swims that involve laps around a closed course, where primary safety support is from paddlers, seem for the most part to be able to satisfy the new boat rules (which exempt police boats, for instance).
In fact, registration for the Las Vegas 10K (4 laps) that prompted this thread is now open: http://www.lv10k.com/. And although prop guards and private boat insurance may be the bigger issue overall, the website for this race says, "Due to sanctioning changes, we are unable to accommodate swimmers under 18 years old."
But for all practical purposes, for any swim that would require motorized boats for safety purposes, this year anyway, USMS is effectively out of the open water swimming business :-(
I think you are exaggerating. It's probably difficult, maybe impossible, to satisfy the new rules for a swim that requires motorized boats to accompany each swimmer, but those swims are a minority of USMS-sanctioned OW events. Swims that involve laps around a closed course, where primary safety support is from paddlers, seem for the most part to be able to satisfy the new boat rules (which exempt police boats, for instance).
In fact, registration for the Las Vegas 10K (4 laps) that prompted this thread is now open: http://www.lv10k.com/. And although prop guards and private boat insurance may be the bigger issue overall, the website for this race says, "Due to sanctioning changes, we are unable to accommodate swimmers under 18 years old."
