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FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions2. What information does Machine Aquatics need? 3. I just left ABC Swim Club, how does that affect me? 4. How do I enter a competition? 5. How do I know if my e-mail entry was received? 6. What if my entries are listed incorrectly on the Meet Entry Report? 1. What is registration? Registration is the enrollment of your swimmer with Machine Aquatics. When an athlete enrolls with Machine Aquatics, he/she becomes a member athlete of Potomac Valley Swimming (PVS), the local governing body for amateur swimming in the Washington Metropolitan area. At the same time the athlete becomes a member athlete of USA Swimming, the national governing body for amateur swimming. Registration enables the athlete to practice with his/her team and participate in local, national and international competitions. Upon initial registration, an athlete's times begin to file in the Potomac Valley Swimming Best Times Database and the athlete is insured through a policy required by all USA Swimming Teams (Machine is insured). Potomac Valley Swimming requires that a swimmer's name, date of birth, address, contact phone number and other vital information is reported with registration. Registration with Machine Aquatics may be done online. Please check the Registration page for more information. 2. What information does Machine Aquatics need? Machine Aquatics needs the same basic information as Potomac Valley to keep track of its swimmers, their accounts, and their swimming progress. In addition to collecting the registration information for PVS, Machine requires athletes and their parents/guardians to complete a Membership Contract, a Medical Information Form and a history of the swimmer's times. - A. Membership Contracts Our Membership Contract commits athletes' families to the swimming season, entitles its members to privileges and services, and protects Machine Aquatics LLC. Upon approval of your registration to Machine Aquatics, the Membership Contract and an invoice will be mailed to you. Swimmers MAY NOT enter the water until the Membership Contract has been signed and payment made. - B. Medical Forms The Medical Information Form provides the coaching staff with relevant health information about the athlete. Asthma, corrected vision, heart problems etc. can all affect the learning environment during training. A detailed description of medications, allergies and current illnesses gives our coaches a complete picture of the swimmer's health and may help them prevent or circumvent potential roadblocks in a swimmer's progress. - C. Best Times When a swimmer enters a competition for Machine Aquatics, his/her fastest swimming times are used for seeding in each event. A computer database is kept of each swimmer's times and is constantly updated as the season progresses. Swimmers new to Machine Aquatics must submit a complete list of best times in order to ensure the best seeding (positioning) in a competition. Swimmers in the United States compete in three formats, Short Course Yards (SCY, September to May), Long Course Meters (LCM, May to August, also called "Olympic" format) and Short Course Meters (mostly pro-am competitions and popular outside the USA). These times can be collected from a previous team or found on the PVS web site (see link above). Times achieved in the summer league format (a meter pool without blocks) are not recognized by Potomac Valley or USA Swimming. 3. I just left ABC Swim Club, how does that affect me? When a swimmer changes teams, the swimmer's registration status with PVS is changed to "unattached". An unattached athlete is insured and may enter competitions but may not participate in relays. The unattached status ends 90 days after a swimmer's last competition with his/her previous team. Machine Aquatics must comply with strict rules about unattached swimmers; therefore, a swimmer's last competition date with his/her former team is critical. 4. How do I enter a competition? Machine Aquatics participates in meets throughout the Washington-VA-MD region as well as nationally and internationally. Most of the competitions we attend are "open" competitions and allow all abilities and all ages to compete in a variety of events. Machine utilizes an e-mail entry system to collect and process meet entries. Under the guidance of the coaching staff, athletes submit e-mails with entry events and other pertinent information to our Meet Entry Coordinators at entries@machineaquatics.com. E-mail entries must have the name of the competition in the subject heading and include in the message each athlete's full name with middle initial, date of birth and the name of the chosen events (for example, 100fly, 50breast, 200IM). Machine enforces a due date for e-mail entries, which can be found in the meet announcement. [See the Meets web page for meet announcements] Be aware that meet announcements posted on Potomac Valley's web site list a later due date! This is the date our electronic entries and paperwork are due to the meet host. We cannot ensure entries received on or after the due date on the Machine web site's meet announcement will be accepted. Leave plenty of time to discuss entry suggestions and ask questions with your coach! If you ask questions in your entry e-mail you will be directed to your coach. The coaching staff will be able to help you with suggested entry events or questions about the competition. Entries@machineaquatics.com is an inbox only to ensure that the large volumes of meet entries may be processed quickly and accurately. The Meet Entry Coordinators will answer questions regarding the entry process only after processing the entries themselves. Contact your coach with questions before submitting entries.
5. How do I know if my e-mail entry was received? You may confirm that your entry was properly received and processed by viewing the corresponding "meet entry report" on the Meets page of our web site. Click on the report for your meet and scroll alphabetically for each athlete's entered events. If you do not find your entries on the meet entry report, there may be one of several reasons and/or solutions. Quickly follow the guidelines below should you not see your entry online or are requesting a late entry.
6. What if my entries are listed incorrectly on the Meet Entry Report? Immediately contact your coach in person, if possible. If necessary, your coach will attempt to resubmit your entries to the Meet Host. If your entry time appears to be incorrect or is listed as NT (no time), we may not have a list of your best times. Best times can be found online at www.pvswim.org or on the USA-Swimming web page, www.usa-swimming.org. Refer to the above section, "Best Times", for help collecting your history of meet results. 7. The Meet Announcement for the "ABC-123" Champs lists 'no faster than' and 'no slower than' times next to the events. What are these? Several meets each season are 'Cut' Meets and require that entering athletes have previously achieved certain time standards. 'No faster than' cuts require that athletes must have an entry time equal to or slower than the published cut. 'No slower than' cuts require the entry time to be equal to or faster than the published cut. Most Championship meets include one or both of these time standards. Refer to the 'Best Times' information on this page for help finding your best race times. 8. What is a deck entry? Deck entries are entries processed on the pool deck on the day of competition. Deck entries are allowed only at selected meets. They are a last resort for entering a meet, as an athlete that deck enters most likely will be seeded in the slowest heats with no time, 'NT'. The fee, often $10 or more, for deck entering is not covered by your registration fee or membership dues and must be paid upon submitting the entry. Machine Aquatics coaches will not pay for deck entries on the day of competition. Athletes or their families must pay for deck entries. Questions regarding deck entry fees should be directed towards the registrar's office at info@machineaquatics.com or 703.391.2077.
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