Rule Changes

This page contains a list of changes made to the rules governing Officials within ASSA and changes to the following governance documents of the ASSA:

• Bylaws - the governing bylaws of the organization as filed with Corporate Registries in Alberta
• Rules and Regulations - the rules and regulations governing swimming and swim meets within ASSA
• Policies and Procedures - the policies and procedures in effect supporting all the administrative functions within ASSA

For the newest list of approved suits visit fina.org

For the lastest interpretation of the Breaststroke rule see swimming.ca/BreaststrokeInterpretation and

swimalberta.ca/fficials/butterfly_kick_in_breaststroke_interpretation

For the latest swim wear rule interpretation see   swimming.ca/docs/

March 20, 2011 - New Bylaws were approved by the membership at  the Spring General meeting. 

Updated Revisions 2019

                                                            Revision: 7 Approved: March 30, 2019

4.1 General

4.1.1 For the purpose of ASSA events, a swimmer’s age is determined as of May 1st of the current season.

4.1.3 Genders shall not be combined in races except for the 1500m and 800m Freestyle events.

4.1.4 Age groups may be combined where the and distances are the same.

4.1.5 Swimmers are only eligible to swim in events inclusive of their age and gender.

4.1.6 All Swimmers before entering any competition must complete the Competition Readiness and Dive standards.

4.2 ASSA Standard Events and Age Groups

* see 4.2.7 through 4.2.14

4.2.1    The table below outlines the ASSA standard relay events:

Age Group Medley Relay Freestyle Relay
8 & U 100 m 100 m
10 & U 100 m 100 m
12 & U 200 m 200 m
14 & U 200 m 200 m
17 & U 200 m 200 m
Open 200 m 200 m Mixed 200 m 200 M

4.2.2  ASSA approved fun events such as the flutterboard and / or 25 meter sprint must be included in the swimmers entry limit. Flutterboard events will count towards a swimmers overall point accumulation.

4.2.3 The table above outlines the ASSA standard individual events:

*Events subject to qualifying times – see sections 4.2.6 through 4.2.14

4.2.4 ASSA standard individual and relay events are run at the Regional and Provincial Championship Meets, except 6 & U events which will only be run at Regional Championship Meets. Mixed Relay events will be offered at Regional or Provincial Championships.

4.2.5 Swimmers in the 6 and under category shall only to enter in relay events for  the 7&8, 9&10 age group at Provincials.

4.2.6 ASSA standard individual and relay events are supported by the ASSA website meet entry program and results database.

4.2.7  Entry in to the 6 & U and 7 & 8 50 m Freestyle shall be permitted once a qualification time in the 25 m Freestyle of 40 seconds is achieved at an ASSA sanctioned meet.

4.2.8  Entry in to the 6 & U and 7 & 8  50 m Backstroke shall be permitted once a qualification time in the 25m Backstroke of 40 seconds is achieved at an ASSA sanctioned meet.

4.2.9 Entry in to the 7 & 8 50 m Breaststroke shall be permitted once a qualification time in the 25m Breaststroke of 40 seconds is achieved at an ASSA sanctioned meet

4.2.10 Entry in to the 7 & 8 25 m Butterfly shall be permitted once a qualification time in the 25 m Backstroke or Freestyle of 40 seconds is achieved at an ASSA sanctioned meet.

4.2.11 Entry in to the 7 & 8 25 m Individual medley shall be permitted once a qualification time in the 25m Backstroke, Freestyle, Butterfly and breaststroke of 40 seconds is achieved at an ASSA sanctioned meet

4.2.12 Entry into the 400 m Freestyle shall be permitted once a qualification time of 4:00.00 in the 200m Freestyle.

4.2.13 Entry into the 800m Freestyle shall be permitted once a qualification time of 8:00.00 in the 400 m Freestyle.

4.2.14 Entry in to the 1500 m Freestyle shall be permitted once a qualification time of 16:00.00 in the 800 m freestyle.

2. Swimmer Eligibility

2.3.2  All Swimmers before entering any competition must complete the Competition Readiness and Dive standards.

6.7 Qualification and Entry limit

6.7.1 The host club may create qualification standards for their sanctioned meets and shall publish these standards in

6.7.2 Participant entry limits for regular season sanctioned meets may be established by the host club and shall be clearly stated in the meet package.

6.7.3 Event entry limits for regular season sanctioned meets shall be clearly stated in the meet package and may be:

a. The standard

i four (4) individual events,

ii one (1) Medley Relay event, and

iii one (1) Freestyle Relay event.

OR, b. Established by the host club

7 Regional Championships

7.1.3 That a swimmer to be eligible to participate at the Regional Championship Meet must have swam in at least one (1) swim meet during the current season prior to the Regional Championship Meet. A swimmer may swim in:

i any number of  individual events, providing it does not exceed the meet entry limit.

and / or

ii one (1) Medley Relay event,

and / or

iii one (1) Freestyle Relay event.

