USA Swimming National Disability Committee

Transcription

1 Disability Committee Mission Statement: USA Swimming encourages people with disabilities to participate in the sport of swimming and facilitates their inclusion in USA Swimming programs through education and collaboration. We seek to involve people with disabilities in existing competitions and programs for all swimmers, rather than provide unique disability-only opportunities. Attendees: Mark Rieniets (Chair), Randy Julian (Staff liason), Tharon Drake (Athlete rep), Haley Beranbaum (Athlete rep), Jim Peterfish, Jon Larson, Linda Conger, Kyle Smith Absent: Tom Franke, Bob Welsh John Loria, 1. Task force report on Qualifying standards 1. Will qualifying times at LSC, Zones and Sectional levels create inclusion or exclusion of swimmers 2. How should standards be defined: - a. By class, b. Groupings of similar disabilities 3. Should they be based on American or World Para records or as a % of the existing qualifying times Task force determined that qualifying times will be motivational and will be by time standards. The standard will be based on the Bronze medal time for the Event & Class and then adjusted for level (LSC, Zones, etc.) and then adjusted again for age group. To simplify the implementation, the lowest time standard recommended will be the lowest qualifying time for the LSC championships, which satisfied 2 criteria: 1. Swimmer must have swum in at least a single meet to achieve the time 2. Will ensure that the athlete is able to complete the event no first time swims Once the single time standard is released, the data points from the different LSC s will be collected from SWIMS with a view of refining and increasing the number of qualifying times at a point in the future. Page 1 of 5

2 Along with the single qualifying time, formulae to permit a grid of motivational times will also be developed for release so that the athletes can monitor and aspire to better times. These motivational times will be modelled on the existing B, A, AA, AAA and AAAA structure used within USA Swimming today. The motivational times will be based on 5 disability groupings with guidelines for how an athlete would fall into any particular grouping. Will need to develop a formulae to conversion the qualifying times from LCM to SCY. The standard conversion(s) may not work as with the Lower classes need to account for the slower turns 2. Education presentation for coaching swimmers with a disability/impairment for the coaches regional training sessions was discussed. Develop a power point presentation on coaching athletes with a disability to be played on a continuous loop at each of the regional coach s clinics Bob Welch, Linda Conger, Jim Peterfish, Tharon Drake Deadline: Draft completed by June 1st, 2017 Linda is working on this presentation based on the slide deck presented at the 2016 convention. Committee agreed that the presentation should not exceed slides, should include pictures and videos to attract attention Discussion was held around where video from previous Disability Committee initiatives was now stored. Randy is to get access to the old web site where this material was available. Randy to follow up on videos 3. Template for standard wording for inclusion of swimmers with a disability for State and Zone meets, along with the suggested level/qualifying times of swimmers participating Develop a standard template for use by LSC s for inclusion of swimmers with a Disability/Impairment into Championship meets Linda Conger and Jim Peterfish Material has been collected from a variety of LSC and Zone meets. Jim and Linda to come up with one standard version for a template to be made available via the web page. 4. Discussion was held about how to cater for athletes with a disability in meets. a. Example was given of children with Autism swimming 25YD of a 50 YD yard race and with younger age groups to keep their comfort levels in the early stages of their swimming career. As a result of Page 2 of 5

3 this and numerous other examples, it was discussed that a FAQ section should be developed on the USA-S Disability FAQ questioned gathered for posting on USA Swimming Disability web page Jim Peterfish, Haley Beranbaum Ongoing. Discussion has held around fact that a lot of material was developed by past Committees that was available on the old USA Swimming web site. Julie Bare also developed a number of presentations on this topic which should be in the archives. Randy to locate and forward to committee. Randy to follow up 5. Need to reach out to LSC disability chairs, and the fact that 11 LSC s do not have a disability chair appointed. Suggestions were made on communicating to the Disability chairs Reach out to LSC s which do not have a Disability Chair and determine if one can be appointed John Loria Randy to provide an electronic version from the USA Swimming database and provide to the committee. John will reach out to the LSC s again one this is provided and fill in any gaps. Tharon New Mexico no longer current on Tharon to approve West Texas thought it was a good idea search is 6. Utilizing the USA-S twitter account for relevant news/updates on impaired athletes Randy Julian, Tharon Drake, Haley Beranbaum Deadline: May 1 st, 2017 Tharon and Haley have developed a 3 or 4 week rotating schedule to highlight high achiever through to emerging athletes. Have been working with Jeanine Carpenter (U.S. Paralympics) to develop content and presentation. Will start contributing to the USA Swimming twitter account within the next few weeks. Tweets ready to go. Not getting response from Wendy Barlett 7. Risk management statement regarding the Cochlear Implants removed prior to swimming With proper coverage they are now safe No response has been received from Risk Management Randy Julian to follow up Randy Julian Deadline: May 1st, 2017 Page 3 of 5

4 Randy suggested the fastest path forward on this will be to reach out to the parents who brought this forward to get further details, and then submit the details to Sports Medicine to do a thorough investigation prior to putting forward a final recommendation to Risk Management Randy to follow up. Kyle will assist 8. Coaches clinic for impairment/disability to be co-sponsored by USA Swimming and U.S. Paralympics Swimming in October/November Distribute information and dates for the coach s clinic to LSC s and coaches within USA Swimming Randy Julian, Mark Rieniets A line item has been included in the 2018 budget to fund this workshop. Randy will send out a notice to LSC chairs and coaches to save the date and also get it included in their budget for next year. Once the budget is passed at convention, a more detailed communication will be sent to LSC General Chairs, Disability Chairs, Senior Coaches and Age Group coaches representative. A communication will also be sent to ASCA. February 1st-4 th 2018 Same as face-to-face meeting 9. Convention workshop Discussion was held around making the workshop an introduction/promo for the USA Swimming/U.S. Paralympics Swimming coach s workshop on January 18 th & 19 th, Mark and Randy will approach Queenie Nichols (U.S. Paralympics Swimming) to determine content and format of the workshop. Page 4 of 5

5 10. Next face to face meeting The next annual face to face meeting for the committee will be held in Colorado Springs on the weekend of February 4 th & 5th, 2018 and will coincide with the coach s clinic. 11. Annual awards at convention Discussion was held around ensuring that the awards description and forms are moved to the new USA Swimming web site. Linda will go back through the last 5 years and submit the list of people who have been nominated for the Service Award for review, as a number of excellent nominations were not the final recipient of the service award. Page 5 of 5