Triad League Info
Triad Swim Team Bylaws
Mission
The Triad Swim Team is to provide an organized and disciplined swim league that encourages participation by all registered swimmers. It will also protect the dignity of young and less-experienced swimmers and strive to improve their skills as well as the skills of all participating swimmers. Triad will also emphasize the evaluation of good sportsmanship and the virtues of clean, fair competition, by word and action.
Formation
The Triad Swim League was initiated by representatives of the Cedarfield, Davis Lake and Wellington communities as whole, known charter members. Skybrook was added to the league in 2005. Winchester was added to the league in 2019. The league is formed as a non-profit organization and will have a representative from each community on its Board of Directors. How each community assigns a representative is at its own discretion. (Amended 1/2015) (Amended 7/2021)
Structure
The Board of Directors is the governing body and will have access to all records and information relevant to the Triad Swim League concerning its operations and finances.
The governing body will consist of an Executive Board which is chosen from the Representative Body, and any committees deemed necessary by the Executive Board and Representative Body.
The Executive Board will consist of a President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary.
Representatives from the charter members must fill all the executive positions except the position of Secretary.
The President’s duty is to run any meeting in an orderly fashion according to the
agenda. He/She is also to enforce Robert’s Rule of Order and cast deciding votes in the event of a tie. He/She will also work with other members of the Executive Board on issues of an extraordinary nature.
The Vice President’s duty is to oversee and manage all committees formed by the Executive Board and the Representative Body. He/She is also charged with keeping a calendar of all league-related events. The Vice President also keeps and enforces a list of speaking order during the meetings.
The Treasurer’s duty is to keep accurate financial records of all monies received by and paid out by the Triad League. He/She is also to give a financial report at all meetings to include: accounts payable, accounts receivable, and the current status of accounts held in the name of the Triad Swim League.
The Secretary’s duty is to keep minutes of all meetings and handle all correspondence to and from the league in a timely and orderly fashion deemed by the Executive board. The Secretary will also be charged with keeping of all current rules and all other league records to be made available to all Executive Board members and any vote-yielding team representative at his/ her request.
The Committee’s duty is that of each committee’s chairperson. At the formation of each and every committee, the duties and responsibilities will be added to the constitution and bylaws of the Triad Swim League. Each chairperson will keep accurate records and details concerning all operations and expenditures made by the committee. A budget must be submitted by each committee chairperson to the Treasurer to be approved by the Executive Board no later than May first of each season.
Meetings
An annual meeting will be held as needed in January of every calendar year. This meeting will recap the previous year and prepare for the upcoming year. Any proposed changes in the bylaws will be brought to the table at this meeting. A new Executive Board will also be installed every second year. (Amended 1/2015)
Monthly meetings will begin in November of the preceding year as needed and continue on through June when they will be suspended until the following November. The Executive Board can determine if additional organizational meetings are necessary. The scheduling of meetings will be determined by the Executive Board and the Representative Body. (Amended 1/2015)
Dues
Each team shall be responsible for contributing a fixed fee per registered swimmer each year. This amount will also be determined by the Executive Board Representative Body. All fees must be received by the first scheduled swim meet. (Amended 1/2015)
Voting
Each team has one vote and majority rules. (Amended 1/2015)
If teams are interested in joining our league, teams may apply for membership at any time. The application will be approved or rejected by the Executive Board. Any team entering the league will be on probation for two seasons before it receives voting privileges. If at any time, a probationary team violates league rules, that team may be expelled at the discretion of the Executive Board and the Representative Body.
Rules
The league will follow the rules code set forth by the Executive Board. The description of the rules and eligibility status of participants is to be the responsibility of the Executive Board. The rules are subject to protest to the league arbitrators, which are nominated by the Executive Board and approved by the Representative Body. The rules are reviewed annually for improvements, omissions, or changes to be made at that time. Rules may not be reviewed during the swim season.
January 2015
Triad Swim League Rules for Swimming Competition
(It is recommended that all officials prior to every meet review the league rules)
1.General
A. These rules are specifically designed for closed meets in privately-owned pools and shall govern the conduct of all swimming meets scheduled, sponsored, or sanctioned by the league.
The league will generally follow USS rules with a focus of the swimmer not gaining an advantage pertaining to strokes, disqualifications, duties of officials, judging, timing and similar technical matters shall be observed at all league meets unless modified by the rules. Short course rules shall apply to all league competition.
