NYSWCAA Swimming and Diving Policies and Procedures

I. Membership

All varsity coaches of swimming & diving are automatic members as soon as the institution declares swimming & diving as a varsity sport and pays the membership fee.

II. Meeting and Voting

A. Provisions for meetings

1. There shall be two meetings of the entire swim committee, one in the fall and one during the annual NYSWCAA meeting.

2. Additional meetings may be called by the Swimming & Diving Chairperson or a meeting may be petitioned by two or more active members through the Chairperson. The membership will be informed by the Chairperson of the proposed agenda, time, and place 30 days before such meeting. Another notice will be sent seven days before such meeting.

B. Voting

1. A quorum of active members must be present to conduct business. A quorum shall be defined as 20% of the active membership.

a. Active member institutions are each entitled to cast one vote.

2. In the event that a Swimming & Diving Committee representative of an active member institution is unable to attend the meeting of the Swimming & Diving Committee, an individual or any other active member may be designated as a proxy for that institution.

3. The institution requesting the service of a proxy shall obtain the consent of the proxy before the Swimming & Diving Committee meeting.

4. A proxy form will be mailed with the announcement of the meeting. The name of the proxy shall be submitted to the Chairperson one week before the meeting. In emergency the name of the proxy may be phoned to the Chairperson prior to the meeting.

5. In the event a member must leave the meeting he/she may designate a proxy to a member at the meeting who does not already hold a proxy.

6. Business may be conducted by mail vote when the Steering Committee deems necessary. A motion is carried by a majority of the ballots returned.

III. Purposes and Responsibilities

A. The purpose of this committee shall be to encourage and contribute to the growth of competition in swimming & diving for the colleges and universities in the State of New York.

B. The Committee's responsibilities are:

1. To conduct all business including that related to the policies and procedures of NYSWCAA.

2. To sponsor a championship to serve its active members.

3. To promote the quality of swimming & diving in New York through workshops and clinics for coaches, swimmers, and officials.

4. To seek a working relationship with other existing organizations to promote swimming on a national level.

C. Coach's responsibilities are:

1. To contribute to the functions of the committee by attending all meetings or providing a proxy, remaining informed of current policies and procedures, aiding in the promotion of the purposes of the committee.

2. To carry out the policies and procedures related to seasonal and championship meets.

IV. Nominating Committee

A. Membership:

1. A member of the Steering Committee shall be appointed Chairperson of the Nominating Committee.

2. The appointed Chairperson shall add two members to this committee from the active membership.

B. Duties:

1. The Nominating Committee shall be charged to prepare a slate of nominees.

2. The Nominating Committee shall conduct a mail ballot.

3. The procedure shall include a ballot to be mailed to the Chairperson of the committee.

4. The membership shall be notified of the results at the annual meeting.

V. Officers

A. Election of Officers

1. The Swimming & Diving Chairperson and the Secretary shall be elected by a majority vote at the fall meeting of the Committee.

2. Both officers will be elected for two terms. The Chairperson will be elected in the odd years and the Secretary in the even years.

3. There shall be no more than one consecutive term of office for each office.

4. In the event the Swimming & Diving Chairperson or Secretary cannot complete the term of office, the Executive Council of the NYSWCAA shall appoint a member from the same sport committee to complete the unexpired term of office.

B. Duties of the Officers

The duties of the Swimming & Diving Chairperson shall be:

1. Preside at all meetings of the Swimming & Diving Committee, the Swimming & Diving Steering Committee, and all coaches' meetings.

2. Inform the Executive Council through the Sport Coordinator III of all activities and programs through an annual report at the completion of each college year.

3. Submit to the Sport Coordinator III an estimated budget for all Championships, workshops, events.

4. Make appointments to the Swimming & Diving Steering Committee. These appointments shall include Consultant for Diving, Consultant for Swimming, and Sports Information Director.

5. Receive bids two years in advance for colleges wishing to host the NYSWCAA Swimming & Diving Championship.

6. To update Policy and Procedures Handbook each year.

The duties of the Swimming & Diving Committee Secretary shall be:

1. Distribute to each coach the date, time, agenda, place and a proxy form 30 days prior to each meeting.

2. To record and distribute the minutes of the meeting of the Committee on Swimming & Diving, the Steering Committee, and all Swimming & Diving coaches' meetings.

a. Copies should be sent to

1. All active member colleges, coaches, and representatives.

2. All NYSWCAA Executive Council Members.

b. The secretary should consult with the chairperson within one week after each meeting to review accuracy of the minutes.

c. Distribute all minutes within two weeks of meetings.

3. Oversee the Swimming & Diving Committee Budget including the distribution of funds, the preparation of an annual budget, and the preparation of an annual report.

VI. Steering Committee

A. The purpose of the Swimming & Diving Steering Committee is to conduct the business of the Swimming & Diving Committee and to handle any emergency situations which involves an immediate decision.

B. Membership

1. The Steering Committee will consist of the Swimming & Diving Chairperson, the Secretary, the Consultant for Diving, the Consultant for Swimming, and the Sports Information Director, and the Director of the NYSWCAA Championship.

a. No member of the Steering Committee shall serve in more than one capacity.

