MONTGOMERY COUNTY DIVING LEAGUE
MINUTES OF THE MARCH 16, 2004 MEETING

Opening and Officers' Reports

The meeting was called to order by President Karl Borst at 7:40pm

A. President Karl Borst introduced the Officers and said he is looking forward to the
2004 season!

B. Vice President Lori Puente has talked to Bill York and John Wolsh about doing a DuraFlex
maintenance program for the diving boards. Any pool that attends this clinic will receive a
grease gun and grease for their diving board. Also, John Wolsh can conduct a head and neck
safety clinic at the same time as the maintenance program.

C. Secretary Nancy Ale reported that the past 4 years of Minutes are on our website.

D. Treasurer Lynn Chapman stated that dues are due by April 1 or a $25 late fee after 4/15.

E. Publicity Yolanda Faerber will meet with the owner of Mama Lucia's on Friday about possibly
sponsoring our dive league and providing pizza at cost for meets to be sold at a profit by our teams.
Drink More water is another possibility. She also asked for suggestions from the Dive Reps.

F. Safety Bill Leith - not present - Board inspections are done every 3 years and this is the
2nd year. They will be done in 2005.

G. Ways & Means Wendy Hamm said that all ribbons have been ordered and will be at the May
meeting. Visors that are left from last year will be sold for $6 each. They will be handed out at
the May meeting We will have t-shirts for Divisional and All Stars. Wendy asked for help with the
art work. It was suggested we have a contest for divers to design the t-shirts.

Old Business

A. Seedings and Schedule for 2004

These are in a packet handed out at this meeting and posted on the web site.

John Currie suggested that if you have a bye week that you schedule a meet with another team
from another division that also has a bye week.

B. 2004 Season

Karl asked for volunteers for Divisional meets, AllStars and Clinic sites:
  Division I - TBD
  Division II = East Gate and Old Georgetown are considering
  Division III = Rock Creek
  Division IV = North Chevy Chase
  Division V = Country Glen

Judges clinics:
  6/13 Sunday 12:00 noon at Seven Locks
  6/19 Saturday 5:00pm at Old Farm which will be filmed
  6/24 Thursday 6:00pm at North Chevy Chase

Other teams needed to check with their pools to see if they would be able to host Divisional
meets and AllStars. East Gate will host first day if it is not hosting divisionals.

C. Website Modifications

Karl added links to sort Roster by Name or by Age and asked if anyone wanted the roster to be
sorted by any other criteria. Also, the entry of Meet results and the forms have been streamlined.

D. Rosters

Karl eliminated the Meet Participant Form and suggested to Team Reps that they circle all
Divers on their Rosters who are diving up an age group before the start of a meet. After the
meet, cross off any divers who did not participate in the meet and put the scores of participating
divers next to their name on the team's roster sheets and mail the Rosters and Results form
to Records for the archives.

E. Jump Rule

Jumps (100 and 200) (added last year as a trial) to remain on our dive list. Voted and passed.

F. Arms over the head is a 4 1/2 Maximum

In keeping in line with FINA rules, this was voted and passed.

FINA D8.6.2 In head first entries, the arm shall be stretched beyond the head and in line with
the body, with the hands close together. If one or both arms are held below the head on entry,
the maximum award shall be 4 1/2 points.

FINA D8.6.3 In feet first entries, the arms shall be close to the body with no bending at the
elbows. If one or both arms are held beyond the head on entry, the maximum award shall be 4 1/2
points. FINA says it is a referee call. It is also a judge call, if the referee neglects to make the call.

NOTE: This does not apply to Jumps 100 or 200 for MCDL where the diver's arms must be either
straight up OR straight down.

G. Bye week meets

Bye week meets (not pre season) between 2 or 3 MCDL pools following the MCDL rules and the
results posted with Records can be used as a qualifying meet for participation. Voted on and passed.

H. Specific Booklet sections (below) were reworded to be more consistent. All
were voted and passed.

1.      Section 1.a Ranking of teams and deciding between a Tie
 Original text: In case of a tie, the first tie breaker will be Dual Meet head-to-head competition,
the second will be Dual Meet standings, the third will be Division Championship standings,
and the fourth will be a coin toss.
 New Text: ...and the fourth will be the highest total of the sum of all Dual Meet points,
and the fifth will be the highest Dual Meet point total.

