CSSC ASA GENERAL RULES GOVERNING SWIMMING COMPETITION

NOTE: In these rules and those governing specific competitions the terms "Hon Secretary" shall refer to the Men's and Women's officers as appropriate.

1. These rules shall apply where appropriate to the Association’s Championships, representative matches and any other competitions authorised by the Executive, staged by or on behalf of the Association.

2. All competitions shall be held under A.S.A. Laws, where possible.

3. The Officials shall be appointed or approved by the Executive and shall be selected from the Association's own officials or from those of any County or District Association of the Amateur Swimming Association, the Welsh and Scottish Amateur Swimming Associations or the Ulster Branch of the Irish Amateur Swimming Association.

4. Competitors shall be amateurs as defined in the A.S.A. Laws and at the closing date of the competition shall be subscribing members of the CSSC Sports and Leisure Ltd (CSSC).

5. In events confined to teams from affiliated clubs, a swimmer may only represent one club, local or area association that caters for the staff of his/her office of employment on the day of the competition, or last affiliated club if no longer working for a department affiliated to the CSSC.

6. The Executive shall fix entry fees and the method of entry for any competition.

7. All races shall finish at one end of the bath, where practical.

8. The Executive shall determine the awards to competitors unless otherwise provided for in these rules.

9. The Executive shall decide what other conditions shall apply to any competition not covered in these rules.

10. The Association shall promote the following United Kingdom CSSC Championships each year:-

OPEN OPEN MASTERS

MENS WOMENS Age Groups A-M (not including I)

50 M Freestyle 50 M Freestyle MEN

100 M Freestyle 100 M Freestyle 50 M Freestyle

200 M Freestyle 200 M Freestyle 50 M Butterfly

400 M Freestyle 400 M Freestyle 50 M Breaststroke

1500 M Freestyle 1500 Freestyle 50 M Backstroke

100 M Backstroke 100 M Backstroke 100 M Individual Medley

100 M Breaststroke 100 M Breaststroke 100 M Freestyle Team

200 M Breaststroke 200 M Breaststroke 100 M Medley Team

100 M Butterfly 100 M Butterfly Aggregate Points

Individual Medley Individual Medley

Freestyle Team Freestyle Team WOMEN

Medley Team Medley Team 50 M Freestyle

Plunging Plunging 50 M Butterfly

Springboard Diving Springboard Diving 50 M Breaststroke

Highboard Diving Highboard Diving 50 M Backstroke

Life Saving Life Saving 100 M Individual Medley

Style 100 M Freestyle Team

Veterans Handicap Veterans Handicap 100 M Medley Team

Victor Ludorum Victrix Ludorum Aggregate Points

Aggregate Points Aggregate Points

MIXED Departmental (joint men’s and women’s) MIXED

Freestyle Relay Team Competition 100 M Freestyle Team

Joint Aggregate Points 100 M Medley Team

Joint Aggregate Points

Masters team races will be held for age groups:- 120-159 years & over & 160 - 199 years & over

Only Masters' events shall count towards points in this competition.

11. The Executive at its first meeting in each year shall fix the entry fees.

12. All entries shall be made on the Association’s official entry form or approved substitute or team schedule, provided entrants are shown in event order and listed by sex, surname and where applicable age group, and shall reach the Championships Secretary, accompanied by the requisite entry fees, on or before the 1 April.

13. There shall be no qualifying times except in the 1500 M Championships where entry will be restricted to competitors capable of recording a time of plus 10 per cent of the A.S.A. Silver Proficiency Award for the distance to be swum. Any swimmer failing to reach the cut-off time may be asked to leave the water.

14. The Championships Secretary shall determine the stations of competitors by making a draw and where possible shall seed swimmers on known times or/and age groups.

15. In individual Championships and team Championships the Association's medal shall be awarded to swimmers and teams placed first, second and third.

16. A competitor achieving a new Association record during an individual open or masters championship shall be awarded the Association’s Certificate.

17. Where a trophy has been allocated to an event, the winner or winning club shall be entitled to hold it for a period of not more than one year, provided a satisfactory signed undertaking is given as to its safe custody and due return by the date of the following year's Championships, or upon the holder ceasing to be a member of the Association or an affiliated club.

18. All Championships shall be held in still water in an indoor bath, not less than 25 metres nor more than 50 metres in length.

OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

19. Deleted.

20. Competitors in Veterans Handicaps must be aged 35 years and over for women and 40 years and over for men on the day of the competition. Current CSSC members are eligible to swim. In the Handicap the younger swimmer will be set to give their elders a 2 second advantage for each 5 years of age. Handicaps will be set in accordance with the swimmers masters age group. The Handicap may at the Referee's discretion be arranged by a staggered start or by adjustment of times recorded by the competitors in a level start race.

21. In the Men's Individual Medley Championship, each competitor shall swim 50 metres each of Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke and any other stroke which shall be Freestyle, in that order.

22. In the Men's Freestyle Team Race Championship, each team shall consist of four swimmers. The first swimmer in each team shall swim 125 metres, the second 100 metres, the third 75 metres, and the fourth 50 metres.

23. In the Men's Medley Team Race Championship, each team shall consist of four swimmers each of whom shall swim 50 M. Number 1 shall swim Backstroke, number 2 Breaststroke, number 3 Butterfly and number 4 Freestyle.

