2013 Ohio Swimming Senior Circuit Meet

Held under the Sanction of USA Swimming Inc. OH-3616

SPONSORED BY / Ohio Swimming Inc. Senior Committee
Jason Roberts, Chair :
HOSTED BY / The Greater Columbus Swim Team of Ohio (GCSTO)
DATE / June 14-16, 2013
LOCATION / The Gahanna Swimming Pool
148 Parkland Drive
Gahanna, OH 43230
Maps available on the GCSTO website:
TIMES / Friday, Saturday & Sunday Prelims
Warm Up:7:15–7:55 a.m./Prelims Start – 8:20 a.m. (Creekside 15 & overs will warm up 7:45-8:15 a.m.)
Friday & Saturday Finals
Warm-up:5:00–5:45 p.m./ Finals Start - 5:55 p.m.
Sunday Finals
Warm-up:4:30–5:15 p.m./ Finals Start - 5:25 p.m.
MEET MANAGEMENT / Meet Directors:Ron Bolden: (614) 237-7984
Julie Pastor: (614) 530-4100
Meet Referee: TBA
Local Officials Coordinator: Rosemary Parker , (740) 971-3444
Administrative Official: Dave Shumaker (614) 895-9969 or
Entry Chair:Dave Shumaker/ 2000 Brookhurst Ave.,Columbus, OH 43229
(614) 895-9969 or
ENTRY DEADLINE / Entries (OME) open at noon on Monday, May 20, 2013 and close at noon on Wednesday, June 5, 2013.
POOL/FACILITY INFORMATION / The Gahanna Swimming Pool is a heated, stainless steel 50 meter outdoor pool with 8 competition lanes and 1 lane available for consistent warm-up and warm-down all with 4 inch Kiefer lane lines. The competition course has not been certified in accordance with USA Swimming rule 104.2.2C(4). Water depth at the starting block end of the pool is 6.0ft deep for at least 18M off the wall. Water depth at the shallow end of the pool is 3.5ft deep at its shallowest and quickly deepens to 4.5ft approximately 15M off the wall. Electronic timing is by Colorado Systems.
During the meet, we leave the lane nearest the diving bay open for swimmers in the meet for warm-up and warm-down purposes. There is NO diving or jumping into the pool in this lane. Athletes must enter the pool in a very controlled manner (basically sliding into the pool) to ensure that a competitor in the next lane is not disturbed. There is an attached 15yd diving bay in the competition pool and a separate unmarked area in the front pool available for warm-up and warm-down, as well.
Use of audio or visual recording devices, including a cell phone, is not permitted in changing areas, rest rooms or locker rooms.
Except where venue facilities require otherwise, changing into or out of swimsuits other than in locker rooms or other designated areas is not appropriate and is prohibited.
PHILOSOPHY OF THE MEET / The Ohio Senior Circuit’s intent is to promote excellence within the ranks of Ohio Swimming and elsewhere. The purpose is to provide a venue for those swimmers aspiring to attain Sectional and National qualifying times, but also to give all Senior swimmers the opportunities to participate in a high quality competitive meet.
ENTERING THE MEET
ELIGIBILITY / The Ohio Senior Circuit Meet are open to all swimmers who meet the following criteria;
  1. All 15 & over athletes who have achieved the meet time standards.
  2. All 14 & under swimmers who have achieved the 2013 SUMMER Central Zone sectional time standards.
  • All contestants must be registered athletes of USA Swimming, Inc. USA-S registrations will not be accepted at this meet.
  • Age on the first day of competition will determine eligibility for the meet.
  • By the act of entering this meet, each team, coach and /or swimmer agrees to abide by USA Swimming Rules and Regulations and the Ohio Swimming Policy Book (posted on the OSI website).
  • Any swimmer entered in the meet, unaccompanied by a USA Swimming member coach, must be certified by a USA Swimming member coach as being proficient in performing a racing start or must start each race from within the water. It is the responsibility of the swimmer or the swimmer's legal guardian to ensure compliance with this requirement.
  • All swimmers must enter under an Ohio team affiliation or as unattached. Those switching teams in the last 120 days prior to the Circuit meet must swim in unattached status unless otherwise cleared by the OSI Registration/Membership Coordinator

ENTRY RULES
GENERAL /
  • Entry times will be seeded as follows: Long Course Meters, Short Course Yards. After the meet deadline, the only times that can be updated, are from a meet contested after the entry deadline. Times updates will be accepted by the entry chair until Wednesday June5, 2013 at noon.
  • Only individual times achieved since January 1, 2012 and are in the USA Swimming database will be accepted.
  • There shall be No Deck Entries at the Senior Circuit Meet.
  • A swimmer who is either not entered or incorrectly entered by fault of the host club should be properly placed in the appropriate events.
  • A swimmer, otherwise qualified, who was mistakenly not entered by his/her entry chairperson, may be deck entered up to 12 hours before the, scratch deadline provided he/she pays the appropriate entry fee plus a $25.00 processing charge (per swimmer) to the host club.
  • All events will be seeded after positive check-in ends for those events. Entries will be listed as psych in the published heat sheets.

