As many of you are already aware, AMS no longer provides USA Swimming non-athlete membership cards to its non-athlete Official members. Most LSC's across the country have migrated to using Deck Pass as the primary means of documenting/proving your member status with USAS. Most of us show our cards on our smartphones and no longer bother with presenting a printed card to show that we're current and active members of USAS as non-athlete Officials. Typically, we now prefer that all Officials print their LSC certification card to also show what certification levels (e.g. Referee, Administrative Official, Stroke & Turn, etc.) they currently maintain.
While this is certainly adequate and acceptable, some of you prefer to go "old school" and would like a printed copy of your USAS non-athlete Official member card. You can do that, if you'd like. To do so, log into USA Swimming's website. Go to "Member Resources" and then "Deck Pass" (the second link under "Programs & Services" on the left hand side.
Once on your Deck Pass page, click on Membership Card. You'll see a link labeled "Print Official Card", which will allow you to print your official member card that you can proudly display.
Please do have your LSC certification card visible, as well, as it not only has all of your USA Swimming membership expirations (membership, BC and APT) but also your current certifications.
See ya on deck!
Thursday, June 2, 2016
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
We're now full steam ahead with Long Course and have meets most weekends through July. We're still waiting for some meet announcements to be posted with meet details but here are the meets/links currently set up in Volunteer Spot for you to sign up for meets you intend to work...
Team Pittsburgh May Invitational http://vols.pt/AyxSiM (May 27-28)
GPAC AGO http://vols.pt/f3i8RC (June 4-5)
HD AGO http://vols.pt/y2ibZp (June 4-5)
MLAC Summer Celebration http://vols.pt/cvxYTg (June 18-19)
JCCS Distance Meet http://vols.pt/JfjdBi (June 25)
MLAC Last Splash http://vols.pt/NFQtMN (July 30-31)
To see all of the meets posted for the 2016 meet sign up, use this link...http://vols.pt/Vxv1m8. As more meets gets posted to the LC schedule, more sign ups will be available.
Long Course is always a bit more challenging to staff with officials as some officials' kids don't swim LC so all the help you can provide is greatly appreciated. We look forward to seeing you on deck this summer. Any questions, please contact Bob Mermelstein at bob.mermelstein@gmail.com.
Let's Go Pens! Happy Memorial Day weekend!
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Updated AMS Officials Rosters Updated on Our Website as of 5/4/2016
The AMS Officials rosters have been updated on our website as of May 4, 2016. Please review your listing to verify it is correct by clicking here. If you have any questions and/or issues, please contact Bob Mermelstein at bob.mermelstein@gmail.com.
Long Course is here! Sign up to officiate at the meet sessions of your choice. Sign up early and often!
Long Course is here! Sign up to officiate at the meet sessions of your choice. Sign up early and often!
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Lochte Rule Now Applies to HS: Freestyle Turn Position Clarified in High School Swimming and Diving
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Swimming and Diving Rules Committee approved a change to the freestyle portion of the individual medley and medley relay as it relates to body position. In effect, the NFHS has adopted the so called Lochte Rule as interpreted by FINA and subsequently USA Swimming following last year's World Championships.
To read the complete press release, click here.
To read the complete press release, click here.
Monday, March 28, 2016
Important Information from USA Swimming
A few important pieces of information from USA Swimming...
ATHLETE PROTECTION TRAINING - BROWSER
Windows 10 was released last week, and the APT is not currently compatible with the browser, Microsoft Edge, that comes with it. There have been a few reports from members about this. Praesidium (the APT provider) is working toward a more permanent solution, but the temporary work-around is to use Google Chrome from a desktop or laptop computer (not a tablet or mobile device) to complete the course.
ONLINE TESTING NOT AVAILABLE APRIL 15-30
As happens every year, the officials’ online tests will be unavailable from April 15-30, 2016. All of these tests are being updated to allow for the May 1st rule changes and to align with the 2016 Rulebook. Tests will be back online on May 1.
If any test-takers have not completed their tests by April 15th, the uncompleted tests will be deleted and they will have to be taken over from the beginning on May 1st. COMPLETED tests will not be deleted. Note: NCAA tests will not be affected and will still be available from the NCAA testing link on the website.
SAFE SPORT WEBINAR FOR OFFICIALS
Safe Sport at Meets: A Conversation about the role of officials
Tune into a conversation with Rebecca Landre, official and LSC Safe Sport Chair for Sierra Nevada Swimming, as she shares her experiences and best practices for implementing Safe Sport at meets. She will discuss the role of officials and ways to mitigate risks at swim meets.
