2022 Spring National Championship Meet Information

Dates

Competition days are April 28 to May 1, 2022

Pool will be open for open for warm-up on Wednesday, April 27, from 2 to 7 p.m. Central time.

Location

Hosted By

COVID-19 Protocols and Safety Information

Have Questions?

Please contact the National Office at events@usmastersswimming.org or 941-256-USMS (8767).

Facility

The Northside ISD Swim Center is an aquatics complex that houses both an indoor and an outdoor competition pool with bleacher seating for 3,000 spectators. The venue includes four separate pools: an indoor championship pool, an outdoor championship pool, a diving well, and an instructional pool. The outdoor championship pool is 50 meters by 25 yards and will be divided into two 25-yard courses. Each course will have ten lanes, and a water depth of 6 feet. 22 warm-up lanes will be available in the indoor pool as well as additional lanes in the diving well and instructional pool that will be open for continuous warm-up and warm-down during the competition. The facility offers an abundance of locker room facilities and onsite space to relax for athletes and spectators.

Entry Deadlines and Surcharge                    

January to March 1 11:59 p.m., Pacific Time $80*

March 2 to April 4 11:59 p.m., Pacific Time $100*

*Meet surcharge doesn’t include individual event and relay fees. Individual event fees are $6 per event. 

Refund requests must be made to the National Office at events@usmastersswimming.org by April 11. No refunds will be given for events not swum. 

Relay-only swimmers must enter and pay the meet surcharge by the April 4 entry deadline. See the relay page for full details. 

If you cannot enter online, call 941-256-USMS (8767) between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern Time, during the online entry periods above, to provide your entry information. A member services representative will complete the entry for you. Please have your desired events, times, and credit card information available 

National Qualifying Times/Number of Events/Sixth Event

Competitors may enter up to three individual events without meeting the national qualifying times, or a maximum of six events if they meet the NQTs (i.e. have swum a time equal to or better than the NQTs during the past three years). Exception: Competitors entering the 1650 freestyle must meet the NQT. All swimmers are limited to three individual events per day. If the meet is deemed too large, an athlete’s sixth event will be dropped. Swimmers entering six events must indicate which event is to be dropped in case the timeline is too long. No refunds will be given if the sixth event is dropped. A decision on the sixth event will be announced at usms.org by April 8, 2022. If a swimmer enters an event with a time significantly slower or faster than that swimmer's recorded time in the previous three years, the Championship Committee may, after a discussion with the swimmer, change the seeded time to a realistic time. 

Eligibility

Participants must be registered Masters swimmers and at least 18 years of age as of April 27, 2022. Swimmers turning 18 after the meet entry deadline and by April 27, 2022, must enter the meet by the meet entry deadline and register for USMS either before or on April 27, 2022.
 
If a swimmer wishes to affiliate with a Masters club, the club and swimmer must both be registered with the same Local Masters Swimming Committee (LMSC). If there are questions about affiliation, the swimmer will be entered with the affiliation “UC” (Unattached). 

Age Groups

Age for the meet is determined as of May 1, 2022, except for 18-year-olds, who must be 18 by April 27, 2022. Age groups for individual events: 18–24, 25–29, 30–34, 35–39 … (five-year increments as high as necessary). Relay events: 18+, 25+, 35+, 45+, etc. (10-year increments as high as necessary, determined by the age of the youngest relay member).

Registration

Prior to arriving at the facility, all participants must complete a form which includes a liability waiver and emergency contact information. The form will be emailed two weeks prior to the event and replaces the paper waiver used in previous years.

Swimmers can then pick up goody bags upon arriving at the facility. Registration will be held at the Northside ISD Swim Center on April 27, 2022, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., and on all other days from 7 a.m. through the end of competition.

Seeding

Two courses will be used for all events. Women’s heats will precede men’s heats for each event, except that men’s and women’s heats may be seeded together for the 1000 and 1650 freestyles. The 1000 and 1650 freestyles will be deck seeded slowest to fastest by entry time, regardless of age. The 500 free and 400 IM may be seeded slowest to fastest by entry time, regardless of age. The 200-yard events may be deck seeded and may be seeded by entry time, regardless of age, for each sex. All 50 and 100 events will be pre-seeded by age group, with the oldest age groups first, slowest to fastest within each group. 

Updates (April 13, 2022)

• The sixth event will not be dropped. Swimmers will have the opportunity to swim all individual events entered.
• The 1000 and 1650 freestyle will be deck-seeded slowest to fastest by entry time, regardless of age. M/W combined.
• The 500 freestyle and 400 IM will be deck-seeded, oldest age groups first, slowest to fastest within each age group. M/W separate.
• All 50s,100s, 200s will be pre-seeded by age group, with the oldest age groups first, slowest to fastest within each age group. M/W separate.

Distance Events (1000/1650)

Swimmers entering the 1650 free must meet the NQT. Swimmers may swim both the 1000 and the 1650 freestyle. 

Swimmers will need to supply their own counter (teammate, coach, etc.) for all distance events. 

Check-In Deadlines

Swimmers must check in for events 400 yards or longer. Check-in will also be required for all the 200s if it is determined that deck seeding is necessary. 

