2008 AHSAA Fall Sports Booklet – Swimming & Diving only, click here for PDF (500 K)
AHSAA website - www.ahsaa.com
AHSAA CHAMPIONSHIP PROGRAM (from Sports Booklet)
1. The swimming and diving program consists of a division for boys and a division for girls with competition in a state meet.
2. Swimming competition requires students to meet qualifying standards in order to participate in the State Meet. There are no qualifying standards for diving and swimming relay events.
3. Diving competition consists of five voluntary dives and six optional dives. The five voluntary dives shall come from each of the five groups with their assigned degree of difficulty having a sum total of 9.0 or less. The six optional dives shall include at least one from each of the five groups. No more than one optional dive from the same group is permitted through the semifinals. All five groups must be represented in the first eight rounds.
4. Each high school is limited to eight meets prior to the state meet.
5. All participants must be eligible under AHSAA rules. Only high school varsity teams and individuals representing high schools are eligible for the state meet.
6. All high school meets will be conducted under National Federation rules.
7. All participants in any meet must be accompanied by a faculty member from their school.
8. Schools that fail to participate in the state meet after submitting entry forms are subject to a monetary fine.
Special Rules (from AHSAA Sports Booklet)
1. Participants must equal or exceed the established qualifying times for individual swimming events in order to be eligible for the State Meet. There are no qualifying standards for relay events and diving.
2. Qualifying times may be achieved anytime after Aug. 6, 2007, in sanctioned high school meets, USA-sanctioned meets, Parks and Recreation-sponsored meets and any other approved meet. (A seasonal membership fee may be involved with participation in the USA swimming meets.)
3. If a swimmer fails to achieve qualifying time in any State Meet event, the coach must provide Proof of Performance for the entered time (a copy of meet results). Otherwise, the swimmer will be disqualified from the State Meet. A Proof of Performance clerk will be available at the head table.
4. State Meet swimming qualifying times (based on the 2007 meet results):
Meet Rules
Each team may enter 4 individuals per event
Each team may enter 1 relay but may enter more if lanes are available
Only two places will be scored in the individuals events and one place scored in relays
A person may enter 2 individuals events and 2 relay events
Boys and Girls will be scored separately to determine champions.
2005 Swimming & Diving Rules Changes
3-2-3 Penalty #1: In non-championship meets, a competitor who has been officially entered in an event but does not compete shall be disqualified from that event only.
3-3-4: When it is discovered that any competitor is wearing illegal attire or jewelry, he/she will not be permitted to participate in an event until the illegal attire or jewelry is replaced or removed.
4-2-2(n) New: To stop or suspend competition or suspend/terminate a contest whenever the elements require. Be familiar with the NFHS Lightning Guidelines.
7-1-2 Note: If agreement on scoring systems cannot be reached, the system in 7-1-2(b) will be used.
8-2-2(c): Some part of the head must break the water surface before the hands turn inward at the widest part of the second stroke after the start and after each turn.
Diving Chart: Add dive #5227 – back somersault with 3½ twist free (DD 3.1).
9-6-3(b) New NOTE: The announcer shall announce (and may also display) the award given the dive.
9-8-3: A diver shall be disqualified and shall perform no further dives if he/she fails two dives
Swimming & Diving Rules Revised (4-23-02)
The decision of last November to require a water depth of 4 feet or more with the use of 18-inch starting platforms was reaffirmed at the April meeting of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Swimming and Diving Rules Committee in Indianapolis.
Last year the committee eliminated the option to use starting platforms in pools with water depth from 3 feet to less than 4 feet. The 4-foot minimum requirement for starting platforms will continue in effect for the 2002 high school swimming season.
Of the 13 swimming and diving rules revisions made by the Committee, the change in Rule 8-1-2 eliminating the stand-up start in the backstroke event perhaps will be the most noticeable during the coming season. Prior to the command take your mark, and until the feet leave the wall at the starting signal, the swimmers feet, including toes, have to be completely under the surface of the water. As an additional precaution, Rule 8-2-2c will prohibit swimmers from standing on or in the gutter or curling the toes over the lip of the gutter immediately after the start of the backstroke.
Although not officially a rules change, the Committee issued a clarification of Rule 8-1-1 regarding the forward start. The revised language states that in the forward start prior to the starting command take your mark, it no longer is necessary for the swimmer to place a foot/feet on the front edge of the starting platform or pool deck.
With the increase in the number of schools using deck starts, the Committee revised Rule 8-3-5, that requires the second, third and fourth swimmers to use the forward start with at least one foot at the edge of the deck. In Rule 8-3-6, the first three swimmers of a relay team must contact the finish end at the conclusion of their leg of the relay; however, the final swimmer is required to contact the finish pad. This clarifies that the final swimmer must touch the finish pad not just the end of the pool during a relay.
Three changes were made in Rule 2 regarding Pool, Lane and Equipment Specifications. Rule 2-3-1 recommends that end walls be finished with a nonskid surface that extends no less than eight-tenths of a meter (2 feet, 7½ inches) below the water surface.
With the movement of starting platforms and the utilization of bulkheads, this gives clarity for parameters at the starting end of the pool, said Cynthia Doyle, NFHS assistant director. Changes in the marking of lanes were made in Rule 2-4-2 that will make US Swimming/Olympic pools legal for high schools. In Rule 2-7-5, a visual lap-counting system for the 500-yard/meter freestyle event will be required for each visiting swimmers lane.
In other rules changes, Rule 3-2-2 will require each relay card to indicate the actual order of swimmers in that heat no later than at the conclusion of the heat. Each state may designate when and who reports the order of the relay. Rule 6-3-3 and 6-3-4 were rewritten to establish procedures to follow when automatic timing fails.
The committee, including 9-2-1 that will ensure that every diver has one warm up, revised four diving rules. In other changes, the diving table in Rule 9-3 was revised and Rule 9-7-4d now reads that if a diver does not come out of the tuck or pike position, he or she is not making an attempt and a penalty will be assessed.
The final diving change involves Rule 9-8-2b that states that each diving judge shall deduct ½ to two points for a foot or feet leaving the board prior to a back/inward takeoff. This clarifies that the deduction includes one foot or both feet leaving the board prior to the back/inward takeoff.
