To ensure consistency and compliance with EFSL and USA Swimming Rules and Regulations, all swim meets—whether regular season or intra-squad—must be sanctioned and supported by a standardized meet announcement.

Meet Announcement Requirements

• A standard meet announcement must be used for all meets and must include the names of the Meet Director, Meet Referee, and Administrative Official. All must be current EFSL members and up-to-date with seasonal training requirements.

Submission Timeline

• Hosting teams must submit the draft meet announcement and electronic event file to the EFSL Sanctions Chair (EFSL Administrative Official), via email, no later than 30 days before the scheduled meet date. This submission is required for sanction approval.

Publication Deadline

• Once approved, the meet will be issued an EFSL sanction number, at which point the meet announcement is cleared for publication. Meet announcements must be published at least 21 days before the meet. The EFSL Sanctions Chair will ensure the meet announcement contains all required elements as per EFSL and USA Swimming Rules and Regulations.

Sanction Compliance

• A $25 fine will be levied against any host team whose meet announcement is not submitted by the 30-day deadline (based on the timestamp of the email).

• Results from non-sanctioned meets will not be accepted as official EFSL times.

Time Trials

• If a host team intends to conduct time trials during a regular season meet, all relevant details must be included in the original meet announcement at the time of sanction submission.

Swimcloud Posting

• The EFSL publishes all sanctioned meet announcements and event files to the respective meet profile page on Swimcloud to ensure transparency and centralized access.

Meet Announcement

Think of the meet announcement as a binding agreement between the Meet Referee, your team, and participating teams. It guides all aspects of how the meet will be conducted—everything from how entries are processed, to what events are offered at what times and in what order, and how the competition will be conducted—so there are no surprises for anyone. Be sure you are comfortable and very familiar with the meet announcement. Your protocols for the meet should correlate with any instructions given in the meet announcement. 

Drafting your meet announcement will be a collaborative effort based on your team's leadership preferences. The Referee and Administrative Official will provide context from a Rulebook perspective to ensure all rules and regulations are adhered to in the announcement. Additionally, there will be policies and procedures that must be addressed, along with regulatory language required by both USA Swimming and the EFSL in every meet announcement.

You should thoroughly review the meet announcement before it is submitted to the EFSL for sanctioning.

As the Meet Director, you could have input into the structure and flow of the meet based on your experience and knowledge. You will also have your Administrative Official review the Meet Announcement to ensure they are aware of what events to include in the electronic meet event file. Additionally, they could provide helpful inputs to the entry timelines and procedures. This gives you an additional set of critical eyes for the review process and begins team building for the meet.

Your collaboration is critical. Sometimes your team may be thinking of a task or guidance that could be counterintuitive to something that's listed in the rulebook, for example, allowing athletes to enter too many events per day. It helps to understand what they are trying to accomplish so you can advise your team of language that would be clear and accomplish their goals while adhering to all rules and regulations.

The EFSL has a Sanctions Chair (EFSL Administrative Official) who is responsible for ensuring meet announcements are correct. Since the document acts as a contract between the Meet Referee and teams attending the meet, it’s important for you to be extremely familiar with the contents. 

Review your meet announcement closely as the Meet Referee is charged with executing the competition as outlined. 

Meet Announcement Requirements

Take some time to review some of the meet announcement requirements below.

• Host Team. 

• Meet Name.

• Participants. 

• Key times: Doors open, warm up info, meet start, approximate meet end. 

• Location, including directions and base access info, if applicable. 

• Fees, if any. 

• Entry Limits. 

• Entry Deadline. 

• Volunteer Information. 

• Snack Bar/Food options, if any.

• Hospitality for Meet Volunteers, if any.

• Security or other restrictions. 

• Parking info.

• Facility rules, requirements, or restrictions.

• Nature of the prizes to be awarded.

• A complete schedule of lanes and times for all warm-up procedures which must be adhered to by all participants.

• Information about pool course and water depth measured for a distance of 1 meter to 5 meters from both end walls.

• A statement indicating whether on-deck entries will be permitted and under what conditions. *Be very careful with allowing on-deck entries, you will need to be able to verify the swimmer's parents/guardians are EFSL registered!

