USA Swimming is providing a new pre-race safety checklist for its athletes who compete in non-USA Swimming sanctioned races.
USA Swimming‘s national team members are encouraged to get these questions answered before they make their decisions on what races to compete in.
As USA Swimming states on its website, “It is common for USA Swimming member athletes to participate in open water competitions around the world on their own and not as a part of a USA Swimming team. This is their right under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act. USA Swimming has no control over where an open water swimmer chooses to compete on his/her own or, unless sanctioned by USA Swimming, the conditions of the competition … to assist our open water swimmers in making their decisions on where to compete, USA Swimming has prepared an open water safety checklist and list of questions to ask which any open water swimmer may want to have answered by a race organizer before deciding to participate in that event.
Models of open water safety have been set by races such from the King and Queen of the Sea and the Great Swims in Great Britain to the RCP Tiburon Mile in San Francisco and the NYC Swim events. There are many other such events around the world. The philosophies and execution of open water safety are not difficult to follow, but they do require focus, dedication and experience.
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