WELCOME TO GREATER OMAHA SWIM LEAGUE

RULES AND REGULATIONS

Age Groups:

8 and Under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, and senior (age 15-19 but cannot compete beyond the summer following high school graduation.)

Order of Events:

Individual Medley, Medley Relay, Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Freestyle and Freestyle Relay.

Eligibility:

A.  Greater Omaha Swim League is a private pool league.  Only swimmers/divers that have a full paid membership to the pool they are completing for can participate in the Greater Omaha Swim League. 

B.  Each swimmer/diver must compete in two different dual meets scheduled by GOSL during the season with the same club in order to complete in the Preliminaries and Finals.  Note:  Dual meet result sheets will be used to confirm participation.

C.  The age of the participant on June First will determine his/her age group for the rest of the season.

D. All violations will be acted upon by the Board of Directors.

E.  It is up to the discretion of each division to change the eligibility rules for their division due to weather or other cancellations.

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Entries:

A. Each swimmer may enter two individual swimming events.  Each swimmer may swim on one Medley Relay and One Free Relay.

B.  Swimmers may swim in two different age groups they may swim in their age group and/or any age group above their age in any meet as long as they don't exceed the limits of 4 events or swim in the same event.

C. The Individual Medley counts as an individual swimming event and will only be swim in the following age groups: 10 and under, 11-12, 13-14, 15 and over.

D. In each event the scoring heat will swim first followed by exhibition heats.  The home team will have the odd lanes and the visiting team will have the even lanes.  It is the responsibility of each team to have the meet entry sheets filled out prior to the start of the meet.

E. Three swimmers and two relays from each team will score.

F.  Entries and roster for dual meets must be submitted to the host team by 6 pm the Monday prior to the meet.

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Starting Times and Warm-ups:

Warm-ups 5:00 pm, Meet starts at 6:00 pm. (Note these are guidelines.)

Distances:

10 & Under individual events 25 yds/m Relays 100 yd/m

11 & Up individual events 50 yds/m Relays 200 yds/m

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Scoring:

Dual meets, individual races 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.  Relays 10,5,3,1

Championship meets, individual races 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.  Relays 14, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2.

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Stroke Rules:

USA stroke rules will govern all swimming competition.  Each host team must have at least one stroke and turn official for each dual meet.  USA certified officials are recommended but not required.

Link to USA Swim Official Videos: https://www.usaswimming.org/officials/officials-training-videos

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Amendments:

A. Disqualification on the first false start.  A false start is defined as forward movement by a swimmer prior to the start that gives an advantage to that swimmer. The start of the race is when the starter says, "Take your marks."

B.  All backstroke starts must have some part of both feet in the water and on the wall.  Stand-up starts are not allowed.

C.  8 & Under and 9-10 WILL NOT be disqualified in the first meet of the season - they will only receive warnings.

D.  Swimmers need to be told when disqualified.  DQ sheets MUST be used in each disqualification and DQ slips must be given to the coach promptly.

E.  Backstroke turn rules will follow high school federation rules, not USA swimming rules.

F. For the butterfly, "over the water" means some portion of the arm must break the surface of the water, but does not require that there be space between the arm and the surface of the water.  It is sufficient that any part of the arms may break the surface simultaneously.

G.  In order to start a race off the starting blocks, the minimum pool depth must be 4 feet (48 inches) as measured three feet (36 inches) from the block's edge of the pool.

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Championship Meet:

A.  Preliminaries are Monday for the 8 & Unders and 9-10 year olds.  Tuesday for 11 and overs.  Finals are held on Thursday.

B.  The prelims and finals will start at 6:00 pm and warm-ups at 5:00 pm.

C.  Team Manger files (entries and roster) and a hard copy of the entries are due by 1:00 pm on the Saturday before prelims/finals.  It is the responsibility of the team representative to enter any written entries in the Meet Manager program. Note:  If entries are not turned in to the host club by 1:00 pm Saturday before the prelim/finals that team will be fined $200 and apply that money to GOSL general fund to be paid before trophies are picked up AND deduct 50 points for their finals score that season.  All dual meet result sheets are to be turned into the Division Present before the preliminaries.

D.  All individual entries must be seeded for preliminary swimming.  Substitutions will be permitted at the prelims for absent swimmers.  Swimmers seeded in the meet will be not be permitted to change events during prelims.  Substitutions must be made to the referee before the start of the event.  EVERY ENTRY IN EVERY EVENT MUST HAVE A TIME SUBMITTED.  (NT is not acceptable)

E.  Finals will be held on Thursday.  An alternate rain date should be mutually agreed upon at the seeding meeting.

F.  All clubs must supply three or four timers and three watches for each session.  Each lane must have timers from three different pools.

G.  Preliminaries and Finals must have a referee, a starter, two stroke and turn judges and three timers per lane.  The official order of finish will be determined by the middle time of the three watches per lane.  Prelims/finals run by electronic timing systems will follow USA protocol for timers per lane.

H. Disqualifications must be reported to the timer or scorer after the event and to the coaches before the end of the next event.  DQ slips must be used.

I. Host team should provide a program and lane cards for the timers.

J.  Each team will be allowed four individual entries per event and one relay in the relay events.

K.  If there are more than 6 relays entered in an age group, then preliminaries will be swum in that event to determine the six finalists.

L.  The official results of prelims/finals will become "official" by noon on the Monday following finals.

M. There must be at least one certified USA official at all Prelims and Finals or a person that has attended the GOSL Stroke and Turn Clinic.

N.  All relay changes must be written on the timer sheets by the coach before the start of the event.

O.  If the Championship Team scores end in a tie, then the outcome will be decided by 1. Best dual meet record 2. Head to head results.

P.  Any swimmer in compliance with eligibility rules is eligible to swim in relays for prelims and/or finals.

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Awards:

Dual meets: First -Sixth place Ribbons for Individual events.

First -Third place Ribbons for Relays.

Championship meets: First - Sixth place Medals for individual and relays.

Team Plaque for First - Third place for each division.

All meet supplies and ribbons and medals will not distributed until teams dues are paid in full.

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Division Presidents:
Appointed each spring.

They collect all dual meet results.

Act as Meet Director at Championships

Serve on the Board of Directors for one year.

Give the Division Report at Fall meeting.

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Annual meetings

A.  Spring meeting - Pre-season - This meeting will be for summer scheduling and annual budget.  This meeting will be held the second Saturday in May.

B.  Summer meeting - Post-season - This meeting will be for legislation, elections, and social.  This meeting will be held on the Monday following finals.

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