Billeting Policy... (Effective January 2006)

The rationale for developing the Billeting Policy is to provide hosting and participating clubs guidelines when they provide or access billeting at Provincial/Invitational meets.  This Billeting Policy is intended solely as a minimum standard and clubs are advised to review and assess the guidelines to suit their particular situation.  When a club agrees of host a meet providing billeting, it is a requirement that the minimum standard is met and that a copy of the club policy is on file with Swim Alberta.  Billeting is to be considered a privilege; abuse of this privilege can lead to suspension of further billeting opportunities.

The full policy can be found in the Swim Alberta-Swimming Canada Policies folder on the cd and on the web site.

Entering into Sanctioned Competition…
All clubs are encouraged to enter sanctioned competitions using the Swimming Canada web site, https://www.swimming.ca/rostercheck.aspx.  Help guides are available in the Competitions Section folder on the cd. 

Prior to entering any competition each club should complete an on line validation between the information in their Hytek program and the on line registration system.  This can be completed using this link https://www.swimming.ca/rostercheck.aspx.

Any club entering swimmers in competition prior to the swimmer being fully registered (entered on the Swimming Canada registration system and the registration fee being received the Swim Alberta office) will be fined $100.00 per ineligible swimmer per incident.

Entry Deadlines....
Entry deadline for all competitions shall be 14 days prior to the start of the competition.

Entry Fees...
Entry fees must be received within 5 days of the entry deadline or the meet manager may decline entries.

Entry fees, as set out by the Competition Review Committee and approved by the Board of Directors are as follows for the 2009-2010 swim season:

Timed finals competitions:  $6.75 per individual entry; $7.25 per relay entry

Heats and finals competitions: $8.00 per individual entry; $10.00 per relay entry

The following motion was approved in 2007:  Motion:
“The CRC moves that the entry fees for Alberta Invitational Meets, be left to the discretion of the Clubs to charge either a flat rate fee up to but not exceeding $50 per individual or, an increase in the per entry not to exceed $6.00 for individual events and $6.50 for relays (time final events) and $7.00 for individual and $9.50 for relays (prelims and finals events).

Any club wishing to increase entry fees as per the above motion must submit a full financial statement following the completion of the meet for the CRC to reference when reviewing entry fees for later years.

Olympic Bonus/Competition Information...
An assessment of $0.75 per swim (including relays) at all sanctioned meets is tabulated by the on line system and is payable to the Swim Alberta office by meet management, within 15 days following the completion of the meet. 

Sanctions...
Having a swim meet sanctioned ensures that the meet is run in accordance with S/NC rules and allows times achieved at the meet to be used for entry to other meets and provincial and national records.  All meets, including time trials must be sanctioned.

Sanction applications will not be approved until a pool survey has been filed with Swim Alberta.  The survey must be certified and include the depth at the start (1m and 6m) and at the turn end, length of each lane - centre water level, width of each lane, height of the blocks from the water surface and position of backstroke poles.  Floor plans and hand drawn documents are not acceptable.

Swimmers with a disability (PARA).  For competitions including swimmers with a disability the IPC sanction application form must be completed and forwarded to the IPC Swimming prior to the competition.

Swim Alberta recommends that the only meets that need to apply for sanction from the IPC are the provincial championships or meets that have international classified swimmer participating.

International Paralympic Committee (IPC)
Sports Department
Adenauerallee 212-214 53113
Bonn, Germany
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

These guidelines shall apply to all swim meets and time trials where registered amateur swimmers are participating.

CSWAG 1.1 Age group swimming competitions shall be under the jurisdiction of SNC, and by extension, the PS, and shall be administered by SNC or PS.

To obtain a sanction number for a competition:
All sanction requests must be completed through the Swimming Canada sanctioning, results, rankings, and registration web site, https://www.swimming.ca/rostercheck.aspx.  (Contact your club registrar to set up a meet manager’s account).  Sanction applications must adhere to the following guidelines:

1. All sanction applications and meet information packages MUST be posted on line no less than:
 Invitational Competitions - 10 weeks prior to the first day of the meet
 Closed Invitational Competitions - 5 weeks prior to the first day of the meet
       - EXCEPT -
2. Time Trials, Dual Meets and Tri Meets for which the sanction application and the meet package must be posted on line later than 72 hours prior to the first day of the meet.  These meets will receive a lower priority than the above meets and may not receive a sanction if there is a conflict with one of the above meets.

