Change to Rule 101.2.3 - Timing of Permissible Breaststroke Kick

As we've discussed in the recent past, FINA was likely to pass a rule change related to the timing of the permissible breaststroke kick under Rile 101.2.3.

Yesterday, FINA passed the rule change, as expected, allowing the permissible single butterfly kick to occur at any time prior to the first breaststroke kick. Today, USA Swimming's Rules and Regulations Committee amended Rule 101.2.3 to conform to FINA's rule change. Click here to view the memorandum from Jay Thomas, USAS Rules & Regs Chair.

Please note that this rule change, which certainly makes our lives as Officials a little easier, is effective immediately.

Should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at bob.mermelstein@gmail.com.

Happy Thanksgiving

Here's wishing all of our AMS Officials and your families and friends a very Happy Thanksgiving. May you all be safe and enjoy time with those we love. See ya on deck soon!

Upcoming Meets

As you know, we have shifted to a centralized system for meet sign up that starts with this weekend's meet at BPR. It not only provides one location for you to go to to sign up to officiate at any meet but also gives us a chance to keep track of where we are with officials for any given meet to be sure that we don't get caught short in the 11th hour.

It is important to sign up as early as you can but at least sign up! If you are the Officials Contact for your club's hosted meet(s), make sure that you get all of your team's officials signed up early. Also, concentrate on filling the Referee, Starter and Admin Ref/Official early as they're the hardest positions to fill.

To sign up for all 2014-2015 Short Course meets (with the exception of the Christmas Meet and Age Group Champs), use the following link...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14amxpxN912bDtjtW2AdcE16zWdN7msKUWOvRaGefshM/edit#gid=1718346109

The Christmas Meet Application to Officiate and Request for Evaluation can be found at...

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1jp4dt9CSpSl15VMFCh50ghBpyaNErARPhGXkWq0HsjQ/viewform

Even if you do not intend to be evaluated for national certification, this is the place to sign up to work sessions at the Christmas Meet. It's a very big meet that requires oodles of officials so we need all the help we can get.

On behalf of the AMS Officials Committee, we'd like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Athlete Protection Training Date Change

The USAS Safe Sport Committee voted to make the Athlete Protection Training good for two years instead of one year. As a result, they have pushed all of the 12/31/14 APT expiration dates to 12/31/15. 

Effective on September 1, 2014, the APT expiration date is based on the year that the training was taken. For example, if you complete the training anytime between January 1 and December 31, 2015, the APT expiration date will be December 31, 2017 (if completed in January, you essentially get three years). Anyone completing the APT after September 1, 2014 and until January 1, 2015 will have an APT expiration date of 12/31/16.

Meet Sign Up Spreadsheet to be Used by ALL Officials

Beginning with the BPR Mini/Xmas Qulaifier meet in 2 weeks, we being using our centralized meet sign up. It is very important that we use this form so that we can track, in real time, where we are with officials for every meet, every session. To access the sign up spreadsheet, use this link...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14amxpxN912bDtjtW2AdcE16zWdN7msKUWOvRaGefshM/edit#gid=1718346109

It is important that ALL officials working a meet use this sign up form. Make sure you sign up for your own hosted meets, as well. If you are the Officials Contact for a host team, make sure that you add any names of officials and details for any officials who contacted you offline to officiate at your meet.

Thanks for your help in making this work.

Very Important Sign Ups Require Your Attention

As we move into the second month of the 2014-2015 Short Course season, we can look back at the first month and say "OY!". Last week's two meets were very lightly attended by officials. In fact, we had two sessions that were nearly swum as exhibition because we did not meet the minimum requirements set forth by USA Swimming. We pulled both sessions out of the fire in the waning moments leading up to the beginning of the sessions. I don't recall ever coming that close to an officials disaster. I certainly don't want us to be the cause of having to tell swimmers that their times will not be going into the SWIMS database because we couldn't put enough qualified officials on deck. Could you imagine swimming a 1650 for fun?!?*?

That said, let's look forward and commit to doing a better job in filling the both the wet and dry sides of these meets. Next week, we have the Silver/Gold Meet (11/8-9) at CVSC. Please contact Gina Santilli at cgsantilli@comcast.net or 412-551-5808.

As you'll recall, starting with the BPR Mini/Christmas Qualifier on 11/22-23, we'll be using our centralized spreadsheet for signing up for all future meets. This gives us the chance to monitor where we are with officials at all meets and allows our officials the opportunity to sign up for multiple meets in one convenient location. Please take the time to sign up for all sessions that you can help with. It's important that you sign up as soon as you know your availability. ALL positions should sign up, including Admin Officials so we know what we have or, more importantly, what we don't. The link to the spreadsheet is https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14amxpxN912bDtjtW2AdcE16zWdN7msKUWOvRaGefshM/edit#gid=1718346109.

The 2014 Christmas Meet is once again an Officials Qualifying Meet (OQM) being held 12/11-14 at Pitt. There is a separate Application to Officiate that includes your election to be evaluated for national certification (more on that in a future blog post) should you so desire. The application can be found at  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1jp4dt9CSpSl15VMFCh50ghBpyaNErARPhGXkWq0HsjQ/viewform?usp=send_form. It's very important that you use this Application even if you do not want to be evaluated but would like to work session(s).

Finally, we have been asked to once again observe at the Pitt Invitational being held at Pitt on 11/21-23. We need a minimum of two (we're happy to have more) AMS officials for each session so that these times can be entered into the SWIMS database. Here's the spreadsheet to sign up for this meet...https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tCeqx0dsUHxN2a-FMXW7IQ-Zlm7WuKqnTTCl0aL7U2A/edit#gid=0. We've never not been able to meet these obligations to observe meets.

Thanks for your help. If you have any questions, please contact me at bob.mermelstein@gmail.com. See ya on deck!