Seasonal thlete Table of Contents Seasonal thlete Registration... 1S Processing Seasonal thlete Registrations... 2S Seasonal Membership: F s, 120 Day Rule, Closed Competition 3S
Seasonal thlete Registration US Swimming Rules and Regulations, RTICLE 302 - THLETE REGISTRTION 302.1 REGISTRTION ll swimmers practicing with a member club or competing in events sanctioned by US Swimming must be registered as athlete members of US Swimming. thlete members must meet the rules of eligibility contained in rticle 303. No swimmer alleged to be ineligible shall be denied the right to register and compete without being afforded the opportunity to refute the allegations relating to possible ineligibility, pursuant to Part Four. 302.2 MEMBERSHIP thlete membership will consist of an annual membership, an outreach membership, a seasonal membership, or a single-meet open water membership..3 Individual Seasonal Membership t the option of the LSC, membership may be offered for one or two periods of not more than 150 days per period within a registration year. Seasonal membership may also be offered for an unspecified but continuous period of not more than 150 days commencing on the date of registration. Seasonal membership is not valid for competition at or above the Zone Championship level. 502.7 FEES.1 The annual fee for each class of membership is composed of the following elements: national fee established by the Board of Directors and House of Delegates; and B local fee established by the LSC, except in the case of Outreach Membership, where a local fee not to exceed $2 may be established..2 n LSC may charge a fee for transfers. The fee for a seasonal athlete membership in US Swimming is determined annually by US Swimming and may include any additional fee the LSC may establish. Fees are not transferable. If an athlete joins as a seasonal athlete and he/she decides to become a yearround athlete, he/she must pay the full year-round fee. Season 1 and Season 2: The LSC may designate one or two seasonal membership periods during the registration year. Each of these periods may last up to a maximum of 150 days and the two seasons may overlap. The beginning and ending dates of each seasonal period is determined by the LSC. Seasonal periods with a beginning date of ugust 31 st or prior will be considered as part of the current registration year. Seasonal periods that begin after ugust 31 st will be considered as part of the next registration year. Individual Season: The LSC may also offer a seasonal membership for an unspecified but continuous period of not more than 150 days commencing on the date of registration. n athlete may be offered this membership for one or two periods within a registration year. Seasonal periods with a beginning date of ugust 31 st or prior will be considered as part of the current registration year. Seasonal periods with a beginning date after ugust 31 st will be considered as part of the next registration year. During the designated membership period, seasonal athletes may swim open competition at all US Swimming sanctioned and approved meets for which they qualify, below Zone, Sectional and National levels. Regional competition is considered at the Zone level. thletes competing at regional competitions must be registered as year-round athletes. Seasonal athletes, who wish to continue swimming with US Swimming after their membership expires, must renew their registration and pay either for another seasonal period or the full yearround registration fee. Seasonal swimmers who participate solely in closed competition (as determined by the LSC) during the seasonal membership period may immediately join a yearround club as a year-round athlete with no 120 day waiting period. 1S
Benefits of seasonal athlete membership in US Swimming include: 1. Liability and secondary accident medical insurance only for the designated period of not more than 150 days (see Insurance Section for further explanation). Seasonal athlete membership cannot be transferred from one LSC to another. 1S
Processing Seasonal thlete Registrations Seasonal thlete Registration Policy LSC Registration Chair Responsibility It is the LSC Registration Chair's responsibility to maintain a current file of seasonal athletes registered in their LSC. Maintenance of these files includes registering new seasonal athletes, re-registering seasonal athletes and changing seasonal athlete data. Seasonal athletes cannot transfer from one LSC to another.. Distribute applications to individual clubs and to anyone requesting seasonal athlete membership within your LSC. B. When applications (or electronic files) and fees are returned to you, record the date of receipt. This date indicates when the insurance is in effect. Verify the number of registrations the club sent to you and determine that the funds they included are correct. C. Enter the seasonal athletes into the SWIMS database and generate a seasonal athlete membership for each application received from each club and unattached individuals. If a seasonal athlete is already a member, the SWIMS database will find the athlete s record and no new membership will be generated. Notify US Swimming s Member Services Department of any duplicate records found in SWIMS so they may merge the records. D. Two resources are available to get help while using SWIMS. You may access the private registration section on the US Swimming website for tutorials and best practices, or, if you cannot solve an issue, you can get technical support from US Swimming Member Services during their business hours. E. Monthly accounting periods end at midnight on the last day of the month. When you close your monthly accounting period, print or save to a file each month s thlete Report and the LSC Transaction Report for the month. Your LSC Treasurer (or person designated to receive invoices) will be billed by National Headquarters for the monthly membership activity. F. lthough there are no set guidelines, National Headquarters suggests that you keep seasonal athlete applications for three years only because of some outside chance that within that period of time there would be a need for confirmation of membership. 2S