2.      Section 2.c.1 regarding coach/employee membership dependencies
 Original text: Exceptions must be approved by the MCDL Rules Committee.
This line is removed since there are no exceptions.

3.      Section 2.c.4 Diving Up.
 Add to the bottom of the first paragraph:
Declaring a diver Exhibition does not create an age-group void. However, a diver without a qualifying
list of dives who would be ineligible to compete may be granted exhibition status with approval
of both team representatives. This diver will not count towards the two official divers, and
his/her participation as an exhibition diver would not negate any voids.
Add the sentence following this sentence in the 4th paragraph:
Each Team Rep must notify the Referee prior to the start of the meet.:
Add: This may be done by circling those divers on the Team Roster BEFORE the beginning of the Dual
Meet and handing the Roster to the Meet Secretary or Meet Referee. Also, at the END of the
meet, cross-off all divers on your team who did NOT participate and mail each Team's roster along
with the Meet Results form to MCDL Records.

4.      Section 3.b.2 and 3.b.3 DD for 5111 and 5211
5111 & 5211 DD need to be consistent where printed.
12 & Under divers for 5111/5211 = 1.6 straight and 1.5 pike.

5.      Section 3e Each Diver must execute the dive listed on his/her...:
Add: If a Diver elects to change position of a dive listed, the lower of the two positions' Degree
of Difficulty will apply to scoring.

6.      Section 4.a.6 The Approach
Add to the beginning of the paragraph:
All springboard dives with a forward take-off may be performed either standing or with an approach
and hurdle at the option of the diver. The forward approach shall be... no fewer than one step
before a hurdle.
Reworded to include: The forward approach of a running dive shall be...

7.      Section 4.b.1 The Take-off
Add to the end of the first paragraph:
FINA-D 8.2.4.5 When executing a standing dive, the diver shall not lift the feet off the board or
platform during the arm swing or prior to the take-off. If the feet leave the board or platform
each judge shall deduct 1/2 to 2 points from his award according to his opinion.

8.      Section 4.b.2 regarding a diver touching the board or diving askew.
Paragraph moved to Section 4.c Flight Through the Air.

9.      Section 4.c.6 Position of the arms.
 Remove section specifying the set position for 101.

10.  Section 4.d.1 Entry  
Referee to declare 4 1/2 points maximum. FINA D6.18 If a diver has one or both arms held above
the head in a feet first entry (Jumps excluded) or below the head in a head first entry.

11.  Section 4.d.4 regarding the execution of an announced dive.
The Referee...if a diver does not execute the dive announced.
Reword to state: The Referee... if a diver does not execute the proper dive as announced according
to these Rules. FINA Language D6.17 When the Referee is certain that a diver has performed
a dive of a number other than that announced, the Referee shall declare it a failed dive.

NOTE: A referee is always authorized to have a dive repeated, so if there is a mistake by the
announcer, it can be corrected. This should be added to page 20, part 5: D 8.1.10 A dive may be
repeated without penalty under the following circumstances:
   Strong wind (D 6.7)
   Incorrectly announced dive (D 6.10) 
   When the diver performs the dive before the signal ( D 6.13)
   If the dive was influenced by exceptional circumstances (D 6.14)
When such a repetition is granted the first dive shall be judged and the marks noted, to be used
if a protest is accepted.

12.  Section 7.a
Reword to include FINA Rules as well as US Diving and add:
If a Diver wishes to perform a dive not listed in this handbook, they must provide US Diving or
FINA documentation that lists the specific dive and DD for 1 meter springboard. Acceptance of
documentation is subject to the Meet Referee.

13.  Section 8.a.3 Announcer responsibilities
Add: To read the Judges scores in the same "chair" order throughout the competition.

14.  Section 9
Reword to include FINA Rules as well as US Diving and add:
http://www.fina.org/divingrules.html

15.  Reword Section 10.a.3 regarding official divers and scoring:
Original text: Each team shall designate two of its divers in each event. These entrants will be
designated at the end of each event, and will be the only divers eligible for awards and team scoring.
Proposed text: The three divers with the highest scores are awarded team points, however, a team
may not have more than two divers who can score team points for each event. This means, a team
may not score First, Second, and Third team points in any event. If the other team has an eligible
diver (as defined in these Rules) in the event, that diver is eligible to score points for their team.

