USA Artistic Swimming Provides You With The Following For a Properly Sanctioned Event

Liability Insurance: $2,000,000 General Liability coverage per occurrence.
Medical Insurance for Athletes: $25,000 Excess Medical Expense and $5,000 Accidental Death & Dismemberment coverage for event participants currently registered with USA Synchro.
Increased Stature: The right to state in your event materials that the event is "Sanctioned by United States Artistic Swimming, Inc." It provides the people who attend your event the assurance that the event will be conducted fairly, in accordance with the National Governing Body's rules.
Marketing Rights: You may use the Sanctioned by USA Artistic Swimming logo to promote your event and the fact that we have sanctioned it. If you need an electronic copy of the logo, please contact the office.
Calendar Promotion: We include sanctioned events in our Events Calendar online if we receive your sanctioning request in a timely manner. This makes it easier for those who wish to enter your event to find information about it.

When Do You Need to Request a Sanction?

USA Artistic Swimming's Rules require that any event (including all competitions, exhibitions, clinics, or entertainment of any kind) where athlete members of more than one group member of USA Artistic Swimming compete, exhibit, demonstrate, or display artistic swimming talents or techniques, must be sanctioned.

For example, water shows are "exhibitions" or "demonstrations." Camps are the same as "clinics." And "competitions" include invitational, as well as geographically restricted (such as Association, Regional, or Zone) competitions. "Display of artistic swimming talents" includes any other type of demonstration or exhibition. However, if your event includes only members of your club, you don't need to request a sanction, because it is not a "sanctionable event" (this excludes level testing as all level testing events require a sanction).

All USA Artistic Swimming sanctioned events must follow the official rules of USA Artistic Swimming. All U.S. clubs participating in the event must be currently registered as a member of USA Artistic Swimming. Foreign clubs participating must be members of their respective national authorities recognized by FINA.

All U.S. athletes, coaches and judges participating in the event must be currently registered members of USA Artistic Swimming. Foreign athletes, coaches and officials must be members of their respective national authorities, and must have provided to USA Artistic Swimming's National Office a letter from their National Authority indicating permission to participate in USA Artistic Swimming events.

For-Profit Events:

We will sanction events where the organizer's interest in sports is purely commercial, or where the event is to be promoted solely for the profit or the advertising value to be derived from the event, but those events are sanctioned for a negotiated fee, rather than the standard fees set forth below. To obtain the standard rates for sanctions, any income the organizer derives from sanctioned events must be used for the further promotion of amateur sports, for an approved charity, or for the general welfare of the promoting organization as a whole.

International Events:

We will sanction international events, so long as they meet the criteria required by Federal law. Such sanctions are at a rate established by the Board of Directors of USA Artistic Swimming from time to time.

Where Two Events Are Conducted Concurrently

If you are conducting a competition where two events are being run at the same location on the same dates, you only need one sanction. For example, where a junior figures meet and a senior figures meet are held at the same pool either on the same day or consecutively, it is one event. But, where there is a break in the activities or where the events are held in two different venues, they are considered separate events and each needs its own sanction. For example, a junior figures meet held on Saturday and Sunday, followed by a senior figures meet beginning on Tuesday requires two separate sanctions. If you have a question whether your event/s are separate, contact the National Office.

U.S. Center for Safe Sport Compliance

It is the standard of USA Artistic Swimming that all professional, official level 1 & 2, instructor, athlete 18 or over competing with minors and life members who fit any of the three previous descriptions complete SafeSport training prior to participating in the sport and becoming active members. The center for SafeSport will be conducting field audits and your event could be subject to this audit. To ensure that you are compliant we require that all participants that fit the previously outlined membership types be checked prior to the competition. You can check their status here. If they are not on this list or they are not SafeSport compliant they must obtain a membership and/or complete SafeSport training prior to competition.

All adult participants (athletes, coaches, officials, chaperones, volunteers, etc.) of the sanctioned event must comply with USA Artistic Swimming's Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies (MAAPP). These policies can be found here.

Failure to comply with these guidelines will void your sanction and may prohibit you from securing future sanctions.

What We Will NOT Sanction

We don't sanction events where the athletes of only one group member (such as a club) are involved in the competition or exhibition. We don't sanction events where artistic swimming talents or techniques are not displayed. So if you are holding a general fundraiser, such as a bingo night, a garage sale, a golf tournament, an open house, a fundraising banquet, etc., where you won't be displaying Artistic Swimming in a pool, you don't need a sanction, and USA Artistic Swimming will not sanction the event.

We don't sanction events where we do not have control of the rules for the event, such as State Games. We will consider sanctioning State Games where the organizer requires that all competitors be members of USA Artistic Swimming, and where they require that our rules be used.

With the exception of "Junior Olympics" we don't sanction any event where the word “Olympic”, or any derivative of "Olympic," is used in connection with the event. The United States Olympic Committee must approve use of the term, and only USA Artistic Swimming has the right to obtain that permission.

And we won't sanction any organization which has failed to fulfill expense obligations to athletes or to give the prizes stated on its entry materials.

How Do I Get a Sanction Approved?

Login to your account HERE and complete the requested information regarding your event.

A designated representative of USA Artistic Swimming must approve all Sanction Request entries. Your sanction is not effective until the National Office has posted your event on the calendar of events list.

If your request includes a timely request for a certificate of insurance, or to include other organizations in the certificate, the USA Artistic Swimming National Office will process that request with our insurance company and, if approved by the insurance company, provide the certificate, unless the request does not comply with our guidelines. In that event, the National Office will so advise you, and if you need to do something to comply, we will tell you what must be done to comply. Remember that it takes our insurance carrier up to 30 days to process a certificate of insurance. If you apply late, we cannot assure you that issuance of the certificate will be obtained.

Remember, also, that sanctions issued to one organization cannot be transferred to another. Any sanction so transferred is void for all purposes, and we may deny further sanctions to your organization if you violate this provision.

Loading...