South African Masters Swimming

SAMS Colours

Qualifying Criteria

 

NB
The Colours referred to in this document are SAMS Colours and NOT South African Colours.
SAMS sets the qualifying criteria for these SAMS Colours and NOT Swimming South Africa NOR the South African Government Department of Sport and Recreation.

 

Preface:

Each year, in about the April - July time frame, FINA publishes a list of the Masters top 10 reported performances in the world for the previous calendar year for all FINA Masters recognized age groups and events, both long and short course. When this occurs SAMS extracts the 10th fastest times from this list and publishes these times in a table which is used by SAMS as a basis for the awarding of SAMS Colours for the new 01 May - 30 April season. If any time is slower than the previously tabled time then the previous time is retained. i.e. No slower time replaces a previous faster time and the qualifying times can only get faster or remain the same.

For South African Masters Open Water Swimming only the 3Km event is recognised. An Open Water table is published each season where the qualifying time is calculated by multiplying the qualifying time for the long course 1500m freestyle pool event in the above mentioned table by a factor that is determined by SAMS (currently 2.23) and rounded to the second. SAMS decides which Open Water events they will sanction and whether the event actually met their requirements (e.g. length and layout of course, water current, etc.).
Note: SAMS’ approval is subject to the event satisfying both the “Rules for Sanctioned Events” as published on the web by SSA as well as SAMS’ "Checklist for 3Km Open Water Swim" as published on the web by SAMS. It should be further noted that even if the open water swim is a FINA Masters event or an event sanctioned by SSA yet fails to meet SAMS’ checklist criteria, the event shall be rejected as a qualifying event for colours.

 

Qualifying:

In order to qualify for the award of SAMS Colours all 3 of either of the following discipline relevant requirements must be fulfilled:

Pool:

  1. You must have achieved a time that equals or betters the time in the current SAMS table as described in the above preface. This time must have been recorded to 1/100th of a second either by Electronic Timing Device (ETD) touchpad or by 3 (three) electronic stopwatches in which case the middle time is used.
  2. At the time that you achieved the qualifying time you must have been:
    1. a South African Citizen or have been granted South African Permanent Residence status (i.e. At the time you must have been in possession of a VALID South African Identity Document that showed your 13 digit RSA ID Number and indicated your status as Citizen or Permanent Resident.) and
    2. a properly registered and paid-up member, for the relevant season (01 May to 30 April), of a South African Masters Swimming Club that is affiliated to SAMS and
    3. representing the above Club in the Gala/Meet and
    4. competing in a Masters Gala/Meet, or in a Heat or Event in a Gala/Meet where the Heat or Event has only Masters participants in it.
  3. You must have competed in a minimum of 3 (or be competing in your 3rd) SAMS National Long Course Championships.

Open Water:

  1. Twice during the same season (01 May to 30 April) you must have achieved a time that equals or betters the time in the current SAMS table as described in the above preface. This time must have been recorded to 1 second by the organizers of the Swim.
  2. At the time you achieved the qualifying time you must have been:
    1. a South African Citizen or have been granted South African Permanent Residence status (i.e. At the time you must have been in possession of a VALID South African Identity Document that showed your 13 digit RSA ID Number and indicated your status as Citizen or Permanent Resident.) and
    2. a properly registered and paid-up member, for the relevant season (01 May to 30 April), of a South African Masters Swimming Club that is affiliated to SAMS and
    3. representing the above Club in the Open Water Swim and
    4. competing in a SAMS sanctioned and accepted Open Water Swim. (See conditions in the above preface.)
  3. You must have competed in a minimum of 3 (or be competing in your 3rd) SAMS National Long Course Championships (in either the Pool or Open Water events).

For both Pool and Open Water disciplines: If you have fulfilled requirements 1 and 2 but not 3, your qualifying details will be kept on record until you have fulfilled requirement 3, at which time you will be awarded your colours for the season in which you fulfilled requirements 1 and 2.

 

Applying:

It is your responsibility to ensure that your SAMS Colours qualifying time is submitted correctly.

Pool:

If you are swimming in a Masters Gala/Meet in South Africa, the task of applying for your SAMS colours is normally done for you by the gala organizers, but you should check with them to make sure.

If you are swimming in a Masters Gala/Meet outside of South Africa, or swimming in a separate Masters Event in a Non-Masters Gala/Meet, you need to do the following:

This form must be completed and submitted to the SAMS Records Officer for ratification of the colours qualification.

Open Water:

You must obtain a copy of the official results of the Swim and have them signed by your Club President/Chairperson. Once your two qualifying swims have been completed for the season you must complete this application form, sign it and have it signed by your Club President/Chairperson who will first verify that you met the qualifying requirements. The application form and the signed copies of both of the official results must be forwarded to the SAMS Open Water Swimming Representative for ratification of your colours qualification.