ENTRY RULES:
INDIVIDUAL EVENTS /
  • Swimmers must have achieved the time standard (Appendix A) in all primary (non-bonus) individual events entered. All times must be proven through the OME entry process.
  • Swimmers may swim a maximum of three (3) Individual Events per day, plus Relays.
  • Swimmers may swim a maximum of six (6) Individual Events for the meet plus Relays.
  • Swimmers entered in the distance freestyle events (1500 and 800) on Sunday may indicate their preference to swim the event in the preliminary session. The top eight (8) swimmers who state no preference shall be seeded to compete at finals in each gender. In order to make their designation, swimmers or their coaches must mark on the positive check-in sheet their preference to swim during preliminaries. The swimmers or coach should clearly write “AM” next to their name when they check- in if they desire to swim in the preliminaries. Positive check-in is due prior to the scratch deadline in order to be seeded.
  • Bonus Swims: Swimmers who enter the meet must have achieved an automatic time standard and are eligible to swim bonus swims under the following formula:
1 Automatic Cut = 3 Bonus Swims 2 Automatic Cuts = 2 Bonus Swims
3 Automatic Cuts = 1 Bonus Swims 4 Automatic Swims = 0 Bonus Swims
(All Bonus swims must be entered with provableLCM or SCY times)
New for 2013: There are no qualifying times for bonus swims.
ENTRY RULES:
RELAY EVENTS /
  • Relays are all single gender, Timed Final events with the top 2 seeded heats in each gender being swum at finals.
  • All relay swimmers must be entered into the meet prior to the first day of competition.
  • A swimmer competing unattached may not be a member of a relay team.
  • Teams are not limited on the number of relays they can enter.
  • Relay members may be declared at the meet prior to swimming the event, but must be limited to swimmers entered in the meet.
  • If a split time is desired in order to obtain a qualifying time, a lead off split form must be filled out and given to the referee ½ hour prior to the start of the relay. In addition, it is recommended that the team making the request provide three (3) additional watches for back up to the electronic timing system.

ENTRY PROCEDURES /
  • INDIVIDUAL EVENT ENTRY: Teams/Unattached individuals must enter the meet using the USA Swimming Online Meet Entry (OME) system.
  • RELAY EVENT ENTRY: Hytek entry files will be accepted ONLY for relay entries. The electronic Event File for relays can be downloaded from either
  • The following must be sent (postmarked) to the Entry Chair via US Mail or other courier service within 24 hours following the entry deadline:
  1. Entry Summary Sheet (Appendix B)
  2. Check for the Total Entry Fees payable to GCSTO.
  • Fax/Phone Entries – The meet does not accept faxed or phoned entries.
  • Please let the host club know if you are entering any Outreach athletes.

ENTRY FEES /
  • Individual Events - $8.00 per entry
  • Relay Events - $16.00 per entry
  • Surcharge - $2.00 per swimmer (Travel Fund/Site Selection Fund)
  • All entry fees are to be paid to the meet host prior to the start of the meet.

PROOF OF TIMES PROCEDURE: /
  • All entry times must be verified through the Online Meet Entry (OME) System.

