General Competition Conditions

1. All competitions shall be competed for annually under ASA Laws at venues, dates and under conditions approved by the County Association Council.

2. All competitions shall be open to:
2.1 ASA registered swimmers who have resided in the County for a period of not less than 60 days prior to the date the competition, or
2.2 have a birth qualification, or
2.3 provided they hold the longest unbroken membership of a Dorset County ASA Affiliated Club for 60 days prior to the date of the competition. This condition to apply to those not covered by Rule 2.1 or 2.2 and Dorset County ASA to be notified in writing by the Club on the first occasion.
2.4 In the case of members of HM Forces whose unit is affiliated under ASA Laws, it is sufficient for the competitor to be a member of the club for which they are competing.
2.5 All competitors, except in Masters Competitions, must be eligible as defined by ASA Law.
2.6 All swimmers must hold an unbroken membership of a Dorset affiliated club in whose name they are entered for 60 days immediately prior to the date of the competition or the first day of a series of competitions in which they are eligible to compete.
2.7 County Championships/Age Groups/BAGCats and Development events shall be considered separate series of competitions.
2.8 In the interest of the Sport, and in exceptional circumstances, the principal County Officers shall decide if a swimmer is eligible to compete. Their decision will be final.
2.9 NO SWIMMER COMPETING IN ANY OTHER COUNTY ASSOCIATION’S CHAMPIONSHIPS IN THE SAME YEAR SHALL BE ELIGIBLE TO COMPETE IN ANY DORSET COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS OR ANY EVENT COVERED BY THE DORSET GENERAL COMPETITION CONDITIONS.

NOTE: The above conditions are standardised across the ASASWR Counties and should not normally be altered without consultation with the Region.

3. All entries must be made on the prescribed forms and received by the Dorset Competition Co-ordinator by the applicable closing date as part of a whole Club entry together with the correct entry fee and, where applicable, an administration fee.

4. All entry times have been defined using the ASA’s Qualifying Times Generation Programme.
4.1 All swimmers achieving County Qualifying Times will be automatically entered into the competition on receipt of the correct entry form and fee.
4.2 Swimmers achieving County Consideration Times will be accepted into the competition as time permits on receipt of the correct entry form and fee.
4.3 Swimmers with entry times that exceed upper Cut-off Times, where applicable, will be rejected.
4.4 Swimmers with a registered Functional Ability Card or Certificate of Swimming Disability may submit entries and will be accepted as time permits as part of the overall competition. Times submitted may be outside the qualifying or consideration times for other swimmers.

5. All submitted times for individual events must be:
5.1 ASA or IPC Official Times achieved in an event held under ASA Laws and Technical Rules or IPC Rules from which an individual Official Time has been recorded.
5.2 Short Course times or those converted from Long Course times using approved ASA conversion tables.
5.3 Achieved within the specified period for each competition.
5.4 Certified by an authorised officer of the swimmer’s club. (Note: ASA or IPC Official Times outside of Ranx will not be accepted without the event and date at which the Official Time was achieved being declared.)

6. Any swimmer scratching from an event at a competition shall not be allowed to subsequently re-enter the same event.

7. Finals/Heat Declared Winner (HDW) events:
7.1 HDW events and events with a Championship Final will be as published in the annual conditions of the relevant competition.
7.2 Swimmers must confirm with the competition recorders their intent to compete in or withdraw from a Championship Final within 30 minutes of the end of the session in which the heat swim took place.
7.3 Failure to confirm intent to compete in a Championship Final within the allotted time will mean automatic withdrawal from the event and a reserve swimmer will be called as a replacement.
7.4 A swimmer who confirms intent to compete in a Championship Final must appear in the designated Final. Subsequent withdrawal or failure to compete will result in the swimmer being fined a sum of £25.