Check-in will be available on the event page available starting Monday, April 25. A link will be sent in an email to all swimmers and will be available on the event page. If you need assistance, please email events@usmastersswimming.org or visit the Solutions Table on-site near Registration during the hours of the meet. 

The deadline to check in is 7 p.m. Central time the night before the event is contested. Failure to check in by the following deadlines will result in the swimmer being scratched from the event and the swimmer will not be permitted to swim that event at another time.

Heat sheets for deck seeded events will be published online by 8 p.m. each evening. 

*All times are Central Time. If the 200 events are deck seeded, then their check-in deadlines will be 7 p.m. on the day prior to the event.

Meet Roster

A real-time meet roster including name, age, sex, and club will be available on the meet information page. Please verify your information and contact events@usmastersswimming.org with any concerns by April 4, 2022.

Heat and Psych Sheets

Psych sheets for all individual events will be available on the usms.org website on or about April 11, 2022.

Heat sheets for pre-seeded events will be available online around April 15, 2022. Heat sheets for deck-seeded events will be posted at various places around the pool deck and on Meet Mobile and SwimPhone, once the events have been seeded.

Meet Start Times

The competition will start at 8 a.m. every day unless it is determined that the timeline will go too late into the day; then competition may start as early as 7:30 a.m. on any day. Meet start times will be announced at usms.org by April 15, 2022. Warm-ups in the competition pool will be shortened if necessary to accommodate an earlier start time.

Warm-up Times

The competition pool will be open for warm-up on Wednesday, April 27, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Central time. On competition days, the competition pool will be open from 6:30 a.m. until 7:50 a.m. and the warm-up pools will be available from 7:50 a.m. until the conclusion of the final event each day. The competition pool will also be open for warm-up for 30 minutes following the last heat of the 400 IM Friday. The competition pool will be open for at least 30 minutes following the last event each day. On Thursday, April 28 the competition pool will remain open until 5 p.m. or 30 minutes following the last heat of the 400 mixed freestyle relay, whichever is later.

Warm-up Procedures

Swimmers must enter the pool feet first in a cautious and controlled manner. No diving or backstroke starts will be allowed, except in designated sprint lanes. A few lanes will be designated as one-way sprint lanes during the pre-meet warm-up sessions in the competition pools only. Any swimmer who acts in an unsporting or unsafe manner within the swimming venue may be considered for appropriate action or penalty by the referee (rule 102.13.3). Swim equipment is not allowed in the competition or warm-up pools. This includes pull-buoys, kickboards, fins, hand paddles, etc.

Scratches

Any swimmer failing to report to the proper lane in the correct heat of an event will be scratched from that event and will not be permitted to swim that event at another time.  All scratches must be submitted by April 11.

Relays

All relays must be entered online. Swimmers may enter relays until 3 p.m. on the day before the relay is scheduled with the exception of the 400 mixed free relay for Thursday. The Thursday 400 mixed free relay may be entered up to 7 p.m. on Wednesday. See the relay information page for complete information.

Scoring

Swimmers in individual events will be awarded points for first through tenth places as 11-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, respectively. Relays will be awarded double points for first through tenth places as 22-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2, respectively.

Club Scoring

Club scoring will be tabulated in two categories (regional clubs and local clubs) and three divisions (men, women, and combined). Mixed relays score points only in the combined division.

Awards

Medals will be awarded for first through tenth places in each age group, for all events. A U.S. Masters Swimming National Champion patch will be given to each individual and relay-team member for the first event won. Swimmers winning more than one event may purchase additional patches. Unclaimed awards will not be mailed unless arrangements are made at the meet. There will be a charge for mailing awards. Club awards will be presented to the top 10 clubs in the local club division and top five clubs in the regional division.

Final Results

The complete results, including splits, will be posted at usms.org. A paper copy of the complete final results may be ordered with your online entry and will be mailed to you from the National Office. Cost is $15 per copy.

Split Notification

Final results will indicate splits for all swims (excluding pad malfunctions). Splits will be recorded for all swimmers and submitted for records and Top 10 consideration, for initial distances of all individual events (except for backstroke) and for all relay lead-off splits. Therefore, swimmers need not submit split requests for those events. Split requests are required for initial distance(s) of an individual backstroke event. The swimmer is responsible for picking up the Split Notification Form from the administrative official, filling it out, and presenting it to the administrative official prior to the swim. Automatic split times will be submitted for USMS Top 10, however automatic split times from individual events will not automatically appear in the USMS event results database. If you would like a split time to be added to the event results database, please email your request after the meet to events@usmastersswimming.org.

Time Verification (SWIMS)

Swimmers wishing to have times entered into SWIMS (USA Swimming’s times database) must complete a form, obtained from the administrative referee at the meet, prior to the swim.

Hearing Impaired Start Assistance

Any athlete with a hearing impairment may request starting assistance from the meet referee.  The request must be made prior to the start of the meet. If portable strobes are available, one may be located in a manner to provide a visual aid. Otherwise, another appropriate method may be employed to visually assist the affected swimmer. Please contact events@usmastersswimming.org by April 4, 2022 if you require this assistance.

Service Animals

Animals other than service animals will not be permitted on deck at the venue.