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New TSA Rep Boot Camp . May 15, 2012. Eligibility Questions. Eligibility: Question 1. You’re an HOA-based team. Your assistant coach and his family have moved out of the neighborhood but he still wants to swim. You: a) Let him swim because he is coaching and still young enough to swim.
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New TSA Rep Boot Camp May 15, 2012
Eligibility: Question 1 • You’re an HOA-based team. Your assistant coach and his family have moved out of the neighborhood but he still wants to swim. You: a) Let him swim because he is coaching and still young enough to swim. b) Tell him he can only coach, not swim, because HOA teams don’t have any other option. c) Ask your HOA board if they would be interested in offering a class of membership with full club privileges that would cover coaches. If the coach (or his family) purchase the membership, he could swim.
Eligibility: Question 2 • You are a club that sells memberships. A member has asked if she can buy a “swim team only” membership. She explains that her family hardly ever uses the pool other than to attend meets so it only seems fair. You: a) Explain that the only club memberships that make a swimmer eligible for TSA must include “full club privileges”. b) Create a class of membership for swim team swimmers that is substantially cheaper than for regular members. Code the swim team only members’ access cards so they can’t access the pool outside of swim team practice hours or meets. c) Discuss with your club’s board whether it is makes sense to sell partial season plans to your pool that cover just the months of June and July. Make sure the plans are advertised to the universe of prospective members and include full club privileges.
Question 3: The new kid on the block • A new family moves to your neighborhood after the start of swim season and signs up for the team. You subsequently learn they swam the previous week for another TSA team. Are they eligible to swim on your team? a) Yes, they moved so they can’t swim on the old team anyhow. b) Yes, that was a club team in the North League. We’re a HOA team in the South League. c) No, once you swim an event with another TSA team, that’s your team for the summer. d) No, (see answer “C”) but you can let them practice with your team and participate in social events.
Question 4: Keeping teenagers • You are desperate to keep your teen swimmers. Which of the following would be legal?: a) Waive the swim team fees for swimmers aged 15-18. b) Offer reduced swim team fees based on the number of meets a swimmer participates in. c) Eliminate the volunteer requirement for teen’s parents. d) Offer a “scholarship” to teens who swim with the team their final three years. e) Waive the club dues, but also restrict access to the pool. f) Allow swim team teens that move out of an HOA neighborhood to buy a pool membership, but don’t publicize it. g) Waive the club dues for teens who are also year-round swimmers.
Roster Prep • Need name and age (as of June 1st) of every swimmer. Who gets the roster? • Coach needs it to seed meets • Opposing team’s TSA rep gets copy at each meet • Scorers and ribbon writers need a copy
Volunteers • Make sure volunteers know what to expect before they sign up for jobs. • Arrange to train volunteers at time trials or before. (TSA offers clinic for starters, online clinics and in-person clinics for stroke & turn judges.) • Pair experienced volunteers with novices for first two meets.
Getting jobs filled with no gripes • Appoint a volunteer coordinator (if you don’t already have one). • Happy volunteers are people who get help finding the position that works for them. • Consider breaking volunteer jobs into shifts. • Should volunteering be mandatory vs. optional?
Countdown to meet day • You need to know who will be at the meet. Have “miss a meet” sheet posted at pool, or use an online process for swimmers to notify coach if they won’t be swimming. • Some teams require a positive check-in, i.e. their families must tell the coach they are swimming. • Make sure the coach has a time for as many swimmers as possible (timed in practice or during time trials).
The seeding rules • The main event is the only event that is scored at a meet. You’ll want your fastest swimmers in the main events. • Events are segregated by age and gender. The age groupings are 6 and under, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14 and 15-18. • 6 and unders swim the freestyle, back and breast for 15 yards. • 7-8 and 9-10s swim the free, back, breast and fly for 25 yards, and the same distance for each leg of relays. • 11 and up groups swim the four strokes for 50 yards, and the same distance for each leg of relays. • The order of events: Medley relay, freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle relay.
The seeding rules, cont. • 6 and under swimmers can swim in a maximum of two main events. • Swimmers 7 and older can swim in a maximum of three main events. • Relays don’t count toward the maximum. • Seed fastest to slowest for the rest of the heats.
Allowing everyone a main event swim Some small teams will allow everyone a main event swim. Why this isn’t a great idea: • It slows down the meet. (46 individual events) • It doesn’t help anyone’s “self-esteem” to finish dead last. • If your team insists on doing this, set a minimum time for each age group/gender/stroke.