3. In accordance with Motion: A. Gillis/D. Bird - Carried, Board of Directors meeting June 13, 2002,  “That all sanctioned meets in the province of Alberta may hold a sanctioned time trial (Class 1 or 2) at the conclusion of the session or the competition.  The granting of a meet sanction implies that a time trial may be run.”

Sanction applications for competitions and time trials received inside the ten (10) week, five (5) week, and 72 hour guidelines are approved but are returned to the club accompanied by an invoice of $100.00, payable upon receipt.

Failure to meet these guidelines will result in sanctioning being withheld.  The assigned sanction number shall then be included in all information sent to clubs including meet information packages and results.

The Board of Directors may order the withdrawal of a sanction number:
- When S/NC rules are violated.
- If all competitors are not registered swimmers.
- When Swim Alberta meet regulations are violated.

Open Invitational requirements:
- All clubs in Alberta must be invited.
- Entries must be accepted on a “first come, first served” basis.

CSW 3.6 Time Trials CSW 3.6.1 Class One Time Trials
i. class one time trial is reserved for sanctioned record attempts.  Such time trials shall be advertised at least three days prior to the attempt in order for the record to be recognised or accepted;
ii. No advertising is necessary for record attempts at sanctioned meets;
iii. The time trial shall be held in public and shall meet the minimum requirement of a PS;
iv. No coaching is permitted during a record attempt.

CSW 3.6.2 Class Two Time Trials
i. A class two time trial is a swimmer’s attempt to achieve a time which may qualify the swimmer for entry into future meets;
ii Class two time trials may be conducted on a less stringent basis than other sanctioned meets.  For example, several swimmers may swim at the same time, they need not be doing the same event; they need not be the same gender, and two timekeepers per lane are sufficient;
iii Individual freestyle events of 800m or longer may be conducted with more than one swimmer per lane;
iv. Records shall not be accepted from class two time trials.
 
Additions or changes to the Alberta swim meet schedule shall have the approval of the ACC before being acceptable for sanction.

Cancellation of any swim meet on the approved Alberta swim meet schedule should be made in writing to the Swim Alberta office no less than 72 hours prior to the meet.

Sessions...
The CRC and Swim Alberta recommend that sessions be four hours in length, not including warm up.  If a session times out to be more than four hours, the meet management shall either block the sessions or limit the entries.

The four-hour time recommendation per session is not applied to the provincial designated meets, as these meets must allow for all swimmers who qualify at the standard to attend.

Results...
Results are an important part of our sport! 

Coaches need results to enter other competitions as well as for their own evaluations.  Results should be given the highest priority and posted on line on the Swimming Canada web site and distributed to each attending club after the competition.

As Meet Managers and Officials Coordinators we often leave the assignment of the Safety Marshals to the last. We often struggle to find enough officials to run the meet and the position of Safety Marshal is not given the respect it truly deserves. Swimmers expect a safe environment for warm-ups and it is our responsibility to ensure we act with due diligence.

• The Level 1 clinic covers the role and responsibilities of the Safety Marshal.
• ALL Safety Marshals shall be Level 1 certified. They must have taken the course prior to working the position. It is not good enough to give an individual a vest and send them to the warm-up area.
• The names(s) of the Safety Marshals must be included on the Officials sign-in sheet.
• Safety Marshals are to meet and be briefed by the referee prior to going onto the deck.  They must have a copy of the warm-up procedures.
• Copies of the warm-up procedures must be posted on deck.
• Following the warm-up the Safety Marshal(s) must report to the referee to give details of the warm-up – was the session clear or were there incidents to be reported. If any incidents are reported a brief summary must be included with the Referee’s pool sign-off sheet.

The referee pool check sheet will be revised to include a sign-off for warm-ups

Guidelines for Alberta Competitions:
These guidelines are intended to assist and guide clubs hosting competitions within Alberta.  It is important for the meet committee to recognise that the meets are hosted for the swimmer and therefore should be staged with an athlete centred philosophy.  The meet should combine the spirit of athletics, sportsmanship and entertainment.  We want swimmers to stay excited and to continue to strive for higher goals.

Para-Swimmers or swimmers with a disability (SWAD) are eligible to participate in all Swim Alberta provincial competitions, provided they meet the provincial qualifying standard for swimmers with a disability.  Para-swimming time standards are available on the Swim Alberta web site.   For invitational meets it is up to the meet manager to determine whether or not para-swimmers can be included in the meet.  Coaches should contact the meet manager directly.  If you do have a para-swimmer entry, it is advisable to determine the disability for safety reasons i.e. a blind swimmer doing a warm-up in a lane with 25 swimmers would be a safety risk and alternate arrangements will need to be made.

