Introduction:

All rules shall be governed by the most current NCAA Swimming and Diving  rules and regulations book NCAA Swimming  and NCAA Diving Rules , except where superseded by the Butler County Swim League, hereinafter referred to as BCSL. 04/97 

The BCSL shall be made up of 9 teams in the Butler County surrounding area: The Elks, Hy-Crest, New London, Monroe, Oxford, Pleasant Run, Rolling Hills, Walnut Grove, and Wildwood. 03/87 

Government of the BCSL shall be the responsibility of representatives provided by each team. Their objectives shall be to review and/or update all BCSL rules and regulations and to attend BCSL meetings when required. 

Only Team representatives, who meet prior to the BCSL coaches meeting (prior to the start of each season), can make rule changes. 09/82 

Any rule and/or regulation change shall remain in effect for a minimum of three (3) years. 04/84 

BCSL dues will be payable to the BCSL prior to the beginning of each season. Dues will be used for purchasing Diving and Swimming handbooks, Hy-Tek software (and upgrades), as well as for renting computer, timing, and scoring equipment used at championships. 

It is mandatory that host teams conduct any meet in such a manner that all competitors and/or teams receive equal treatment in all aspects of the meet. The referee has the responsibility to see that such equality occurs. 03/87 

Team rosters, which include member names (no nicknames allowed) and birth dates, should be turned into the BCSL president by July 1^st of each season. 04/84 

Any vandalism by members of any team may cause that team to be disqualified from any dual and/or championship meet. That team will be assessed damage charges. Damage assessment is the responsibility of the host team. 

A. Eligibility Requirements

1. All competitors must be a member of his/her club and be in “good standing” before they can represent that club.

2. A competitor may not represent more than one BCSL team in the same season.

3. All competitors must compete in two scheduled BCSL dual meets to be eligible for the BCSL Championships.

a. Exhibition diving/swimming will count as an entered event for Championship eligibility requirement.

4. A competitor may not wear or use any device to help his/her speed and/or buoyancy in any competition.

B. Age Group

1. Age group placement shall be determined by his/her age as of June 1.

a. An 18 yo must be in or just out of high school to be eligible. (This rule waived for the 2003 and 2004 seasons and will be changed to 19 yo as a permanent change beginning in the 2005 season). As of now, the 19 yo swimmer/diver must have competed for his/her team 2 of the last 3 seasons and be a recent high school graduate. This rule will be voted on officially sometime during the 2004 season.

2. Diving age groups are 10 and under, 11-12, 13-14, and 15-18.

a. A diver may move up one age group to compete in dual meets only.

3. Swimming age groups are, 6 and under, 8 and under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, and 15 and over.

a. For dual meets: a swimmer may move up one age group to compete in individual event(s), but may only compete in that age group the entire meet with these exceptions:

i. For dual meets: a swimmer may move up one age group to fill in relay event(s). That swimmer then may move back down to swim in his/her own age group events.

ii. 6 and under swimmers may also swim in the 8 and under events, including freestyle and backstroke.

iii. 8 and under swimmers may swim the 9-10 IM event, and 13-14 swimmers may swim the 200 freestyle, then move back to his/her own age group.

b. For championship meets: a swimmer must swim in his/her individual age group events. He/she may not move up an age group for individual events except as follows:

i. A swimmer may move up one age group to fill in a relay event. That swimmer may move back down to his/her age group events.

ii. 6 and under swimmers may swim in the 8 and under events, including freestyle and backstroke. That swimmer may move back down to his/her age group events.

iii. 8 and under swimmers may swim the 9-10 IM, and 13-14 swimmers may swim the 200 freestyle, That swimmer may move back down to his/her age group events.
 

C. Entries  (Dual Meets)

1. A diver may only compete in one diving age group event. (Exhibition diving counts as an event).

2. A swimmer may swim in 4 events, which includes relays and exhibition events.

a. Exception: A swimmer on a team, which placed lower than 5^th at the previous year’s championship, may swim in 5 events, which includes relays and exhibition events. (Dual Meets only).
 

D. Rule Violations

1. A diver/swimmer who competes in more events than allowed will be disqualified from the extra event(s) and from further competition.

2. A competitor and/or coach who purposely violates any BCSL rule(s) and/or regulation(s) will be subject to personal suspension.

a. Personal suspension shall be from the time the offense took place through the completion of the BCSL championship meet the following year.

3. Any team purposely violating any BCSL rule(s) and/or regulation(s) will be placed on probation.

a. Probation is at the discretion of the BCSL team representatives.

4. “Shaving down” at any BCSL venue is not allowed and violators are subject to suspension from the league.

