Meet Announcement

Date
Friday 16 & Saturday 17 May 2025

Chief Position Holders

Meet Director:                           Liam Knowles & Assma El Qasem

Meet Referee:                           Don Saunders

Deck Referees:                         Marie Aronsson      

Head Chief Judge:                    Alex Vlassenko

Entry Fees Officer:                    Onur Buyukbozkirli

Communication Officer:            Marianna Wahl

Security Officer:                        Joe Harper

Meet Referee
Don Saunders is the assigned Meet Referee for the entire competition. The meet referee will have the final decision in any dispute over the rule interpretations or any other technical matter related to the swimming of the events in this meet. 

Any official protest must be submitted in writing using the Disqualification Protest Form that can be found on the Forms page of this site. The protest should be submitted to the meet director within 30 minutes of posting the event results in question. Protests will only be accepted from the assigned team representative, normally the head coach .

Venue
Saudi Aramco Compound, Dhahran, home of DYSL, housing a 25m, eight (8) lane outdoor pool with Permanent starting blocks (at one end) and an adjacent 25m, eight (8) lane outdoor pool with two lanes reserved for warm up / cool down. Official times will be recorded using a Daktronics Timing System. The primary time is automatically recorded by the touchpad. Two backup times are recorded by Daktronics push buttons, and manually by a stopwatch in each lane.

Age
Age as of May 16th, 2025, will determine a swimmer’s age group for the duration of the Championships.  Swimmers must have achieved qualifying times for entered events in the age group in which they are competing at the Championships. Swimmers who have aged up before the competition must have achieved qualifying times for entered events in the new age group.

Events
See list of events in the events page of this site.

Meet rules
USA Swimming Short Course rules for 2025 will apply. The technical Rules and Regulations can be accessed via the 2025 Rulebook on the following website: usaswimming.org 

Tech suits shall be allowed for all age category's even though USA swimming places some restrictions on use. 

Eligibility

Registered swimmers of AFSA aligned teams with swimmers who are currently residing and enrolled in one of Kingdom’s schools or hold an Iqama if being home schooled, and who have achieved the National Qualifying Times (NQT), for each event in which the swimmer is entered as listed in the table entitled ‘2024-2028 Saudi Age Group Swimming Time Standards’ are eligible to enter this championship posted in the TIME STANDARDS page. 

NCT entries should be sent in a separate file along with an entry list. Upon completion of the seeding process, teams will be notified accordingly regarding the acceptance of the NCT entries. The organizers will try there best to cater for all NCTs but ultimately is decided by the number of NCT participants.  

Entry Times for each swimmer shall be official meet result times that were posted in a competitive AFSA meet conducted within the EPSA, RSL, or Western Region in Saudi Arabia while representing their team during an event in a 25 meter or 50-meter pool between September 1st 2024 and May 6th 2025. Any times achieved at GCC international meets shall be accepted provided the results are officially recorded through Hy-Tek files. SFF times are not recorded through Hy-Tek and cannot be used for this event. Any times obtained in a 50 meters pool shall be converted to a short course time using a conversion rate of 1.001, while all yard times must be converted to metric times using a conversion rate of 1.11. (Note: equivalent yard times for the 400 meters Freestyle event must come from a 500-yard Freestyle event).

Fastest times from each region shall be selected for relay entries; however, a minimum of two teams must compete in an event to be eligible for awards. Relay Teams must not consist of swimmers from an age group other than that posted for the event. Each region shall be allowed two relay teams in each event from Eastern, Central and Western. Mixed Relay Teams shall consist of two boys and two girls each for the 15-18 year old category only. The Meet Director may elect to change the relay format for any age group depending on the number of entries for that group. Regional Coordinators shall be advised of any such change. Swimmers are limited to a maximum of 1 Relay entry per day.

The Meet Directors reserves the right to request verification of the entry times submitted for each swimmer and will reject any entry time that cannot be substantiated by the results of an officially sanctioned meet within the dates specified above and in accordance with outline event criteria. 