SWIMMERS WITH A DISABILITY / Swimmers with a disability are welcome to enter this meet. At the time of entry, the coach or person entering the swimmer must alert the Meet Director, the Ohio Adapted Chair, and the Meet Referee regarding the nature of the swimmer’s disability, the swimmer’s IPC classification (if classified) and special accommodations or seeding arrangements being requested.
CREEKSIDE MEET 15 & OVER SWIMMER PROVISO / The host reserves the right to combine the 15 & over events from the Creekside Meet into the preliminary sessions of the Senior Circuit Meet. This allows us to shorten the afternoon sessions of the Creekside Meet to a manageable timeline while ensuring that the preliminary session of the Senior Circuit Meet does not run too quickly for those athletes. This also allows all senior swimmers the opportunity to swim in the same session to make it easier on the teams, coaches and parents of those swimmers. Swimmers participating in a Creekside Meet 15 & over event are NOT eligible to qualify for the Senior Circuit Meet finals in that like event.Please see event order at the end of this meet information for how prelims will be swum each day in relation to this combination.
COMPETITION FORMAT AND PROCEDURES
RULES / USA Swimming Rules and Regulations will govern the conduct of these Championships and will serve as the official guide for technical and procedural rules except as modified specifically herein.
MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENT / All meet directors, coaches and officials serving in an official capacity at a sanctioned event must be current members of USA Swimming and should be prepared to show a current USA Swimming membership card. All persons acting in any coaching capacity in a sanctioned event must be currently certified coach members of USA Swimming.
COMPETITION GUIDELINES & MEET FORMAT /
  • All preliminary events are positive check-in and are swum as combined male/female events seeded strictly by time. Each gender will swim separately in the FinalsSession each evening and will swim a Bonus, Consolation and Championship heat for all eventsexcept those which are marked as timed final events, in which only 1 heat of each gender will swim in Finals for the individual events (1500 & 800 frees).Relays are timed finals and only the top 2 seeded heats in each gender will swim at night.
  • Eight (8) lanes will be used for all events in prelims and finals.
  • The meet referee reserves the right to combine events in accordance with USA Swimming Rules & Regulations.
  • A timeline will be posted in several prominent places, however, timelines are approximate.

WARM-UP AND SAFETY GUIDELINES
& PROCEDURES /
  • Ohio LSC swimming safety guidelines and warm-up procedures will be in effect at this meet.
  • Warm-up procedures may, at the discretion of the host team, be modified based on number of swimmers in the meet and other safety and logistical concerns.
  • Except during supervised racing starts, swimmers must enter the pool feet first in a cautious manner with one hand in contact with the pool deck.

SAFETY GUIDELINES / Host Team Safety Responsibilities:
  • Marshaling Requirements:
  1. A minimum of four (4) marshals, per pool, who report to and receive instructions from the Meet Referee and/or the Meet Director, will be on deck during the entire warm-up session.
  • An announcer will be available during the warm-up session to announce lane and/or time changes and to assist with the conduct of the warm-up.
  • Host team will supply a certified lifeguard on duty at all times.
Coach/Team Safety Responsibilities:
  • Coaches shall instruct their swimmers regarding safety guidelines and warm-up procedures as they apply to conduct at meets and practices.
  • Coaches shall actively supervise their swimmers throughout the warm-up session at meets.
  • Coaches should maintain as much contact with their swimmers as possible, both verbal and visual, throughout the warm-up period.
  • Coaches should stand near starting end of the pool when starting swimmers on sprint or pace work.
Miscellaneous Safety:
  • Swimmers doing a backstrokestartmust enter the pool feet first and shall ensure that they are not starting at the same time as a swimmer on the blocks. Swimmers shall not step up on the blocks if there is anotherswimmer preparing to do a backstroke start.
  • Swimmers shall not jump or dive into the pool to stop another swimmer on a recalled start.
  • Swimmers are required to exit the pool upon completion of their warm-up period to allow other swimmers adequate warm-up time.
  • Warm-up procedures shall be enforced for any breaks and/or any areas used for warm-up and warm-down during the competition.

SCRATCH RULES

/ There is no penalty for failing to compete in a preliminary, timed final, or relay heat. Exception: An individual event in which a swimmer has not scratched prior to the appropriate deadline will be counted toward that swimmer’s six event limit. A swimmer qualifying for a Championship, Consolation or Bonus Final who fails to compete shall be barred from their next scheduled preliminary event,and must positive check-in with the meet administrative official for all subsequent events.

POSITIVE CHECK-IN & SCRATCH DEADLINES

/ All preliminary events are positive check-in, are swum as combined male/female events seeded strictly by time and are due by the scratch deadline. Positive check-ins & scratches for day 1 events are due 15 minutes after the start of Friday warm-ups, and 30 minutes after the start of finals the night before for all subsequent day’s events.
Friday Scratch - 15 minutes after the start of Friday’s preliminarywarm-up session.
Saturday Scratch - 30 minutes after the start of Friday’sFinalssession.
Sunday Scratch - 30 minutes after the start of Saturday Finals session.

EXCEPTION FOR FAILURE TO COMPETE IN FINALS

/ No penalty shall apply for failure to withdraw or compete in an individual finals event if:
  • The Referee is notified in the event of illness or injury and accepts the proof thereof.
  • A swimmer qualifying for a bonus, consolation or championship final race based upon the results of the preliminaries notifies the Administrative Referee within thirty (30) minutes after the announcement of qualifiers for that race that they may not intend to compete and further declares their final intentions within thirty (30) minutes following their last individual preliminary event.
  • It is determined by the Meet Referee that failure to compete is caused by circumstances beyond the control of the swimmer.

