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Enclosed please find registration material for the 2017 State Swim Meet. We will hold this meet once again at Bates College in Lewiston on Thursday, April 13th. Please look carefully through the following items, which will answer questions you may have and should also help you with this registration process.
All entries must be submitted with Entry Qualifying Times! To get Entry Qualifying Scores athletes must attend a Regional Swim meet. Check out the link of the Regional Swim Meets 2017.
Rules and Events – The SOMaine Swim Rules & Regulations have recently been updated. Please review and share. SOMaine Swimming Rules & Regulation 2016
Event Rules & Event Options for Swimming: The events in Options #1-#3 are intended to provide meaningful competition for athletes with lower ability levels. As stated on the entry form, there will be no “cross-over” within the entry options, as there is a natural progression in the ability to compete in these events, starting with Option #1 through to Option #4. We hope you will train and challenge your athletes to the best of their ability.
- Option 1 – 10 yard Assisted Swim: Each Athlete is responsible for having his/her own coach/assistant. The assistant may touch, guide or direct the athlete, but may not support or assist the athlete’s forward movement. The athlete may use flotation (see flotation specifications under general rules). The assistant may be in the pool or on deck.
- Option 2 – 15 yard Flotation & 25 yard Flotation Races: Each athlete is responsible for his/her own flotation (IMPORTANT – see specifications for flotation under general rules). These races do not allow physical assistance by coaches, etc., once the race has begun. However, coaches may assist athletes to hold their position at the start line, prior to the start of the race. Flotation Races – Athletes are responsible for his/her own flotation, which must be a life jacket or swim belt that is Coast Guard Approved. Flotation devices such as noodles, kick boards, inner-tubes or floats that wrap around arms are not acceptable.
- Option 3 – 15 yard Unassisted Swim: Athletes must swim the entire distance with no assistance & no flotation device. Coaches may offer encouragement and direction to athletes from outside the pool, only. This event is basically a 15 yard Freestyle.
- Option 4 – All other events: General Rules Overall
- There will be limitations for diving starts and use of starting blocks, dependent upon the depth of the pool at the start line.
- Standing on the bottom during freestyle events WILL NOT disqualify an athlete, but he/she may not walk or jump. Standing on the bottom of the racing course is allowed only for the purpose of resting. Walking and/or jumping will result in disqualification.
- A coach may guide by voice only. A coach may not touch the athlete from the time the race starts until the athlete has completed the race.
- A coach may help an athlete maintain their position at the starting line.
- No competitor will be permitted to use or wear any device that will aid in speed (webbed gloves, fins, flippers, etc). Goggles may be worn.
Schedule of the day’s events will be as follows:
- 8:45am – 12:30 PM Team Registration/Drops – Tarbell Pool Lobby
- 9:15am Opening Ceremonies
- 9:30am Competition (21 years old & under)
- 11:30am Fundamental events (event options 1-3)
- 1:30pm – Competition (22 years old & over)
NEW THIS YEAR – All Swim registration forms are fillable PDFs. This will allow you to download, electronically complete, save and send the forms without printing; saving paper and mailing costs. You will be able to input your registration information directly into the forms. You will be asked to save all registration forms and electronically send them to Ian Frank, IanF@somaine.org. For large teams that require multiple pages of a particular registration form, we ask that you save each registration page individually, naming them Delegation.Form.1, Delegation.Form.2 etc. To do this you will need to “click file and Save As”. This will allow you to save each document to a specific folder on your computer which you will then be able to send to SOMaine as well as for you to have a copy. If you do decide to print the forms and complete manually, not recommended, please note that some of the information in the forms will not be visible. We understand that this is a new process and at any time if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact our office.
Coach Education Policy: ALL registered coaches (Head of Delegation, Head Coaches & Assistant Coaches) must have a current certification for the following; Class A Volunteer Screening, Protective Behaviors Course and Concussion Awareness and Safety Recognition Course. You can find these documents/links on our website at www.somaine.org/sports/coachs-corner/become-a-coach/. If not already completed, they MUST be completed by March 29th.
Head of Delegation: This person is responsible for the entire delegation including; athletes, head coaches and assistant coaches. This person will send and receive pertinent information to and from Special Olympics Maine regarding; registration forms, athlete unified partner and coach requirements.
Head Coach Requirements: Every delegation must assign one certified head coach for every sport that they have athletes competing in. This person is responsible for the entire sports team including; athletes, unified partners and assistant coaches. Head coaches will be the liaison between their sports team and SOME.
Swim Coach’s Training School Opportunities: SOMaine will offer the following Level 1 Swim Coach’s Training Schools. These offerings will be the only opportunities for the Level 1 Swim certification that will be offered between now and the 2018 Swim meet. Typically this course has been offered during our annual Summer Coach’s College, instead this year we will be offering the Michael Phelps IM program (Special Olympics, Inc’s official Swim program). The Michael Phelps IM program will be a Level 3 certification and in order to register for the IM program at the Summer Coach’s College coaches must already be certified as a Level 1 Swim coach.
- Friday March 24th, 2017 at Cape Elizabeth High School in Cape Elizabeth from 12-3pm. Click here to register for the Cape Elizabeth Swim Coach’s Training School
- Saturday March 25th, 2017 at Lura Hoyt Pool in Hampden from 8:30am- 12pm. Click here to register for the Lura Hoyt Pool Swim Coach’s Training School
Medicals & Consent Forms: ALL Athletes must have current medical & consent forms on file at Special Olympics Maine’s State Office. It is your responsibility to insure that these (2) (current/completed) forms are on file here at our office, for every athlete you plan to bring to the games. If we already have a medical on file for an athlete and it is less than three years old, you don’t need a new one, unless there has been a significant physical/medical change in one of your athletes. You may email Mark at MarkC@somaine.org to check on medicals in your file. We recommend that you make two copies of each medical/release form – keep one file of all medicals in a safe place and have a file with all your athletes’ medicals that travels with you to events. Blank Medical and Consent Forms can be downloaded by going to our website: www.somaine.org/sports/athlete-resources/.
Directions for Completing the
2017 Swim Registration Forms
(Deadline for ALL forms is March 29th, 2017)
Click on the links below to for specific event registration forms. Each Delegation must submit the HOD and an athlete registration forms.
- 2017 Swimming HOD – completed by the Head of Delegation (HOD – person responsible for your team). Be sure to list all additional coaches/chaperones attending the games.
- SOMaine Swimming Athlete Registration – complete this form for athlete registration
- SOMaine Swimming 4x25M Registration – complete this form if your delegation has a 4x25yrd Relay Team
General Notes:
- Don’t miss the deadline (February March 29th, 2017).
- If you need to make additional copies of any of the registration forms, remember to download, complete the appropriate form and “SAVE AS” and give the file a name. From there you can open the original document again and add the additional registration information to the form and saving once you are complete. Repeat these steps until your entire Delegation is properly registered.
- We are requesting Delegations send their entire registration forms via Scan/Email or Fax
- Scan/Email to Ian at IanF@somaine.org
- the FAX number is 1-888-490-0672
- If you cannot email/fax please mail to: SOME – Attn: Ian, 125 John Roberts Rd #5, S. Portland ME 04106
If you have questions about Special Olympics Swim and/or the enclosed information please don’t hesitate to call us at 879-0489.
Hope to see you there!