5. All BCSL violations are to be reviewed by the BCSL team representatives, and all decisions are final.
 

III. Diving - Dual Meet

A. Schedule 

1. Each team with divers must use the schedule provided by the BCSL.

2. Warm-ups shall be at 5:00 for the host team and 5:30 for the visitors. Diving meet starts at 6:00.

3. A no-show will count as a forfeit (11-0) and the responsible team will be placed on probation for one year, at the discretion of the BCSL.

4. Canceling due to weather is at the discretion of the host team meet director/referee. The meet should be rescheduled before the Diving Championship Meet.

B. Entries 

1. Each team may enter 3 divers and 2 exhibition divers per event. 

C. General Competition 

1. Only 1-meter springboard and divers listed in the NCAA diving rulebook will be permitted in competition.

a. The visiting team has the choice of alternate positions (1,3,5, or 2,4,6) in each age group.

b. Each team has the choice of their positions.

2. Diving sheets must be turned in fifteen minutes prior to the 6:00 start time. The diving referee shall control this deadline.

a. Late entries could result in a ten-point deduction from the offending team’s score.

b. A thirty-minute delay will result in forfeiture.

3. All age groups shall perform the following dives in the order listed, and all voluntary dives shall have a degree of difficulty of 2.0 (a voluntary dive is any dive chosen by the diver).

a. 10 and under = 3 dives - One voluntary dive and 2 optional dives.

b. 11–18 = 4 dives - One voluntary dive and 3 optional dives.

4. No dive shall be repeated. A dive with the same number, different position will be considered the same dive. Optional dive from the same category will not be allowed.

a. The position of a dive may be changed after the sheets have been turned in and/or while diver is on the board. DD must be of lower dive.

5. The cumulative scores of all diving rounds in each event shall determine order of finish of each age group event.

D. Dual Meet Judging 

1. The head coach of each team shall judge the dual diving meet.

2. To get the final dive award, the total of the 2 judge’s scores will be multiplied by 1.5. 

E. Awards 

1. The host team will provide ribbons for first – third place for each age group. 

F. Team Scoring 

1. Scoring shall be 5-3-1 per event. Exhibition will not count for scoring.

2. The score will be announced immediately after the diving competition. The team with the greatest number of points shall be declared the diving competition winner.

3. Scores of both diving and swimming competitions will be combined at the end of all competition. The team with the highest number of points shall be declared the winner of the dual meet.

4. When two or more divers tie for any place the award/points shall be as follows:

a. Duplicate awards shall be given to each diver.

b. Points shall be added together and divided by the number of places tied.
 

IV. Diving Championship Meet

A. Date/Host  Championship Meet

1. Championships will be held on the Monday before swimming championships. The league reps have proposed a mandatory 2-day diving championships schedule (prelims/finals). This rule will most likely be in effect beginning the 2005 season.

2. The Host team will be on a rotating basis between the BCSL diving teams and will be BCSL controlled.

3. Any financial responsibilities, not controlled by the BCSL, regarding general finances of the meet will be the responsibility of the Host team.

Note: The BCSL will take responsibility to provide outside judges for diving championships beginning with the 2004 championships. Rationale: The League has approved a payment to some or all of the judges if necessary to acquire their participation.

B. Eligibility  Championship Meet

1. All divers must have participated in two (2) or more BCSL diving dual meets to be eligible to participate in this meet.

C. Entries  Championship Meet

1. There is no limit on the number of entries per team, but the names of all divers must be turned into the Host team to be entered in the Championship meet.

a. Entry date will be set by the BCSL and no late entries will be accepted.

b. Diver must dive in his/her own age group.

c. A random draw will determine the order for each Age Group in the preliminary rounds. 

D. Fees  Championship Meet

1. Each team will be assessed $1.00 for each name turned in, payable to the BCSL.

2. The fees will be used for the Championship awards and other BCSL expenses.

E. General Championship Competition  Championship Meet

1. Preliminary and final rounds of events will be conducted.

2. Only the one-meter springboard and dives listed in the NCAA Swimming and Diving Rules and Regulations book will be permitted in the competition.

3. The Head Coach/or a competent replacement from the teams participating will judge. Host Team will assign other officials.

Note: The BCSL will take responsibility to provide outside judges for diving championships beginning with the 2004 championships. Rationale: The League has approved a payment to some or all of the judges if necessary to acquire their participation.

a. The referee and assistant referee shall be randomly drawn for each Age Group event from the participating judges. They will sit on opposite sides.

b. The referee and assistant referee must agree on a potential failed dive. If they do not agree, the dive will be scored by each judge’s discretion.