24. In the Men's Plunging Championship, each competitor shall enter the water at the deepest end.

25. The Men's and Women's Aggregate Points Championship shall be decided as follows:-

(a) For each individual Championship the following points shall be awarded to the competitor's club:-

1st place 4 points

2nd 3 points

3rd place 2 points

Any other competitor achieving standard performance 1 point

(b) For team Championships the following points shall be awarded:-

1st place 6 points

2nd 4 points

3rd place 2 points

Any other competitor achieving standard performance 1 point

(c) In the case of a dead heat or tie, the points appropriate to the place shall be given to all clubs concerned, but no points shall be awarded for the next place following which would otherwise have been filled.

(d) The club with the highest number of points when all championships have been decided shall be the winner.

(e) Masters events will not count towards points in the Open Aggregate Points Championships.

(f) In the Women's Plunging and Style Championships, points shall be awarded on the above scale and competitors obtaining an aggregate of 80 per cent of the winners distance or marks shall receive 1 point.

26. In the women’s Individual Medley Championship, each competitor shall swim 50 M on each of Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke and any other stroke which shall be Freestyle, in that order.

27. In the Woman’s Freestyle Team Race Championship, each team shall consist of four swimmers, each of whom shall swim 50 M.

28. In the Woman’s Medley Team Race Championship, each team shall consist of four swimmers, each of whom shall swim

50 M. Number 1 shall swim backstroke, number 2 Breaststroke, number 3 Butterfly and number 4 Freestyle.

29. The following conditions shall apply to the Women’s Style Championship:-

(a) Plain dive from bath side where pool depths allow this to be performed safely or alternatively a racing dive from the bath side

(b) Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Front Crawl; each stroke to be swum for a minimum distance of 15 metres.

(d) (i) propelling for 10 yards

(ii) motionless floating for 15 seconds, horizontal and face up.

Marks for each section of the competition shall be out of a maximum of 10 and shall be awarded for style and efficiency or combination thereof. For each test there shall be appointed two judges and a referee chosen from the ASA list. In each discipline all competitors shall be evaluated by the same judges. The Judges shall award points independently on their mark sheets, which will then be combined by the Referee to give aggregate scores for each test.

30. Deleted

31. Addendum to all rules governing the Aggregate Points Competitions (Men and Women in both Masters and Open events) ;- In the event of a swimmer “scratching” from a competition after “booking in” to the whips, that swimmer’s Department shall be penalised by the deduction of 1 point from the relevant Aggregate Points total.

32. Victor / Victrix Ludorum. The individual points gained in the Open Championships will determine the annual award of these trophies to the man and woman with the highest aggregate of points. Where a tie is involved the trophy shall be awarded to the competitor achieving the best placements.

33. In the Mixed Freestyle Team Race Championship, each team shall consist of four swimmers, each of whom shall swim

50 M. The first and fourth swimmers in each team shall be male and the second and third female.

34. The Open Joint Aggregate Points Championship shall be decided by the addition of the two sets of aggregate points from the Men's and Women's Championships as well as the points gained in any Mixed Team Relays in the Open Championship events.

MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS

35. Masters swimmers must be over the age of 25 years on the first day of the Championships and the age at 31st December in the year of the Championships will decide the appropriate age group. Age groups shall be in 5-year age bands from age 25 (group A) to age 85 and over (group N). There will be no group I.

36. Entrants (or swimmers entered) in the Open Championships 50 metres, 100 metres, 200 metres etc. Individual Medleys the Freestyle Medley and Mixed Team events, may also enter the equivalent Masters’ events (i.e. the 50 metres events, the 100 meters Individual Medleys and the equivalent team events) provided that they meet the criteria set out at rule 35 above and qualify as masters in the age group events entered).

37. The Men’s and Women's Masters Aggregate Points Championships will be decided as follows:-

(a) For each individual championship the following points shall be awarded to the competitor's club:-

1st place 4 points

2nd place 3 points

3rd place 2 points

Any other competitor achieving standard performance 1 point

(b) For team championships the following points shall be awarded:-

1st place 6 points

2nd place 4 points

3rd place 2 points

Any other competitor achieving standard performance 1 point

(d) The club with the highest number of points when all championships have been decided shall be the winner.

(e) Men’s Open events shall not count towards points in the men’s Masters Aggregate Points Championships.

38. Deleted

39. The “Standard Times” to be used in both Men’s and Women’s Masters events shall be those times as decided by the Executive Committee and, will be revised by the Committee if the Committee considers it necessary to do so.

40. In the Masters Mixed Freestyle and Medley Team Race Championships, each team shall consist of four swimmers, two male and two female, each of whom shall swim 25M.

(a) The first and fourth swimmers in each Freestyle Team shall be male and the second and third female.

(b) There is no restriction in the Medley Team as to which swimmer swims each of the four strokes so long as the strokes are swum in the correct order.

41. The Masters Joint Aggregate Points Championships shall be decided by the addition of the two sets of points gained in the Men's and Women's Masters Aggregate Points Championships as well as the points gained in any Mixed Team Relays in the Masters Championship events.

Last updated 1^st April 2005