Seasonal Membership US Swimming's seasonal membership program offers a competitive swimming program to those athletes who swim for only a portion of the year. Under the seasonal membership program, athletes can join US Swimming at a reduced membership fee and participate in US Swimming sanctioned and approved meets. t the option of the LSC, membership may be offered for one or two periods of not more than 150 days per period within a registration year. Seasonal membership may also be offered for an unspecified but continuous period of not more than 150 days commencing on the date of registration. Seasonal membership is not valid for competition at or above the Zone Championship level. 120-Day Rule The 120-day rule is discussed in Section 203. For a swimmer to represent a US Swimming club in a competitive event, one hundred twenty (120) consecutive days must have elapsed without the swimmer having represented any other US Swimming club in US Swimming competition. The count start for the 120-day period will begin from the last date of OPEN competition. Closed Competition Closed competition is defined as competition open only to the members of one organization or group. The Local Swimming Committee is responsible for determining what specific competition is in fact closed competition. uestions and nswers Seasonal Membership Listed below are answers to frequently asked questions about seasonal membership. What are the benefits of seasonal membership? thletes who join as seasonal athletes join US Swimming for a reduced membership fee for a reduced period of time but not to exceed 150 days. Seasonal athletes, under the supervision of a US Swimming coach member, are covered by US Swimming liability and secondary accident medical coverage while they are participating in US Swimming practice, sanctioned or approved activities. What is a seasonal club? The LSC determines whether or not to offer a seasonal club membership. Seasonal club membership enables a swim club to join US Swimming at a reduced membership fee for a reduced period of time (as determined by the LSC) with the submission of a club registration form and a registered coach. Seasonal club registration does not require the completion of the full new club procedures as listed on the US Swimming website. Seasonal membership may not exceed 150 days. 3S
Seasonal Membership continued. What happens if an athlete is registered to a year-round club and a seasonal club and chooses to represent his seasonal club in open competition? If the athlete represents his year-round club in open competition, he must then wait 120 days before representing his seasonal club in open competition. May a seasonal club have both seasonal as well as year-round athletes? Yes, the club may have both seasonal as well as year-round athlete members. May a year-round club have seasonal athlete members? Yes, the club may have both year-round as well as seasonal athlete members. Must the LSC offer a seasonal club membership if the LSC offers a seasonal membership program? No, the decision to offer a seasonal club membership as well as a seasonal athlete membership program is an option of the LSC. uestions and nswers 120-Day Rule and Closed Competition Has the 120-day rule been changed? No, the 120-day rule is still in effect. registered US Swimming athlete must wait 120 consecutive days before representing any other US Swimming club in US Swimming competition. May an athlete who swims for a seasonal club in closed competition only immediately attach to a year-round club at the end of the season and then compete for the year-round club in open competition without regard to the 120-day rule? Yes, the seasonal member may represent a year-round club in open competition without waiting the 120 days. However, if the swimmer changes year-round clubs, he must wait 120 days before representing that new club in competition. May a US Swimming athlete who competes for a year-round club and then competes for a seasonal club in closed competition at the same time represent his seasonal club in open competition? year-round athlete member may represent a seasonal club in closed competition and may represent the year-round club and seasonal club as often as he wishes without regard to the 120-day rule. However, if the athlete represents the seasonal club in open 3S
Seasonal Membership continued. Competition, 120 days must have passed since the athlete last represented the yearround club in open competition and the athlete must wait 120 days before representing a yearround team in open competition. Our league is composed of ten swim clubs with all clubs being US Swimming registered. The LSC has given us approval to hold a league championship. Does the 120-day rule apply? The LSC must determine that the championship is closed competition (open to a specific group only). If the meet is designated as closed competition, the 120-day rule would not apply. If you have additional questions or need further clarification of seasonal membership, closed competition or the 120-day rule, please contact the Member Services Department at National Headquarters. 3S
Summary Closed Competition and 120-Day Rule For a year-round US Swimming member of a US Swimming year-round club... 1. to represent another year-round US Swimming club in open US Swimming competition 2. to represent a seasonal US Swimming club in open US Swimming competition 3. to represent any seasonal US Swimming club in closed US Swimming sanctioned or approved competition 4. to compete in non-us Swimming competition representing a non- US Swimming organization 120-day rule applies 120-day rule applies For a seasonal US Swimming member of a US Swimming seasonal or US Swimming year-round club... 1. to represent a seasonal US Swimming club in closed competition 2. while a member of one US Swimming seasonal club, to represent another US Swimming seasonal club in closed competition (e.g., compete in a US Swimming approved country club league on Wednesdays and in a US Swimming approved Parks and Recreation league on Saturdays) 3. to represent another US Swimming year-round club or another US Swimming seasonal club in open competition 4. to compete in non-us Swimming competition representing a non- US Swimming organization 120-day rule applies Seasonal member registration requirements: To represent both a US Swimming year-round and a seasonal club, if seasonal membership is offered by the LSC, seasonal members must register with the year-round club. Seasonal members are only eligible to enter US Swimming competition below Zone level. To enter only US Swimming sanctioned or approved closed competition, seasonal members may register either with a year-round club or a seasonal club, if seasonal club membership is offered by the LSC. 3S