Entries

Swimmers are limited to four (4) individual events and one (1) relay event per day. 

All entries should be submitted as HyTek entry files by Tuesday, May 6th, 2025 @ 10 pm from the Team Coach to the Regional Coordinator.

Qualifying entries file should be emailed as a HyTek Team Manager Meet Entries export file (.c12 or .hy3) along with a PDF entry listing to the Regional Co-Ordinator. The PDF files shall list the entries with proof of time and event details. Any entry without proof of time will be discarded. 

Please ensure The HyTek Meet Entry Report is sorted by name and the HyTek Fee report is attached with your entries. Times and Poof of Time when creating the report is also required.

Relay Entries shall be submitted via the respective Medley Relay Form and the Free Style Relay Form found under FORMS. Relay entries will be due to the meet organizers no later than 10:00 a.m. on the morning of the event. Relay entries shall be submitted through the designated Regional Coordinator with the support of the assigned regional coach. The Meet Director reserves the right to combine individual or relay events in any manner which, in his/her judgment, will allow the meet to run more efficiently. This may include combining girls and boys events and/or combining age groups within an event. No qualifying times are required for relays, however, a minimum of two teams must compete in an event to be eligible for awards.

For the events, coaches are responsible for the accuracy of all submitted entry data and must ensure correct spelling of swimmer name, with the eligible age category, precise event name and number, correct gender designation and accurate times. The Meet Director will send back team entries to all teams for verification of entries accuracy after they have been imported into Meet Manager. We urge all respective team representative/coaches to check the imported entries for correctness and notify the meet organizer by email ASAP should there be any errors in the transferred data. In the event of late notification, after the printing of the official program, then an adjustment will be made in consultation with the concerned parties on the first day of the meet. In the event of any omission or mistakes made in the submitted entry information by the team representative/coach then the official meet program will not be altered, and the swimmer may not be permitted to swim.

Entry deadline
The entry deadline is Tuesday, May 6th, 2025 @ 10:00 pm. The entry report will be sent to you after processing all entries for NQT and NCT.

Seeding
Seeding will be ‘Timed Finals’ following the USA Swimming Rules & Regulations, except for Relays for which each team has been assigned certain lanes. The Meet Director shall have the right to combine events or relays should the number of swimmers or teams registered for those events warrant. The Meet Director may also choose to combine 400 meter events (Free and IM) and seed swimmers in age groups 11-18 as if swimming a single event.

Scratches
Each swimmer is expected to swim all events entered unless they have been officially scratched from an event. Scheduled scratch meetings will be conducted on each morning prior to the commencement of the day’s events. Formal announcement and notification will be made by the organizers with regards to time and location of the meeting. Team Representatives are expected to submit in writing all scratches for their swimmers for all the day’s events. Failure to swim an event without prior scratching may cause a swimmer to be barred from the remainder of the events on that day unless otherwise approved by the Meet Referee. Refunds of entry fees shall not be made for non-participation in an event.

Entry Fees

50 Saudi Riyals for each event entered, there is no fee for relays. Entries received after the deadline of May 6th @ 10pm shall not be accepted. Once the meet is seeded and the number of consideration times accepted is known, the Meet Director will provide each team the amount which is due for all accepted entries. Each of the Regions shall designate a single representative who will be in charge of transferring fees for that particular team and transferring to the DYSL account. Total fees are to be paid in FULL as per the team final submission entries regardless if swimmers are scratched. 

Teams will be subject to elimination from participation in the championships event if the fees have not been paid in FULL in accordance with the entry fees above listed guidelines by the start of the meet. Payments must be made no later than Tuesday, May 12th, 2025. 

Head Coach

Each team shall submit the name of their head coach by May 6th @10pm so they can join the May 8th Zoom Meeting. The person shall be that team’s single point of contact during the meet for all matters including but not limited to disqualifications notices, missed events, disputes, security issues, parent conduct or other issues related to swimmer conduct.