Preparations:
- Establish a meet committee.  Members of the committee include - meet chair, meet manager,
 (meet chair/meet manager position can be combined)  officials chair, billet chair, office chair,
 awards chair, special events chair, concession chair.
- Prepare a budget
- Apply to Swim Alberta for the sanction number for the meet.  See sanctions below for more
 detailed information on the actual sanctioning procedures.
- Determine whether you will be giving medals and/or ribbons, etc.
- Prepare and distribute the meet package to the clubs. 

Committee Responsibilities:
Meet Chair:
The role of the chairperson is to oversee the organising of the entire meet and ensure that each chair is fulfilling their obligations.  It may be that the meet manager can also fulfil this roll.

Meet Manager:
If you need assistance with your meet operations, the Alberta Officials Committee has set up a meet managers support network:

Doug Bird  Tel.  403, 241-0870, Bus.  403, 237-3982, Email. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Annette Gillis   Tel.  403, 255-3009, Fax.  403, 640-4393, Email. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Laurie Yuzwa   Tel.  403, 251-7293, Bus.  403, 509-7583, Email. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

The job of meet manager is made easier if you have a team that works well together and is experienced at hosting meets.  Initial meetings help to clarify the responsibilities of each team member.

Prior to sending out the meet packages, review the information and make any appropriate additions or clarifications as needed.  The meet manager will receive and process all entries.  When entries are received keep a record of the entry grids, billet requests and monies received.  Copies then can be made and passed on to the committee chairs.  Keeping the originals and taking them with you to the meet will aide in clarifying any discrepancies that may occur.

A month prior to the meet, it is wise to review your specific meet needs with the facility staff.  A good working relationship with the pool staff is imperative to a successful meet.

Approximately 30 minutes prior to warm-up is an excellent time to run a coaches meeting.  The Meet Manager can review problem areas that need clarification and any changes that have been made to the meet, e.g. double laning of longer events, timing of the sessions etc.

At the conclusion of the meet a complete set of results is to be sent to each club.  The results must include the following information:
- Swim Alberta sanction number
- List of participating clubs - club code, coach’s name, # male/female swimmers
- Name of meet, date, pool, sanction #, name of host club
- Point scores
- Complete set of results by events

Results, in events such as relays and the 800/1500 Free which include more than one age group i.e. 15 & over, 14 & under, ages must be included for record purposes.  Relay results should include the first split on the relays, as this is an official split.

If the host club has the facilities, it is helpful to run off results from the previous days heats/finals, and distribute them to the clubs.  This ensures the clubs have results on hand early and the host club may then only be required to send out the final days results with point scores etc. to the clubs.  The host club must upload results to the Swimming Canada website in Team Manager format.

Meet Report:
The final meet report should be completed as meet managers may change from year to year.   The report should be brief and include the following:
- list of participating clubs
- Olympic bonus form fully completed, cheque must accompany
- highlights of the meet - including session lengths
- summaries of any Jury of Appeals decisions
- problems that occurred with running the meet -  e.g. event order
- financial summary
- suggested changes

Office Chair:
With the use of Hytek it is imperative that the office chair be well versed in the use of the program.  Review of the hard copy is vital to ensuring that each swimmer’s entries meet the standards and does not exceed the maximum number of swims.  If you notice errors in the entry contact the coach and clarify the question(s).  You will find that this extra up front time will save you time once the meet has started.

Session lengths will depend on the number of entries.  The longer events may need to be double laned i.e. 1500/800 Free, 400 Free.  If it is necessary to double lane then the starts must be staggered so that each swimmer has the opportunity to start off the block into clear water. 

If you use Hytek, programming 45 seconds between heats allows for fairly accurate timing of the meet.  When arranging pool divisions for short course meets have the office manager put various age groups together to determine the best age group mix (that will have both pools completing a session at approximately the same time).  The pools do not need to always be divided boys and girls.
Long course meets should be double ended when there are more than 300 swimmers entered.

Officials Chair:
Supplying enough officials can be a difficult task.  Good communication with clubs in your area will ensure some support from the other clubs.  Your club is responsible for supplying all of the officials when you host the meet.  All clubs must ensure a safety marshal is on deck overseeing the entire warm-up.  If the event is double ended, then two marshals are necessary.

