Masters Rules

General
Masters Swimming Rules
Masters Open Water Swimming Rules
 
 
MASTERS

The Masters program shall promote fitness, friendship and understanding through Swimming, Diving, Synchronized Swimming, Water Polo and Open Water Swimming among those competitors with a minimum age limit of 25 years (Note: exception in MSS 5).

MGR 1   The Members shall register Masters competitors in a special category for each of the five recognized disciplines. A competitor who registers for Masters in any discipline will still retain his/her unrestricted right to compete in other competitions.

MGR 2   Except for specific exceptions in the FINA Rules and regulations all other FINA Rules and regulations shall apply to Masters Competitions.

MGR 3   Individual entries shall only be accepted from persons representing clubs. No swimmer or team may be designated as representing a country or Federation.

MGR 4   Age shall be determined as of December 31 of the year of competition.

MGR 5   The organizing federation of FINA World Masters Championships shall pay the travelling and accommodation expense of one member from the FINA Bureau.

MGR 6   Entry fees shall be decided upon by the country which is hosting the meet, but they shall be subject to approval by FINA.

MGR 7   For Masters World Championships, the Management Committee shall consist of the Bureau Liaison, the Chairman and Honorary Secretary of the Masters Committee and other members of the Bureau and Masters Committee present.

Return to Table of Contents


MASTERS SWIMMING RULES

MSW 1   Age Groups

   MSW 1.1   Individual Events:  25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80-84, 85-89, 90-94 ... (five year age groups as high as is necessary).

   MSW 1.2   Relays:  To be conducted on the total age of team members in whole years. Age groups of relay events are as follows: 100 - 119, 120 - 159, 160 - 199, 200 - 239, 240 - 279, 280 - 319, 320 - 359, and ...(forty year increments as high as is necessary).

MSW 2   Age Determining Date
For all purposes pertaining to Masters World Records and Masters World Championships meet competition, the actual attained age of the competitor shall be determined as of December 31st of the year of competition.

MSW 3   Technical Swimming Rules
The Swimming Rules in Part III of this Handbook shall apply to Masters with the following exceptions:

   MSW 3.1   Age groups and sexes may be combined so that no swimmer has to swim alone and lanes may be filled.

   MSW 3.2   When using the forward start, the referee's whistle shall indicate that the swimmers may take their positions with at least one foot at the front of the starting platform or pool deck, or in the water with one hand having contact with the starting wall.

   MSW 3.3   Any swimmer starting before the starting signal has been given by the Starter, shall be disqualified. (Supersedes SW 4.1).

   MSW 3.4   All Masters events shall be conducted on a timed final basis.

   MSW 3.5   Swimmers may be allowed to remain in their lane while other swimmers are competing until directed by the referee to exit the pool.

   MSW 3.6   The order of swimmers by gender is optional in mixed relays.

   MSW 3.7   Events shall be pre-seeded with oldest age groups first, slowest heats swum first within each age group. Events 400 metres and over may be deck seeded from slowest to fastest, regardless of age.

   MSW 3.8   The Organizing Committee may arrange 400 metre, 800 metre and 1500 metre Freestyle to be swum two (2) swimmers of the same sex in a lane. Separate timing will be required for each swimmer.

   MSW 3.9   The Warm Up must be supervised.

MSW 4   Events

The following events may be conducted for each age group.

MSW 4.1	Short course (25 m)

	 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500 m Freestyle

	 50, 100, 200 m Backstroke

	 50, 100, 200 m Breaststroke

	 50, 100, 200 m Butterfly

	100, 200, 400 m Individual Medley

	200 m Freestyle Relay

	200 m Medley Relay

	200 m Mixed Freestyle Relay (2 women and 2 men)

	200 m Mixed Medley Relay (2 women and 2 men)



MSW 4.2	Long course (50 m)

	 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500 m Freestyle

	 50, 100, 200 m Backstroke

	 50, 100, 200 m Breaststroke

	 50, 100, 200 m Butterfly

	200, 400 m Individual Medley

	200 m Freestyle Relay

	200 m Medley Relay

	200 m Mixed Freestyle Relay (2 women and 2 men)

	200 m Mixed Medley Relay (2 women and 2 men)

      MSW 4.3   It is not necessary to conduct all of the above events in a meet. However, each age division should include shorter Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly events plus an Individual Medley and Relays.

MSW 5   Relays

Relays shall consist of four swimmers each registered with the same club. No swimmer is allowed to represent more than one club.

MSW 6   Records

Masters World Records for all events listed in MSW 4 for both sexes in each age group shall be recognized and maintained in 1/100 second time (2 decimal places) and according to the provisions listed on the application form. World Records may also be recorded with manual timing in 1/100 second time (2 decimal places in accordance with SW 11.3).

   MSW 6.1   Applications for Masters World Records must be made on the FINA official forms (See next page) by the individual in question within 60 days from the end of the event.

