By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
The majority of the rules and proposals voted on last week by the USA Swimming House of Delegates in Denver were adopted, with most of the defeated proposals revolving around Local Swimming Committees, or LSCs.
LSCs are the 59 more-local governing bodies of USA Swimming, and are the primary battleground in American club swimming circles right now in matters of both physical jurisdiction and administrative jurisdiction.
Four proposals relating to LSC boundaries were defeated:
- To allow for Potomac Valley Swimming to sanction meets in a territory occupied by Potomac Valley Swimming clubs (aka, the Virginia Swimming LSC territory)
- Appeal to move Platinum Aquatics and Tiger Sharks of Texas, as well as Bell and Mila Counties of Texas, from the South Texas LSC to the Gulf Swimming LSC
- Appeal to move Floyd and Clark Counties of Indiana from the Kentucky Swimming LSC to the Indiana Swimming LSC
With expectations of a lot of shifting of LSC borders going forward, the results are being viewed as an indicator that USA Swimming’s House of Delegates prefers boundaries to be settled by the teams and LSCs rather than using the House of Delegates as the determining body.
Floyd and Clark Counties in the southeastern part of the state are the only counties in Indiana that are not part of the LSC. They have a combined population of about 200,000 and are generally considered suburbs of Louisville, Kentucky. Jeffersonville is the biggest city in the two counties with about 50,000 residents.
The counties appear to be home to about four USA Swimming clubs: the multi-site Riverside Aquatic Club, Pacesetter Aquatics, River City Splash Swim Club, and Pacesetter Aquatics.
In Texas, Milam County has only 24,000 residents, but Bell County, Texas is a fairly large population area centered around urban areas in Killeen and Temple.
Being in the South Texas LSC groups them with teams from Austin and San Antonio, while being grouped in the Gulf Swimming LSC would move them into a group with swimmers from Houston. Milam County sits between the two LSCs, while Bell County is between the border of South Texas and North Texas Swimming LSCs.
That proposal specifically included Platinum Aquatics and Tiger Sharks of Texas.
While those two moves would provide structural changes to the LSCs, the proposal relating to the Potomac Valley Swimming LSC was perhaps the most significant, as it would have given teams in that LSC, one of the most professionalized in the country, the ability to run meets in “any pool within the boundaries of Loudoun County, Prince William County, and the city of Manassas” in Virginia.
All of those counties are within the borders of the Virginia Swimming LSC, which means that sanctioning fees from meets hosted there wind up in the Virginia Swimming LSC coffers.
LSCs have hosted meets in other LSCs in the past, but that usually is by arrangement if an LSC doesn’t have a long course pool suitable to host a long course championship meet.
Several other LSC changes were presented as informational only because the matters were settled by votes within the LSC. That includes the merger of the Lake Erie and Ohio Swimming LSCs and the shift of seven towns in Maine (including Colby College, the only Olympic-sized pool in the state)
Most current LSC boundaries were carried forward from regional divisions used by the AAU, which formerly governed most swimming in the United States, and which used similar boundaries for all sports that it oversaw.
Other significant proposals that passed:
- Counters are now allowed in the 400 free in long course meters and short course meters.
- Stroke 50s were added as ‘senior’ events, making them a standard part of National Championships and recommended for LSC and other championship meets. This came after the same events were added to the Olympic Games.
The major proposal voted down besides the LSC proposals includes a proposal to offer more flexibility in whether USA Swimming or YMCA certified officials needed to be present in order for times to be entered into the SWIMS database.
The proposal would have allowed times to be loaded into SWIMS if there was “one referee, one started, and two stroke and turn judge association officials, but with insufficient USA Swimming and/or YMCA observers…”
This proposal revolved around the new Block Party program, along with increasing challenges nationwide across many sports to recruit officials.
- See a full breakdown of proposals that were voted on here
- A summary of voting results is here
- The full results, including any amendments, can be seen here
Read the full story on SwimSwam: USA Swimming House of Delegates Votes Down LSC Boundary Changes, Officiating Changes
