Pacific Northwest Swimming

PNS General Chair UPDATES WITHIN PNS

Melissa Stiner

Updates from Around USA Swimming

Nov. 18, 2021

 

PNS December Championships Meets Planning

  Program Operations continues to adapt meet planning to meet the changing COVID regulations as implemented at WKCAC.  Following the successful October Challenge Meets, King County Health released an update to the existing COVID protocols that provided new challenges.  Due to continued (albeit larger) capacity limits and COVID Protocol requirements at WKCAC, PNS is revising the Championships meets for this December:

  

  For all meets at WKCAC, beginning after October 25th, all athletes, coaches, volunteers, spectators, etc., aged 12 and older, entering the facility must either prove that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours of each visit to WKCAC (which means that, for a multiple day meet, multiple tests may be required). 

 

  In response, a team developed a set of processes designed to rapidly screen arrivals and to minimize the need for re-screening individuals.  This system was tested at the Q Meet last Sunday.  The swimmers and volunteers did a good job with their masks, and the screening process worked effectively.

 While PNS shares your angst with these new limitations, it is a condition of hosting meets at KCAC and does feel like it is a doable proposition with a good system in place.  Other facilities in King County are already putting these same requirements on the meet host.  It is the only way to provide PNS swimmers with the opportunity to compete at a large, Prelim / Finals meet consistent with past practices and to ensure that those opportunities to compete at WKCAC continue.  To ensure that competitions at KCAC continue, the PNS Board approved a new policy that provides that non-compliance may involve law enforcement to remove an individual from the facility and that the incident will be submitted to the USA Swimming National Board of Review as a violation of the USA Swimming Code of Conduct (Article 304).

 

2022 Senior Sectionals at WKCAC!

  The Western Region Section Board has now successfully completed negotiations with both the WKCAC (Federal Way, WA) and UT (Austin, TX) facilities.  In response to the recent announcements from WKCAC and discussions with PNS, the Section is planning to proceed with the Pacific Northwest Sectional meet at Federal Way March 10-13 and the Four Corners Sectional Meet at UT March 24-27.

  The new County regulations effective October 25, permit larger numbers of attendees at the WKCAC facilities, but also require that all attendees wear face masks and provide vaccination or negative test results (see below). 

  Due to the capacity constraints, the Section has determined that Four Corners teams will not be able to come to Federal Way; however, a limited number of teams from the Pacific Northwest Section can choose to travel to Austin.  Here are the details regarding the meet:

  Pacific Northwest Sectional Meet Federal Way, WA March 10-13 Information.  The meet will proceed as planned at KCAC with the following modifications per King County regulations (as of Nov 15, 2021):

  1. Face Masks will be required
  2. Proof of Vaccination/Negative Testing Requirement for facility entry- All participants must provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test within last 72 hours.  Unvaccinated attendees will need to test during the meet to fulfill the requirement for a 4-day event.
  3. There will be Limited On-Site Parking (166 spaces only front side).  Additional parking at the Ball Field Parking (200+ spaces) will be available.
  4. No Out of Pacific Northwest Section athletes. No Cross Section Registration of Four Corners teams for the NW Section meet.
  5. Lobby/Vendor Concessions will not be open.
  6. If there are under 625 athletes, the section board has voted to waive athlete re-imbursement and allow the host to retain all meet revenue.
  7. KCAC will be hosting multiple events between now and the NW Section meet. The Section Board that these meets will provide both additional clarification of the protocols and a more streamlined process for the March meet.

 

  For those clubs considering travel to the Four Corners Austin, TX, Meet, these are the current details including registration schedules:

 

Four Corners Sectional Meet in Austin, TX March 24-27 Information:

  1. Face Masks will be strongly recommended
  2. 150 athletes will be allowed from the Pacific Northwest Section only with no more than 50 athletes per team.  
  3. There will be NO cross-registration of Four Corners teams for the Northwest Section Meet in Federal Way
  4. Cross Section Registration for Pacific NW teams ONLY to attend the Four Corners Section meet will open on Monday, November 22, at 12:00 pm (Noon) CENTRAL time. 
  5. The Registration link is: https://longhorn-aquatics-swim-shop.myshopify.com/collections/4-corners-sectionals-march-24-27-2022 .  The link is also posted on the Western Zone website.

 

Meet sanctions for both meets should be available around the beginning of December (according to the Section Board).

 

New USA Swimming Insurance Underwriter

   USA Swimming continues to provide general liability coverage, including sexual molestation coverage, excess liability coverage and excess accident medical coverage for USA Swimming, USA Swimming Local Swimming Committees (LSC) and USA Swimming member clubs.  Contact and contract details for the umbrella USA Swimming policies can be found in the insurance packet: www.usaswimming.org/insurance.

  The general liability and excess liability coverage is now written through a different broker: Insurance Office of America (IOA).   This is the same company that provides other optional insurance coverages for member clubs via the USA Swimming Insurance Marketplace.  

    One important change is that IOA requires LSCs and member clubs to request additional insured certificates directly from IOA. This can be accomplished by submitting a form either: