2023 Colonies Zone & New England LMSC SCM Championship

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Registration Schedule

This competition is limited to the first 600 entrants.
Currently there are 245 entrants.

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Colonies Zone & New England LMSC Short Course Meters Championship
December 15-17, 2023

Hosted by Worcester Polytechnic Institute Swimming & Diving at Worcester Polytechnic Institute,
100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609

Sanctioned by the New England LMSC for USMS Inc., Sanction # 023-S007

Friday, December 15, 2023

• Building opens: 5:15pm
• Warm-up opens: 5:30pm
• Check-in closes: 6:00pm
• Session starts: 6:30pm

Saturday, December 16, 2023

• Building opens: 9:15am
• Warm-up opens: 9:30am
• Check-in closes: 10:15am
• Session starts: 10:30am

Sunday, December 17, 2023

• Building opens 8:15am
• Warm-up opens: 8:30am
• Check-in closes: 9:15am
• Session starts: 9:30am

FACILITY: The WPI Sports & Recreation Center pool will be configured as a 10-lane, 25-meter competition course plus five 25-yard auxiliary lanes for continuous warm-up. There is deck space for 500 swimmers, seating for over 400 people in the stands, and wheelchair access to all public spaces, including the pool, locker rooms, and stands.

POOL LENGTH CERTIFICATION: The length of the competition course without a bulkhead is in compliance and on file with USMS in accordance with articles 105.1.7 and 106.2.1, but as a bulkhead course is subject to length confirmation. Eligibility of times for USMS Top 10 and records will be contingent on verification of bulkhead placement.

TIMING SYSTEM: A Colorado Timing System will be used with automatic timing (touchpads), a one-button semiautomatic backup system, and a backup watch on each lane. Times from this competition may be submitted for world record, USMS record, and USMS Top 10 consideration.

ENTRIES:

• Online Entries Only: https://bit.ly/nelmsc-scmchamps23
• Entry Deadlines (updated December 4, 2023): The regular entry deadline has been extended to December 10, 2023, at 11:59pm. Late entries ($30 surcharge) close December 12 at 11:59pm. Entries for any or all sessions may close early upon reaching 600 swimmers or meet timeline limits.
• Entry Limits: Swimmers may enter 13 individual events and 5 relay events. Relays will be deck-entered. See the distance event limits described below. If needed, the event director can add or adjust event caps.
• Event Order: Scroll to the bottom of this page to view the Order of Events.
• Contact: Meet Director Paul Bennett at wpiswimming@wpi.edu.

ELIGIBILITY: Current (2023 or 2024) members of U.S. Masters Swimming or another World Aquatics-recognized governing body. Age is determined by the swimmer’s age on December 31, 2023, except 18-year-olds must be of age on December 15.

To join USMS, click here. To find your USMS number, click here. To log in to My USMS and print your card, click here.

ENTRY FEES: $33 meet fee + $8 per individual event for entries submitted before the regular entry deadline. Late entries will incur a $30 surcharge. These fees are nonrefundable. Your credit card statement will reflect a charge from “TNT Swimming.”

CHANGE/ADD EVENTS: You cannot change events after submitting your entry. To add events @ $8 per event, send an email message to wpiswimming@wpi.edu with your name, the event(s), and seed time(s). Requests received after the regular entry deadline will incur a $30 late fee. TNT Swimming will charge the credit or debit card you used to enter the meet and email you a receipt.

DISTANCE EVENT LIMITS: The 1500m freestyle is limited to the first 50 entries received. Plastic lap counters will be available for the 1500m and 400m freestyle events, but swimmers must find someone (teammate, coach, etc.) to count for them.
 
RELAYS: There is no relay entry fee, but every relay swimmer must be entered in at least one individual event. All four swimmers on a relay must be affiliated with the same club in their respective USMS member records. Swimmers cannot swim on both a same-sex relay and a mixed-sex relay for the same event. Women’s, men’s, and mixed relays may be swum in combined heats.

RELAY ENTRY DEADLINES: All relay entries must be deck-entered at the meet using the official relay entry form. Relay entry deadlines will be posted on the meet website after meet registration closes.

AGE GROUPS: The individual event age groups are 18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, etc. in five-year increments. The relay event age groups are 72-99, 100-119, 120-159, 160-199, 200-239, 240-279, 280-319, etc. in 40-year increments. The aggregate age of the four relay team members shall determine the age group.

RULES: 2023 USMS Rules & Regulations apply. Please read Article 402 “Conduct of Members” and act accordingly at all times.

Your meet entry must match your club affiliation and, if applicable, New England Masters Swim Club workout-group affiliation in your USMS member record. You cannot change your club or NEM Swim Club workout-group affiliation after completing your first relay or individual event. If you have questions about your USMS registration or competition eligibility, see the NELMSC’s Demystifying USMS primer or contact NEmembership@usms.org.

This meet will use dive-over starting. If you want more time to exit the pool, please notify the meet referee before your heat.

SEEDING: All events will be timed finals, seeded by time after check-in closes. All events will be seeded slow to fast, except the 1500m freestyle on Friday will be seeded fast to slow. The meet director or meet referee can change seed times that are obviously incorrect based on previous performances.

CHECK-IN: All events require positive check-in either in-person or online via SwimPhone. Online check-in for each session will open at noon on Friday, December 15, for the Friday and Saturday sessions and at noon on Saturday for the Sunday session.

Check-in will close at 6:00pm on Friday, 10:15am on Saturday, and 9:15am on Sunday. Seeded events will not be reseeded for swimmers who fail to check in on time.
    