B.The starting time for any meet shall be specified by the host pool and notification given prior to the visiting team at least one week in advance of the meet. The starting time shall be no later than 6:30 P.M. unless weather is an issue. In the event a meet must be rescheduled, the date and time selected by the host pool for the rescheduled meet must be acceptable to the visiting team
C.All competitors shall report to the host pool no later than one hour before the meet is scheduled and shall immediately proceed to their assigned area. The coaches or team representatives shall report to the scoring table with scratches or authorized substitutions no later than twenty minutes before the meet is scheduled to begin. (see paragraph 5.)
- Warm-ups for the home team will begin at 5:00 P.M. until 5:25. The visiting team will warm-up from 5:25 P.M. until 5:50. The pool will be clear of swimmers ten minutes before the meet is to begin. Swimmers will report to their assigned area and hold themselves ready to report immediately to the clerk of course when their events are called. The meet will start at 6:00 P.M.
D.Spectators shall be strictly controlled, and reasonable measures shall be taken to ensure that spectators do not interfere with the officials in the performance of their duties. The official team representatives (meet directors) may consult the stroke judge if necessary but shall refrain from doing so while an event is in progress.
E.No event will be delayed pending the late arrival of a competitor.
F.The order of events for meets will be Free Relays at the beginning of the meet with the Medley Relays occurring at the end. (Amended May 18, 1996) The order of events for the Championship meet will be as indicated in Swimmingly. (Amended 7/2021)
G.It is not the purpose of the Triad Swim League rules contained herein to set standards of care for the safety of the competitor. Safety considerations should be addressed by the competitor and community pool organization where the meet is held.
H.It is not the purpose of the Triad
Swim League rules contained herein to set standards of care for the safety of
the competitor. Safety considerations
should be addressed by the competitor and community pool organization where the
meet is held. (Propose
to delete this paragraph as it duplicates the one above)
2. Eligibility
A.Only the families with full swimming privileges and active members of a swim club in good standing or a neighborhood that does not have a swim team are allowed to participate. Under unusual circumstances, the Executive Board may grant exceptions to this provision. (Amended 1/2015)
B.Recruiting swimmers outside jurisdiction (i.e. the neighborhood) is NOT permitted. Any intentional breech of this rule will result in forfeiture of the meet(s) in question.
C.The eligibility of the competitor to compete in particular age groups shall be determined by his or her age on June 1. The uppermost age group will consist of persons 15-18 years of age. (Amended 1/2015)
D.In relays, competitor’s 8-and-under may be moved up one age group to compete in a relay. (Propose to change this to 6 and under)
Competitor’s 9-and-older can be moved up to any age group above their own in
relays BUT each relay MUST have at least one swimmer that is the correct age.
Competitors cannot compete in any age group BELOW their own.
In individual events- competitors must compete in their own age group with one
exception: Six-and-under swimmers may move up one age group for individual
events at the coach’s careful discretion.
9/10 IM will be added to the swim program (events 36 & 37)
It will be the decision of the Coach’s careful discretion if a younger swimmer can swim
this event. (Amended 1/2015)
E.Each team must maintain an up-to-date list of swimmers with applicable birth dates for ready reference in case of eligibility disputes.
3. Limitations on Entries
A.Dual Meets
1.Each competitor is eligible to enter up to three individual events and two relays.
2.There is no limit on the number of competitors or relays on each team.
B.Championship meet
1.Each competitor is eligible to enter up to three individual events and two relays
2.There is no limit on the number of competitors, however there is a limit of two relays per event per team.
4. Entry Lists
A. E-mail entries due by 6:00 P.M. the day before the scheduled meet. (Propose to change this to: Entries must be complete on-line, IE: Heat sheet ready, by 6:00pm the day before the scheduled meet.)
B. It shall be the responsibility of each team representative to examine the entry list of the
opposing team prior to the meet. If the entry list contains obvious irregularity, that
irregularity may be corrected by agreement of the competing team representative.
(Amended 1/2015)
C.It is not required that swimmers on relay teams swim in the order in which they are listed on the entry list. Relays may be changed and the scoring table will make the changes on the printed labels for the swimmer. (Amended 1/2015)
5. Substitutions and Scratches
A.All Meets
1. A swimmer may not be moved from one event to another unless approved by both
meet directors.
2. Coaches or team representatives shall advise the head scorer, clerk of course, and the opposing team representative in writing any entries to be scratched and any late entries prior to the start of the meet. All changes should be in no later than 5:50 to the scorer’s table. Inadvertent failure to report a late entry shall not disqualify that swimmer. No event will be delayed to permit late entries after the meet has commenced.
3.Substitutions may be made in relay events, when necessary, because of sickness, injury, or absence of a competitor.
6. Timing
A. Official times to two decimal places (hundredths) shall be used for determining orders of
finish and records.
