SEP 2015 Constitution Amendments

Amendments to IISA Constitution     SEP-2015

1. Vision and Mission
   • The board is satisfied that IISA vision as published on the IISA home page remains accurate, relevant and appropriate.
   • Olympic Games goal is a prime mission, albeit part of IISA vision - IISA vision is broader, as stated.
   • IISA mission next winter 2015/2016 is to have 10 countries hosting a national or regional 1km IISA event.
   • IISA mission for the 2016/17 season to introduce World Cup swim series in selected 5 countries each and every year
   • IISA mission for 2018 is to have a demonstration 1km swim in the Winter Olympic games South Korea
   • IISA invite countries to approach IISA to hosting such events – effect immediately
   • IISA have developed a substantial knowledge base through its members’ swims and its experience. Therefore, IISA encourages everyone to follow IISA rules in any Icy swim or other very cold water adventures.

2. Swim Distances
   • IISA official distances are 1mile and 1km
   • IISA qualifying distances are from 450m and longer
   • IISA welcomes and encourages swimmers to start with shorter distances as an entry level training for IISA events or the ICE Mile
   • IISA doesn’t accredit swimmers with distances shorter than 1km. Swimmer/Members are however encouraged to add their shorter swims (completed under IISA rules!) in their BIO as other or qualifying swim.

3. Water Temperatures
   • IISA retain one simple water temp qualifier
     • Water must be 5C or less using at least 3 thermometers
     • IISA is aware of the levels of difficulty added to a swim as temp drop from 5C, to 0C, however, it assumes the same level of safety and risk management for all temperatures, regardless.

4. ICE Miles
   • ICE Mile is a personal challenge and achievement – It is considered IISA-EVEREST
   • IISA introduces three new tiers in ICE Miles achievements:
     • 1-4 ICE Miles         - ICE
     • 5-9 ICE Miles         - ICE 5+ [a new badge awarded]
     • 10+ ICE Miles         - ICE 10+ [a new badge awarded]
     • etc… every 5 ICE miles
     • The new levels will be reflected in the BIO and Membership with addition to the logo
     • ICE Zero category – An ICE Mile in water temp of sub 1C
     • ICE Zero will be mentioned in the BIO
     • All the new categories will be displayed as a list on the Website

5. IISA Attire
   1. IISA ICE
   2. Members are required to endeavour to wear IISA Red Jacket in IISA official functions such as Award ceremonies and Press Conferences or whenever representing IISA in an official event.
   3. IISA realised that people can wear their badge on various outfits; however, the official IISA attire is only recognised as the red jacket. Members are able to purchase their own red jacket but adhere to the Red colour as displayed on the website in IISA Original jacket

• Only IISA certified ICE Miler are should wear IISA badge above the left pocket of their jacket.
• IISA Country Association Logo can be worn by all IISA members
• In a World Cup or World Champ, events the swimmers must wear swim caps with their country's flag or colours or emblem.

6. Qualifying for IISA events
   • All qualifying swims to take place within 3 years preceding the Event date
   • Qualifying for IISA World champs – 1km in an IISA event swum under 25min or an ICE Mile swum under 40min
   • Qualifying for ICE Mile – 1km officiated under IISA rules under 30min [not required to be in an IISA event]
     • If the member already swam 1km in an IISA event, he/she will be able to use it.
     • The qualifying 1km will not be eligible for the 1km events record book [unless it was in an official IISA 1km Event] but will be added to the member Bio qualifying swims.
     • A new facility in the Website allows members to add new “Qualifying Swims”. These swims will be from 450m onwards under IISA rules. It will display swim details, witness and an Observer. Medical fitness for the qualifying swim is at the swimmer responsibility.
   • Qualifying for IISA 1km – 450m or more under IISA rules requires the Observer approval online. The qualifying swim for the 1km event doesn’t have to be under 5C, however, it has to be a notable difficult cold swim. It is with the event Director discretion to accept an entry based on his/her qualifying swim. If the 1km event is expected to be at 0C – 2C the Event Director will use a stricter discretion to accept an entry.

