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League Post - Published: 6/22/2025 by Jeffrey Utterback

Relay Meet Schedule Set

A couple things, tho: As I set up these meets they were added to your Home Page. There is something weird going on with the Dates, as listed, for some of those Meets. Wyatt is working on that. For now, look at the Date, Start and Warmup times listed here. If there is a Relay Meet listed here that is not on your Home Page, email me and I will add your team to that Relay Meet. 

Relay Meet - Day & Date - Warmup / Start time

Frontier Co - Monday 6/30 - 6:45 / 7pm

Sterling - Monday 6/30 - 5:30 / 6pm MST (will be Posted as CST)

Alma - Tuesday 7/1 - 6:45 / 7pm

Arapahoe - Tuesday 7/1 - 5:30 / 6pm

Cozad - Tuesday 7/1 - 6pm / 6:30

Indianola - Tuesday 7/1 - 6:30 / 7pm

Stockton - Wednesday 7/2 - 6:45 / 7pm

Trego - Wednesday 7/2 - 6:45 / 7pm

Wilcox/Hildreth - Wednesday 7/2 - 6pm / 6:30

St Francis - Thursday 7/3 - 5:30 / 6pm

Please let me know if I missed something. As always, start a new email: jeffreyd@atcjet.net

Jeff 

No Reply Required

League Post - Published: 6/19/2025 by Jeffrey Utterback

Video / Picture Reviews - Conduct

There have been a few instances of people offering video or photos to “help” correct rulings made at our Meets. By Rule (below) this is iinadmissible at any and all PtSL Swim Meets.

As I related in the False Starts Post, this is not a new happening. I have, from time to time, looked at such brought to me, after the situation has been settled, just out of curiosity. I have yet to see a video or a picture that proved the ruling incorrect. Many times I have asked to see the swimmer swim, again, after all is settled. Again, I have yet to see the swimmer swim correctly and be deserving of the disqualification.

From the Rule Book (which is basically the National High School Rule Book – tailored to what we do):

 

RULE 4    Officials and Their Duties
SECTION 1 AUTHORIZED OFFICIALS
ART. 3...Video equipment shall not be used to verify judging decisions made during the meet. This rule pertains to the use of video replay to dispute or actually judge a disqualification.

 

Please know: If a Rule has been misinturperted or applied incorrectly, we will fix that as quickly as possible. If you have a question about anything, you WILL NOT take that question to anyone but your Coach. You WILL NOT address or contact anyone working in any capacity at your Meet other than the your Coach. Your Coach will then take it to the Meet Director if they see fit. Any conduct or behavior other than that, you will become subject to removal from the Meet.

NOTE: The people that work at our Meets as Stroke Judges, work very hard and do a very hard job, very well. Our new system for entering Disqualifications (DQ) allows them to report a DQ directly to the system, which allows them to cover more swims. Contrary to some beliefs, they are not there just to pick on your swimmer. If a swimmer is not swimming the stroke as allowed by Rule, they are tasked with disqualifying that swim. This is as much a teaching moment, for the swimmer, as for any other reason. There is also not nearly enough people volunteering to help with this job. We are always in need of people to fill spots as Stroke Judges. So as long as you are sitting in the shade, instead of helping with the Meet, appreciate how these people are helping improve our League.

There is becoming an issue with pretty much no one checking Results and/or DQ's until after the Meet is over. We have worked very hard, well, Wyatt has, to have the System make Results available very soon after any Event is complete. It is exponencially easier to address and fix a issue while the Meet is still in progress, than it is hours afterwards. If fact, all Protests will be addressed within an hour of the completion of the Meet, by Rule. Point being, check the progress of the Meet on our website regularly during the Meet.

Your resposibility of your Conduct:

RULE 3   Team Personnel
SECTION 3  CONDUCT
ART. 1...No team personnel/competitor shall act in an unsportsmanlike manner.
This includes any act the meet director deems unsportsmanlike, including but not limited to, the following:
a. making insulting or derogatory remarks, gestures or acts including taunting;
NOTE; The League disapproves of any form of taunting which is intended to embarrass,
ridicule or demean others under any circumstances including on the basis of relative ability,
race, religion, gender or national origin.

b. trying to influence or showing disgust with officials’ decisions;
c. interfering with meet officials in the performance of their duties.

