Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe how well organized it was today. I loved the way they pre-staged the single event viewers into 3 groups and had authoritative volunteers keeping everyone straight. Much less shoving and jostling for position. I didn’t even mind walking 1/2 mile for this. Loved it! Thank you so much, Pinecrest!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still cannot believe this is real. This is so unsafe. Catastrophic SCI is a lifelong life altering injury.

I’m a USA swimming certified official and anything less than 4’ must be an in water start. (Rule 103.2)

Swimmers who have not yet learned a shallow racing dive must practice in 6’ of water. That practice begins with deck starts. These are summer swimmers. Not all are as proficient as year round swimmers with years of experience.

If I had a child in this meet I would absolutely pull them.

I’m certified as a starter in my summer league and also USAS and if I were an NVSL official I would refuse to work this meet. I would seriously question if my umbrella liability policy would cover me if an injury occurred because I consider forward deck starts into 2.5” grossly negligent.

I'm so glad someone with some authority and experience in this is weighing in. We're in MCSL and I've never seen starts in water this shallow. Ever. It would scare me. Even experienced swim kids, especially young ones, can get distracted in the moment and make a mistake. And this mistake would be horrifying. Plus, can you count on the youngest kids to not assume that they are now safe to dive into shallow water because they are on swim team?

MCSL allows elective in-water starts even for individual swimmers. Does NVSL? If not, they should.

Yes. Rule 12.b.3: "Swimmers may start in the water, provided one hand touches the edge of the pool or gutter"

And to be clear, starting blocks are not allowed. Rule 12.b.1: "Starting blocks shall not be used."

To summarize:
1. This is summer swim, not USA swim. No starting blocks are used so quoting the USA Swim rules is irrelevant because the USA Swim rule assumes starting blocks
2. If you are concerned your kid can: A) Scratch and not swim or B) Start in the water.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still cannot believe this is real. This is so unsafe. Catastrophic SCI is a lifelong life altering injury.

I’m a USA swimming certified official and anything less than 4’ must be an in water start. (Rule 103.2)

Swimmers who have not yet learned a shallow racing dive must practice in 6’ of water. That practice begins with deck starts. These are summer swimmers. Not all are as proficient as year round swimmers with years of experience.

If I had a child in this meet I would absolutely pull them.

I’m certified as a starter in my summer league and also USAS and if I were an NVSL official I would refuse to work this meet. I would seriously question if my umbrella liability policy would cover me if an injury occurred because I consider forward deck starts into 2.5” grossly negligent.

I'm so glad someone with some authority and experience in this is weighing in. We're in MCSL and I've never seen starts in water this shallow. Ever. It would scare me. Even experienced swim kids, especially young ones, can get distracted in the moment and make a mistake. And this mistake would be horrifying. Plus, can you count on the youngest kids to not assume that they are now safe to dive into shallow water because they are on swim team?

MCSL allows elective in-water starts even for individual swimmers. Does NVSL? If not, they should.

Anonymous wrote:The meet was extremely well organized. The tents on the dry grass were much nicer than on concrete- if grass had been muddy this probably would have been an issue. Volunteers did a great job of moving spectators in and out of the single event viewing area. The live stream was very well done. The pool itself leaves a lot to be desired, I noticed that most kids appeared to be adding time.

Anonymous wrote:The meet was extremely well organized. The tents on the dry grass were much nicer than on concrete- if grass had been muddy this probably would have been an issue. Volunteers did a great job of moving spectators in and out of the single event viewing area. The live stream was very well done. The pool itself leaves a lot to be desired, I noticed that most kids appeared to be adding time.

Anonymous wrote:I still cannot believe this is real. This is so unsafe. Catastrophic SCI is a lifelong life altering injury.

I’m a USA swimming certified official and anything less than 4’ must be an in water start. (Rule 103.2)

Swimmers who have not yet learned a shallow racing dive must practice in 6’ of water. That practice begins with deck starts. These are summer swimmers. Not all are as proficient as year round swimmers with years of experience.

If I had a child in this meet I would absolutely pull them.

I’m certified as a starter in my summer league and also USAS and if I were an NVSL official I would refuse to work this meet. I would seriously question if my umbrella liability policy would cover me if an injury occurred because I consider forward deck starts into 2.5” grossly negligent.

Anonymous wrote:Meet is over, no catastrophes. You can all unclench now.