Updated Revisions 2018

                                                            Revision: 6 Approved: March 17, 2018

1.3 Definitions

 1.3.9  Seeding

a)    assignment of lanes shall be number 1 lane being on the right side of the pool (0 when using pools with 10 lanes) when facing the course from the starting end by placing the fastest swimmer or team in the center lane in a pool with an odd number of lanes, or in lane 3 or 4 respectively in pools having 6 or 8 lanes. In pools using 10 lanes the fastest swimmer shall be placed in lane 4. The swimmer having the next fastest time is to be placed on his left, then alternating the others to right and left in accordance with the submitted times. 

b)   Swimmers who do not have official recorded times shall be considered the slowest and shall be placed at the end of the list with a ‘no time’. 

c)    For Regional and Provincials Championship meets that are time-finals, are those in which each swimmer swims only once for time. The final placing of all swimmers is determined by their times and age group.

1.3.12    Definition of Year Round Clubs

An organized body corporate swimming club/association or organized group of persons consisting of Swimmer Members whose main objective is the instruction and/or participation in competitive swimming, who has applied for membership, has agreed to abide by the Association’s bylaws, policies, rules and regulations and is registered with the Association.

4.2 ASSA Standard Events and Age Groups

4.2.3  No swimmer shall be entered into a swim meet unless they are able to swim 25M unassisted

4.2.4  Swimmers in the 6 and under, and 7/8 age groups without an official ASSA time must successfully complete the 25m Free individual event at a sanctioned event before being allowed to enter other races at a future sanctioned event. 

4.2.4 Wording of Mixed Relays

4.2.4  ASSA standard individual and relay events are run at the Regional and Provincial Championship Meets, except 6 & U events which will only be run at Regional Championship Meets. Mixed Relay events are offered at Regional or Provincial Championship.

 4.2.9  Time Standard for 7/8 Butterfly, IM Long Breaststroke

4.2.9 Entry in to the 6 & U and 7 & 8 50 m Breaststroke shall be permitted once a qualification time in the 25 m Breaststroke of 45.00 seconds is achieved at an ASSA sanctioned meet

4.2.10 Entry in to the 7 & 8 25 m Butterfly shall be permitted once a qualification time in the 25 m Backstroke or Freestyle of 45.00 seconds is achieved at an ASSA sanctioned meet.

4.2.11 Entry in to the 7 & 8 25 m Individual medley shall be permitted once a qualification time in the 25 m Backstroke, Freestyle, Butterfly and breaststroke of 45.00 seconds is achieved at an ASSA sanctioned meet

Review Section 4.2.9 to 4.2.11 (rules reference number change due to additions)

4.2.12 Entry in to the 400 m Freestyle shall be permitted once a qualification time of 4:00.00 in the 200 m Freestyle and/or 8:00.00 in the 400 m freestyle is achieved at an ASSA sanctioned meet. 

4.2.13 Entry in to the 800 m Freestyle shall be permitted once a qualification time of 8:00.00 in the 400 m Freestyle and/or 16:00.00 in the 800 m freestyle is achieved at an ASSA sanctioned meet.

4.2.14 Entry in to the 1500 m Freestyle shall be permitted once a qualification time of 8:00.00 in the 400 m Freestyle and/or 16:00.00 in the 800 m freestyle and/or 30:00.00 in the 1500 m freestyle is achieved at an ASSA sanctioned meet

4.4.1 List 25m Sprint as a non-standard event

4.4.1 Additional non-standard ASSA events are supported by the ASSA website meet entry program and results database, these events include: 

a)    6 and under Flutter board event 

b)    25m sprint

** 7/8 Kickboard event will be removed from event listing

5.3 Application of Rules 

5.3.4       Special Events Revision

5.3.4   “Un-Official” or “Fun” events hosted upon completion of a meet must adhere to Swim Alberta Event Sanctioning Policy. Participation in such events is limited to registered swimmers only. 

Updated revisions 2015         * Important Changes through the section*

Updated Revisions 2014        *Important Change with off season swimming*

• Under section 2.3.2; out of season training has been removed.  Children 8 and under cannot swim in     winter swim club and then switch over to summer, they will follow the same rules as all age group  swimmers.
• Mixed Relays (2 boys and 2 girls) can be offered at sanctioned invitational meets in all age categories and will not be offered at Provincial Championships.
• In order to enter a swim meet, that swimmer must be able to swim at least 25m of the pool
• Children cannot be assisted in the pool to swim their event
• For the purposes of calculating provincial awards; 6 and Under swimmers are excluded from this calculation.
• 8.3.4 Each pol hosting at the Provincial Championships should have two session referees
• 8.7.1a.  The Provincial Meet Managment team shall consist of; ASSA Coach's Representaive, ASSA Official's Chair, ASSA Vice President and up to two other ASSA Board Members, not to exceed a total of five members.