B. A minimum of two watches timers per
lane is required. Determine the official
time as follows: the lower of the
two watches will determine the finish time.Propose to change to:
Official time will be determined as calculated by the Swimmingly timing system.
The scorekeeper may override the higher of entered times if times are
significantly different and does not affect finish order.
C.Timers must be at the “finish” end of the pool and be in a position where they can see any part of the swimmer’s body touch the wall (i.e., leaning over the edge to watch the finish, NOT standing or sitting in a chair back from the edge of the pool.)
D.At least one head timer per two lanes will be stationed with the lane timers in the event
a watch would need replacing due to a malfunction, or human error.
E. At Championships, the following will determine finish: touchpads, plunger, [KT1] .
7. Place Judges
A. All place judges shall be at the “finish” end of the pool and are required to record the order of finish. Place judges will be used during the regular season meets but NOT at the championship meet when touch pads are used. Exception-if 8 and under do not use touchpads, finish judges may be [KT2] .[KT3]
B.Discrepancies (Regular Meets)
- 1. In the event that there is a disagreement between an official time and the place judges’ order of finish, both place judges must agree in order to override an official time.
- 2.In the event that there is a disagreement between two place judges, the times [KT4] will determine the order of finish.
- 3.In the event that a race is too close to determine an order of finish by the place judges, the times will be used to determine the order of finish. Finish judges should circle places that they are unsure of the order of finish.
C.Discrepancies (Championship Meet)
No place judges will be used and the timers procedure will be used: touchpads, plunger, watches. Exception-if touchpads are not used for 8 & under, watches will be used.[KT5]
8. Disqualifications
A. Disqualifications (DQ’s) shall be governed by USS rules at all meets** The league will generally follow USS rules with a focus of the swimmer not gaining an advantage pertaining to strokes, disqualifications, duties of officials, judging, timing and similar technical matters shall be observed at all league meets unless modified by the rules.
B. Disqualifications should be limited to those codes found on the DQ master list provided to each team. [KT6]
9. Protests
A. Protests involving turns, strokes and other technicalities:
1. Any protest or complaint of this type will be communicated to the opposing team’s representatives and the meet director within 30 minutes after the event has been recorded. If an agreement cannot be reached than the protest must be submitted in writing within to the league arbitrator. (League Board)
1 referee will be used for the championship meet. (Amended 1/2015)
2.If the protest is made during the competition, no awards may be given to the swimmers in that event until the league arbitrator rules on the protest.
B.Protests affecting the eligibility of any swimmer to compete in any race shall be made in writing to the league board before the race is held. If the protest is made during the competition, then the swimmer can compete under protest and no awards may be given to swimmers in that event until the league board rules on the protest.
C. Any other protests arising from the competition itself shall be communicated to the opposing team’s representatives and the meet director before leaving the meet. The protest must be submitted in writing within 48 hours to the League Board or arbitrator if a championship met. (Amended 1/2015)
10. Scoring
1. Individual events in dual meets shall be scored as follows:
6-lane pool (6 places) 7-5-4-3-2-1
Ribbons will be given through 8th place
2. Relay events in dual meets shall be scored as follows:
1st place: 7 points 2nd place: 4 points 3rd place: 1 point
ONLY SCORE THE TOP 2 RELAYS[KT7]
(Amended 1/2015)
Ribbons-1st-3rd
3. Championship meet-relay events:
6-lane pool (6 Places) 18-14-12
Medals-1st-3rd
Ribbons-4th -6th
4. Championship meet-individual events:
a.6-lane pool (6 places) 7-5-4-3-2-1
Medals-1st-3rd
Ribbons- 8 & unders-4th-16th 11 & up 1st-6th
b.8-lane pool (8 places) 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Medals- 1st through 3rd
Ribbons- 10 & under 4th through 16th 11 and up- 4th through 8th[KT8] [KT9]
11. Meet Rainouts and Cancellations
In cases or rain, thunder, lightning, etc. the meet director and coaches from both teams will
make the decision to call the meet after the first 30-minute delay. There is a 30 minute
thunder/lightning delay and if lightning is present, the pool deck must be cleared. The
meet directors will decide after the first 30-minute delay, to stop, or to continue the wait for
another 30-minutes. The cut off event number to score a meet is the COMPLETION of event
#35 in dual and the championship meet[KT10] .
12. Resignations
A. No team shall have claim to any assets after resignation, either forced or not under any circumstances.
- B. Should the league dissolve for any reason, all assets will be divided equally among the teams after all debts are paid.
13. Alcohol
No team personnel, official or volunteer parent shall use alcohol from the time of
arrival at the site of the competition until they leave following the completion of
the meet.
Amended 7/2021