Usually, the meet manager supplies the Officials Chair with the names of the referees and starters.  Good, fair, knowledgeable referees and starters are essential to a well-run meet.  These officials should be qualified and experienced.

Preparation of Heat Sheets:
A psych sheet for the weekend events should be available for the coaches in their initial packages.  This provides the coach the opportunity to review the weekend’s events for their swimmers and to bring forward any concerns to the meet management early in the meet, i.e. a missed entry.

Heat sheets for the initial session may be copied for the coaches and for the spectators (to be sold) once entries and heats have been determined by the Office Chair.  Subsequent heat sheets may be copied once scratches are in.  If this is possible, coaches should be encouraged to submit scratches for the next day the evening prior to the session.  Once these are entered in the computer, heat sheets may be copied.  This can save time by combining some heats and eliminating the empty lanes.

Heat sheets must be available for the coaches at the beginning of warm ups.

Notes to remember:
An announcer who is knowledgeable about the sport, enthusiastic and well spoken is important for finals.  Take the time to ensure the sound system is adequate and can be heard by the spectators.  It is pointless to go to the trouble of having an announcer when they cannot be heard by the spectators.

Opening ceremonies need not be long or showy but it is important to acknowledge the importance of the event with some opening remarks of welcome and the singing of the national anthem.  An opening ceremony of 5 - 10 minutes is more than adequate.

Concession Chair:
The volunteers are essential to running any swim meet, so it is important to recognise them for their time and efforts.  A good supply of coffee, juices, water etc. along with vegetables, cheese and crackers, goes along way to ensuring the officials are happy.  The occasional visit to the pool deck with drinks and food will keep those officials coming back.

Billet Chair:
All billeting in the Province of Alberta must use the Swim Alberta Billeting Guidelines as the minimal basis for operations. The billet chair should receive a copy of each of the billet request forms that are submitted by the clubs.  Again, organisation is the key.  The billet chair can work with the other area clubs to ensure that all swimmers are placed for the meet.

The billet chair must be in attendance for the first session of the swim meet.  It is helpful to provide each of the chaperons with a copy of the names of the swimmers and their billet family, and the phone number of that family.  Circulating around the pool deck at the start of the meet will enable the clubs to meet you and communicate any concerns/scratches to you.  Lists can also be displayed in a readily accessible area.  At the end of the session it is important for you to be available to trouble shoot.

Awards Chair:
Awards can be presented to the swimmers on deck after each swim.  You do not need to make this presentation elaborate.  Detaining the swimmers at the blocks immediately after the race and awarding the medals with the swimmers mounting the blocks is a simple and quick method of presentation.  It is also a method of acknowledging any sponsors that may have contributed to the swim meet.

Ribbons can be completed and distributed to the various clubs after each session.  Labels for the medals can be run off on the computer and distributed to the clubs for the award winners.

Special Events Chair:
Warm up music adds to the excitement of the meet and is well received by both swimmers and spectators.

Media Chair:
It is the responsibility of the media chairperson to inform the media of the upcoming event.  Sending a press release to the newspapers, radio and television a month prior to the event will ensure it is on their calendar.  Letters should include details of the meet - time, place name of competition and any unique features of the meet such as a games selection.  Continued communications with them will also help the chairperson to determine the kind of information that is required by the media.  The host club is responsible for ensuring results are communicated to the media.

Qualifying Period
Short Course: April 1 of the previous year to the entry deadline

Long Course: September 1 of the previous year to the entry deadline

Entry Deadline
Fourteen (14) days prior to the first day of competition.

Late entries are permitted at double the fee and will be entered as exhibition only if an extra heat is not created.

Late Qualifier Deadline
Monday before the meet by midnight.

Entries
No-Time entries are not accepted for individual events.  Converted times are excepted for any provincial meet.  Swimmers may swim any event offered in their category.

Clubs entering non-qualified or de-qualified are subject to a $100.00 fine.

All Entries must be made using Hy-Tek online at swimming.ca.

Proof of Times
Meet Management will post or distribute psyche sheets for all timed final events, including relays, by 8:00 a.m. of the Monday before the meet.  Any Coach or Club may challenge other clubs entries but must pay a $50.00 retainer to Swim Alberta.  If the challenge is successful the retainer will be returned and the offending club will be fined $50.00.  If a challenge occurs, proof of time must be provided to the meet manager within 24 hours of notification.  Challenges will only be accepted up to 48 hours prior to the first session of the meet.

Entry Fees
$8.00 for Individual Events,
$10.00 for Relay Entries. 