• A description of the medical supervision (e.g., lifeguards, EMT, AED devices, etc.) available to athletes participating in the meet.

• Nearest emergency medical facility/facilities with contact information.

• Order of events and splits to be taken.

• Key Contacts: Meet Director, Meet Referee, and Administrative Official.

• Scratch Procedures.

• Time Trial Information.

• Required Statements:

  • Attendance at this meet as a volunteer, swimmer, coach, spectator, or in any other capacity implies acknowledgement of and agreement to comply with the EFSL Code of Conduct.  All violations should initially be dealt with by the Meet Referee at the time of the incident and then relayed to the Executive Board for further action as needed.

  • Open to all registered members of the [Host Team Name] and participating EFSL teams, as well as unattached EFSL swimmers. Parent/guardian(s) of swimmers must be registered with the EFSL.  Times achieved by swimmers with incomplete or missing registration information will NOT be recognized by the EFSL.

  • Any swimmer entered in the meet must be proficient in performing a racing start or must start each race from within the water. When unaccompanied by an EFSL member coach, it is the responsibility of the swimmer or the swimmer’s legal guardian to ensure compliance with this requirement.

  • Use of audio or visual recording devices, including a cell phone, is not permitted in changing areas, restrooms or locker rooms.

  • Deck changes are prohibited.

  • Operation of a drone, or any other flying apparatus, is prohibited over the venue (pools, athlete/coach areas, spectator areas and open-ceiling locker rooms) any time athletes, coaches, officials and/or spectators are present.

  • Held under the sanction of the European Forces Swim League.

  • It is understood and agreed that the EFSL shall be free and held harmless from any liabilities or claims for damages arising by reason of injuries to anyone during the conduct of the event.

  • Disabled or adaptive swimmers are welcome and encouraged to participate. Coaches should provide a written description of the special needs of the disabled/adaptive swimmer to the Meet Director. The swimmer (or the swimmer’s coach) is responsible for notifying the Meet Referee of any disability prior to the competition.

Sample Time Trial Language

A time trial session may be held at the conclusion of the competition day, or as otherwise scheduled. Time trials are only open to swimmers entered in the meet and will be conducted based on the availability of time and lane space. Please note the following details:

• Eligibility: Open to all swimmers entered in the meet.

• Entry Procedure: Time trial entries open at [time or event] on the day of the meet. Swimmers must sign up for time trials at [location].

• Entry Fees: $[fee] per event.

• Entry Limit: Swimmers may swim no more than [number] time trial events. Time trial entries count toward the swimmer’s total number of event entries for the meet, in accordance with USA Swimming guidelines. 

• Event Availability: Time trials will be offered for [list events or distances available for time trials, if applicable]. Entries are first-come first-served and will close after two (2) heats are filled.

• Deadline: The deadline for entry into time trials will be [time  or event] on the day of the meet.

• Format: Time trials will be conducted in accordance with EFSL and USA Swimming rules, and swimmers will be seeded based on their entry times or estimated times for the event.

Note: Time trial sessions may be adjusted or cancelled based on the meet’s timeline and the availability of facilities.

Sanction Request Email

When submitting a sanction request, you must email the EFSL Sanctions Chair (EFSL Administrative Official) the draft meet announcement and electronic event file (provided by your team's AO) no later than 30 days before the meet date. Do not send a PDF! Either provide a link to a shared document (Google Docs) or attach a word document. You may use this email template below when submitting your sanction request. Please send all sanction requests to: sanctions@efslswim.org

Subject: EFSL Sanction Request – Meet Name – Meet Date(s)

EFSL Sanctions Chair,

Please find below the sanction request(s) for our upcoming meet(s):

• Hosting Team:  

• Meet Name:  

• Meet Type:   Regular Season  or  Intra-Squad

• Meet Date:  

• Time Trial Included:   Yes  or  No

If yes, time trial details must be included in the meet announcement.

Both the electronic events file and draft meet announcement are attached for your review and approval. Please let us know if any revisions are needed.

Best regards,
 

EFSL Recognized Events

EFSL Available Splits

Click Next to view the EFSL Meet Announcement Templates