What lane am I in anyhow? • In 6-lane (and larger) pools the home team uses odd numbers lanes, the visiting team uses even-numbered lanes. • For main events, only the middle 6 lanes are used if the pool has fewer than 6 lanes, only lanes 1-4 are used. • In subsequent heats, all lanes are used. Once a team runs out of swimmers in an event, the other team’s swimmers can fill all remaining lanes. • Fastest swimmer (or relay) on each team gets that team’s centermost lane; subsequent swimmers get progressively farther away from the center.
What lane am I in anyhow? (cont.) • Example 1: In 6-lane pool, visiting team’s “A” relay or swimmers gets lane 4; “B” gets lane 2; “C” gets lane 6. • Example 2: In 8-lane pool, visiting team’s “A” relay or swimmer gets lane 4; “B” gets lane 6; “C” gets lane 2 (not difference from 6-lane example!) Heats can also use lane 8. • Example 3: In 10-lane pool, visiting team’s “A” relay or swimmer gets lane 6; “B” gets lane 4: “C” gets lane 8. Heats can also use lanes 2 and 10.
Running the meet without pre-seeding • For detailed guidelines, see “TSA Meet Organization” on our website. • In TSA, each team seeds its own swimmers. • Coach creates a master list for each age and gender group listing each swimmer and their ranking for each event. • Coach fills in pink (girls) and blue (boys) slips for each main event. • Event list is then used by the Clerk of Course to flow swimmers into the right lanes.
Fine-tuning the manual system • Some teams give the Clerk of Course only the pinks and blues for lining up main event swimmers with a separate sheet for the heat swimmers. Don’t do this. The Clerk of Course needs the master list – or a hand-seeded Excel spreadsheet. Reason: Those pinks and blues need to go to the Recorder who stands near the Place Judges and takes the information down at the end of the race.
Using software or manually seeding each event vs. traditional TSA method • Pros: Older swimmers can line themselves up Easier for kid pushers to help line up younger swimmers The onus isn’t all on the Clerk of Course. • Cons: A little bit more work To avoid swimming with empty lanes need Clerk who can re-adjust the lane assignments on the fly.
Changing Pre-seeding On The Fly • TSA rules don’t require a time on every swimmer. Stopwatches, wireless timing devices, etc. are optional. • If you pre-seed the meet you must be able to fill in empty lanes on the fly to make the meet go faster. • Make sure swimmers have body marking in case they are in the other team’s lane. • Jot the information about who is moved to what lane on your seeding printout (Clerk of Course) so you can later match times to swimmers. • Be a good sport and help get times for all children. If you aren’t timing your lanes, it’s fine to ask the other team for timers.
One team is pre-seeding, one isn’t You’ve bought a wireless timing system and meet management software. The volunteers who operate the software want every heat pre-seeded to avoid confusion, and to not change anything. But not all the teams you swim use meet management software. To keep the meet moving quickly you can: a) Ask the team who is visiting you to send a file with the number of swimmers per age/gender group to help you seed your own swimmers without having excess empty lanes. b) When you see an event “mismatch” during the meet (you’ve got twelve 9/10 boys and the visiting team has only six), fill in empty lanes with your swimmers and ask the visiting team to record their times and pass them along to you. c) Do nothing. You’re the host, you can swim with empty lanes. d) Fill in all the lanes regardless of whether you will get electronic times on your swimmers who are in “opponent” lanes. Timing races is optional in TSA. Meet efficiency isn’t. [While this last statement is true, try to arrange times with the opponent. And, yes, meet efficiency is important.
Meet Delays Soon after the start of the meet, the host team stops the meet because they are having a problem with their timing device, or to re-seed races because several swimmers didn’t show up. How long do you have to wait? 102.7.3 The start of a meet may not be delayed by more than 30 minutes for reasons other than inclement weather. New This Year: Delays within a meet, other than weather related, that do not have a bearing on the completion of scheduled races, must not last longer than 10 minutes. Don’t stop a meet to re-seed. Flow Swimmers into the Lanes and assign their times later. Make sure you have stopwatches, clipboards and pencils if your timing system malfunctions.
Combining heats and events Your team has four 15-18 male swimmers and the team you are swimming has two. You are swimming in a six-lane pool. Is there a way to swim both the “heats” and the “main events” at one time? a) No, that’s never allowed. b) Yes, the “heat” swimmers should be grouped in either lanes 1 and 2 or 5 and 6 and the starter should inform the place judges which lanes are “heat” swims.
