Hello Scott,

Whew, what an active weather season we have had. The Missouri Valley office was the beneficiary of the ol' Tonganoxie Split last night, but we experienced some serious house shaking thunder. We hope everyone in the LSC is safe and sound.

Another serious thing is that last summer's Long Course Championship results file had some omissions. Our Times Chair has gone back and provided a new version of this results file for your use. Please delete the one in your management software and use this one instead. Please let us know if you have any errors.

Also, have you checked out the Coaches Network on USA Swimming? There are some good webinars and programming out there. Check the link at the VERY bottom of this newsletter after you have read all the important information below.

Spring Meeting

Here are some highlights from last month's House of Delegates and Spring Meeting.

• Short Course Schedule 2024-2025 was approved

• Individual Season membership was approved (only to find out that Individual Season membership is the only thing offered by USA Swimming starting September 1.)

• The Age Up Rule concerning District and Championships was approved. This new rule is in effect and included in this summer's championship meet information packets.

• Our Slate of Officers to the MV Board was approved. We will welcome Anne Sievers as our Age Group Chair and Leann McHugh as an At-Large delegate with terms beginning in September.

Thank you to all committee members discussing legislative matters and to all delegates taking time out of their day to join us for the meetings.

Officials Certification Changes

Some of you may be aware of some new changes regarding the certification of officials. USA Swimming made significant changes to clinics and the numbers of sessions required to become an official. Please consult the link above for a complete rundown, but I have listed some basic highlights below.

• Stroke and Turn clinics are now online through the USA Swimming login. These are found in the Education tab and clicking the Officials icon.

• Four apprentice sessions are required for to become advanced as a stroke and turn or administrative official.

• Certification forms are available to print and submit on the MV site. Prospective officials should print and take to swim meets for the referees to sign off on their sessions.

For anyone looking to become or needing an Administrative Officials clinic, Adam Tripp will be hosting one online on May 19. You will need to register in advance in order to receive the meeting link. Please remember that this online clinic requires you to be at your computer and engaged for the duration of the clinic. Unlike some Zoom meetings, this is not compatible with one ear on the meeting and the rest of you shopping for deals at Target.

10 & Under Camp

We had such a great time in December running the 10 & Under Future Stars Camp, that we are doing it again on Friday, June 7! This time, we will be in Topeka at Capitol Federal Natatorium. This is being held alongside the Beach Bash at Blaisdell meet. Space is limited, and we are only accepting registered athletes ages 10 and Under. Click the above link for more information and please let your parent know about this offering. In December, the camp filled up before we could even get it up on the Events Calendar.

We are looking for another coach or two to participate in this camp, so please email Laura Colon (COOL) if you or any of your staff would like to participate. It's a perfect opportunity for new coaches as well!

Additionally, we are looking to make these 10 & Under camps part of our regular programming throughout the year in different parts of the LSC. If you would like to get involved with this project, please reach out to Laura.

Central Zones Open Water Championships

It's that time of year. Central Zones Open Water Championships will be held this June once again in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. This is a great opportunity to swim open water in a beautiful setting. We usually send a small contingent, but it would be great to have a larger presence. The kids always have an amazing time competing and meeting other swimmers from across the Central Zone. To qualify for the swim, athletes need an "A" time in their designated distance event for their age group.

Championship Meets

Some of you may have seen that our championship meet information packets are already posted. We will be utilizing USA Swimming's Online Meet Entry system (OME) once again.

• We are targeting June 1 as the opening of OME.

• A meet events file will be available in the same manner as Short Course. You will complete a form and those will be made available to you. Settle down, they are not ready yet. But they will be shortly.

• One thing to be aware of is how the times populate in OME for Districts. If an athlete is over-qualified or under-qualified, the time next to an event will say NT. It does not mean that an athlete has no time in the system. It's confusing and kind of ridiculous, but that's OME. We had quite a few issues last February where an athlete was qualified for Champs with a non-conforming time, so it made them over-qualified for Districts, so double-check that as you are doing entries.

 PO Box 307, Lawrence, KS 66044

 785 979-1826

director@missourivalleyswimming.com