Awards

Medals shall be awarded for each 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place swimmers and ribbons for places 4-8 for each event by age group and gender. Separate awards shall be presented to the top six (6) high point male and female participants in each age group category.

• Each swimmer will earn 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 point(s) for finishing each event in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th or 8th place respectively, regardless of the number of entrants
• No additional points will be awarded for National Records broken during the competition.

In case of ties, the swimmer with the lowest number of individual events entered and swam shall be selected. If a tie still exists, then the swimmer with the best record in head to head competition shall be selected. If a tie still exists, duplicate awards will be presented.

Trophies shall also be presented to the top three teams in the event (total points scored).

Meet Schedule

Warm-up 07:30 - 08:30
TBC by May 10th – 07:30 – 08:00
TBC by May 10th – 08:00 – 08:30
(Assigned lanes are subject to change based on number of entries per team)

Open Warm-ups will take place in Pool #2 (adjacent to the main competition pool) and can be used during the duration of the meet for warm-up and cool-down swims.

Photography

Saudi Aramco Recreation Services have granted special permission for photography and video, at this swim meet. 

The following MUST be followed:

• Use of Audio or Visual Recording Devices, including a Cell Phone, is not permitted behind the starting blocks, including any spectator area behind the starting blocks, in changing areas, rest rooms or locker rooms
• Photography is ONLY allowed along the side of the pool (behind the safety barriers) and the area under the main scoreboard
• Please request permission before directly photographing any swimmer who is not your own child
• Common sense should be applied to the suitability of all photos posted on social media / internet from the swim meet. If a doubt is present about suitability then do not post
• No photographs taken at the pool should be posted on social media if other swimmers are also in the frame, without prior permission from DYSL board. If photographs are found on social media, they will be requested to be removed. Failure to do so may result disciplinary action.

Meet Mobile
The Meet Mobile app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store (iPhone Apps) and DYSL website (attached to invitation letter) shall allow access to heat sheets and results throughout the weekend. Please note, however, that this is not a free app. Results can be followed live, as it unfolds, on Meet Mobile but results may be altered from those originally displayed due to DQ, soft touch and other relevant reasons. Final posted results will be accurate on Meet Mobile. The Meet Mobile application (app) displays meet results in real time as data is received during meets from the timer (one heat at a time). This app has the ability to display heat sheets, psych sheets, records, team scores, and time standards. It will be set up and working for the meet.

Awards Ceremony
The Awards Ceremony is scheduled at a close-by venue (TBC) (just outside the main Dhahran Hills Swimming Pool) shortly after the conclusion of the meet on Saturday. Up to 45 minutes will be required to ensure all points are counted correctly and ties examined before the awards ceremony can proceed so please bear with us during this time. We appreciate people will be trying to leave quickly so will try to organize the award ceremony as soon after the meet ends as possible. During the awards ceremony coaches, parents and visitors are asked to be respectful to the announcer. All visitors are welcome to cheer for their athletes; however, a general rule is not to support them too loudly as this may cause offence to others. Swimmers are requested not to carry banners onto the podium with them and to wear suitable clothing for the ceremony.

Important Remarks

• The Meet program will be issued on Thursday, April 15th, 2025, no later than 8:00 p.m. to all teams – it is the responsibility of the teams to disseminate the Meet program to all swimmers' families. Please note that there will be no program for sale on the meet day.
• Except for backstroke events and the relays, over-the-top starts will be used throughout the entire meet.
• No delay will be factored into the meet for prayer time. We aim to finish in a timely manner to allow volunteers to go to Friday prayers, but this is dependent on a number of factors including speed of the meet.
• Penalty may be applied for volunteers that do not show up or arrive late. This may include deduction of 10 points from the team per volunteer. PLEASE NOTE THIS IS IMPORTANT AND NOT FAIR TO OTHER TEAMS