Rules

These are the rules for ISL Season 3. The full rules for Season 4 will be published soon.

COMPETITION INFORMATION

1. Team & Technical Information

• 1.1. 10 clubs
  • 1) Aqua Centurions
  • 2) Cali Condors
  • 3) DC Trident
  • 4) Energy Standard
  • 5) Iron
  • 6) LA Current
  • 7) London Roar
  • 8) NY Breakers
  • 9) Tokyo Frog Kings
  • 10) Toronto Titans
• 1.2. Each club will have 1 captain & 1 vice-captain; they have to be of different gender.
• 1.3. The minimum size of each club’s roster is 28 swimmers (12W & 12M), while the maximum size is 36 (18W & 18M).
• 1.4. During the ISL Regular Season Camp | Playoffs Camp | Final Match, the maximum number of swimmers per club on-site is 32.
• 1.5. A swimmer is not bound to compete in a certain [minimum] number of matches during the season.
• 1.6. A Club may sign an under 18 y.o. swimmer, after communicating such potential to the ISL and receiving relevant approval.
• 1.7. The maximum size of each club’s competing roster is 28 athletes (14W & 14M). Out of the 28 athletes, 4 athletes (2W & 2M) are to be considered substitutes and can only swim relays. Those 4 athletes can swim individual events only in the case of another athlete being certified by the match doctor as ill and / or incapable of swimming for the second day of the match. More specifically, if a swimmer falls ills or is injured on Day 1, then after the doctor’s certification, a substitute swimmer may replace that swimmer for Day 2. A substitute swimmer cannot replace another swimmer on the same day. If there is a substitution, it must be declared 90’ before the start of Day 2. If a team has 26 athletes (13M & 13W), then only 2 (1M & 1W) are to be considered substitutes. The match substitutes must be declared when the club’s head coach provides the first official [not-final] lineup to ISL, the day before the Match at 19:00; after that moment, there cannot be any changes to the substitutes. If there is a certified substitution, the club cannot bring in a new substitute to replace the substitute swimmer that went on to replace the ill/injured swimmer.
• 1.8. Each match day will be split in 3 sessions, which will have 2 breaks in between. Each session has a block of events. The line-ups for the 1st day of the match must be provided to the organization before 19:00 on the day prior to the start of the match. The teams must confirm the line-ups 90 minutes before the start of the first day of the match. After that point, no changes for session 1 will be allowed. The teams will be allowed to submit changes twice during the day and before each break. The line-ups for the 2nd day of the match must be provided to the organization before 19:00 on the day prior to the start of Day 2 of the match, unless another timeline is provided by the organization due to relevant end time of Day 1. The teams must confirm the line-ups 90 minutes before the start of the second day of the match.
• 1.9. 2 athletes will compete per event per club. 2 relay teams will compete per relay event per club.
• 1.10. Lane assignment for all individual and relay events:
  • 1) On Day 1, the 4 teams competing will be assigned to the lanes according to ISL 2020 club rankings:
    – Top ranked team (of the 4 competing in the match) will swim in lanes 3 & 4
    – 2nd ranked team (from the 4 competing in the match) will swim in lanes 5 & 6
    – 3rd ranked team (from the 4 competing in the match) will swim in lanes 1 & 2
    – 4th ranked team (from the 4 competing in the match) will swim in lanes 7 & 8.
  • 2) On Day 2 of each match, lane assignment will be changed and as follows:
    – Lanes 1 & 2: Team which was ranked 3rd on Day 1
    – Lanes 3 & 4: Team which was ranked 1st on Day 1
    – Lanes 5 & 6: Team which was ranked 2nd on Day 1
    – Lanes 7 & 8: Team which was ranked 4th on Day 1
• 1.11. Jackpot rule
  • 1) If the winner of a race is ahead of one or more athletes or team(s) in his/her/their race by a margin bigger than the jackpot time, the points of these athletes/teams are awarded to the winner of the race. Theoretically, the winner of the race that out-touches all of their opponents by more than the jackpot time, they can earn 37 points in an individual race (individual jackpot), 74 points in a relay (relay jackpot) and 85 points in a skin race, if he/she manages to out-touch all of his/her opponents in all three stages by more than the jackpot time (triple jackpot). In case of individual or relay jackpot, all three other clubs receive 0 points for the race. In case an athlete fails to show up for a race or gets disqualified, the winner of the race will be awarded with his/her points and that swimmer will receive 0 points and his/her club will receive a penalty according to the “penalties” table. The jackpot times are found on the table on the following page:
    