April 13, 2016 - Noon Eastern/11 AM Central/10 AM Mountain/9 AM Pacific
Registration and Information - http://www.usaswimming.org/
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Update on Team Pittsburgh LC Invitational
As many of you saw from Jeff Berghoff's email, the LC Invitational, designed specifically to allow our elite swimmers an early opportunity to get their Olympic Trial cuts, is on for this Friday and Saturday. This is a very short prelims/finals meet.
There should be about 75 athletes vying for their cuts. Typically, the swimmers will be swimming in one event each day as the focus on the events that they are most likely to attain their Olympic Trial cut in. As a result, the sessions are very short. It is expected that the prelim and final sessions will last only 1 hour.
We are still in need of a Starter for prelims and Referee and Starter for finals on Friday. We also need a Referee and Starter for Saturday Finals. Further, we need an Admin Official for Sunday Finals. We need Stroke & Turn officials for all sessions. Right now, we don't have any officials for any positions for Saturday finals.
Please sign up to help using the following link...
http://vols.pt/B32XPc
While a small meet, it is a very important opportunity for these swimmers. If they don't make their cuts it's on them but we can't allow US to be the reason their times won't count.
Thanks for your help!
There should be about 75 athletes vying for their cuts. Typically, the swimmers will be swimming in one event each day as the focus on the events that they are most likely to attain their Olympic Trial cut in. As a result, the sessions are very short. It is expected that the prelim and final sessions will last only 1 hour.
We are still in need of a Starter for prelims and Referee and Starter for finals on Friday. We also need a Referee and Starter for Saturday Finals. Further, we need an Admin Official for Sunday Finals. We need Stroke & Turn officials for all sessions. Right now, we don't have any officials for any positions for Saturday finals.
Please sign up to help using the following link...
http://vols.pt/B32XPc
While a small meet, it is a very important opportunity for these swimmers. If they don't make their cuts it's on them but we can't allow US to be the reason their times won't count.
Thanks for your help!
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Team Pittsburgh LC Invitational Needs Our Help
We all know that we're in an Olympic year. There are precious few Long Course meets prior to the US Olympic Trials. In order to provide an opportunity for some of our fastest swimmers to swim a 50 Meter meet against some strong competition, Team Pittsburgh is hosting a very special meet at Pitt on March 25-26 (Friday/Saturday). The meet is a Prelims/Finals meet. We know a lot of families are traveling for the holiday weekend but for those of us in town, we need your help.
Prelims begin at 9:00 AM on Friday and Saturday mornings and Finals will be at 6:00 PM both days. We need officials at all levels for this meet. Please help if you can. We need a Referee, Starter and Stroke & Turn for Friday Prelims and Finals and Saturday Finals. We also need a Starter and Stroke & Turn for Saturday Prelims. Prelims should last no longer than 2 hours so we're in and out!
Please siign up as soon as possible using the following link...
http://vols.pt/B32XPc
You can look at the Meet Announcement in the Meet Portal on the AMS website.
Any questions, please email Terri Cook at terricook27@yahoo.com or Jeff Berghoff at berghoff@pitt.edu.
Thanks for your help! This will be a very fast meet. You don't want to miss it.
Prelims begin at 9:00 AM on Friday and Saturday mornings and Finals will be at 6:00 PM both days. We need officials at all levels for this meet. Please help if you can. We need a Referee, Starter and Stroke & Turn for Friday Prelims and Finals and Saturday Finals. We also need a Starter and Stroke & Turn for Saturday Prelims. Prelims should last no longer than 2 hours so we're in and out!
Please siign up as soon as possible using the following link...
http://vols.pt/B32XPc
You can look at the Meet Announcement in the Meet Portal on the AMS website.
Any questions, please email Terri Cook at terricook27@yahoo.com or Jeff Berghoff at berghoff@pitt.edu.
Thanks for your help! This will be a very fast meet. You don't want to miss it.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Bringin' It Home!
It's hard to believe that Spring has just about sprung (did I jinx it?) and the Short Course season is coming to an end. We have our Age Group Championships at Pitt this long weekend followed by Last Splash the following weekend at PRA, SFAC and WHAT. These are all very full meets. We officials seem to be running out of steam as we wind down the season.
Our remaining meets are very short of officials and we need your help (if you haven't signed up already) to properly staff the deck. If your team is going to any of the remaining meets, please consider volunteering...even if you don't have a swimmer in the meet. AMS swimmers have worked very hard to get to this point of the season and they deserve a well staffed deck to ensure fairness and consistency from our officials.
All of our meets are listed on our website (amswim-officials.org) and links to our volunteer sign up are provided. Looking forward to seeing you on deck!!
Our remaining meets are very short of officials and we need your help (if you haven't signed up already) to properly staff the deck. If your team is going to any of the remaining meets, please consider volunteering...even if you don't have a swimmer in the meet. AMS swimmers have worked very hard to get to this point of the season and they deserve a well staffed deck to ensure fairness and consistency from our officials.
