Parent Guide to High School Swimming

Parent Guidelines for High School Swimming

NIAA

The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) is a non-profit organization of secondary schools in Nevada. In essence, the NIAA is the governing body of high school athletics and activities in the Silver State as recognized by the Nevada state legislature.

Web site for the NIAA is www.niaa.com

High School Swimming

For parents of club swimmers you will see a few differences in High School Swimming. First, High School Swimming uses different rules. The rule book is from The National Federation of State High School Associations. The first priority in High School Swimming is sportsmanship and participation. Swimmers can be disqualified for wearing jewelry as well as stroke violations.

Swim Meets

Swim Meets use a dual meet format similar to college swimming. Many of our meets are double duals where 4 teams swim together but it is scored as 2 meets.

The first and second place swimmers in a heat may not be swimming against each other and both could get 1st place for their teams. This year there will be an Aqua 5 meet which is a Pentathlon and League, Regional, & State Championships. The time listed on The Meet Schedule is the start of the warm-up session; competition should start 45 minutes after that. The meet can take about 2.5 hours or longer. You may want to bring a folding chair.

Meet Staff

Like all High School sports there are officials that run the meets. In charge is a Head Meet Referee who has a Starter and Judges working with him/her. Also, there is a Clerk of Course and staff who organize the meet entries and results.

Role of the Timers

During swim meets many volunteers are needed as lane timers. Lane timers run stop watches and record the times for the swimmers. Parent’s participation is critical for the success of our swim meets. Please volunteer if asked. The "Home" team could suffer a forfeit if insufficient number of timers volunteer.

Swim Meet Etiquette or Quiet for the Start!

The swim meet officials are there to provide the best possible conditions for each swimmer. Therefore, we ask you as a spectator to help us achieve that goal. During the starts, while the swimmers are on the blocks, there must be absolute quiet, So that the swimmers may have a fair start. Once the swimmers are in the water, please root them on. Artificial Noise Makers are not allowed in the natatorium during the swim meet. Please no flash photography at the start of the race. Flash photography may distract the swimmers or the timers and create the possibility of a false start, and errors in the times for the swimmers. Also, no flash photography if the swimmers are between the backstroke flags and the wall. Flashes have caused swimmers to misjudge their turns, causing them to be disqualified or worst become injured. Please follow instructions given by the meet marshals and deck officials.

Safety

There is always a possibility of swimmers becoming injured during a swim meet. If this occurs the Meet Referee or Life Guards may suspend the meet until the swimmer is safely removed from the pool deck. Sometimes Emergency Personnel will have to assist, please follow instructions of officials and stay clear.

Security

Our swim meets are at venues off school campus. We have had the unfortunate incidents of theft occurring during swim meets. Please do not bring valuables. If a theft occurs it will be handled by the pool guards and local police.