Even More Relay Moveups You have two 13-14 boys and six 15-18 boys. You want to move up the 13-14 boys to fill out two relays. Which option is legal: • Move the two 13-14 boys to make up the balance of the B relay. True age group swimmers must fill the initial relay positions; moved-up swimmers may only fill the balance of the lowest relay. • Since those two 13-14 boys are fast swimmers, put them on the A relay.
More heat/event combining You are swimming in a 6-lane pool. One team has two girls 15-18 relay teams and one boy’s relay team. The other team has two boys’ teams and one girls’ team. Can you have boys and girls race at the same time? a) That’s not fair to the girls. b) Since you can’t put an empty lane between the two races, you can’t do it. c) Since you can’t put an empty lane between the two races, first discuss it with the visiting team’s TSA Rep. With his/her permission you can race them at the same time, grouping the boys on one side (lanes 1, 2 and 3) and the girls on the other (lanes 4,5, and 6). Make sure the starter announces it so the place judges can assign themselves accordingly.
Relay move-ups – How to get the most kids the most time in the water Your team has three 15-18 boys, three 13-14 boys, four 11-12 boys, twelve 9-10 boys, five 7-8 boys and one 6-year-old who can swim 50 yards. Which of the combinations below are legal relay move-ups available to your coach? a) Move one 13-14 boy to swim with the 15-18 boys. b) Place the 6-year-old with the three 13-14 boys and the extra 7-year old with the 15-18 boys. c) Take the fastest two 11-12 boys and put one with the 15/18 boys and one with the 13-14 boys. Move up the 6 year old and the extra 7 year old to swim with the remaining 11/12 boys to form a team. d) None of these options are legal.
More relay move-ups During the warm-up, you discover the other team doesn’t have enough boys to field a 15-18 boys relay team. Neither do you. But you’ve got three extra 13-14 boys who could swim with a 16-year-old. You: a) Let the coach write up a blue slip with the extra 13-14 boys and submit the relay move up information to the other team’s TSA rep. b) Let the coach write up a blue slip but only if the meet hasn’t started – even though this is for the freestyle relay slated for the end of the evening. Once the meet has started, move-ups for reasons other than illness, accident or expulsion aren’t allowed, unless agreed by the other team’s TSA Rep.
Final thoughts on move-ups • Only for relays • Must notify the other team before the race. • Only exception is if someone from a relay needs to leave before the meet, then you can fill in with a move-up but again – alert the other team’s TSA rep.
4:30 on home meet night • Set up the backstroke flags (if they aren’t permanently mounted). • Dig the 6 and under rope out of the storage, along with the pinnies, stopwatches, clipboard, timing equipment. • Set up a space for scorer, ribbon writers and announcers (have them sit together with a view of the pool). • Set up chairs for swimmers and block off access to the line-up area. • Set up an area for coaches from both teams. • Set up an area for the starter.
5 p.m. on Tuesday Night • Home team takes the warm-up at 5. Visiting team gets 5:30, unless another arrangement is made ahead of time. • If swimmers are diving they can’t have anyone swimming toward them.
5:45 on Tuesday night • Gather the meet officials – stroke and turn judges, place judges, recorder, clerk of course. • Go over decisions TSA reps made ahead of time. • Decide on dive-overs. • Assign spots for judging relay takeoffs and turns. • Get the two stroke and turn judges together. • Make sure the judges know the 6-and-under exceptions.
Question: Judge not. . . The visiting team lets you know they don’t have a certified stroke and turn judge. Who would make a suitable replacement? a) Someone with a NCHSAA or USA Swimming certification, even if lapsed. b) Someone who has been a TSA stroke and turn judge in the recent past. c) A second stroke and turn judge from the host team. d) The visiting team’s TSA rep.
Calling it tight, or not so tight Following the pre-meet officials meeting, your stroke and turn judge tells you the other team’s stroke and turn judge pulled her aside and said she won’t DQ any 6 and unders and strongly advised your judge to the do same. Your S&T judge didn’t know how to respond, but is now upset. You: a) Tell your judge to follow the rules while you seek out the other team’s TSA rep. b) Ask your judge to “go soft” so as not to make waves. c) Go up to the other team’s judge and tell them that you won’t be doing the same. d) Contact the other team’s TSA rep and try and come to some sort of agreement.
The timers’ meeting • Can be held concurrent with the officials’ meeting • Go over how the host team’s starting equipment works. If using a system with a light, tell timers to start their watches on the light. • If lending wireless timers to visiting team, show them how they work. • Make arrangements for “catching” times for other teams’ swimmers that swim in your lanes.