Entry fees include Olympic bonus.  Entry fees are refundable prior to the entry deadline.

Seeding & Scratches

Swim Alberta Scratch Rule

The AOC along with the Alberta Coaches Council have reviewed and updated the Alberta scratch
rule. Clubs hosting meets are requested to abide by the provincial scratch rule. The scratch rule
for the competition must be included in the meet package.

Preamble:

The Swimming Canada rulebook includes two rules that need to be considered, - “a swimmer who is not an alternate, may only withdraw or “scratch” from that event without penalty according to
the rules set down by the Provincial Section or written in the Meet information package (CSW
3.6.1) and ‘Scratch Deadlines shall be clearly stated in the Meet Information’ (CSW 3.6.2). To
assist the clubs in Alberta the recommended scratch rules are listed below and shall be the rules
applied for Provincial Competitions. If a swim club wishes to institute a different scratch
rule/deadline the rules must be included in the Meet information package. Be advised Swim
Alberta does not allow the use of monetary fines in scratch rules.

Alberta Scratch Rule
Time Final Meets:

• Coaches are requested to submit any known scratches to the meet manager prior to the
  start of the meet 
• Scratches are to be submitted to the Clerk of Course prior to the start of each session 
• There shall be no penalty for swimmers who ‘No Show’ for their event

Heats & Finals Meets:

• Coaches are requested to submit any known scratches to the Meet Manager prior to the
  start of the meet
• Scratches are to be submitted to the Clerk of Course 30 minutes prior to the start of each
  session
• The Scratch Deadline for finals each night will be 30 minutes following the conclusion of
  the preliminary session. The conclusion of the session will be the completion of the final
  race of the session or where 800/1500 are the last events of the session, the scratch
  deadline shall be 30 minutes after the completion of the last race immediately preceding
  the start of the 800/1500.
• The Last Scratch Deadline shall be 30 minutes prior to the start of the finals session.
  However, there shall be no reseeding to include scratches made after the initial scratch
  deadline.
       o The Last Scratch Deadline applies only if the following procedures take place:
• The referee, the coach and/or alternate for the event scheduled has been
  notified of the impending scratch by the coach of the swimmer who
  scratched.
• The alternate has reported to the Clerk of Course and is prepared to swim
  the event
• No-Shows, step-downs, late scratches and unexcused incomplete swims:
  o For preliminary events there shall be no penalty
  o For final events the offending swimmer shall be scratched from all remaining
  final events including participation in relay events for that session
• The scratch deadline for a time final event where the fastest heat of swimmers is
  advancing to the final shall be 30 minutes prior to the start of the preliminary session
  on the day the event is scheduled to begin. Once seeded a ‘No Show’ for any of the
  fastest heats of swimmers means the offending swimmer shall be scratched for all
  remaining final events including participation in relay events for the session in which
  the fastest heat is run.  

Failure to scratch from a final or time-final constitutes a late scratch, and shall result in the offending swimmer being scratched from all remaining events, including relays, scheduled for that day.

Heats – The scratch deadline shall be the start of the previous night’s finals, or before 3:00 p.m. prior to the first day of the meet.

Time-Finals – The scratch deadline without penalty, including relays, shall be the start of the previous night’s finals or before 3:00 p.m. prior to the first day of the meet, with the exception of the 800 & 1500 freestyle events which require positive check-in.

Finals – The scratch deadline without penalty shall be 30 minutes aftefr the conclusion of preliminary heats of the session immediately preceding the finals that day.

Format
All preliminaries swim regardless of the number of entries.

Mixed gender meets are confined to the following:
a) 10 and under meets (NR)
b) Novice meets (NR)
c) Junior Circuit (SR)
d) Masters meets
e) Distance events (800 and 1500) except for top 8 fastest in each age group that would go alone, or straight to finals.

Motion:   Doug Bird/Annette Gillis
“Mixed gender meets will only be sanctioned for 10 and Under, Novice, Junior Circuit, Masters and distance events. Any clubs wishing to obtain an exception to this policy must submit their request in writing to the CRC.”

Any clubs found in violation of this policy will be issued a letter of warning from Swim Alberta.

800 & 1500 freestyle are timed final events which require positive check-in.

Relays
Timed final events.
Individual names must be submitted 30 minutes prior to the start of the session.  The deadline for name changes will be 30 minutes to the start of the relay event.

Time Trials
Swim Alberta and Meet Management must both approve a time trial, which will only be held in exceptional circumstances.