Amateurism and Eligibility Policy

College Club Swimming was founded to provide a competitive and inclusive environment for collegiate swimmers in a non-varsity and non-professional setting. In the interest of maintaining a healthy competitive environment for its membership, CCS will adhere to its own policy for amateurism and eligibility for its membership and participation in championship meets as defined below:

  1. For individuals:
    1. Athletes MAY NOT be on a university varsity roster (i.e., NCAA, NAIA) in the concurrent school year that they are registered as a CCS swimmer.
      1. Athletes who have exhausted their varsity eligibility but are not in violation of other policies are still eligible for full CCS participation.
      2. Athletes who are suspended or have lost eligibility from their national collegiate organization for misconduct, criminal acts, or other similar charges and/or offenses are ineligible to become a CCS member.
    2. Athletes MUST be amateur competitive swimmers or non-professional competitive swimmers.
    3. Athletes MAY NOT be signed with an agent or entity for the purpose of promoting or developing their competitive swimming career.
    4. Athletes MAY NOT receive income, compensation, or other benefits direct or indirect, from entities not affiliated with their associated university in exchange for:
      1. Promotion of product(s) related to competitive swimming
      2. Participation in activities related to competitive swimming
      3. As incentives for competitive swimming performance
      This includes but is not limited to:
      1. National Team participation and stipends in the current or previous CCS membership year.
      2. National Olympic Committee awards and stipends.
      3. Participation in professional swim circuits in the current or previous CCS membership year, such as but not limited to: AQUA World Championships, International Swimming League (ISL), or Pro Swim Series.
      4. Individual sponsorship by a corporation in exchange for promotion, participation, or performance in activities related to competitive swimming.
    5. Athletes MAY receive income, compensation, or other benefits direct or indirect, for their own name, image, and likeness in self-created forms of media and products, or for promotion, participation, and performance unrelated to competitive swimming. Examples include:
      1. Revenue generated from personal vlogs or blogs of the competitive swimming experience.
      2. Sponsorship by third-party entities for ventures outside of competitive swimming.
      3. A job.
    6. Athletes MAY receive income, compensation, or other benefits direct or indirect, from activities within their own club. CCS will not police the benefits and compensation delivered by each individual CCS club. However, CCS will encourage and enforce the spirit of non-varsity and non-professional competition.
    7. Any athlete found in conflict with the above guidelines will be deemed INELIGIBLE for CCS membership. Ineligible athletes will not:
      1. Have an associated CCS ID.
      2. Have their times stored in the CCS database.
      3. Be eligible for CCS Records and recognition.
      4. Be eligible to participate in CCS Championship Meets including Regional Championships and National Championships.
      This does not exclude the athlete from membership in their individual clubs. It will be up to the discretion of meet hosts to determine if ineligible CCS athletes may place or score at their respective competitions. This also does not exclude athletes from swimming recognized times for other governing bodies.
    8. CCS recognizes that there are exceptional cases and will make eligibility decisions within the context of those cases based on the guidelines above and the CCS mission and values.
  2. For Clubs:
    1. Clubs may not be recognized by any other national collegiate athletic governing bodies such as the NCAA, NAIA, or similar organizations. Clubs may be recognized by USMS, USA Swimming, or other club swimming governing bodies.
    2. Clubs may negotiate their own sponsorships with outside entities as allowed by their respective universities. However, any compensation or benefits derived from such partnerships must be directed to the Club as an entity and benefit its entire membership body, and not towards any specific individual(s) and/or athlete(s). Compensation and benefits may also not be tied directly to performance at any CCS-sanctioned competitions.
  3. Violations and Sanctions:
    1. Individuals found in violation of the Amateurism and Eligibility Policy may face disciplinary action from the Advisory Board through one or more of the following:
      1. Exhibition; suspension; or outright ban from CCS Championship Meets
      2. Suspension or outright ban from CCS Membership. Any swim times achieved by a suspended athlete during a suspension period will NOT be included in the CCS database.
      3. CCS may impose a fine on an individual.
    2. Clubs found in purposeful and/or repeated violation of the Amateurism and Eligibility Policy, or purposeful harboring of ineligible individuals, may be sanctioned through one or more of the following:
      1. Minimum fine of $100 on the club.
      2. Suspension for one or more seasons from participating in CCS Championship Meets.
      3. Suspension of CCS-recognition.
      4. Multiple-year suspension from CCS participation.