4. Age groups shall perform the following dives in the order listed. All voluntary dives will have a Degree of Difficulty of 2.0.

a. 10 and Under Age Group will perform three (3) dives - One voluntary and two optional dives.

b. 11- 12 Age Group will perform four (4) dives - Two voluntary dives and two optional dives.

c. 13-14 and 15-18 Age Groups will perform five (5) dives - Two voluntary and three optional dives.

5. No dive shall be repeated. A dive with the same number, regardless of position, will be considered the same dive. Optional dives from the same category will not be allowed.

a. The position of a dive may be changed after sheets have been turned in and/or while the diver is on the board.

6. In the preliminary rounds, the cumulative scores of those rounds will determine the order of finish in each Age Group. The top six (6) divers of each Age Group will advance to the Championship final round.

7. The same Age Group order of dives must be used in the Championship rounds, but the dives themselves may be changed.

8. The Order of finish in each Age Group, after the Championship round, will be determined by adding the cumulative scores of both the preliminary round and the Championship round. 

F. Awards/Scoring  Championship Meet

1. The BCSL will award medals for 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place and ribbons for 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th place in each Age group.

2. The BCSL will award plaques for the 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place teams. The first place team will also receive a traveling plaque.

3. Scoring per Age Group event shall be 7-5-4-3-2-1 and the cumulative score of each Age Group event shall determine the order of finish of each team.

4. When two or more divers and/or teams tie for any place, the place will be awarded as follows:

a. Duplicate awards will be given to each tied diver and/or team.

b. Place points will be added together and divided by the number of places tied.
 

A. Schedule  Dual Meet

1. Each Team must use the schedule of meets provided by the BCSL. The Visiting team must provide one stroke judge, one turn judge, and four timers.

2. The host team will have a fifteen-minute warm-up, just after the diving competition has been completed. The Visiting team will then have a fifteen-minute warm-up.

a. If the meet does not have diving, the host teams will warm-up at 6:00 PM and the visiting team will warm-up at 6:15 PM and the meet will start at 6:30 PM.

3. A no-show will count as a forfeit (11-0) and the responsible team will be placed on probation for one year, at the discretion of the BCSL.

4. Canceling a meet due to weather is at the discretion of the host team referee. The meet should be rescheduled before the Championship meet.

B. Entries  Dual Meet

1. Each team may enter three (3) swimmers/relays per event, as well as three (3) exhibition swimmers/relays per event. There is no heat swimming.

a. Coaches must turn in entry slips to the clerk of course prior to the meet. All 6 and under, 8 and under Age Group slips must have the swimmers’ names, event, lane and team on them.

b. If a pool has less than six (6) lanes, each team may only enter two (2) swimmers/relays and only two (2) exhibition swimmers/relays per event.

c. Exhibition swimming will count as event entries and will count for championship eligibility. Note: Exhibition swimmers cannot set pool records per NCAA rules.

Rule 9
Records

C. General Competition  Dual Meet

1. The Order of Events provided by the BCSL must be used.

2. The Visiting Team has the odd numbered lanes for competition.

3. Combining events is allowed by the agreement of both coaches, but scratching events, is not allowed if there is at least one competitor in the event.

4. Only the medley or freestyle relay events are required at dual meets, but both may be swum if both coaches agree prior to the meet.

a. The visiting coach must contact the host team’s coach prior to their scheduled meet, usually the morning of or the day before, for relay agreement. A disagreement will cause the medley relay to be swum.

5. The Referee and/or designees (June 12, 1999) shall judge the order o finish of each swimming event.

6. The official time of each competitor shall be determined by the average of two watches used in the/her lane. Thousandths of a second will be dropped with no rounding.

a. Each lane will have two timers. In lanes 2, 3, 4, and 5 one of the timers must be from the visiting team.  

D. Awards/Scoring  Dual Meet

1. The host team will provide ribbons for 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place per Age Group event.

2. Scoring per Age Group event will be 7-0 relay events, 5, 3, and 1, for individual events.

a. Exhibition events do not count for scoring (exhibition swims do not qualify for setting pool records per NCAA rule 9 sections 1 and 5 - see above under BCSL Section B part C).

3. When two or more competitors/teams tie for any place, the awards/points will be as follows:

a. Duplicate awards will be given to each competitor/relay for the place(s) involved.

b. The points for all places involved in the tie shall be divided equally among the tying competitors.

4. The team with the greatest number of points shall be declared the winner of the swimming competition and the score shall be announced immediately.

5. Scores of both the diving and swimming results will be combined and the team with the greatest number of points shall be declared the winner of the dual meet. That score shall be announced immediately.