 

Thank you for reading thru this and, if at any time, you do not feel these standards are not met, you are welcome to contact me.

Jeff - jeffreyd@atcjet.net

For the Coaches and Team Contacts: Reply to this Post is not required. 

 

League Post - Published: 6/16/2025 by Jeffrey Utterback

I would say, “Sorry this is so long!”, but I am not and this needs to be discussed and fixed.

There has become many arguments and just plain wrong “assumptions” about Starts and when a Start becomes a False Start. I do not know if it is that the Relay False Start is different or where the confusion comes from. I will go thru both Starts.

An anecdote to how far things can go:

At a Championship Meet, many, many years ago, A very good swimmer, who I had not seen swim, at least that year, but had noticed their times, was the top seed in a Freestyle Event. I was near the Starting end, but not fully invested in watching the start. I had just looked away or looked up just after the race was started and could “see” that something was wrong. Said swimmer ended up DQ'd for a False Start, correctly, by the Starter. The swimmer's parents, almost immediately it seemed, came literally screaming at me. It took a minute (or more it seemed) to get them calm enough to have a discussion with... they had a picture of the start (more on pictures/videos coming soon!) that showed, by their reasoning, that there was no False Start. They had kept 'yelling' that their swimmer was not in the water before the start. When I got them calm enough to 'review' the start that they had caught in their picture... I understood what they were saying. Anyone would have a hard time cutting a video and capturing the image they had. Their swimmer was completely horizonal, off the start edge, with every one of the other swimmers completely vertical, still motionless, in their start positions. Obviously the swimmer had left well before the starting sound. Had said swimmer been doing that all summer? I do not know. I do know that the parents did not leave happy! Is that happening now.. I do not know... but we are going to fix it here and now.

 

Individual (or first swimmer of a Relay Team) Start:

Upon the starting command, “Set”, swimmers shall promptly assume a motionless position with their foot/feet at the front edge of the platform or pool deck. When all swimmers are motionless, the starter shall activate a starting device.

A false start/infraction occurs when a swimmer:

a. unnecessarily delays in reporting for the start, or in assuming a starting position;

b. leaves the mark before the starting signal;

      1. does not remain motionless immediately prior to the start*. Other swimmers are to be released by the starter’s command, “Stand up.”

* Any swimmer making any movements toward the pool before or when the start command is given, shall be deemed to have false started.

* Any swimmer moving away from the pool when the start command is given, shall not be deemed to have false started unless said movement causes other swimmers in said heat to false start. Then the False Start shall be charged to the original movement.

Relay:

On the take off, the second, third and fourth swimmers on a relay team may be in motion before the previous swimmer finishes. The swimmer shall remain in contact with the pool deck until the previous swimmer has finished. However, on starts from the deck, the second, third and fourth swimmers must use the forward start with at least one foot at the edge of the deck. The body may be in motion but no intentional movement of the feet is permitted.*

  • * Think of this as the wall/deck is the baton that is handed off. The outgoing swimmer must still be in contact with the wall when the incoming swimmer finishes/touches the wall. In other words; if the outgoing swimmer is no longer in contact with the wall when the incoming swimmer touches the wall, it is a false start.

  • * The last sentence that states, “no intentional movement of the feet is permitted”, refers to that there must be one foot of the outgoing swimmer in static contact with the edge of the deck and that foot cannot be moved until the swimmer is leaving the deck to enter the water. This deters swimmers from running from the parking lot to get a better start.

 

A long with the swimmers having rules and restrictions, there is also a correct way for the Starters to command a start:

Starts: Starters shall not have a set cadence with their call for the start. Their only consistency would be in calling the start when all swimmers in a heat become motionless after the call to “set”.

If a Starter has a prescribed cadence, no matter what is “happening” at the starting line the swimmers start to anticipate / predict the start sound and it creates an unfair advantage. If there is, correctly, no cadence, just a starting sound when all are set and motionless, no one can anticipate and all must wait for the starting sound and react, not anticipate.

