If we think of this as a pendulum, prior to the Maui incident USMS may have granted sanctions to easily. Race directors might have looked at it as cheap insurance so why not get there race sanctioned. The insurance underwriter likely did a poor risk analysis. The pendulum was too far to the left. Now it's too far too the right, I'm guessing to a certain extent the Insurance firm may have priced for USMS to go away or eliminate these races with one size fits take it or leave it proposition, that again doesn't truly assess the risks. Insurance companies are in business to make money for their stockholders. They do this by charging premiums that exceed their expected payouts and by setting restrictions on what types of activities are covered by the insurance to minimize what they perceive cause the risks of occurrence. After many years of extremely low claims and payouts, the pendulum has swung and Masters Swimming is faced with significantly higher premiums and new restrictions.
Those representing USMS on this board haven't even proposed researching new solutions for the 2014 season and beyond.I believe I understand the sentiment, but in fact I think the opposite is true. The board, USMS leadership and staff are very much engaged in finding ways to make our sport safer and to push the pendulum back towards the center in 2014 and beyond.
Many ideas have been floated in this forum including OW swimmers carrying supplemental insurance like the DAN network for Scuba Divers. For categories 2 events there could be web based certification courses created for motorized boat pilots for what there roles are, swimmer awareness possibly a requirement for an safety observer in the boat in lieu of the expensive prop guards and additional insurance etc. Will USMS at least try?The Open Water Committee is working towards training and certification courses for event directors, safety directors and referees; we’ve talked about boater safety training as well, but we wanted to tackle the big 3 first. And I encourage any interested members to provide feedback on the currently available Open Water Manual,
Open Water Safety Objectives, Open Water Safety Workshop Notes and Open Water Clinic Manual which can be found at www.usms.org/.../
If we think of this as a pendulum, prior to the Maui incident USMS may have granted sanctions to easily. Race directors might have looked at it as cheap insurance so why not get there race sanctioned. The insurance underwriter likely did a poor risk analysis. The pendulum was too far to the left. Now it's too far too the right, I'm guessing to a certain extent the Insurance firm may have priced for USMS to go away or eliminate these races with one size fits take it or leave it proposition, that again doesn't truly assess the risks. Insurance companies are in business to make money for their stockholders. They do this by charging premiums that exceed their expected payouts and by setting restrictions on what types of activities are covered by the insurance to minimize what they perceive cause the risks of occurrence. After many years of extremely low claims and payouts, the pendulum has swung and Masters Swimming is faced with significantly higher premiums and new restrictions.
Those representing USMS on this board haven't even proposed researching new solutions for the 2014 season and beyond.I believe I understand the sentiment, but in fact I think the opposite is true. The board, USMS leadership and staff are very much engaged in finding ways to make our sport safer and to push the pendulum back towards the center in 2014 and beyond.
Many ideas have been floated in this forum including OW swimmers carrying supplemental insurance like the DAN network for Scuba Divers. For categories 2 events there could be web based certification courses created for motorized boat pilots for what there roles are, swimmer awareness possibly a requirement for an safety observer in the boat in lieu of the expensive prop guards and additional insurance etc. Will USMS at least try?The Open Water Committee is working towards training and certification courses for event directors, safety directors and referees; we’ve talked about boater safety training as well, but we wanted to tackle the big 3 first. And I encourage any interested members to provide feedback on the currently available Open Water Manual,
Open Water Safety Objectives, Open Water Safety Workshop Notes and Open Water Clinic Manual which can be found at www.usms.org/.../
