From the Officials Chair...
I would like to introduce myself: I am Jeffrey Demlow and I have joined the Board of Directors as your Officials Chairman. I hope to bring to realization some of the directives as laid out by the president and his board members.
I bring about 13 years of being on deck, working not only at the local level but the Zone, National and National Championship level for USA Swimming, YMCA, NCAA, and High School (National Federation) as Stroke and Turn judge, Starter and Referee. I look forward to working with and for the Masters swimmers of the Local Master Swimming Council and its Board of Directors.
I would like to share some concerns I have about the rules governing Masters swimming and their application at Masters meets. First I would urge each swimmer to read and understand the rules. These can be found and downloaded at www.usms.org.
I would like you, the swimmer, to understand that officials are there to insure equal opportunity of fairness (a level playing field) at each and every meet you compete at. Some areas I would like to point out are:
Because you may or may not have a coach overseeing your entry in to a meet and making sure you are there at each event and heat in the right lane, this now becomes your responsibility, as a matter of rule.
In Masters swimming, a modified FINA start is being used. The sequence of the start is as follows:
- before your heat there will be a series of short whistles (four or more). This is to notify the swimmer in the upcoming heat that they should prepare to swim by removing any warm up clothing, get on goggles, stand behind their assigned lane and get ready to swim, when the pool is clear or the meet is ready to start.
- there will be one long whistle. This is to ask the swimmer to assume a position on the blocks, in the water or at the pools edge. The deck referee will then hand over the field of swimmers to the starter. He/she will wait until all the swimmers are quiet.
- the only verbal directions the swimmers will hear will be "Take your Mark". At this time the swimmers must assume their starting position and remain motionless until the starting sound.
- In the backstroke event there will be a second long whistle to have the swimmers place their feet and wait quietly for the "take your mark" command. Movement before the starting sound that has been observed and confirmed by both starter and Referee can and will be disqualified for that event. Please note the swimmers will not be called back, the confirmed offender will be notified at the end of the race.
Follow these guidelines and you will be there on time and off the blocks.
For now, I hope this helps some of you better understand what has been going on. I will talk more about strokes & turns and their rules in other newsletters.
Until then, Safe and Fast swimming!