WARM-UP/WARM-DOWN: The auxiliary lanes will open for continuous warm-up/warm-down at 5:30pm on Friday, 9:30am on Saturday, and 8:30am on Sunday, and will close 30 minutes after that day’s session ends.

The warm-up period in the competition lanes will open at the same times and close approximately 10 minutes before each day’s first event. The competition lanes will reopen for a 30-minute warm-up period on Saturday after Event #4 (400m Freestyle) and on Sunday after Event #32 (400m IM).

Swimmers must enter warm-up lanes FEET FIRST (no diving) except in designated one-way sprint lanes.

SPLIT REQUESTS: All relay leadoff splits (first 50 of 200, 100 of 400, or 200 of 800) will be recorded as automatic official splits. Official split requests for other distances or events must be submitted using the USMS Split Notification Form. For backstroke events you must notify the referee of your intent to record an initial split time before swimming that event and for other events you must notify the referee before the meet ends. (If possible, please submit all initial split requests before swimming the event.)

RECORD-BREAKING SWIMS: Swimmers who may break a world record or USMS record should notify the meet referee before that event.
 
SCORING:

• For individual events, the first 16 places in each age group will be scored as follows: 17-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 points. For relay events, the first 16 places in each age-group will score double points.
• New England Masters Swim Club (NEM) will not accumulate team points at this meet: Each USMS-registered workout group of NEM will compete as its own team against other registered NEM workout groups and USMS clubs.
• A relay team consisting of four NEM members who are all affiliated with the same workout group can only score points for that workout-group team.
• A relay team consisting of NEM members who are affiliated with different workout groups or no workout group can compete as an “NEM-Unattached” relay and record official times but cannot score points for a workout group team.

PSYCH SHEETS: Psych sheets, entry lists, and an estimated meet timeline will be posted to the meet website, SwimPhone, and the Meet Mobile app on or about Wednesday, December 13, 2023.

HEAT SHEETS: Heat sheets will be posted onsite at the meet and online on the meet website, SwimPhone, and the Meet Mobile app after check-in closes and that day’s events have been seeded.

RESULTS: Results will be posted onsite at the meet and online on the meet website, SwimPhone, and the Meet Mobile app. Times recorded at this meet are not official until they are posted to the USMS meet results database.

AWARDS:

• Paper certificates for mounting adhesive label records (stickers) of your individual event performances during the meet.
• Awards for the top-three finishers in each event, by age group.
• Rubber ducks for heat winners. Quack!
• A brief ceremony will take place after Sunday’s final event to bestow awards to:
  • The top male and female scorer in each age group.
  • The top-two scoring teams in the large, medium, small and squad divisions (sizes TBD after entries close).
• Team and individual point totals will be posted to the meet website, SwimPhone, and the Meet Mobile app.

WI-FI: Limited Wi-Fi access will be available. Users will need to connect via the “wpi-open” network and follow the prompts. No support for Wi-Fi will be offered by WPI or the meet hosts.

TEAM BANNERS: You are encouraged to bring your team’s banner. Please use painter’s tape or Command hooks to hang your banners. Do not use duct tape or any other adhesive that will leave residue on the walls.

FOOD & DRINK: Food and drink are allowed on the pool deck (please help keep your seating areas clean) but glass containers are prohibited. The New England LMSC will be selling beverages and healthy snack bars, bananas, pretzels, etc. at cost, while supplies last. Cash, check, and Venmo will be accepted (no credit/debit cards).

DIRECTIONS TO POOL: The GPS address for the WPI Sports & Recreation access road is 153 Salisbury Street, Worcester, MA 01609.

From the East: Take Mass. Turnpike (I-90) to Exit 11A (I-495). Proceed north to exit 25B (I-290), then west into Worcester. Take Exit 18 (Lincoln Sq., Rte. 9), turn right at the end of the ramp, then an immediate right before next traffic light. At next light, proceed straight through, bearing to the right on Salisbury St. Turn left at the first entrance after the hill. Proceed straight towards the parking garage on the right.

From the North: Take I-495 south to I-290. Follow directions from east.

From the South and West: Take Mass. Turnpike (I-90) to Exit 10 (Auburn). Proceed east on I-290 into Worcester. Take Exit 17 (Lincoln Sq., Rte. 9), turn left at end of ramp, follow Rte. 9 west through Lincoln Sq., straight onto Highland St., then right at light onto Park Ave. Proceed through the first light, then turn right at the first entrance. Take the first right, then proceed to the entrance of the parking garage.

https://www.wpi.edu/coming-to-campus

PARKING DIRECTIONS: Parking is available in the adjacent Park Avenue Garage. Parking is first come, first served. Please do not park in the Church parking lot as you will be ticketed and towed.

HOTELS: There are no hotel room blocks or discounts for this meet. You can find local hotels and rental properties through online services like Hotels.com, Bookings.com, Expedia, Google Hotels, Airbnb, and VRBO.

THINGS TO DO: The Worcester Cultural Coalition and Discover Central Massachusetts websites list places to stay, restaurants, events, and other attractions and sights to see in and around Worcester.

CONDITIONS: By entering this meet you hereby give United States Masters Swimming, the New England Local Masters Swimming Committee, and their assignee’s permission to take and use photographs and video recordings of you at the meet for promotional purposes. When entering the meet, every meet participant must complete and sign the USMS Participant Waiver. This waiver is built into the online meet registration process.

ORDER OF EVENTS: An estimated meet timeline will be added to the event schedule below after check-in closes. Breaks will be taken at the meet referee’s discretion.
 

Note: If paying by credit card, your credit card statement will reflect a charge from "TNT SWIMMING."