RELAYS AND RELAY CHECK-IN PROCEDURES

/ 1.All relays are conducted on a timed final basis. Entry forms for all relays will be included in the team packets and must be turned in prior to the relay form deadline in order to be seeded. The coach shall listor confirm the competing relay swimmers, their first and last names and order of swimming for each entered relay. Relay forms shall be returned to the host team designated person for entry by the deadline. However, relay swim order may be changed up to the time of the swim.
2.Teams may indicate their preference to swim the relay event in the preliminary sessions by clearly writing “AM” on their relay entry card. All relay entries are due to the Administrative Referee by the deadlines below.
3.Relay Forms – Deadlines:
Day:
Friday
Saturday
Sunday / Event Name:
All Friday Relays
All Saturday Relays
All Sunday Relays / Relay Form Deadline for pre-seeding:
15 minutes after the start of the preliminary session that day.
30 minutes after the start of Friday Finals.
30 minutes after the start of Saturday Finals.

FINALS SESSION EVENT ORDER

/ The order of the final events shall be the same as preliminary sessions. The exception to this is that the top seeded heat of the women’s and men’s 1500M Freestyle events on Friday and 800M Freestyle on Sundaywill be contested as the firstand second events at Finals, respectively, on those days.

AWARDS & SCORING

/ There will be no awards at the Senior Circuit Meet.

WARM-UP SCHEDULE /

RESULTS

/ The following information will be published on the meet host website at:
  1. Psych Sheets
  2. Warm-up Schedule
  3. Results
  4. Final Results in publication order, Team Manager Results file, and Meet Manager Backup file

MEET OFFICIALS

/ The Ohio Senior committee will need the help of your USA Swimming Officials. Please contact Rosemary Parker to provide names of your officials who wish to volunteer, by June 13, 2013.
All USA Swimming certified officials willing to volunteer should fill out the form found on the Meet page on
Official’s uniform will be white over navy for all sessions. Shorts are permitted for Preliminaries. Long pants (men or women) or modest length skirts (women) will be worn for finals. White covered toe athletic or deck shoes for all sessions.

TIMERS

/ GCSTO will need the help of visiting team parents to time as we will simply not have enough individuals from our team capable of staffing the entire meet. All timer volunteers will have shaded conditions (we have tents to cover the timers), will be well watered and will be fed ample finger-food throughout the course of each session. For the morning and evening portions of this meet we will continue to pay volunteers from other teams at least $10 per session for each session it is that they help time. We will use volunteers into any open timing positions it is that are still needed. Pre-registration to time for volunteers from visiting teams can be done by contacting GCSTO’s volunteer coordinator, Julie Pastor, at (please note “Creekside Meet Volunteer” in your subject line) and providing her with your name, telephone number & mailing address so that checks can be mailed out to you promptly along with information as to which session it is in which you wish to volunteer. We will use volunteers on a first-come-first serve basis. If volunteers are still needed on any day of the meet we will have a sign in sheet at the volunteer table for those who are interested in helping out. We have run our meet this way for several years in terms of recruiting volunteers and have found this to be a very effective means of recruiting such volunteer help.

PARKING

/ Senior Circuit preliminary session swimmers and spectators are required to park in the FRONT lot, which is on the west side of the facility to your right just as you enter in off of River Drive. You will be let in the front gate to walk to the back pool.
Senior Circuit finals session swimmers and spectators are required to park in the BACK lots located on the east and southeast sides of the back pool. Follow the service road to the left of the pool office which will curve to the right along the back pool to find this parking.
Coaches and officials, only, may park inside the fenced area inside the back pool which can be accessed through a double gated fence in the southeast corner of the competition pool.
Note: All parking is free but THERE WILL BE A CRUNCH ON SPACE AVAILABILITY ON SATURDAY SO SOME PEOPLE MAY BE RE-DIRECTED TO LOCAL PAID PARKING. PLEASE CAR-POOL WHENEVER POSSIBLE TO HELP US WITH THIS CONJESTION!Parking will be controlled by a private firm secured by the City of Gahanna and will be strictly enforced. A parking official’s decision at any time to remove a driver/vehicle from the grounds or from the event will be upheld by meet management.
Handicap parking is available in the front lot or can be accessed inside the fenced area of the back pool. Contact a meet director for permission to park in the latter.

VENUE INFORMATION