• 1.12. New rules on certain events
  • 1) 400m freestyle: This event provides a total of 53 points (instead of 37). There will be a checkpoint at the 100m mark, where the top 5 swimmers of the event at that moment will have the opportunity to score:
    i) 6 points
    ii) 4 points
    iii) 3 points
    iv) 2 points
    v) 1 pointbr
    There will not be a cutoff time at the checkpoint but there will be a jackpot time, which is found earlier on the Jackpot Times table. If at end of the event, a swimmer is jackpotted (at the 400m finish), then if that swimmer had earned any points at the 100m checkpoint, he / she loses those points to the relevant swimmer(s) that passed the 100m checkpoint after him / her.
  • 2) 400m IM: This event provides a total of 53 points (instead of 37). There will be a checkpoint at the 200m mark, where the top 5 swimmers of the event at that moment will have the opportunity to score:

    i) 6 points
    ii) 4 points
    iii) 3 points
    iv) 2 points
    v) 1 pointbr
    There will not be a cutoff time at the checkpoint but there will be a jackpot time, which is found earlier on the Jackpot Times table. If at end of the event, a swimmer is jackpotted (at the 400m finish), then if that swimmer had earned any points at the 200m checkpoint, he / she loses those points to the relevant swimmer(s) that passed the 200m checkpoint after him / her.

  • 3) Stroke selection in Skins races: Shortly after the completion of Day 1 of the Match there will be a selection process to nominate the stroke of the Skins races. The process shall start with identifying the three top Women’s and three top Men’s ISL teams, which shall be chosen based on the aggregate number of points achieved by their respective squads in the Women’s and Men’s 4x100m medley relay events. Should there be a tie in the aggregate number of points achieved by two ISL teams, the team whose squad was placed higher in the 4x100m medley relay event shall be nominated to participate or, in case of a tie between any of the three best teams, have an advantage, in the selection process. The Stroke selection in Skins races shall be determined by respective teams’ representatives for Women’s and Men’s races, as follows:
    – First, the representative of the team that has gained the third-highest number of aggregate relay points chooses the stroke to be excluded from the four potential strokes;
    – Second, the representative of the team that has gained the second-highest number of aggregate relay points chooses the stroke that shall be excluded from the remaining three potential strokes;
    – Finally, the representative of the team that has gained the highest number of aggregate relay points chooses the stroke that they wish to select for the Skins race between the two remaining strokes available for selection. 4*100m mixed relay: In 2021, the 4*100m mixed relay event will be changed from freestyle to medley.
• 1.13. VAR – Video Assistant Referee
  1) In order to minimize human error in disqualification occasions of race starts and relay exchanges, each Head Coach will have the right to request for a VAR review if one or more of their athletes / relay squads are disqualified. Each Head Coach, who will be the sole person with the right to make such appeal against a disqualification, can only request up to 2 reviews per day and a total of 4 reviews per match. The VAR does not apply to requesting a review of an alleged disqualification.
• 1.14. Skin races’ rounds will be conducted every 3’ and the athletes will return behind the blocks after rounds 1 & 2:
  • – 1st Round 8 athletes
  • – 2nd Round 4 athletes
  • – Final Round 2 athletes

  In backstroke skins, the athletes must exit the pool as well. The “eliminated” athletes will return to their team’s area. The qualified athletes cannot use any pool to cool down between rounds and they must exit the pool within 30” after the end of the relevant round (1 or 2). The lanes that the qualified athletes will use will be according to their team’s lane assignment for the day. For instance, if a team is using lanes 7 & 8 for the day, then a qualified to the second round athlete of that team will use either lane 5 (if his / her teammate is qualified, who will use lane 6) or lane 6.

• 1.15. The 4*50 medley mixed relay will only be held if two or more teams tie in points at the end of the match.
• 1.16. The scoring for each event will be as follows:
  • – 1st place 9 points
  • – 2nd place 7 points
  • – 3rd place 6 points
  • – 4th place 5 points
  • – 5th place 4 points
  • – 6th place 3 points
  • – 7th place 2 points
  • – 8th place 1 point

  Relay races will score double points.
  Skin races scoring will be as following:

  • 1) The first round of the skins shall be treated as a normal race, with points distributed to the teams, with jackpot times and cutoff times rules at play (for cutoff times, see table later in the document). 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points are distributed among the eight athletes. If there is a tie for 4th place, all tied swimmers advance to Round 2, however, in Round 2 only top 4 are awarded with points.
  • 2) The second round of the skins shall be treated as a normal race, with points distributed to the teams, with jackpot times, but no cutoff times at play. 9, 7, 6, 5 points are distributed among the four athletes. If there is a tie for 2nd place, all tied swimmers advance to the Final Round, however, in the Final Round only top 2 are awarded with points.
  • 3) The final round of the skins shall be treated as a normal race, with points distributed to the teams, with jackpot times, but no cutoff times at play. 14, 7 points are distributed among the two athletes.
  • 4) The points from the skins event towards a swimmer’s MVP points are 50% of what the swimmer accumulated from the skins event overall (all 3 rounds).
  • 5) Skin races are not pre-determined. The selection process is defined above in 1)l)iii). If the Head Coach of the winning club, who is eligible to choose the stroke of the skins race on Day 2, does not provide the stroke of choice to the organization within 1’ after his / her designated selection moment, then the organization will choose the stroke out of the remaining options.
  • – Winner of the skins race overall event will be the swimmer with most accumulated points.
  • – In the Final Round
    • – if a swimmer is disqualified (DSQ), he/she still receives the points he/she accumulated in rounds 1 and 2,
    • – if both swimmers are DSQ, their clubs will receive the relevant penalties and they will race again, in order to determine the winner of the round and to distribute the relevant points of the round. If one of the swimmers is DSQ again, the club will again receive the relevant penalty and the winner will receive all relevant points for the final round. The race(s) will again be conducted on 3’.
• 1.17. The club scoring at the end of each match will be as follows:
  • – 1st place 4 points
  • – 2nd place 3 points
  • – 3rd place 2 points
  • – 4th place 1 point
• 1.18. Regular Season Format (11 Matches)
  • 1) Each of the 10 clubs will compete 4 times, during the first 10 matches. The regular season match schedule will be made available to the clubs’ General Managers.
  • 2) After the 10 matches, the 7th to 10th ranked clubs will have one more match towards qualification for the Playoffs.
• 1.19. Qualification from Regular Season to Playoffs
  • 1) After the first 10 of the 11 Regular Season matches, the top 6 teams go straight to Playoffs.
  • 2) There will be an 11th match between the 7th to 10th ranked teams after the first 10 Regular Season matches, out of which the top 2 teams will qualify for the Playoffs.
• 1.20. Playoffs Format (6 matches)
  • 1) Each of the 8 clubs will compete 3 times.
  • 2) There will be 2 draws that will define 4 pairs:
    • – Pair 1: 1st team with 7th or 8th team (draw #1; to define which of the two)
    • – Pair 2: 2nd team with 7th or 8th team (depending on draw #1)
    • – Pair 3: 3rd team with 5th or 6th team (draw #2; to define which of the two)
    • – Pair 4: 4th team with 5th or 6th team (depending on draw #2)
  • 3) Playoff Match ups:
    • Pair 1 vs Pair 2
    • Pair 3 vs Pair 4
    • Pair 1 vs Pair 4
    • Pair 2 vs Pair 3
    • Pair 1 vs Pair 3/li>
    • Pair 2 vs Pair 4

    The Playoff match schedule will be made available to the clubs’ General Managers.

  • 4) Club scoring restarts at Playoffs (Playoff Rankings). Regular Season ranking is not carried over to the Playoffs.
  • 5) Top 4 from the Playoff Rankings advance to the Final match.
• 1.21 If two or more clubs are tied in club scoring cumulative points at the end of the regular season or the Playoffs, towards qualification for the Playoffs or the Final, no medley relay swim-off will be used to break such tie. The following tie breakers will be used (if not i, then ii; if not i or ii, then iii; if not i or ii or iii, then iv):
  • 1. Result between the teams; total of club scoring points in matches where these teams participated together. If such tie breaker is for qualification towards the Final, then Regular Season (the 10 matches, not the 11th Match) is taken into account as well.
  • Total number of event wins in the relevant phase of the season (individual and relay swims).
  • Total match points from all matches in the relevant phase of the season.
  • If the tie cannot be broken by the above, then there will be a draw to determine the team to qualify.

  If two or more clubs tie on the 11th match of the Regular Season towards qualification to the Playoffs, then the 4*50 medley relay will be used to break the tie.

• 1.22 If a swimmer, in any given individual event, is slower than the respective times seen on the table on the following page, then the swimmer’s club will receive a penalty of -1 point (minus 1). The swimmer and his/her club will still receive the relevant point(s) his/her place refers to. If the swimmer is outside the jackpot time as well, then his/her point(s) go(es) to the race winner.If a relay team, in any given relay event, is slower than the respective relay times seen on the table on the following page, then the team’s club will receive a penalty of -2 points (minus 2). The team and their club will still receive the relevant points their place refers to. If the team is outside the jackpot time as well, then their points go to the race winner.
  See table below:

  

