Inaugural Rhody College Club & Masters Swimming Meet

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Registration Schedule

This competition is limited to the first 350 entrants.
Currently there are 10 entrants.

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Hosted by the New England Local Masters Swimming Committee and the URI Swimming & Diving Club
at Tootell Aquatics Center, University of Rhode Island, 105 Keaney Road, Kingston, RI 02881

Recognized by the New England LMSC for USMS Inc., Recognition # 023-R004.
Recognized by College Club Swimming.

Please read all the meet information. This event is an all-day, team-oriented, short-course-yards meet.

Meet Schedule Highlights:

• Online meet check-in opens: Noon, Saturday, Nov. 11
• Pre-Meet Social: 5:00pm to 8:00pm, Saturday, Nov. 11
• Warm-up in recreational pool: 7:45am until meet ends
• Warm-up #1 in competition pool: 7:45am to 8:50am
• 500y free check-in closes: 8:30am
• 500y free starts: 9:00am
• Check-in & relay deck entries close: 10:00am
• Warm-up #2 in competition pool: 10:00am to 10:25am
• Main session: 10:30am to 4:40pm (estimated)
• Awards ceremony: 4:45pm to 5pm (estimated)

FACILITY: The Tootell Aquatics Center is a three-pool complex that includes an eight-lane, 25-yard, 5-to-7.5-foot-deep, 80-degree competition pool with 7-foot-wide lanes and a four-lane, 25-yard, 3.5-to-4-foot-deep, warmer recreational pool. The third, diving-well pool will be closed during this meet. There is deck space for 350 swimmers, seating in the stands for 500 people, and wheelchair access to public areas, including the pool deck, locker rooms, and stands via elevator.

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.

TIMING SYSTEM: A Colorado Timing System will be used with automatic timing (touchpads at the finish end of the pool, no pads at the turn end), a one-button semi-automatic backup system, and a backup watch on each lane. There is an eight-line electronic display. Times swum at this competition by USMS members will be eligible for USMS record and Top 10 consideration. CCS swimmers’ times will be eligible for CCS records, rankings, and national qualifying times.

ENTRIES:

• Online Entries Only: https://bit.ly/rhodymeet23
• Entry Deadline: Meet entries will open Wednesday, September 13, 2023. Entries will close Wednesday, November 1, 2023, at 11:59pm, or earlier upon reaching the meet timeline limit (~350 swimmers). The meet directors may limit USMS or CCS entries to maintain parity.
• Entry Caps: Swimmers may enter 3 individual events and 3 relay events. Relays will be deck-entered. The 500y freestyle cap is 56 swimmers (7 heats). Other event caps may be added as needed to manage the meet timeline.
• Event Order: Scroll to the bottom of this page to view the Order of Events.
• Meet Directors: Douglas Sayles (NELMSC) and Casey McQuesten (URI) at info@swimri.org.
• Meet Referee: Ken Galica at kennethgalica@gmail.com.

ELIGIBILITY: Members aged 18 or older of U.S. Masters Swimming or College Club Swimming. Age is determined by the swimmer’s age on November 12, 2023.

USMS will issue a certificate of insurance (providing participant accident, general liability, and excess liability coverage) for this meet contingent upon all swimmers being USMS or CCS members. To join USMS, click here. To find your USMS number, click here. To print your USMS card, click here. To register a college club team or swimmer with CCS, click here. Swimmers are encouraged to affiliate with a team.

ENTRY FEES: $45 per USMS member or $20 per CCS member for entries submitted before the entry deadline. Fees are nonrefundable. Your credit card will be charged by “WWW.NELMSC.ORG.”

CCS clubs paying via check: A duly authorized officer of the CCS club must email their title, contact information, and approximate number of swimmers to info@swimri.org. The meet director will provide a club-specific payment coupon code for those swimmers to use when entering the meet online.

After meet entries close, the meet director will email the club contact an invoice for the total amount due for all charges made to that club’s coupon code. The club or school must mail a check, made out to “New England LMSC,” for the amount due to New England LMSC, Attn: Douglas Sayles, 270 Bellevue Ave #1069, Newport RI 02840.

Swimmers are not officially entered in the meet until their online entries are complete. Incomplete entries will be deleted.

RELAYS: There is no relay entry fee, but every 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 or CCS member record. Unattached (UC) swimmers cannot compete in relays. Swimmers cannot swim on both a same-sex relay and a mixed-sex relay for the same event.

RELAY ENTRY DEADLINE: All relay entries must be deck-entered at the meet by 10:00am using the official relay entry form. 

AGE GROUPS: Individual event age groups are 18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, etc. in five-year increments as high as necessary. Relay event age groups are 18+, 25+, 35+, 45+, etc. in 10-year increments, determined by the youngest relay member’s age.

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, your New England Masters Swim Club workout-group affiliation) in your USMS or CCS member record. You cannot change your club or NEM Swim Club workout-group affiliation after you have competed in the meet. If you have questions about your USMS registration or competition eligibility, see the NELMSC’s Demystifying USMS primer or contact NEmembership@usms.org.

COVID-19 SAFETY PROTOCOLS: Attendees are NOT required to wear a mask. The meet organizers reserve the right to alter COVID-19 protocols based on URI policies and local, state, and national guidelines at the time of the event. Any updates will be posted on this page and emailed to registered swimmers before the event. Do not attend if you are feeling ill.