MSW 7   Swimmers who had to be disqualified must be listed with time and coded reason for disqualification in the results list. (The code has to be fixed and has to be published so that translations into the various languages can be made and nationally published before the event).

MSW 8   Qualifying standards for World Championships will be considered by FINA and the Organizing Committee if deemed necessary.


MASTERS SWIMMING WORLD RECORD APPLICATION FORM

FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE NATATION AMATEUR



1 EVENT					Male/Female/Mixed (Circle One)



2 OFFICIAL TIME		min		sec		sec/100



3 AGE GROUP



4 POOL LENGTH				(Short course 25m/Long course 50m)



5 LOCATION/DATE OF OFFICIAL SANCTIONED MASTERS MEET





Pool Name			City			Country	Date



6  CONFIRMATION OF POOL LENGTH BY A RESPONSIBLE PERSON ATTACHED....OR ON FILE.... 



	First Name   Last Name	Sex	Age	Date of Birth (Name Month)



7  NAME OF SWIMMER .............................	M/F	........	......................



8  RELAY TEAM NAMES

....1  ..........................................	M/F	........	...........................

....2  ..........................................	M/F	........	...........................

....3  ..........................................	M/F	........	...........................

....4  ..........................................	M/F	........	...........................



9  PHOTOSTAT OF BIRTH CERTIFICATE OR PASSPORT ATTACHED.........OR ON FILE



10 CLUB NAME ...................................	COUNTRY ........................................



11 ELECTRONIC TIME .......................min....................sec...................sec/100



12 NON ELECTRONIC TIME (Three digital watches required)



  (1).....min.....sec.....sec/100      (2).....min.....sec.....sec/100	(3).....min.....sec.....sec/100



13   PHOTOSTAT OF TIME RECORD TO BE ATTACHED

__________________________________________________________________________________________

14 CERTIFYING OFFICIAL

	SIGNATURE.............................................

   PRINTED NAME.......................................	DATE ..........................................

   OFFICIAL TITLE ............................................

__________________________________________________________________________________________

15 NATIONAL RECORDER

	SIGNATURE ............................................

	PRINTED NAME ......................................	DATE ........................................

	ADDRESS ...............................................	COUNTRY ..................................

__________________________________________________________________________________________

16 FINA RECORDER	Long Course/Short Course		Approved/Not Approved

	Reason for Non Approval



			..................................................................................

			Signature				Date

__________________________________________________________________________________________

17   FINA OFFICE	Ratified/Not Ratified



			..................................................................................

					Signature				Date




Return to Table of Contents


MASTERS OPEN WATER SWIMMING RULES

Masters Open Water Swimming shall be defined as any event for which the distance is greater than 1500 metres and where entry is restricted to Master swimmers. Normal Masters age groups shall apply.

The Open Water Swimming Rules in Part IV of the FINA Handbook shall apply to Masters Open Water Swimming with the following exceptions.

MOWS 1   Masters Open Water Swimming events will normally be up to 5 km with a maximum distance, under favourable circumstances, of 10 km (over 50 years age groups), and 15 km (under 50 years age groups). Favourable circumstances are defined as a high water temperature with no adverse conditions. No Masters open water events should be held in water less than an average of 18° Centigrade.

MOWS 2   A Masters Open Water Swimming event may be included in World Championships.

MOWS 3   An ideal venue for Masters Championship Open Water events would be an international 1000 metre rowing course. This would allow for 2500 metres per circuit and would have advantages from a safety and administrative point of view with the large numbers liable to be competing.

MOWS 4   For distances under 5 km, individual escort boats with judges are not required. Paddle boards/canoes at a minimum 10 to 1 swimmer to escort ratio with a backup of powered craft at a minimum 20 to 1 ratio should be provided. For distances over 5 km, an escort paddle board/canoe should be provided for each swimmer with a power boat back up ratio of 15 to 1. All paddle board/canoe escorts should be fit and trained in close support techniques for supporting an unconscious swimmer until a rescue craft can attend. Powered craft should not be allowed in close proximity to swimmers. They must remain clear of the course ready to render assistance if required.

MOWS 5   Entry forms for Masters Open Water Swimming events should contain a warning that only well prepared and medically fit swimmers should enter. Swimmers are responsible for their own medical checks and must sign a certificate releasing the organizing body from any responsibility.

MOWS 6   Race organizers, in consultation with the referee and subject to advice from the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee, are to designate in advance the cut off time for each Masters race. As a rough guide, a time of 30 minutes per kilometre could apply.

MOWS 7   It shall be compulsory for all swimmers to wear highly visible coloured swim caps. The escorts should also be identified.

MOWS 8   Wet suits may be worn but the swimmer then becomes ineligible for trophies or championship honors.

Return to Table of Contents



Return to Masters World Records Menu