• 1.23 Penalties
  • 1. If a swimmer, in any given individual event, does not appear (DNS) for a race, then the swimmer will receive 0 points at all point systems (rating, club points, MVP points, prize money points), the race winner would receive his/her points at all point systems and his/her club will receive a penalty of -4 points (minus 4).
  • 2. If a swimmer, in any given individual event, does not finish (DNF) the race or is disqualified, then the swimmer will receive 0 points at all point systems (rating, club points, MVP points, prize money points), the race winner would receive his/her points at all point systems and his/her club will receive a penalty of -2 points (minus 2).
  • 3. If a relay team, in any given relay event, does not appear (DNS) for a race, then the team will receive 0 points at all point systems (rating for the four members, club points, MVP points for the four members, prize money points for the four members), the race winner would receive their points at all point systems and their club will receive a penalty of -8 points (minus 8).
  • 4. If a relay team, in any given relay event, does not finish (DNF) the race or is disqualified, then the team will receive 0 points at all point systems (rating for the four members, club points, MVP points for the four members, prize money points for the four members), the race winner would receive their points at all point systems and their club will receive a penalty of -4 points (minus 4).
  • 5. If a swimmer, in the first round of the 50m skin race event, does not appear (DNS) for the race, then the swimmer will receive 0 points at all point systems (rating, club points, MVP points, prize money points), the race winner would receive his/her points at all point systems and his/her club will receive a penalty of -4 points (minus 4).
  • 6. If a swimmer, in the second round of the 50m skin race event, does not appear (DNS) for the race, then the swimmer will receive 0 points at all point systems (rating, club points, MVP points, prize money points), the race winner would receive his/her points at all point systems and his/her club will receive a penalty of -8 points (minus 8).
  • 7. If a swimmer, in the final round of the 50m skin race event, does not appear (DNS) for the race, then the swimmer will receive 0 points at all point systems (rating, club points, MVP points, prize money points), the race winner would receive his/her points at all point systems and his/her club will receive a penalty of -12 points (minus 12).
  • 8. If a swimmer, in the first round of the 50m skin race event, does not finish (DNF) the race or is disqualified, then the swimmer will receive 0 points at all point systems (rating, club points, MVP points, prize money points), the race winner would receive his/her points at all point systems and his/her club will receive a penalty of -2 points (minus 2).
  • 9. If a swimmer, in the second round of the 50m skin race event, does not finish (DNF) the race or is disqualified, then the swimmer will receive 0 points at all point systems (rating, club points, MVP points, prize money points), the race winner would receive his/her points at all point systems and his/her club will receive a penalty of -4 points (minus 4).
  • 10. If a swimmer, in the final round of the 50m skin race event, does not finish (DNF) the race or is disqualified, then the swimmer will receive 0 points at all point systems (rating, club points, MVP points, prize money points), the race winner would receive his/her points at all point systems and his/her club will receive a penalty of -6 points (minus 6).

2. Ethics Panel

For any unethical behavior from a swimmer competing in a match, an ethics panel will be formed, which will make all relevant decisions as to how the swimmer and/ or the club may be reprimanded or sanctioned in any way.
The following are considered unethical behaviors:

• – manipulating the result of a race (e.g. swimming too slow intentionally, which may affect the result of a following race in the match),
• – fighting on the field of play (FOP),
• – any form of harassment,
• – disrespecting officials, fellow athletes, fellow team members, fans,
• – any form of discrimination,
• – any other form of inappropriate behavior.

In addition, on-purpose lack of disclosing of any of the above-mentioned behaviors, shall also be subject to a form of reprimand or sanction.
If such actions are caused by club members, relevant decisions may be made by the organization.

3. Prize Money

• 3.1. Individual events scoring
  • 1) 6 points – 1st place
  • 2) 4 points – 2nd place
  • 3) 2 points – 3rd place
  • 4) 1 point – 4th place
  • 5) 0.5 point – 5th place
  • 6) 0.25 point – 6th place
• 3.2. Relay events; the points are distributed equally amongst the four members of the relay squad
  • 1) 12 points – 1st place (3 per squad member)
  • 2) 8 points – 2nd place (2 per squad member)
  • 3) 4 points – 3rd place (1 per squad member)
  • 4) 2 points – 4th place (0.5 per squad member)
  • 5) 1 point – 5th place (0.25 per squad member)
  • 6) 0.5 point – 6th place (0.125 per squad member)
• 3.3 400m events checkpoint prize money:
  • 1) 3 points – 1st place
  • 2) 2 points – 2nd place
  • 3) 1 point – 3rd place
  • 4) 0.5 point – 4th place
• 3.4 If a swimmer or relay squad is jackpotted at the end of an event and they have finished within the first 6 places, then they will receive 50% of the prize money points and the rest 50% will go to the winner of the race.
  If a swimmer or relay squad is jackpotted and outside of the cutoff time, then this swimmer’s or squad’s prize money is not awarded to anyone.
• 3.5 Skins events
  • Round 1
    • 6 points – 1st place
    • 4 points – 2nd place
    • 2 points – 3rd place
    • 1 point – 4th place
    • 0.5 point – 5th place
    • 0.25 point – 6th place
  • Round 2
    • 6 points – 1st place
    • 4 points – 2nd place
    • 2 points – 3rd place
    • 1 point – 4th place
  • Round 3
    • 12 points – 1st place
    • 4 points – 2nd place
  • 4. Events & Schedule