Pacific Swimming Changes Memo

Date: January 7, 2009 To:

All Members of the Vallejo Aquatic Club

Re:

Rule Changes in Pacific Swimming

Vallejo Aquatic Club OFFICE

P.O. Box 5846 Vallejo, CA 94591-5846 PHONE

(707) 553-7946 (SWIM) CELL

(707) 373-8791

Over the first months of the 2009 swim season, three major changes to the way Pacific Swimming operates will take effect. Because VJO is a member club of Pacific Swimming, we’d like to take the opportunity to explain these new rules so that our team is prepared for them. The three major changes are time standards, meet entry fees, and the “no-show” policy.

EMAIL

[email protected] WEB

www.vallejoaquatics.org

Over the past few years, Pacific Swimming has used the USA Swimming National Motivational Times as standards for meet entries and awards. These are the B, BB, A, AA, AAA, and AAAA times you are currently familiar with. These times are determined by the top ten times in each event, by gender and age group, in USA Swimming history. Starting January 1st, Pacific Swimming has opted to use its own, Pacificonly standards. These new standards are calculated based on times that swimmers within Pacific Swimming are achieving and are meant to be a more accurate gauge of progress within our geographic area. The number of standards has also been reduced to B, A, JO (Junior Olympics), FW (Far Westerns, or “Q”), and PRT (Pacific Reportable Time). Don’t be confused — although they share the same names, the “B” and “A” times used for the Pacific-only standard are significantly different than the “B” and “A” times used for the National Motivational Times. Also please be aware that many Junior Olympic and Far Western standards have become faster; some athletes who had JO or FW cuts in 2008 may no longer have them in 2009. A list of the new standards are available online (http://www.pacswim.org/ 09_agegroup.pdf) and will be printed in the upcoming 2009 Pacific Swimming Guide.

Secondly, meet entry fees will increase for all meets after April 1st, 2009. Like most other institutions in the current economic climate, Pacific Swimming is financially hurting and having trouble balancing its budget. Unfortunately, it has decided that swimmers and their families will shoulder a large portion of that shortfall through increased entry fees. These new fees are available online (http://www.pacswim.org/ Motion_0811-entryfees.pdf) and will be reflected in upcoming meet sheets. Finally, the “no-show” policy has been updated. Previously, if a swimmer who had signed-in missed an event, the penalty would be being scratched, or missing, their next event in the meet. Under the new rule, a swimmer who has missed an event will be allowed to repeat the sign-in process to avoid a penalty. The logistics of the new rule have not been determined yet. In fact, our February meet will be the first in Zone 3 (our part of Pacific Swimming) to incorporate the new procedure. Please remember that it will take officials, coaches, and swimmers time to become knowledgeable and comfortable with this change, and there may be some uncertainty in these situations for the foreseeable future. You can read more details online (http://www.pacswim.org/Motion_0810-MN1.pdf). Thank you for your time and attention with these matters. We expect there to be many questions about these changes as they are large departures from the past. Please don’t hesitate to ask a member of the Coaching Staff about any concerns or questions you may have.

Go Sharks!! The Vallejo Aquatic Club Coaching Staff



Page 2

Tuffy Williams Aaron Jon Toch Lesley Toch



Contact o. (707) 553-SWIM [email protected] TUFFY WILLIAMS

c. (707) 567-7161 [email protected] AARON JON TOCH

c. (707) 373-8701 [email protected] LESLEY TOCH

c. (707) 373-4147 [email protected]