All of our meets are listed on our website (amswim-officials.org) and links to our volunteer sign up are provided. Looking forward to seeing you on deck!!
Monday, February 8, 2016
2016 WPIAL Championships Observation Sign Ups Available
Another year has passed (wow) and it's time to start lining up to be a USA Swimming Official Observer for the 2016 WPIAL Championships being held at Pitt on March 3-4, 2016. Of course, we observe the swimming to view any rules that are different between High School and USA Swimming so that the times can be uploaded into the SWIMS database as official times.
If you'd like to be considered as an observer, please add your name to the list for each session you'd like to be an observer. This year, AAA is first, followed by AA. Click on this link to sign up. Your entry will be automatically saved. We do try to accommodate as many officials as possible for each session. Here's the link...
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EsByQwF4pufs0xnQk1985hr-Mgcoh65dRsMUdYYjiBk/edit?usp=sharing
As the date approaches, I'll send out detailed instructions for those observing. Any questions, please email Bob Mermelstein at bob.mermelstein@gmail.com.
If you'd like to be considered as an observer, please add your name to the list for each session you'd like to be an observer. This year, AAA is first, followed by AA. Click on this link to sign up. Your entry will be automatically saved. We do try to accommodate as many officials as possible for each session. Here's the link...
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EsByQwF4pufs0xnQk1985hr-Mgcoh65dRsMUdYYjiBk/edit?usp=sharing
As the date approaches, I'll send out detailed instructions for those observing. Any questions, please email Bob Mermelstein at bob.mermelstein@gmail.com.
Friday, January 15, 2016
Recommendation from the USA Swimming Officials Committee
As you all know, USA Swimming has adopted FINA's interpretation of the freestyle portion of the medley events (relay and individual), often now referred to as the "Lochte Rule". Briefly, the rules state that a swimmer must swim 1/4th of the race butterfly, 1/4th backstroke, 1/4th breaststroke and 1/4th freestyle.
In transitioning from breaststroke to freestyle in the individual medley and butterfly to freestyle in the medley relay, the swimmer must be past vertical toward the breast once s/he has left the wall/block. (You may recall that Lochte, at the 2015 World Championships, preferred to streamline past vertical toward his back as this was his fastest streamline. As such, he would streamline on his back for the first 15 meters of the freestyle portion of the medley.) Under this interpretation (or clarification), FINA determined that he should have been disqualified for swimming backstroke for more than 1/4 of his race.
The following guidance has been provided by the USA Swimming Officials Committee:
Pertaining to the freestyle portion of the medley events
Determination of the body position during the freestyle portion of the medley events (individual and relay) should be judged in a similar manner to other body position calls. Namely, the shoulders must be at or past the vertical toward the breast when the swimmer leaves the wall. The judge should watch the swimmer’s feet leave the wall and then look up to gauge the relative position of the shoulders to one another. It is important to consciously think about the position of the shoulders from the point of observation – forward in time and not project back in time to where the shoulders might have been between the time the feet left the wall and the observation was made. As always, the benefit of any doubt goes to the swimmer. This is particularly true when the judge is observing more than one lane as it may be quite difficult to ascertain the position of the shoulders when observing from a different lane.
Suggested language for the disqualification slip
Use Miscellaneous-Other (7T) “Swimming more that ¼ of the race in the style of backstroke.”
In transitioning from breaststroke to freestyle in the individual medley and butterfly to freestyle in the medley relay, the swimmer must be past vertical toward the breast once s/he has left the wall/block. (You may recall that Lochte, at the 2015 World Championships, preferred to streamline past vertical toward his back as this was his fastest streamline. As such, he would streamline on his back for the first 15 meters of the freestyle portion of the medley.) Under this interpretation (or clarification), FINA determined that he should have been disqualified for swimming backstroke for more than 1/4 of his race.
The following guidance has been provided by the USA Swimming Officials Committee:
Pertaining to the freestyle portion of the medley events
Determination of the body position during the freestyle portion of the medley events (individual and relay) should be judged in a similar manner to other body position calls. Namely, the shoulders must be at or past the vertical toward the breast when the swimmer leaves the wall. The judge should watch the swimmer’s feet leave the wall and then look up to gauge the relative position of the shoulders to one another. It is important to consciously think about the position of the shoulders from the point of observation – forward in time and not project back in time to where the shoulders might have been between the time the feet left the wall and the observation was made. As always, the benefit of any doubt goes to the swimmer. This is particularly true when the judge is observing more than one lane as it may be quite difficult to ascertain the position of the shoulders when observing from a different lane.
Suggested language for the disqualification slip
Use Miscellaneous-Other (7T) “Swimming more that ¼ of the race in the style of backstroke.”
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