This message is going to all Head Coaches, Club Contacts, and Meet Directors

Hi Everyone:

Please review the important information below pertaining to all clubs that run meets:

1 - Safe Sport: Meet Marshals and Locker Room Sweeps

2 - Meet Application and Meet Announcement Process

Meet Marshal Training

Meet Marshals are not required to be members of USA Swimming at this time. However, Niagara LSC feels strongly that Marshals should be provided basic training. It is our recommendation that all clubs have their Meet Marshals complete the Meet Marshal Exam found in the Education sub-menu when logged into SWIMS (hub.usaswimming.org).

Meet Marshal & MAAPP Requirements

• Effective January 1, 2023: USA Swimming rules now require at least 1 Male & 1 Female Meet Marshal on deck for ALL meets.
• MAAPP requires “sweeps” for Locker Rooms during Meets.
• The SS/Safety Committee recommends that clubs keep a log indicating when sweeps are completed (not publicly posted). This will help reduce questions about when an occurrence may have happened. Sweeps should be kept random when possible.
• Locker room sweeps require two-deep coverage. Clubs should plan ahead of time whom the people performing the sweeps will be. Meet staff (Meet Ref, Meet Director, etc.) should be aware of those names in the event they are needed.

Common Question

Can a coach go into a locker room alone in an emergency? The answer is yes, but it should be to obtain a quick assessment, then get more assistance as needed.

If you have any questions about this Safe Sport, Meet Marshal, or Locker Sweep information, please contact our Safety Official, Leo Gibbons, at safety@niagaraswim.org

Effective January 1, 2023, Meet Applications must be requested through SWIMS 3.0.

Meets already on the calendar DO NOT need to do this; it is only for new applications moving forward.

How To:

Club Admins will start the process in SWIMS (hub.usaswimming.org) through the following menu:

Club --> My Club; then Administrative --> Meets --> Request a Meet Sanction.

If you have questions on who/how to access, please email admin@niagaraswim.org.

1) Enter the basic Meet Information and upload the meet announcement (it is not Optional for the Niagara Application process).

• Please note that the year and LSC are already appended to the name of the meet. For example, if you enter "2022 Meet Name" in the Meet Name field, it will become "2022 NI 2022 Meet Name."

2) Complete all fields on the info page -- they are all required. If you do not see your facility, please reach out to admin@niagaraswim.org for assistance. All host facilities need to be part of the club record.

• Meet Classification: you will most commonly choose Invitational or Open. If your meet has only one club you may choose Intra Squad. If it has only two clubs you may choose Dual Meet. Questions about what to choose should go to admin@niagaraswim.org

3) Next, enter at least one session. The session information should accurately reflect your expected sessions for the meet. This information ties into OTS, and the Meet Refs will need this to enter their information accurately.

4) Lastly, enter the meet staff. You will need to know the ID of your Meet Director, Meet Ref, and Meet Contact (can be the same as the Meet Director if desired).

• Niagara strongly encourages you to have all these roles identified before starting. If you need an ID, please email admin@niagaraswim.org (or just ask the person you need to enter)!

Thank you for your attention to this new process. Again, if you need assistance or have questions on this process, please contact admin@niagaraswim.org or adminVC@niagaraswim.org.