SEEDING: All events will be timed finals seeded by time, slowest to fastest, after check-in closes. Individual event heats will be men and women combined. Relay heats may combine single-sex and mixed (2 men + 2 women) relays. The meet director or meet referee can change seed times that are obviously incorrect based on prior performances.

SEED TIME PRIZE: The first five swimmers who finish with the exact time submitted on their entry will receive a $25 gift card. Limit: 1 per swimmer.

CHECK-IN: All events require positive check-in online via SwimPhone. Online check-in will open at noon on Saturday, November 11. Check-in will close at 8:30am for the 500y freestyle event and at 10:00am for all other events. Swimmers who do not check in will not be seeded.

WARM-UP/WARM-DOWN: The four-lane recreational pool will open for warm-up at 7:45am and will close when the meet ends. The eight-lane competition pool will be open for warm-up from 7:45am to 8:50am and again at 10:00am (or when the 500y freestyle heats end) for 25 minutes. If necessary, teams and/or swimmers may be assigned specific warm-up lanes.

No Diving: Swimmers must enter warm-up lanes FEET FIRST except in designated one-way sprint lanes.

SPLIT REQUESTS: Official split requests for individual events must be submitted using the USMS Split Notification Form. Per USMS rules, for backstroke events you must notify the meet referee of your intent to record an initial split time before swimming that event and for individual events other than backstroke you must notify the referee before the meet ends.

All relay leadoff splits (50y split in 200y relays, 100y split in 400y relays) will be recorded as automatic official splits.

RECORD-BREAKING SWIMS: Any Masters swimmer who believes they may break a USMS national record is encouraged to notify the meet referee prior to swimming that event.

SCORING:

• For individual events, the first 8 places in each age group will be scored by sex as follows: 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 points. For relay events, the first 8 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 NEM workout groups, USMS clubs, and CCS 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, team rosters and entry lists, and an estimated timeline will be posted to the meet website and Meet Mobile on or about November 5.

HEAT SHEETS: Heat sheets will be posted onsite and on the meet website and Meet Mobile after check-in closes and the events have been seeded.

RESULTS: Results will be posted onsite and on the meet website and Meet Mobile. Times recorded at this meet are not official until they are posted to the USMS and CCS meet results databases.

AWARDS:

• A brief ceremony will take place after the final event to bestow awards to:
  • The top scoring team in the large, medium, small, and squad team-size divisions (division sizes TBD after entries close);
  • The top-three scoring CCS teams;
  • The male and female high-point winners in every age group;
  • The top-three scoring male and female swimmers in the 18 to 24 age group.
• Heat winners may claim a rubber ducky. Quack!
• Team and individual point rankings and record-breaking swims will be posted on the meet website.

WI-FI: Wi-Fi login instructions will be posted on the meet website before the meet. No Wi-FI support will be offered by URI 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 keep your area clean) but glass containers are prohibited. The meet hosts will be selling snacks and beverages onsite. Cash and credit/debit cards accepted.

MERCHANDISE: Sport-Tek Long Sleeve Ultimate Performance Crew meet t-shirts (5-ounce, 95/5 poly/spandex jersey) will be sold online via the meet registration system for pickup at the meet and a limited quantity may also be for sale at the meet. Cash and credit/debit cards accepted.

PRE-MEET SOCIAL, SATURDAY, NOV. 11, FROM 5 TO 8 PM: URI alumni, meet participants, volunteers, staff, sponsors, and their guests are invited to join the URI Swimming & Diving Club for an informal, pre-meet happy hour and catered dinner with music on or near the URI Kingston campus. The venue, price and ticket order link for this Saturday Social will be posted on this meet webpage shortly.

DIRECTIONS TO THE POOL: The GPS address for the Tootell Aquatic Center is 105 Keaney Rd, Kingston, RI, 02881.

From the North: Take I-95 South to Exit 9 (Route 4 South) in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Follow Route 4 for ~10.4 miles where it merges into Route 1 South and Route 138 West (Tower Hill Road). Continue on Route 1 South for ~3.3 miles, then turn right at the intersection stoplight (by Exxon) and follow Route 138 West ~4.4 miles to URI. Continue on Route 138 West past the main URI campus entrances and turn right onto Keaney Road, then follow the parking instructions below.

From the South: Take I-95 North to Exit 7 (Route 138 East) in Richmond, Rhode Island. Turn right from the off-ramp and follow Route 138 East for ~10.2 miles, then turn left onto Keaney Road and follow the parking instructions below.

PARKING & BUILDING ACCESS (see map): Meet goers should park in the Keaney Lot (#26) by Route 138 or the Plains Lot (#25) by West Alumni Avenue. Accessible parking for properly permitted vehicles is available. Tootell Aquatic Center is located between the Keaney Gymnasium and the Ryan Center. Please enter the building via the entrance by the roundabout near the Ryan Center.

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

ORDER OF EVENTS: See below. An estimated meet timeline will be posted to the meet website after check-in closes. Additional breaks may be taken at the meet referee’s discretion. Please plan to stay for the entire meet if possible.
 

Note: If paying by credit card, your credit card statement will reflect a charge from "WWW.NELMSC.ORG."