Master Swimming Ontario
Master Swimming Ontario
Meet Management
Meet Guidelines

Home


MSO Guidelines for Meet Management

Every Masters Swim Club, when hosting a swim meet, must follow specific rules and regulations, as set out in the Masters Swimming Ontario Handbook. A copy has been enclosed for your perusal. Please refer, in particular, to the Rulebook Section. Failure to abide by these rules shall result in the withdrawl of sanction by MSO. An unsanctioned meet means that :

  1. the Masters Swimming Ontario insurance policy is invalid, and
  2. that all swims are ineligible for records and inclusion in top ten listings.

A summary of some important information necessary for the smooth operation of your meet follows : Registration : MSO Rule 1.02

  1. Every swimmer must be registered with MSO or an equivalent body prior to your meet in order to compete.
  2. Meet Management is responsible for ensuring proper registration.

Age Determination Date : MSO Rule 1.03

  1. MSO adheres to the age determination rule that states that a swimmer’s age is as at the last day of the year.

Starts and False Starts : MSO Rule 2 and refer to the MSO Guidelines for Referees for a more detailed description :

  1. Movement of the feet may occur after the command 'Take your marks', but at least one foot shall be at the front of the starting block or pool deck.
  2. MSO adheres to the ‘One false start rule’.

Warm-up : MSO Rule 4 and refer to the MSO Guidelines for Referees for a more detailed description :

  1. No diving during warm-ups.No hand paddles, kick boards, pull buoys or swim fins are allowed during warm-ups.An SNC certified official must be on deck during warm-ups.One outside lane and the adjacent lane or the two outside lanes shall be designated as 'sprint lanes' for 20 minutes prior to clearing the pool.
  2. All swimmers shall circle swim during warm ups in opposite directions in adjacent lanes.

Safety : MSO Rule 5 :

  1. Meet management, officials and pool staff must work together to provide a safe environment for everyone.

Results : In an effort to assist the MSO Recordkeeper :

  1. The results shall include the full first name of each swimmer, not just initials.Results for each stroke shall be listed separately for those events swum as ‘open’ events.
  2. Results in electronic format from Don Clinton's software or from Hytek software are acceptable to the MSO Statistician, but electronic results from your own software won't be acceptable unless Don has distributed the file layouts necessary for you to create acceptable output.

SWIMS Award Recipients : Swimmers Who Impacted Masters Swimming
There is a small number of swimmers in the province who have been awarded the MSO SWIMS Award. These swimmers are entitled to use the designation "OSG" (Order of the Soggy Goggle) after their names. Please ensure that these initials appear on heat sheets and results as recognition of and tribute to their service to our sport. Additional Information : The following is available from the MSO Registrar :

  1. a list of all swimmers registered with MSO, and
  2. a list of all club codes.

The Directors have deemed it your responsibility to find the following information :

  1. a list of ontario records to be posted at your meet for all swimmers to see,a list of ontario records that may be used to check for new records,a record application form, and
  2. a pool length confirmation form (necessary for world records),

Additionally you may request a set of club mailing labels from the MSO Registrar. These individuals may be contacted :
Brian Croker
MSO Registrar
1408 - 59 Isabella Street
Toronto, Ontario
M4Y 1M9
Pat Niblett
MSO Recordkeeper
23 Dickson Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K2H 7H6
416 925 8387
 613 828 4113
niblett@magma.ca

Masters Swimming Ontario includes a Meet Coordinator, a Rules Committee and a Board of Directors. We welcome and encourage comments, critiques and criticisms.

 

Webmaster source : mso webmaster; updated : 20-June-2009; file : meet01.htm