6. A copy of the meet results must be given to the visiting team’s coach after announcing the results.
 

VI. Swimming Championship Meet

A. Date/Host   Championship Meet

1. Championships will be held on the third Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of July (set by the BCSL). Friday will be used only if Wednesday or Thursday is rained out.

2. The host team will be on a rotating basis between all BCSL teams. The rotation will be controlled by the BCSL.

3. Any financial responsibilities not controlled by the BCSL, regarding general finances or the meet, will be the responsibility of the host team. 

B. Swimmer Eligibility    Championship Meet

1. All swimmers entered in the BCSL Championships must have competed in two BCSL swimming dual meets in order to be eligible to compete. 

C. Entries  Championship Meet

1.There is no limit on the number of entries per team, per individual event, but each team may only enter one relay team in each relay event.

2. A swimmer may be entered in as many events as he/she wants, but the swimmer may only be entered in a total of four events, which includes relays, after the BCSL scratch (seed) meeting.

3. Relay entries with seed times and swimmer names (nicknames not allowed) with seed time, must be listed on the entry form, supplied by the BCSL, or listed on the computer disk, to be entered in the Championship meet. The deadline for entries will be controlled by the BCSL. Late entries will NOT be accepted.

4. Data from the entry forms, and/or disk, will be used for entering each relay and swimmer into a computer program for seeding each event.

a.   Seed times submitted must be listed to the nearest hundredth of a second. The times must be achieved after June 1 of the current season and verification of times must be presented upon request. Composite times for relays are not allowed.

b.   Converted times must be converted by the timing system and/or by the conversion table supplied.

5. A printed psyche sheet showing all Championship event entries, by times, will be given to all coaches before a scheduled BCSL scratch (seed) meeting. A swimmer may not be entered in more than four events, including relays, after the scratch (seed) meeting. 

D. Fees  Championship Meet

1. Each team will be assessed a fee of $1.00 for each individual event entry and $4.00 for each relay entry, listed on the entry form and/or on the disk. All entry fees are to be paid to BCSL.
2. Fees will be used for Championship awards and other BCSL business.

E. General Competition  Championship Meet

1. Preliminary and consolation/championship finals will be conducted in each individual event. Relay events will be swum as timed finals at championship finals.
2. BCSL preliminary and dual/championship order of events will be used.
3. The BCSL representatives will assign meet officials. Assignments should be from all the BCSL teams.
4. The following rules will be strictly enforced for all championship events and the responsibility rests on the swimmer and/or coach to follow the rules.
   1. Failing to report and/or frequent tardiness as the swimmers event/heat is called to the blocks will result in the following:

  i.  The swimmer will be scratched from that event in preliminary events.

  ii.  The swimmer will be prohibited from participating in that event and  the rest of the meet in the consolation/championship finals.

2. Reporting to the event, then failing to compete in any event will result in that swimmer being prohibited from participating in the rest of the meet.
4. Preliminary order of finish shall be determined by the automatic timing system as set by the NCAA rules and regulation book.
5. Twelve swimmers from each Age Group event will advance to the consolation/championship finals. These events will be seeded based on the official preliminary results and as set by the NCAA rules.
6. Consolation/championship final order of finish will be determined by the automatic timing system as set by the NCAA rules and regulations.

F. Awards/Scoring  Championship Meet

1. When two or more competitors/teams tie for any place the awards/points will be as follows:
   1. Duplicate awards will be given to each competitor, relay and team involved.
   2. The points for all places involved shall be divided equally among the competitors.

2. Individual Awards
   1. The heat winner in the preliminary rounds will receive a heat winner ribbon.
   2. Medals will be awarded for 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place in each Age Group event.
   3. Ribbons will be awarded for 4^th through 12^th place in each Age Group event.
   4. A league record chevron will be awarded for any league record tied or set.

   i.  Records can only be established at the BCSL championship meets.

ii.  Swimmer (s) breaking their own record set in the preliminary rounds of the current championship will not be awarded a second chevron.

3. Team Scoring
   1. Scoring data entered into the computer program will be as follows:

   i.  Individual events: Final Heat, 16-13-12-11-10-9. Consolation Heat, 7-5-4-3-2-1.

ii.  Relay events scoring will be double the individual event points. 

2. The accumulated score will determine Age Group order of finish, after the end of that Age Groups’ events.

3. Team order of finish will be determined by the accumulated score, after the end of all scheduled Championship events.

  4. Team Awards

1. Teams finishing 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place will receive a team plaque.
2. Each Age Group winner will be awarded an Age Group plaque.
3. The first place team will be awarded the traveling “Champion” plaque.

revised 12/2000