Meet Information

Dates Competition days are May 10 to 13, 2018 Pool will be open for warm-up Wednesday, May 9, from 3 to 8 p.m. Location IU Natatorium on IUPUI Campus 901 West New York Street Indianapolis, IN 46202 317-274-3518 Hosted By Indy Aquatic Masters Meet Director: Dean Hawks

 

Have Questions?

For all questions pertaining to event entry, registration, membership, competition, rules, relays, scratches, etc., please contact the National Office at events@usmastersswimming.org or 800-550-SWIM (7946).  

For questions about Indianapolis, hotels, hospitality, tourism, the facility, etc., please contact the meet director,  Dean Hawks, at d23hawks@yahoo.com or Michelle Harter, at info@indyaquaticmasters.com.  

Facility

The IU Natatorium is an indoor complex with two eight-lane 25-yard competition courses and seating for 5,000. The pool is 9 feet deep at the ends and 10 feet in the center. Water is kept at 79 degrees F. Seven 25-yard lanes of warm-up space will be available in the diving well, with twelve more 25-meter lanes available in the instructional pool. At least one lane for swimmers over age 65 will be available at all times.

Entry Deadlines and Surcharge

• February 15 to March 19 midnight, HST* $55**
• March 20 to April 9  midnight, HST* $65**

*Hawaii Aleutian Standard Time
**Meet surcharge doesn’t include individual event and relay fees

Entering the Meet

Event entries will be accepted between the above dates and will close at midnight, Hawaii Aleutian Standard Time, on the last day of entry.

If you cannot enter online, call 1-800-550-SWIM (7946) Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern Standard 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 two 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 13, 2018. If a swimmer enters an event with a time significantly slower or faster than that swimmer's recorded time in the previous two years, the Championship Committee may, after a discussion with the swimmer, change the seeded time to a realistic time.
UPDATE: the sixth event will be dropped due to the high number of registered swimmers. 

Eligibility

Participants must be registered Masters swimmers and at least 18 years of age as of May 9, 2018. Swimmers turning 18 after the meet entry deadline and by May 9, 2018 must enter the meet by the meet entry deadline and register for USMS either before or on May 9, 2018.

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).

International entries require verification of membership in a swimmer’s national Masters swimming organization.  Please submit a copy of your Masters Registration card/letter from your governing body to events@usmastersswimming.org. Verification is required at the time of online entry. If you do not present verification, you will not be permitted to swim in the competition.

Age Groups

Age for the meet is determined as of May 13, 2018, except for 18-year-olds, who must be 18 by May 9, 2018. 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 warm-ups or competition, all participants must register at the meet by signing an emergency card, safety information statement, and liability release. Registration will be held at the IU Natatorium on the IUPUI campus on Wednesday, May 9, from 3 to 8 p.m., and on all other days from 6:30 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 500, 1000, and 1650 freestyles. The 1650 and 1000 freestyles will be seeded slowest to fastest by entry time, regardless of age. The 500 freestyle and 400 IM may be seeded slowest to fastest by entry time, regardless of age. The 200-yard events will be deck seeded and may be seeded by entry time, regardless of age, for each gender. All 50 and 100 events will be preseeded by age group, with the oldest age groups first, slowest to fastest within each group. All seeding decisions will be announced at usms.org by April 23, 2018.

Distance Events (1000/1650)

Swimmers may enter either the 1000 freestyle or the 1650 freestyle, but not both. Swimmers entering the 1650 freestyle must meet the NQT.

Fees

Fees are $6 per individual event, plus a surcharge per swimmer. The surcharge varies according to date of entry (See Entry Deadlines and Surcharge). Refund requests must be made to the National Office at events@usmastersswimming.org or 1-800-550-SWIM (7946) by April 16, 2018.  No refunds will be given for events not swum. Relay-only swimmers must enter and pay the meet surcharge by the entry deadline.