March 23, 2013

• Eligibility:
• Eligibility age date defined; clarifications to the 15-17 age group swimmer added.
• 15-17 eligibility age changed from15th birthday to Age of 15 based on new age date definition.
• Revision to events:
• Addition of 6&U events, revision of 8&U age group to 7&8
• Revision to eligible ages for 200, 400, 800 and 1500 freestyle events, and
• Addition of qualification times for 400, 800 and 1500 freestyle events.
• Regional Championships:
• Entry deadline and Procedure revised – creation of a two-round system.
• Clarification and additional detail to Relay Changes section.
• Seeding format for Preliminaries (Heats) session modified to combined and senior seeded.
• Provincial Records:
• Addition of Records keeping for Open Relays. Revision to records application process.
• Various grammatical and semantic corrections made as well as some re-wording for clarification on numerous clauses throughout.
• Addition of Revision Record.

October 27, 2012

• 3.4.1 Region assignment review was changed from annually to every winter Olympic year; timeline of changes further detailed.
• Section 5 Para Swimming was removed and its content integrated into other existing sections.
• Details on Invitational Meet warm-ups and club scores added
• Clarification and detail added to deck entries section for Regional Meets. Entry Deadline and Entry Procedures added to Regional Meets section.
• Various grammatical and semantic corrections made as well as some re-wording for clarification on numerous clauses throughout.

November 20, 2011

• R&R 8.4.1 was revised to include the requirement to participate in one meet during the current season, prior to the Regional Championship, to qualify for the Regional Championship Meet.
• R&R 8.1.2 was revised from 6 lanes to 5 lanes as a minimum pool requirement to host Regional Championship Meets.

August 12, 2011 - eligibility for Masters swimming was changed with the removal of Unattached Masters.  All Masters (18&Over) swimmers must be a member of an ASSA swim club beginning the 2012 season. 17&O Relay Records were also retired.

March 20, 2011 - Revised Rules and Regulations were approved by the Board at the ASSA Board meeting. The following is a brief overview of the major changes that were made:

• Swimmer Eligibility
  • 4 classifications for swimmers
  • Reduced restriction on 8&U swimmers
  • Addtional detailing on off-season training allowances/restrictions
• Regions
  • Guidelines for Region assignment added
• Regular Season Swim Meets
  • Additional requirements detailed
  • Meet Pacakge requirements
  • Regulations on entry fees
• Regional Championship Meets
  • Increased standardization
  • minimum 6 lane pool requirement
  • Standard meet format, scoring and awards
• Provincial Championship meet
  • Standardized event order and format
  • Removal of Regional Relays
  • Additional team and individual awards
• Para-Swimming Events
  
  • Revised from mixed to separate gender: required by IPC.
  • 25 Fly changed to 50 Fly: 50 Fly is the minimum recognized event for para-swimming by IPC.
• Provincial Records
• records representing age groups 15&16, 15&O and 17&O were retired and the most current record was transferred into the 15-17 age group
• All retired records will continue to be displayed on the ASSA web site
• ASSA will not maintain records for the 18&O age group as records for this age group are maintained by the Alberta Masters Swimming (Swim Alberta)

November 6, 2010 - Changes to Standard ASSA Swimming Events were approved.  A survey was completed in October 2010 to review the implementation of the new events during the 2010 season - as a result of feedback received (450 responses) from the survey the following changes were approved for events starting with the 2011 season:

• new distances for backstroke, breaststroke and fly will be retained
• new age categories in distance freestyle (200, 400 and 800 metres) will be retained
• 200 and 400 freestyle events will return to the two heat format (2 qualifiers per region) at Provincials
• the 15&Over age category will be replaced with 15-17 and 18&Over age categories
• all swimmers in the the 18&Over age category will be considered competitive - the eligibility restrictions have been removed for this age category
• the 18&Over category has been introduced to match the entry age level for Masters swimming in Canada and will be promoted as a place for life long summer swimming
• para-swimming events have been changed to Mixed 25 Fly, 50 Breast, 50 Back, 50 Free and 100 Free
• the age groups for relays have been changed to 8&U, 10&U, 12&U, 14&U, 17&U and Open. This allows relays to be formed using the age of the oldest swimmer removing the need for relays to swim in the Open category if they only had one swimmer in an age group

MEMBERSHIP POLICY

Approved: March 17, 2018

 Transfers

15. Swimmers previously registered with an ASSA club registering in a different club require a transfer.

 16. The swimmer transfer process includes the following:

a) The Club Registrar from the Club registering the swimmer will be prompted to confirm the swimmer’s information. Following confirmation, a transfer will be completed automatically by the registration program.

b) The Club Registrar and Region Reps of the swimmer’s previous club will be notified of the transfer via email.

17. Swimmers registered for the current season shall not be permitted to transfer after July 15th of the current season.

March 21, 2015 - Multiple Policies were revised:

 March 23, 2013 - Multiple policies were revised:

• Membership Policy was revised in the Clubs and Coaches section. Specifically, around coach compliance and timelines for completion of coach registration and memberships.
• ASSA Fees Policy was updated: Membership fess in all categories now approved at the fall board meeting.
• Appendix A: Club Affiliation amount payable to Swim Alberta removed.

March 19, 2011 - A complete set of new Policies and Procedures were approved by the Board at the ASSA Board meeting. The new Policies and Procedures replace and supersede all previous Policies and Procedures.