USA Swimming/FINA rules.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

I have a question concering a swim meet conducted under USA Swimming rules. The swim meet was for swimmers under the age of 13 and my question is concerning the application of an administrative rule.

The meet was being conducted in a pool that is 25 meters in width and 50 meters in length. The pool owners (not the sponsors of the swim meet) had placed a pontoon bridge across the width of the pool so that half of the pool was used as a 25 meter pool. This left the other half of the pool as a non-competitive area. The non-competitive area was used by the competitors as a rest area between events. The only adult supervision in this large area was two life guards and a couple of marshals (parents of the sponsoring swim club) strolling through the area from time to time. In other words there was no real adult (parents of the swimmers) supervision of the swimmers.

It was explained to me that USA Swimming meet rules do not allow anybody who does not possess an USA Swimming card to be on the pool deck. I can understand a strict application of this administrative rule during an event involving world class swimmers (i.e. U.S. Olympic Team qualifying), but it appears to me that the meet official did not use good commong sense in strictly applying this rule in a non-competitive area of the pool deck in a meet involving young children.

I have been a boys'/girls' H.S. and women's college basketball official for 30 years and I have taught a mandatory basketball officiating class in Ohio the last 10 years and the application of administrative rules is one of common sense, i.e., appropriate to the age of the participants.

In a meet invoving young children there are not individual coaches for each and every swimmer to make sure that the needs of the swimmer is met, and parents fill that void at swim meets.

I would like some comments regarding my inquiry. Please feel free to email me directly either through eReferee.com
or at [email protected]. Thank you.