Meet Sanctioning What goes on?

USA Swimming Meet Sanctioning Requirements Sanctions may only be granted to US Swimming Group members or lscs No Sanctions for commercial purposes No sanction for any event utilizing the word “Olympic” Sanctions must be assigned by an lsc (or US Swimming) “us swimming … shall be free from liabilities or claims for damages during conduct of this event” Requires a meet announcement

VA Swimming Meet Sanctioning Requirements Two weekends/year reserved as “no meets” No meet conflicts on championship weekends Draft meet announcements (expense worksheet) submitted 60 days prior to scheduled competition Distribution of sanctioned meet announcement to teams 45 days prior … Must distribute results and submit financial report

VA Swimming Sanctioning Policies The host team for the meet will submit a request for sanction or approval to the Administrative Vice Chair along with a draft meet announcement, a check for the sanction fee, and meet expense worksheet (if required) 60 days prior to the scheduled date of competition. The minimum information required for a sanction/approval to be issued is a list of events, the date, time, and location of the meet, check for the sanction/approval fee, the name and contact information of the meet director, and the name and contact information of the referee for the meet. Sanction and approval request forms are available on the VSI website or may be obtained from the VSI Administrative Vice Chair or VSI Technical Planning Chair. At the option of the host team, and with the agreement of the Administrative Vice Chair, the sanction/approval fee may be paid after completion of the meet with the meet rebate fees and other fees remitted to VSI.

VA Swimming Sanctioning Policies Draft meet announcements are also to be forwarded to the General Chair, Technical Planning Chair, Age Group Chair, Senior Chair, and Membership/Registration Coordinator. These should also arrive 60 days prior to the scheduled date of the meet. The meet director will coordinate directly with the Technical Planning Chair, and make all necessary corrections to the meet invitation. Once the Technical Planning Chair approves the meet invitation, a sanction number will be issued and the Meet Director will publish and distribute the invitation announcement. Distribution to all participating teams should be 45 days prior to the scheduled start date of the meet. Draft meet announcements received fewer than 60 days prior will be subject to the following penalties: a. Received 1 to 7 days past the original due date: $50 per day b. Received 8 or more days past the original due date: $100 per day

VA Swimming Sanctioning Policies Sanction or approval requests may be denied if in the opinion of the Board of Directors the host team is unable to conduct and officiate the meet in accordance with standards prescribed by VSI and USA Swimming, including, but not limited to, adherence to VSI timelines and process, and adherence to the four hour rule for 12 & under swimmers. A sanction/approval may also be denied if a meet unacceptably conflicts with the published VSI meet schedule. District, Region, Summer Awards, Age Group Championship, and Senior Championship meets are all on protected weekends. A sanction/approval may also be denied for other reasons, including, but not limited to the following items: failure to submit results, financial reports and/or fees within the prescribed time; repeated issues with air quality; repeated issues with overcrowding and excessive timelines; an inability of the host team to provide sufficient officials and other volunteers; and any failure to provide a safe environment for the swimmers to compete

US swimming required components in meet announcements … Liability clause Statement of prizes and awards Warm up schedule and lane divisions Water depth information Racing starts statement Membership requirement to participate On deck registration permitted? Competition course certification? Audio/visual devices statement Deck changing prohibition statement Drones policy statement “held under sanction of us swimming” statement

VA swimming required components in meet announcements … Sanction & liability statement Location of meet must be included Facility/course(s) description Must have meet referee and meet director named Eligibility Statement Disabled swimmers statement Meet format description Warm up procedures Entries submission procedures Fees statement Awards Statement Seeding procedures General rules declarations

VA swimming required components in meet announcements (continued) … Penalties statement General Rules summary Officials announcement & invitation Safety procedures timers requirements Results procedures & availability Facility Rules (if any) Directions to competition facility Order of Events Chart (warmup and competition times listed, breaks listed

Technical Planning Chair The Technical Planning Chair shall chair, and have general charge of the business, affairs and property of the Technical Planning Committee, which is responsible for long-range planning regarding the swimming programs conducted by VSI, the continuing review and development of the VSI philosophy and for advising other committees and divisions regarding the implementation of that philosophy in the context of VSI's swimming programs.

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