16.  Section 10.a.8 regarding reporting meet results
Add: The Meet results shall be entered on the MCDL website by the next day.

17.  Section 10.a.11 regarding Divisional Tie
Add: Point total shall be the sum of all points scored during the Dual Meet season.

18.  Section 10.a.12 regarding competition conduct
 Add: As a courtesy all cell phone ringers and tones shall be turned off on diving deck.

19.  Section 11.d regarding protests
Text: Protests shall be presented to the Division Coordinator in writing...
Replaced with text: Protests shall be presented to the MCDL Rules committee via email to
rules@mcdiving.org...

20.  Coaches who dive still need to pay insurance
Coaches who dive still need to pay insurance because all divers must pay insurance and all
divers must be on the Pool Roster.

21.  To change all MCDL Bylaws where "mail" is used to "email"
(specifically, articles IV, V, VI, XIII)

22.  Page 17:4.a.3 The start of a forward approach
The start of a forward approach (running dive) shall be assumed when the diver comes to a steady
position, arms straight in any position, and is ready to take the first step. The first step
constitutes the start of the dive. Failure by the diver to fully assume the starting position
shall be reflected by a deduction of 1-3 points in the judge's scores (as per page 21). The final
sentence above should also be added to 4.a.2.

I.  Pool reps were asked to return pool information page tonight or ASAP.
The deadline to submit to Karl is April 15th to have the information in the new handbook.

J.  We use USA Diving and/or FINA rules, since they are now the same.

New Business

A.  Rules Changes and Modifications

1. 8 and Under as a scoring Event.
This rule was passed with a 1 year trial

8 & Under Dive List
A total of 3 dives in the following order:
First: 100 Forward Jump, any position, DD = 1.0
Second: Forward Dive 101, any position, DD = 1.3
Third: 201 Back Dive, any position, DD = 1.6 or 200 Back Jump, any position, DD = 1.0
New for 2004: This is an official event. Divers still have the option of competing in the
10 & Under age group, but may compete in only one of the two events.

All Star Meet Format:
Day One: 8&U, 10&U, 11-12
Day Two: 13-14, 15-18

2. Jumps
Added to list last year as a trial. Voted on to remain on our Dive list.

3. Jump entry
Jump (ONLY) entry can have arms stretched overhead at any age.
However, arms must be either straight up or straight down along the sides of the body.

4. FINA Alignment
a. Rules and Dive DD conform to FINA unless otherwise specified within the MCDL booklet.

b. 101 and 201 no longer require a set of the arms. This means there is no deduction for a dive
performed without an arm set. However, because judging a dive is subjective, a dive performed
WITH the arm set shall not be penalized, and it may be scored higher by a Judge than a dive
without an arm set.
FINA-D 8.5.3 In the straight position the body shall not be bent either at the knees or hips. The
feet shall be together and the toes pointed. The position of the arms is at the option of the diver.

c. Dive DD will be consistent with FINA One Meter Springboard Diving unless MCDL DD is specifically
different per designated age groups. Dives 5111 A and 5211 A should be 1.6 DD and dives
5111B and 5211 B should be 1.5 DD. The book will be edited to reflect this consistently.

5. Wild Card Rule
Given the present alignment scenario, it has been suggested that we revise the guidelines. Given
that we now have a maximum of 10 divers competing in each age group in Divisionals and are adding
an entire event to the program, it has been suggested that we streamline the entry process in
order to assure that it truly is an all star meet and is not overly crowded.
-Allow only the 4th place diver to replace a qualifier who can not attend.
-Continue to award only three wild cards per division.
Both voted on and passed.

B. 2005 AllStar Meet.

1. Problem
a. Not the All Stars
b. Divisions and Pools have ALL Star divers, but only 3 can go per Division

2. Possible Solutions
a. Qualifying score in 2 of the 4 meets
b. Take top 12 of average meet scores
c. Change the meet name

C. Other New Business

1. Because of technology, Division Coordinators are no longer required.
2. Division Meet Host Representative may run the Wild Card meeting.

Closing

A. Next meeting is May 18 at the Kensington Library

B. 2004 Box of supplies will be distributed in May

Thank you to all who attended this important meeting!