2024 ASA Week 3 Newsletter and Week 4 Ref Schedule
ASA Week 3 Recap
We are halfway home, group, it will be over before you know it. Another week of hot, but dry weather graced our meets this week. Meets are no longer disorganized chaos, they are now highly organized chaos. Most of the kinks have been worked out and we have had some great swimming, let’s keep the fun going. I have been really impressed with how quickly most meets are being completed. Teams are doing a great job of communicating and working together to make meets run quickly, keep up the good work. Thanks again for calling in your scores as soon as your meets end and for your feedback throughout the season.
As I mentioned hot weather is likely around the corner. With that in mind, it is something teams need to monitor closely and take measures to protect swimmers and meet workers who do not have the luxury of leaving the pool at any time. Please do your best to ensure adequate shade for team bullpens and more importantly plenty of water for every person at your meet, especially meet workers who cannot leave their posting (I’m looking after you timers and place judges) as well as your official. If you are the host team, please be a gracious host. Another quick reminder though with regard to safety in the case of thunder OR lightning; if you see lightning or hear thunder it should be an automatic 30 minute stop of the meet. There is no difference between either thunder or lightning, and I don’t care if Glen Burns himself said that after 20 minutes the heavy stuff looks like it is past us, wait the full 30 minutes before you allow anyone in or near the pool. These are clearly established safety guidelines recommended by just about every aquatic safety expert on the planet.
A quick request from everyone, CALL ME if you have a rules question or problem during the season, I am here to help, at any time of day or night or even late dark. We have had several cases where teams had rules questions and instead of looking at the rule book or calling me for help they called everyone but me, and in several cases got the wrong interpretation of the rules. One coach who was struggling with a Swimtopia issue finally caved and called me after struggling for 12 hours, the solution took 5 minutes. When I asked why they didn’t call sooner their reply was that they knew how busy I was this time of year. This is why I am busy, I am helping teams with questions and issues. I am never too busy for any team and always want you to feel free to call or e mail me any time you need help, just don’t ask me to be the anchor for your relay, as I will sink like an anchor only faster.
Hypoxic Training and Drills
A safety note for teams. Shallow water blackouts are a very real and dangerous concern for even the most experienced swimmers. Many of us grew up with coaches that worked with breathing control and trying to limit the number of breaths a swimmer takes during a race. Some of that training and the pursuit of a “no-breather” can be taken to a very dangerous extreme. Which is why almost all levels of swimming discourage this kind of training and drills, especially at the summer league level. Here is Bob Bowman's (Michael Phelps’ coach) PSA. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODo0815FNK4 .
Baby Pools
A reminder to teams that have baby pools, as a safety matter during meets, you should have that baby pool secured in some manner. If it is fully gated, please be sure it is locked and inaccessible. If it is not locked you should drain it and block it off completely as you now have a giant hole in the ground, deck furniture is usually a good way to do this. If none of these measures are possible, the home team should have a lifeguard or a designated adult to watch that area at all times during the meet.
ASA Championship Update - 2024 Full Meet Information
For the most recent info on the meet, including when your team is swimming, please visit https://asa.swimtopia.com/championship. Full meet info can be found at 2024 Full Meet Information . We need some info on your team for this year’s meet to help us plan and make sure we can be as organized as possible. We need to know whether or not you plan on swimming in the meet, a rough estimate of how many swimmers you expect to enter, and your preference for volunteer jobs . To provide this info please go to ASA Championship Team Status and provide us details on your team and your status for this year's meet. Please do this by Friday, June 14.
Highlights of what is contained are as follows:
Session Assignments
To find out which date and time your team is swimming please visit
2024 Team Session Assignments as of 5-31-24
(Warmups will begin 60-90 minutes prior to each session)
Entry Fees and Entry Deadline
Entry fees for the meet will be $48 per swimmer. This covers all indv. and relay events.
Fees can be paid at team checkin on your day of competition.
Entries are due Friday, June 21 at 1 pm.
Coaches Name Submission
Teams participating in the meet must submit the names of all coaches (who are not also swimming in the meet) by Wednesday, June 19 at 6 pm.
If you fail to do so, they will not be allowed on the deck for the meet.
To submit the names of your coaches please visit Championship Coaches Names
You only need to submit the names of your coaches who are NOT swimming in the meet.
All coaches attending the meet must have completed the required background check (for coaches 18 & older) as well as the coaches certification course (for coaches 16 & older).
Meet Format
This year's championship will be a timed final. Teams will compete in 1 session only.
There will be 15-20 teams per session.
Each session will be its own championship with medals, ribbons and team trophies.
Coaches Meeting and Orientation - Coaches Meeting Zoom Link
There will be a REQUIRED coaches/reps meeting, it will be done virtually via Zoom several Saturday, June 15 at 1 pm. . A team rep or member of your coaching staff must be present at this meeting. Teams failing to do so will be subject to removal from the meet or a $250 fine.
The link to the meeting is
ASA Championship Orientation Meeting - Sat. June 15 at 1 pm
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/93804786502
Meeting ID: 938 0478 6502
One tap mobile
+19292056099,,93804786502# US (New York)
+13017158592,,93804786502# US (Washington DC)
ASA Divisional and Championship T Shirts
ASA will again partner with Fine Designs Apparel. They will be providing ASA Championship t shirts and a broad line of specially designed items for this year’s big meet. They will again be onsite at the meet, and will be setting up an online shop for this year’s meet. This is a great addition as it allows everyone on your team to purchase souvenirs from the meet, even if they can’t make the big meet, or they can make purchases even after the meet. The link to view their online store is ASA Championship Merchandise More info on the league championship follows below.
Photography During the ASA Championship
River Oak Photography will be taking live action photography of your swimmers throughout the championship. Please forward to your families, so that you can sign up for their spot in advance of the meet. There will be very few 'day of meet' reservations available. riveroakphotography.com/reserve-online/asa/info
PARKING -
Coaches and team vehicles will NOT receive free parking passes. Prepaid parking will be available in the W10 parking deck that is adjacent to the CRC. To park in this deck, you must prebuy a parking pass, you cannot pay at the gate. To prepurchase parking please visit https://gatech.parkmobile.io/events . Parking costs will be between $12-15. Overflow parking for W10 and any day of parking for those who did not prepay is located at the W23 lot at 905 State St. These are relatively short walks from the pool. A map of the area can be found at Georgia Tech General Parking Map and ASA Parking Diagram and Map Please plan accordingly.
Please click on Week 3 Full Newsletterto view this week's full rundown and meet scores.
Please click on Week 4 Referee Schedule
Good Luck This Season,
Franke Marsden - ASA
404-664-3975
