Racing Start Certification

Apr 19, 2009

To All NLU Parents:

             USA swimming has modified one of its rules as it pertains to the teaching of a racing start off of a starting block. With the risk of injury being so great, USA swimming has mandated that all of the swimmers on the team must be “certifiedý by their coach. This certification is something that basically says that in the coach’s professional opinion the swimmer is able to control the depth of their dive. 
            The NLU coaching staff must stay in compliance with this directive. We will be certifying swimmers the next couple of weeks in practice. The certification process will be something that should only take a few minutes to complete. We will maintain a record of this certification for every swimmer. 
            Any swimmer that does not take this process seriously will NOT be certified by a member of the coaching staff. A swimmer that is not certified by a member of the coaching staff must start in the water during any competition until they achieve certification.  
            This is a process that we will take very seriously. Please have a talk with your swimmers about this process.  I have included the documentation from USA swimming that we will be using. If you have any question, please let a member of the coaching staff know. This is something that we need to have completed by May 1st. Any swimmer that has not been certified by this date must adhere to the consequence outlined above, until they are certified. Any swimmer that competes for a summer league team will have to be certified by their summer coach as well. 
            Below is the message to the parent s from USA swimming:
           
USA Swimming Safety Notice to Parents
To avoid risk of serious injury, no swimmer who has not been properly trained should attempt to perform a racing start, from either a starting block or the side of the pool, into less than six feet of water.
USA Swimming has implemented a racing start certification program where a swimmer’s coach documents his or her professional judgment that a swimmer has demonstrated sufficient skill to safely perform a racing start into four feet of water.
Although somewhat unusual, swimmers do not always participate in swimming competitions under the supervision of a certified coach. It is the parent’s responsibility to make sure the swimmer does not attempt to perform a racing start in less than six feet of water if the swimmer has not been properly certified by the swimmer’s coach to do so.