8. Senior/Junior Champions:
8.1 All swimmers are automatically entered for the Senior Championships and, if eligible, for the Junior Championships.
8.2 A Senior Champion will be the competitor returning the fastest time in an event for which there is a Championship Final or, for an event without a final, from the HDW event.
8.3 A Junior Champion will be the Junior competitor returning the fastest time in an event for which there is a Championship Final or, for an event without a final, from the HDW event.
8.4 Where there are no Junior swimmers in a Championship Final, the Junior Champion for that event will be the Junior swimmer returning the fastest time from the heats.
8.5 Junior swimmers are competitors under 16 years of age on the last day of the competition. (Note: Swimmers who under 16 years of age at midnight on the DAY of the swim can claim a Junior County Record.)

9. Details of awards for each competition or series of competitions will be as published in the annual conditions of the relevant competition.

10. Presentations:
10.1 Presentations will only be made to recipients wearing suitable poolside club clothing and which complies with the current ASA Child Protection Policy.
10.2 Trophies, medals and awards will only be presented to recipients who have won those awards.
10.3 The Promoter reserves the right not to present awards if the recipient does not comply with 10.1 and 10.2 or who does not make themselves available in a timely manner for presentation. The Promoter’s decision is final.

11. County Trophies:
11.1 County trophies shall be held by the winner (or in the event of a minor, by the winner’s parent/guardian) as bailee for Dorset County ASA.
11.2 Trophies shall be returned at the request of the Hon Trophy Controller and no later than eleven months from the date of the relevant competition, whichever is the sooner.
11.3 Failure or late return of a trophy as requested shall attract a fine, declared annually by the Principal County Officers. Any fine shall be the responsibility of the individual or, in the case of a club/team trophy, the club/team shall be responsible.

12. The appointment of Judges and other officials to be the responsibility of the Hon Officials Secretary. A Jury of Appeal to be appointed in accordance with ASA Law.

13. Team Events:
13.1 Entries must be made on the prescribed form and received by the Competition Co-ordinator by date/time specified on the entry form.
13.2 Clubs are permitted to enter one team for each team event and the names of a maximum of six swimmers shall be written on the reverse of the entry form.
13.3 Only those swimmers entered and listed on the entry form shall be allowed to swim for that team in that event.

15. Any swimmer competing in any County event agrees to abide by the Dorset County ASA Code of Conduct.

16. Any matter not specifically provided for under the Dorset General Competition Conditions shall be governed by the general rules and/or championship conditions of the ASA.

17. In the event that there is any conflict between the Dorset General Competition Conditions and the conditions printed on the annual entry form for any event, the entry form shall prevail.

18. All Clubs that have swimmers who compete in the Dorset County ASA Championships/Age Groups/BAGCats Competitions may, exceptionally, be asked to pay a levy towards any deficit incurred by the County in staging these competitions. The levy shall be based on the deficit declared in the Annual Audited statement of accounts approved by the Annual General Meeting.  

19. Priory Date commitment:
19.1 Clubs will be notified in advance of County priority dates and Club Secretaries are required to inform all ASA registered swimmers within their club.
19.2 If selected, swimmers will be required to compete on all priority dates and must travel with the team when requested to do so, unless for medical reasons (certificate to be provided).
19.3 Swimmers are exempt from County selection if the date clashes with selection for a National or Regional event or training camp or English Schools event.
19.4 First-choice swimmers who decline a County selection or subsequently withdraw on non-medical grounds and have been in receipt of a Dorset County development subsidy will be required to reimburse that subsidy and forego eligibility for further County funding.

COUNTY RECORDS

1. Dorset County Records will only be recognised if achieved under ASA Technical Rules in a pool and event that is recognised by the County Association and made by swimmers that are eligible to compete in Dorset County competitions. 
2. All times must be authenticated. An electronic time must be authenticated with a copy of the results sheet. A manual time must have been achieved with at least two timekeepers and be authenticated by the Referee.
3. Applications shall be on the Official form signed by the Club Secretary and submitted to the County Hon Competitions Secretary within 28 days together with a copy of the authenticated results or link to official results website.

 

Dorset County ASA
07 August 2008