What doesn’t happen at 5:45 The host team’s TSA rep wants to hold the 6 and under events first. The visiting team’s TSA rep disagrees. Who gets to decide? a) Host team b) Visiting team c) The traditional event order is swum (6 and unders don’t get grouped first) unless both TSA reps agree prior to the day of the event to swim the 6 and unders first.
The secrets of fast-moving swim meets • A trained starter. • Start the meet on time! • Have a swimmer in every lane for every heat – as much as possible. • Is it worth it to run the 6 and unders first? Maybe. [From the class discussion: A trained starter, filling in all the lanes and starting on time are the most important elements. Running all the 6 and unders first might shave a few minutes off, but first try to hook up your 6 and under rope on poles so you can unclip it and drop it down and then clip it back (to save time). Also, have the announcer get the kid catchers ready. A final note: Crowded deck space is a sound argument to make in requesting that 6 and unders run first.]
Questions: Delays and forfeits • You are having a tough time getting your volunteers in place for the meet. Is it okay to delay the start of the meet? [If it starts more than 30 minutes late, barring weather delays or agreement between reps, it is a forfeit.] • The host team’s TSA rep calls you the day of the meet to ask if you can host the meet for them because their pool has been shut down. Are you under any obligation to host the meet on their behalf? [If you can oblige, that would be terrific, or agree to a makeup day. Remember, our goal is to help kids swim.]
Question: Speeding up a meet A large team is racing in your 4- or 5-lane pool. They propose ahead of time that neither team allow more than three heats beyond the main event in each age/gender group. What is your obligation to accommodate them? a) None, but that assumes you are prepared to run a very efficient meet using a well-trained timer, starting the meet on time (barring bad weather) and committed to keeping the lanes completely full. If bad weather threatens, you should be willing to consider eliminating heat swims. b) None, but you might want to consider a compromise – such as swimming a full set of heats for the freestyle and cutting back on heats for the other events depending on how long the meet is running. c) None, unless bad weather threatens. It’s in your own interest at that point to consider ways to trim the meet. [All of these answers are correct. As discussed in the clinic, small venues are frequently quite capable of running very efficient meets and small venue teams should not feel pressured to cut heats if they have a reasonable expectation that they can finish the meet in a reasonable period of time.]
About those 6 and unders The visiting team’s 6 and under swimmers aren’t exactly swimming on their own. What is illegal under TSA rules? a) Using any kind of flotation device. b) Using flippers. c) Having a coach “escort” them down the lane. [While coaches sometimes escort a nervous heat swimmer down the lane, in the interests of time and the purposes of a swim team, the children need to make to the rope by themselves.]
The Announcer • Text for announcer is located on our website. • They should definitely announce the no smoking, and no drinking rules. • Announce illegally parked cars. • Call for AWOL swimmers who haven’t been found by the kid pushers.
The races are underway • Clerk of Course hands pink/blue slips to runner to bring to Recorder. • The Recorder stands near place judges and records the finish of the races. • Place judges can gather around recorder or stand in lanes to call races. • If any two consecutive place judges disagree, those two swimmers must be declared to have tied. If there is a disagreement between non-consecutive place judges, the order of all the swimmers whose places are still at issue will be determined by a poll of all the place judges. • Recorder alerts Starter if he/she must delay start of next race. • After recording the race, recorder hands the slip to a Runner who brings it to the Scorers’ table. • [As discussed in class, judges shouldn’t be twisting arms. In addition we confirmed that judges can gather around the recorder and hold up fingers for the lane that matches the place they’re judging (i.e. the first place judge holds up three fingers to signal that lane three came in first). The TSA rules suggest a different way.]
The A, B, C’s of scoring • Each team supplies a scorer. • Make sure scorer has copy of rules with them. • Make sure each scorer is calculating the score as they go along, and doing so independently. After each page is filled, the two scorers should check with each other to see that they have the same score. • Relays are five points for first, winner take all. • Individual events: 5 points for 1st, 3 points for 2nd, 1 point for third.
Scoring Questions Two swimmers tie for first; how are the points divided? a) Both swimmers get five points. b) The first place points (5) and the second place points (3) are added together and then divided. Each swimmer gets four points. The swimmer placing behind them gets one point. Two swimmers tie for third place; how are the points divided: a) Both swimmers get one point b) Each swimmer gets .5 points and is awarded third place.
