USA SWIMMING – LET’S BREAK IT DOWN
USA Swimming is the governing body for the sport of swimming in the United States. It
has over 400,000 members! Understanding how USA Swimming is organized can be
confusing. Let’s break it down into its several parts, or levels. Going from general to
specific, the following are the different levels:
The National Governing Body (NGB) operates at the national level. It is responsible for
nearly all aspects of USA Swimming, and swimming in the United States in general. Its
most important responsibility is to set the rules for the sport of swimming in the United
States.
The Zone operates at the regional level. Within USA Swimming, there are 4 Zones:
Eastern, Southern, Central and Western. The Zone’s primary task is to operate Zone
and Sectional meets and facilitate conversation between Local Swimming Committees
(LSCs) in the same region. It is also a way for the LSCs to create a bigger regional
voice. The San Marino Tsunamis are in the Western Zone.
The Local Swimming Committee (LSC) operates at the state level. There are 17 LSCs
in the Western Zone. An LSC is typically responsible for an entire state; however, there
are several bigger states (e.g. California, Texas, Pennsylvania, among others) that have
multiple LSCs within their boundaries. The San Marino Tsunamis are part of the
Southern California Swimming LSC (the largest LSC in the USA in terms of number
of swimmers!)
A Section operates at the local level. There are six Sections in the Southern California
Swimming LSC. The San Marino Tsunamis belong to the Metro Section.
A Member Team is a group of swimmers, parents, coaches and volunteers who come
together with the common goal of promoting, and competing in, the sport of swimming.
Every member team is governed by the rules of its LSC. The Metro Section has over 30
member teams. Our team is the San Marino Tsunamis!
So, the San Marino Tsunamis is a Member Team in the Metro Section, which is part of
the Southern California Swimming LSC, which is in the Western Zone of the United
States!
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