2. The terms of office for the Steering Committee will be two years for the elected officials, two years coinciding with the Chairperson's term for the Diving Rules Consultant, the Swimming Rules Consultant, and the Sports Information Director, and one year for the Championship Director.

C. Duties of the Non-elected Steering Committee Members

1. Consultant for Diving shall advise on the development of diving and rules interpretations concerning diving.

2. Consultant for Swimming shall advise on the development of swimming and rules interpretations concerning swimming. The Swimming Consultant is also responsible for receiving all grievances and present these to the Steering Committee for advisable consideration and response.

3. Sports Information Director shall solicit and collect all data necessary to produce Top Twenty Times. Distribute the Top Twenty Times at least three times a year (December, January, February).

4. The NYSWCAA Swimming & Diving Championship Director shall conduct the championship and advise on all questions concerning the event.

D. Procedures for Decisions by the Steering Committee

1. The Sports Chairperson shall promote a discussion and then request a vote by the members. A majority vote by the Steering Committee present will determine a positive vote; however, a discussion leading to a unanimous decision is preferred.

2. A quorum of 5 members is needed to conduct any business.

VII. Grievances

A member institution may submit a grievance to the Consultant for Swimming to be considered by the Steering Committee. Grievances at the NYSWCAA Championship will be handled by the Championship Committee at the time of the incident.

VIII. Seasonal Competition

A. All coaches should request from the Athletic Director copies of all contracts of agreement prior to the start of the season. Contracts should include type of meet, facility information, especially in regard to diving facilities, number of lanes, and length of pool.

B. Current NCAA rules should be followed.

C. Every effort should be made to obtain rated officials.

D. Each school is responsible for sending out their schedule, roster and meet results of all seasonal meets to all teams on their schedule and to the Sports Information Director within three business days of the completion of the meet.

IX. State Championship

A. Championship Committee

1. The Championship Committee shall handle all questions, protests, and/or problems concerned with the Swimming & Diving Championship.

2. The committee will be made up of the Championship Director, Rules Consultant for Swimming, Rules Consultant for Diving, a representative from an active member college to be selected by the Championship Director, and either the Head Diving Referee or the Head Meet Referee depending on the item in question.

B. Championship Structures:

1. The Swimming & Diving Championship shall be an individual and a team Championship held three weeks prior to the NCAA Division III Championship.

2. The meet will be open to all member institutions that have a Division III status in NYSWCAA.

3. Current NCAA rules shall be followed except for those changes accepted by the Swimming & Diving Committee or Steering Committee and published in the Championship Meet Information Packets.

4. The championship format will follow the three day format of the NCAA Championship. It will be held in an 8 lane pool whenever possible with 16 place scoring. The diving will not follow current NCAA championship procedures but include a ten-dive, one-meter event and an eleven-dive, three-meter event held over the three days of the championship.

5. Championship preliminaries begin at 10:30 a.m. and the finals at 6:30 p.m.

C. Qualifications

1. Each team may enter up to eighteen (18) participants. Divers count as one third (1/3) of a participant.

2. Each individual may swim 7 events of which no more than 3 may be individual.

D. Entry and Entry Fees

1. All entry materials and other meet information will be sent by the first Friday in December each year. The entry deadlines and procedures will be clearly explained and approved by the Steering Committee.

2. The maximum entry fee will be recommended by the Sports Committee and approved by the Executive Council. Refer to the Championship Dates section in the NYSWCAA Handbook.

3. When returning entry materials and other meet information as prescribed in the state meet information packet, the coach should send them registered or certified mail.

E. Awards

1. A standard award shall be given to competitors of the championship final. A suitable awards ceremony should follow each event.

2. Individual awards for Outstanding Swimming and Outstanding Diver will also be awarded. On day three of the Championship, coaches will vote on these awards as well as Coach of the Year.

3. At the conclusion of the meet, team awards will be given to the top three teams. as provided by NYSWCAA The championship team members will also receive t-shirts.

4. Individual awards are to be included in the championship budget.

5. A traveling trophy will be awarded to the NYSWCAA State Championship Team. Their school name will be engraved on the trophy and they will keep the trophy for one year. It is then their responsibility to bring it to the state meet the following year. The trophy and engraving will come from the swimming budget.

F. Officials

1. The number of officials and rating of officials shall be as prescribed by NCAA rules.

G. Protest

1. The Championship Committee shall handle all questions, protests and/or problems concerned with the Championship.

2. When questions, protest, or problems arise during the actual running of the championship, the championship committee will convene at time of submitted protest. All committee members will have one vote. Either the Head Diving Official or the Head Meet Official will have one vote as determined by the nature of the protest.

a. All protests must be submitted during the actual running of the meet which shall be from the first coaches' meeting through one hour following the last event or the official signing of the championship results, whichever occurs later.

b. All protests must be submitted within 30 minutes of the incident or 30 minutes after the posting of that events' results.

H. Results

The championship results will be sent to all Swimming & Diving Coaches, Executive Director, and members of the Executive Council of NYSWCAA within seven days of the championship.

I. Financial Report

The Championship Director will submit a financial report to the Swimming & Diving Chairperson and the Sport Coordinator III within two weeks after the championship.

NYSWCAA Swimming and Diving Committee Policies and Procedures

NYSWCAA

Swimming and Diving Committee
Policies and Procedures