PVS News and Notes

By Reach for the Wall Staff
(links and procedures provided courtesy of Potomac Valley Swimming)

In a normal season, the last few weeks of August are usually a quiet period for USA Swimming and LSC’s, however with this summer turned upside down, we saw some activity!

#4perlane PVS Waiver was Accepted

First, a big thank you to everyone that advocated to the Montgomery County Council on behalf of your club team. As reported, the Montgomery County Health Department along with the Council reviewed and approved the waiver request from PVS to allow up to 4 swimmers per lane for competitive training.

The PVS coalition presented the following procedures as part of their waiver request & the expectation is that any team resuming practice under this waiver will strictly adhere to them. As you will read, the bulk of the onus is on the family, athlete, and coaches to reduce the risk of exposure to the practice environment and other teammates:

PVS Jr. Athlete Representative

This past weekend PVS held an online vote for the Jr. Athlete Representative. There were 11 athletes (13 & Over) that submitted bios (an impressive bunch!) for the election, which entails a 2 year commitment as a Representative to the PVS Board. The voting took place over two days, August 27-28, and it was announced that Sophie Elliott from RMSC was elected- Congrats Sophie!

USA Swimming Tech Suit Restriction for 12 & Unders

In the past 2 years there has been much debate through this forum and other National publications regarding the use of Tech Suits by swimmers aged 12 & Under. Starting today, September 1, the restriction goes into effect, whereas no swimmers aged 12 & under can compete in a USA Swimming sanctioned event wearing a technical racing suit. USA Swimming defines a Technical suit as:

1) A Technical Suit is one that has the following components: 

a. Any suit with any bonded or taped seams regardless of its fabric or silhouette; or 

b. Any suit with woven fabric extending past the hips.

 Note: WOVEN FABRIC-A suit with woven fabric and sewn seams that does not extend below the hips is permitted.
Note: KNIT FABRIC: A suit with knit fabric and sewn seams not extending below the knees is permitted.

USA Swimming also provided the two lists of approved and restricted suits:

Sanctioned Meets?

We know there aren’t any plans to have the traditional ‘Invitational’ meets anytime soon, but PVS has announced they will provide sanctions for Intrasquad and small dual meets that follow guidelines put forth by USA Swimming, PVS and the facility within the locality. If you are interested in understanding the guidelines, PVS has published a checklist of USA swimming considerations. If the checklist can be met, the meet host can request a sanction from PVS . As part of the sanction process the meet host will need the following:

• A statement setting forth the local protocols and requirements.
• The plan for spectator ingress and egress.
• The planned number of individuals gathering in the spaces (e.g., pool, deck, spectator seating, etc.)
• A statement setting forth the Safe Sport considerations to ensure parents or legal guardians have access to and/or the opportunity to observe their child.

and the following two documents:

PVS Meet Announcement (COVID-19) Template
PVS Supplemental Information (COVID-19) Template

While these are not insurmountable administrative and logistic requirements, we don’t expect that teams will be able to receive sanctions for several weeks. However, when they do, we look forward to being able to report on the results!