Event Sanction

Sanctioned by the Indiana LMSC for USMS Inc. Sanction Number 168-S001

The length of the competition courses without a bulkhead is in compliance and on file with USMS, in accordance with articles 105.1.7 and 107.2.1.

Check-In Deadlines

Swimmers must check in for events 200 yards or longer. Swimmers, or their coaches or teammates on their behalf, may check in online or in person by the deadlines below. Failure to check in will result in the swimmer being scratched from the event and the swimmer will not be permitted to swim that event at another time.

Date	Event	In-Person Check-in	Online Check-in
Thurs., May 10	1000 freestyle   1650 freestyle	Weds. 3–8 p.m.–Thurs. by 7 a.m. Weds. 3–8 p.m.–Thurs. by 9 a.m.	Tues. 7 a.m.–Thurs. by 7 a.m. Tues. 7 a.m.–Thurs. by 9 a.m.
Fri., May 11	400 IM   200 freestyle	Weds. 3–8 p.m.–Fri. by 7 a.m. Weds. 3–8 p.m.–Fri. by 9 a.m.	Tues. 7 a.m.–Fri. by 7 a.m.   Tues. 7 a.m.–Fri. by 9 a.m.
Sat., May 12	500 freestyle (women) 200 breaststroke 200 butterfly	Weds. 3–8 p.m.–Sat. by 7 a.m. Weds. 3–8 p.m.–Sat. by 9 a.m. Weds. 3–8 p.m.–Sat. by 9 a.m.	Tues. 7 a.m.–Sat. by 7 a.m. Tues. 7 a.m.–Sat. by 9 a.m. Tues. 7 a.m.–Sat. by 9 a.m.
Sun., May 13	500 freestyle (men) 200 IM   200 backstroke	Weds. 3–8 p.m.–Sun. by 7 a.m. Weds. 3-8 p.m. - Sun. by 9 a.m.                               Weds. 3–8 p.m.–Sun. by 9 a.m.	Tues. 7 a.m.–Sun. by 7 a.m. Tues. 7 a.m.- Sun. by 9 a.m.                                 Tues. 7 a.m.–Sun. by 9 a.m.

*All times are Eastern Standard Time

Meet Roster

A real-time meet roster including name, age, sex, and club is available on the meet landing page. Please verify your information and contact events@usmastersswimming.org with any concerns by April 9, 2018.

Heat and Psych Sheets

Psych sheets for all individual events are now available on usms.org. Heat sheets for preseeded events will be available online around April 27, 2018. Heat sheets for deck-seeded events will be posted at various places around the pool deck and on Meet Mobile and Swim Phone, once the events have been seeded.

Meet Start Times

UPDATE: There will be more than 2,300 swimmers at the 2018 Nationwide USMS Spring Nationals, the largest USMS national championship ever. Therefore, the event timelines has moved 30 minutes earlier each day. The competition will start at 7:30 a.m. each day instead of 8:00 a.m., as was originally published here.

Warm-up Times

The competition pool will be open for warm-up on Wednesday, May 9 from 3 to 8 p.m. UPDATE: On competition days, the competition pool will be open from 6:00 a.m. until 7:20 a.m. and the warm-up pools will be available from 7:20 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 Men’s 400 Individual Medley, Women’s 500 Freestyle, and Men’s 500 Freestyle on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, respectively. The competition pool will be open for at least 30 minutes following the last event each day. On Thursday, May 10, the competition pool will remain open until 5 p.m. or 30 minutes following the last heat of the 1650 freestyle, 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.

Relays

All relays must be entered online. Swimmers may enter relays until 3 p.m. on the day before the relay is scheduled. 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. Awards will be presented to the top 10 combined clubs in the Local Club division and top five combined clubs in the Regional Club 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.

Time Verification (formerly OVCs)

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 the meet director by April 9, 2018, if you require this assistance.

Service Animals

Please contact the meet director by April 9, 2018, if you require the use of a service animal. Animals other than service animals will not be permitted on deck at the venue.