Prospective Club Membership Information
The 2023 membership season begins on September 1, 2022
SWIMS 3.0 will go live on 9/1/2022. With that change, we will no longer handle registration through batch files and paper. All clubs should have received information over the last few months about the change, and there are several good resources for navigating the new system.
USA Swimming has two pages built. One to assist Clubs and LSC Leaders, and another to show the new Online Member Registration Process.
Those pages may also be found by navigating to usaswimming.org, clicking About, and selecting Online Member Registration or SWIMS Database.
Contact the NC Swimming Registrar if you have any questions or need further guidance on the registration process at registration@ncswim.org.
2023 Membership Fees and Information
NOTE: All Athlete and Non-Athlete fees will be paid online through the USA Swimming website upon registration. Clubs and Organizations will pay the USA Swimming portion of their registration ($70) through the USA Swimming website, and will be invoiced by the Registrar for the NC Swimming portion of that registration ($25).
Athletes:
Premium – Unrestricted Membership – $78
Outreach – Unrestricted Discounted Membership for Qualified athletes – $5
Seasonal (Individual Season) – Restricted to meets at or below the LSC Championship level – $40
Flex – Restricted to 12 and Under – No more than two sanctioned meets below the LSC
Single Meet – This option is used only for Unattached swimmers for an Open Water Competition – $20
Non-Athletes – Please be sure to register for ALL categories that apply to you. The USA Swimming fee will only apply one time.
Coach – $78 – All coaches except Junior Coaches (16 and 17 years old) will select this option.
Official – $78 – All officials, including Admin Officials, will select this option.
Other – $78 – Meet Directors, Chaperones, and any with frequent/direct contact with athletes (other than coach/official) will need this.
Administrator – $30 – Used only for New category members who fall under the amendment to the USA Swimming corporate bylaws, i.e., club board members, non-coach employees, webmaster, treasurer, club registrar. It does not apply to anyone that is a coach, official, chaperone, meet director, or has frequent/direct contact with athletes.
Unattached members – Any member wishing to register with USA Swimming that is not affiliated with a USA Swimming Member Club, may email registration@ncswim.org to request information about how to register.
Outreach Please be sure to collect and have the parent upload upon registration or send to me a copy of a Free or Reduced Lunch letter, first two pages of the tax return, or similar documentation.
Transfers – To transfer any membership (athlete or non-athlete), please initiate your transfer using the option in SWIMS. Click here to learn more.
Upgrades – Athletes and non-athletes with eligible registration (Flex or Seasonal for Athlete/Administrator for Non-Athlete) can upgrade using the option in SWIMS. Click here to learn more.
Coach Membership Requirements Checklist
The following items must be submitted to the North Carolina Swimming Registrar whenever completed or updated (registration@ncswim.org):
- Your valid CPR certification
- Your valid Lifeguarding or In-Water Skills Checklist
- Your STSC Online certificate
- Concussion Protocol Training certificate
The remaining items, which include the Background Check, APT, and Foundations of Coaching, will automatically match your record, assuming the information entered matches in both places. To ensure that items have been matched, look at your Dashboard, USA Swimming App, or the Membership Status report (found under the governance tab). If items are missing, you should contact your club registrar and the North Carolina Swimming Registrar to help sort out what’s wrong.
Clubs: All clubs will need to specify their Club Admin. The Club Admin will be given access to the new Club Portal and have permissions to set up the club roles (Head Coaches, Board Members, etc.), renew the club, and much more.
Organizations: Organizations are what Leagues register as. They will be treated the same way as clubs, and will need to set an Admin to renew the organization.
To: USA Swimming Members 17 years and older, LSC General Chairs, LSC Administrative Vice-Chairs, LSC Offices, LSC Staff, LSC Safe Sport Chairs, LSC Registration Chairs, Club Contacts, Club Presidents and Club Head Coaches.
Since 2019, USA Swimming adult athlete members have been required to complete Athlete Protection Training (APT) as a requirement of membership. In 2019, USA Swimming built in an administrative grace period to give athletes 30 days after their 18th birthday to complete the requirement. Effective September 1, 2022, there will no longer be a 30-day administrative grace period. Going forward, any 17-year-old athlete who has not completed the APT requirement by their 18th birthday will not be a USA Swimming member in good standing unless or until the APT requirement is completed. This includes eligibility to compete in USA Swimming sanctioned meets, club practices and all other related activities. Athletes will continue to receive an email notification reminder of the APT requirement 30 days prior to their 18th birthday as well as a reminder on their 18th birthday.
All USA Swimming members aged 18 years old and older are required to complete APT annually. This is the individual’s responsibility and includes both athlete and non-athlete members.
To learn more about the upcoming changes to your membership, please visit the SWIMS Resource Hub link below.
At its April 24, 2020, meeting, the USA Swimming Board of Directors approved amendments to the USA Swimming Corporate Bylaws. Two amendments directly impact member club administration.
First, Bylaw 2.6.6 was amended to extend the requirement of non-athlete membership in USA Swimming to all individuals serving on the board of directors of member clubs. Please note this amendment has an immediate effective date. All USA Swimming member clubs are expected to comply with this expectation as a condition of membership in USA Swimming. In addition, Clubs should work with the LSC to ensure all members of its club board of directors are USA Swimming non-athlete members in good standing.
Second, Bylaw 2.6.12 was amended to require all USA Swimming member clubs to have either (i) at least one member coach plus a board of directors or other governing board; or (ii) at least two member coaches. This is to ensure there are at least two adult authorities at each member club for communication and accountability purposes. Please note this amendment has an effective date of January 1, 2021.
At its May 7, 2021 meeting, due to a change mandated by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, the USA Swimming Board of Directors voted to amend Corporate Bylaw 2.6.6, which specifies those individuals required to be non-athlete members of USA Swimming.
Effective September 1, 2021, all employees (e.g., staff, interns, etc.) and individuals serving on the board of directors of USA Swimming, Zones, Local Swimming Committees (LSCs) and member clubs must be non-athlete members of USA Swimming. Previously, as it relates to employees, only those who interact directly and frequently with athletes were required to be non-athlete members of USA Swimming. Now, all employees of USA Swimming, LSCs and member clubs must be non-athlete members of USA Swimming regardless of whether they interact directly and frequently with athletes. Additionally, all volunteers of USA Swimming, Zones, LSCs and member clubs who interact directly and frequently with or have authority over athletes as a regular part of their duties are also required to be non-athlete members of USA Swimming.
Note this does not apply to volunteers such as timers, marshals, computer operators, etc., who only have limited contact with athletes during a meet.
Please contact safesport@usaswimming.org with any questions regarding this important change. For more information, please attend one of the MAAPP 2.0 Informational webinars on August 9, 2021 and August 26, 2021.
Updated on 9/9/2021:
On July 15, 2021, you received a communication announcing all employees and individuals serving on the board of directors of USA Swimming Zones, Local Swimming Committees (LSCs) and member clubs must be non-athlete members of USA Swimming. Since then, we have received numerous inquiries about how this requirement applies to institutionally-owned clubs. USA Swimming has been working with the U.S. Center for SafeSport in an attempt to be able to provide guidance to institutionally-owned clubs. To date, we continue this effort but do not have full guidance to provide.
As a result, USA Swimming is extending the implementation date of this requirement to January 1, 2022. We anticipate being able to provide full guidance to clubs, LSCs and members in advance of this new deadline. Please look forward to receiving further communications from USA Swimming on this matter.
Please note, all individuals who have direct and frequent contact with, or who have authority over, athletes are required to be non-athlete members of USA Swimming. For any questions or concerns, please contact safesport@usaswimming.org.
