TO: LSC General Chairs
LSC Permanent Offices
LSC Officials Chairs – please distribute to all officials in
you LSC
USA Swimming Club Contacts
USA Swimming Coach Members
FROM: Jay Thomas, Rules & Regulations Committee Chair
Cecil Gordon, Safe Sport Committee Chair
Jim Holcomb, Officials Committee Chair
Kelley Otto, Athletes’ Executive Vice President
Dan McAllen, Program Operations Vice President
Robert Broyles, Administration Vice President
DATE: March 23, 2015
At the 2014 USA Swimming House of Delegates meeting, the House
passed R-9 which changed the sanctioning requirement for meets:
202.2 REQUIREMENTS FOR SANCTION — Sanctions are issued,
withheld or withdrawn in accordance with the following
regulations:
.1-.8 [no changes]
.9 Application for sanction must be accompanied by a copy of the
complete meet announcement which must include the following:
A-H [no changes]
I. The following statement: “Changing into or out of
swimsuits other than in locker rooms or other designated areas is
prohibited.”
The Rules and Regulations Committee, working in conjunction with
the Safe Sport Committee, Athletes’ Executive Committee and
Officials’ Committee agreed on the following definition of
“Deck Changing”:
Deck Change - Changing, in whole or in part, into or out of a
swimsuit (excluding a drag suit) in an area other than a permanent
or temporary locker room, bathroom, changing room or other space
designated for changing purposes while at a practice, competition,
or other pool-related activity.
It is important to note that although the House changed the
wording in article 202.2.9.I to “prohibit” deck
changing, it had the opportunity to but did not specify a penalty
for a swimmer performing a deck change. We are put in a position
where LSCs and officials are left with no direction regarding what,
if any, penalty should be levied against an athlete observed deck
changing. The risk here is that there will be varying degrees of
enforcement of 202.2.9.I. In the first three months of this year we
have seen exactly that.
It is the consensus of the Rules and Regulations, Safe Sport,
Athletes’ Executive and Officials’ Committees that the
preferred approach to dealing with deck changing is to view the
change in 202.2.9.I as the House’s desire for a paradigm
shift regarding deck changing: what was once considered acceptable
is now unacceptable in the sport. Our focus should be on educating
our members that deck changing is not acceptable and can put our
athletes at risk. The consensus of these committees is that LSCs
should be encouraged not to adopt a punitive approach to enforcing
this provision of our rules but rather work collaboratively with
coaches to stop instances of deck changing across the sport.
The following is provided for LSCs consideration:
1. Officials’ eyes should be on the pool – not looking
for swimmers who might be deck changing.
2. Should deck changing be observed, officials should not attempt
to intervene to stop it, but rather note the gender and team of the
swimmer as well as the location of the deck change. Report this
information to the Referee when time permits. The Referee should
work with the Meet Director and/or facility staff to communicate
with the coach of the swimmer(s) that were deck changing. This
communication should provide the information and ask for the
coach’s cooperation to get the swimmers to change in the
designated areas in the facility.
3. Meet Directors and Referees should ensure that the Meet
Marshalls and host facility staff are aware that swimmers should
only be changing in designated changing facilities. Meet Marshalls
and facility staff should not intervene directly with swimmers that
are deck changing; rather, they should note the gender and team of
the swimmer as well as the location of the deck change and deal
directly with the coach in question.
4. If the coach of the swimmer(s) is uncooperative regarding
requests to comply with getting swimmers to change in the
designated changing areas, report details of the instance to the
LSC Safe Sport Chair for follow-up.
Hopefully this guidance provides LSCs, coaches, officials,
athletes and their families a starting point for a discussion on
how we can effect increased athlete safety and security by
eliminating deck changing in our sport.
With best regards.
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