I believe this gets our Starters “off the hook”, being 'forced' to be exactly the same with the wrong type of cadence and allows them to concentrate on movement, pre and post to the starting sound and should lead to more properly called False Starts.

 

Policing False Starts:

There is a prescribed procedure for enforcing False Starts:

If only one swimmer commits a False Start, the race is not stopped and the offending swimmer is DQ'd at the finish of the race.

If only one swimmer False Starts, but “pulls” other swimmers into a False Start with their actions, then the race is stopped, the original offender is removed, DQ'd, from the race and the race is re- swam. If those competing in said race swam far enough to become any amount of “winded”, move them back a race or more and restart them when the are ready.

There can be more than one swimmer guilty of a False Start in a given race. Both, or more, should be DQ'd.

 

For Backstroke Starts:

All the same rules apply; being motionless, not moving toward the pool... etc.

A caveat to Backstroke Starts: When the Starter commands the Backstrokers to enter the pool, they must do so feet first and not create a splash or cause a delay to the Start.

Thank you for reading thru. Hopefully this improves the way people look at Starts and False Starts.

Like always, please contact me if you have questions. If you would like to reply to this, do not do so directly. Please start a new email for any replies.

Jeff - jeffreyd@atcjet.net - 308-962-4148

For those your that are regular receivers of thes Posts, there is not required reply needed. FYI: this has gone out to everyone with an account with our League... parents, coaches, swimmers and all.

League Post - Published: 6/5/2025 by Jeffrey Utterback

Ya know, I sit here busting a hump to get this stuff out so we can do what we do and by the time I get to this point I am worn out and spinning as to how I can get these Boxes delivered. So I send a Post and before I can even think... I have so many replies... I am overwhelmed!!

The delivery of the Ribbon Boxes is covered! Thank you to all that even considered helping, let alone those who are "Pony Expressing" for us!

Thanks to all!

Jeff

League Post - Published: 6/5/2025 by Jeffrey Utterback

Delivering Ribbon Boxes

First of all, the Ribbon Boxes are what travel between Host Teams and they contain: the Ribbons, of course, the watches, the Labels to print for the Ribbons from the Results, and the rest of the paperwork it takes to help run the Meet. They always need distributed, around the League the first week. From there they are passed around so that each Host Team has the use of them. We are currently almost 200 miles East to West and over 120 miles North to South.

This always ends up being pretty much a "last minute" thing because I cannot order the Ribbons until I have Dues being paid and I have funds available to pay for them. Then I end up stressing / panicking / asking for help to get them to the Week #1 Meet Host sites. So here we are and I am addressing this to the entire League in an attempt to find a "Pony Express" kind of delivery.

Week #1 Hosts: Alma, Cambridge, Elwood, Indianola, Holyoke and St Francis.

I have delivered Alma's as my truck was being repaired in Orleans (only reliable place I know), so I drove another 10 miles and gave that to Paul and Jami.

I am hoping someone is coming to and / or from Elwood that can get their Box. As with all of this, this does not have to be someone frome Elwood (or whoever), but going to or from or thru Elwood or a visiting Team to their Meet.

My team is going to Cambridge Saturday and I am basically going thru Indianola to deliver the Boxes to SF and HY (thru McCook), so I can deliver that one.

Last, but not least (that was cheesy), I need to get two boxes to west of McCook. I have no problem driving to Imperial (going to Holyoke Saturday) or Benkelman (going to St Francis Saturday) if that's what it takes. It has always turned out that there were those that travel between Imperial and Benkelman. If you know of that, let me know and I can leave both Boxes at one or the other. At the same time, if there is someone going to / thru McCook and back by Friday, I can meet them in McCook... tomorrow (I hate to have that be "last minute" on Friday when I can drive there on Thursday).

So there you have the reason for getting this League-wide Post. If you can "help", please text me: 308-962-4148. My phone has decided to not notify me of incoming texts, so give me some time to reply, then feel free to call. Honestly it has been a long day... best to contact me tomorrow if you can help.

thanks

Jeff

 

 

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