Observed Meets
USA Swimming has set up policies and guidelines for entering times data into the SWIMS system. Times achieved in meets that are not sanctioned or approved by USA Swimming may qualify for entry into SWIMS if the meet is authorized as an “Observed Meet”. Approval for meets is done on a case-by-case basis. Please see policy and procedures for observed meets in PNS Officials’ Policy and Procedures.
The applications must be filled out by the Meet Referee. When the form is complete, please email it to observedmeets@pns.org.
The PNS Officials Committee will review it, and the Chair (or his/her designee) will send it to the USA Swimming Times and Recognition Committee Chair, for final approval. Upon approval, the Meet Referee will be notified by email of the Observed Meet Approval number. Additionally, the number will be posted on the PNS Website under “Meets Accepted for Observed Status”.
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Note that the only observed meets for which PNS/USA swimming records will be recognized are the Boys and Girls State Championship High School meets.
The following is a summary of the requirements for “Observed” status:
- Meet Referee to complete PNS Request for Observation Form (which includes the USA Swimming Request Form) and submit it to ObservedMeets@pns.org ten (10) days prior to the meet.
- Complete the appropriate REQUEST FOR OBSERVATION either
- The meet is conducted under technical rules other than USA Swimming (e.g., high school, NCAA, Masters).
- The Meet Referee will provide swimmers and coaches with information about the observation program and the procedures used to request observation. Requests may be submitted prior to the swim for which observation is desired, or all swims may be observed.
- Any non-conforming USA Swims (including suit and tape violations) will be documented and forwarded to PNS.
At the conclusion of the meet the following items must be emailed to the PNS office, at office@pns.org:
- MM backup file
- Athletes' full name (first, middle, last), birthdate, USAS membership number
- List of non-conforming USA swims (include swimmer’s Name, Event, Heat, and Lane)
2023-2024 OBSERVATION APPROVALS
| Meet Name | Date | Sanction # | Type | Pool | Meet Referee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kitsap HS Swimvitational-Girls | 9/30/2023 | 2309-OHS-M01 | Invite | North Kitsap Pool | Rubie |
| Mukilteo Invitational - Girls | 10/14/2023 | 2310-OHS-M02 | Invite | KCAC | Soper |
| WCD District 3A Girls Champs | 10/27-28/2023 | 2310-OHS-D01 | Champs | Rogers Pool | Murphy |
| WCD District 4A Girls Champs | 10/27-28/2023 | 2310-OHS-D02 | Champs | Curtis Pool | Cox |
| Metro League Girls H.S. Champs | 10/27-10/28 | 2310-OHS-D04 | Champs | Snohomish | D Baer |
| KingCo Conference Girls H.S. Champs | 10/27-10/28 | 2310-OHS-L07 | Champs | Mary Wayte | Siripipat |
| Wesco North 4A Girls H.S. Champs | 11/2 & 11/4 | 2311-OHS-D05 | Champs | Snohomish | D Limberg |
| Sea-King District II 1A/2A/3A/4A Girls H.S. Champs | 11/2-11/4 | 2311-OHS-D08 | Champs | Mary Wayte | Siripipat/Robertson |
| NW District 1 Girls 2A Champs | 11/3-11/4 | 2311-OHS-D03 | Champs | Fidalgo | A Pohl |
| Wesco North 3A Girls H.S. Champs | 11/3-11/4 | 2311-OHS-D06 | Champs | Snohomish | Soper |
| WIAA 1A/2A Girls H.S. State Champs | 11/10-11/11 | 2311-OHS-S01 | Champs | KCAC | Masse |
| WIAA 3A Girls H.S. State Champs | 11/10-11/11 | 2311-OHS-S02 | Champs | KCAC | Cox |
| WIAA 4A Girls H.S. State Champs | 11/10-11/11 | 2311-OHS-S03 | Champs | KCAC | Murphy |
| Kentridge Invitational | 1/6/2024 | 2401-OHS-M04 | Invite | KCAC | B Keller |
| Boys Swimvitational | 1/13 | 2401-OHS-M03 | Invite | Olympic/Silverdale | R Rubie |
| 2024 KingCo Conference Boys Swim Championships | 2/2-2/3/2024 | 2402-OHS-L03 | League | Mary Wayte | N Siripipat |
| 4A 3 WCD District Meet | 02/03/2024 | 2402-OHS-D09 | District | Curtis HS | R Cox |
| 3A WCD Boys Championships | 2/2-2/3/2024 | 2402-OHS-D10 | District | Rogers HS | P Sachs |
| 4A,3A,2A,1A SeaKing District 2 Boys Swim Championships | 2/8-2/10/2024 | 2402-OHS-D11 | District | Mary Wayte | B Karl |
| Boys 2A North West District 1 Swim/ Dive Championships | 2/9-2/10/2024 | 2402-OHS-D12 | District | Fidalgo Pool and Fitness Center | A Pohl |
| WIAA Boys 1A/2A State | 2/16-17/2024 | 2402-OHS-S04 | Championship | KCAC | L Masse |
| WIAA Boys 3A State | 2/16-2/17/2024 | 2402-OHS-S05 | Championship | KCAC | R Cox |
| WIAA Boys 4A State | 2/16-2/17/2024 | 2402-OHS-S06 | Championship | KCAC | T Wang |
| Metro Boys Championship | 2/2-2/3/2024 | 2402-OHS-D13 | District | Snohomish Aquatic Center | D Baer |
| WESCO NORTH 4A Boys HS Championships | 2/8-2/10/2024 | 2402-OHS-D14 | District | Snohomish Aquatic Center | D Limberg |
| WESCO NORTH 3A Boys HS Championships | 2/9-2/10/2024 | 2402-OHS-D15 | District | Snohomish Aquatic Center | D Limberg |
When meet files have been received and times uploaded to SWIMS the meet will appear under Meet/Results>Results
Should an athlete's time NOT appear in SWIMS, the USA Swimming Coach should contact the PNS Office.
High School Observed Swims Procedure Change:
Athletes need to have First Name, Middle Initial, Last Name, Birthdate and USAS Swimming ID in the meet manager file for a time to be uploaded to SWIMS. If this info is not included in the meet manager backup that is provided to the office, it will delay getting the results into SWIMS. It is a very time-consuming process to match athletes in SWIMS compared to the previous version of SWIMS. The previous version of SWIMS allowed us to create a times export that could then be uploaded to Team Manager or TeamUnify. This is no longer an option in SWIMS and according to USAS there is no plan in the works to add this function back into their systems.
The issue stems around the time-consuming process of changing every athlete in the meet manager file from their high school team to Unattached. This also requires verifying their USAS ID did not change in the process and if the USAS ID is incorrect TeamUnify will not match the time with athlete in their database. With these added steps to manipulate the Meet Manager file it has created double the work compared to the old process. With the increased amount of time to change the Meet Manager file the PNS Office will not be uploading results into either TM or TU platforms. Coaches will need to enter their athletes’ results manually into their team management platform.
Once the times are uploaded to SWIMS a pdf of those uploaded results will be posted to the meet page for athletes/coaches to review. If you find that a result is missing on the posted pdf you will need to send the office the athlete’s info along with which meet(s) they participated in so we can match the result with the swimmer.