7. IISA World Championship
   • IISA world Champ will be held every alternate year on 2017, 2019, 2021,…
   • Bids for the following world Champ will open immediately post the current World Champ.
   • Swimmers for World Champ will be selected as follows (guidelines – At IISA discretion)
     • Max 80 swimmers in total
     • Max 8 swimmers per heat
     • The hosting country will be allowed to select 10 swimmers
     • Each Country will be allowed max 5 swimmer
     • Male and Female will be awarded the same opportunity to enter and qualify
     • IISA will endeavour to have same number Male/Females
     • IISA will approve each swimmer for the World Champ
     • IISA reserves the right to allow more swimmers per country if some countries have less than 5 swimmers
   • IISA will have the right to approve sponsors for World Champs
   • IISA will have the right to approve branding and marketing material
   • IISA retains the broadcasting rights of the World Champs events
   • Any goods using IISA logo will require IISA permission
   • Any goods sold with IISA Logo will require IISA approval and participation

8. Ambassadors
   • Their positions will typically remain for a lifetime as long as they adhere to IISA code of conduct and promote it. IISA reserves the discretion to appoint or remove ambassadors.
   • Country Ambassadors will be appointed by IISA and their role will be to represent IISA locally and globally and promote IISA sport.

9. Country representation by Swimmer
   • A swimmer must have a citizenship of the country he/she represents.
   • The Country used in the Swimmers registration is the Country he/she represents – IISA call it his/her Sport Nationality = Country Association
   • A swimmer will have to provide a proof of citizenship
   • The Swimmer Country filed for address purposes must be entered next to the City in the account details
   • Change of Swimmer Country Association as well as representation will have to be approved by IISA

1. Country Associations See Country Association Doc

1. Cut-off times
   • IISA doesn’t impose a cut off time of an individual swims, ICE Mile.
   • Any IISA event, ICE Mile or 1km Race must have a clear cut off times guidelines to allow for appropriate time management and risk control
   • The current IISA recommended cut off times for EVENTS are:
     • ICE Mile 40min
     • 1km 25min
     • Cut off times should be monitored during the event. Swimmer who is clearly not going to make the cut off times must be stopped and exited before getting into a dangerous situation
     • There are no Cut Off times for individual Ice Swim or 1km swim. The Swimmer and his/her safety team should use their discretion.

2. ICE Mile Events
   • ICE Mile is not a race event. IISA will not sanction or support event as such.
   • ICE Mile event is a group attempt of a one ICE mile distance.
   • The medical infrastructure for such events requires:
   • A boat in the water for every 4 swimmers in the water.
   • An ambulance for every 8 swimmers in the water and recovery together.
   • A doctor with all emergency required gear for every 8 swimmers in the water and recovery together
   • A swimmer is assumed to be in recovery for at least 45min post the swim, even if he or she has been discharged by the doctor
   • Every exiting swimmers must have be reviewed by the doctor on exit, to take BP and Pulse and to see if there are any signs of potential emergency
   • IISA advises a maximum of 10 swimmers in a heat
   • Running in and out the water is not advisable but at swimmers discretion
   • Every swimmer must be accompanied by a light vessel, be it a kayak, stand up paddle or such.
   • Any signs of significant slow down, significant drop in stroke rate, lack of coherence and other signs that may indicate that the swimmer is struggling and may not be able of finish the swim – must raise a red flag by the kayak to allow for the shore medical to be aware of the risk in the water.
   • IISA recommends maximum of two red flags in the water at any given time.
   • Recovery has to be monitored carefully. The event must have a designated recovery area where all swimmers exiting the water are taken to for medical check and observed recovery. The doctor on site is the only one allowed to discharge recovering swimmers to a secondary recovery facility such as heated car, or others.

3. IISA brand
   • IISA has the legal right to any use of its logo, name, vision and marketing material.
   • Any use of IISA logo requires IISA permission in writing.
   • IISA reserves the right to take legal action against anyone copying or using its Logo or name without IISA permission.
   • No goods are allowed to be produced and sold with IISA logo or name without IISA permission
   • Local IISA 1km events marketing, sponsorship and branding TV rights belong to the local organisers.
   • IISA has these rights for World Champ and World Cup events.

4. Safety and Rules
   • IISA doesn’t allow for or permit swimmers to swim both 1km and 1mile distances in the same event
   • It is highly recommended that A swimmer participating in 1km event should not participate in other swims on that day and should limit him/herself to a max distance of 200m the next day event.
   • IISA adopts FINA rules with expectations:
     • No diving is allowed [in IISA Events] - for safety reasons
     • Maximum of 5 meter underwater push is allowed on start and turns
     • Breath stroke is allowed inline with FINA rules
     • If the swim is done in a pool a visible marker required 5m before end of the lane on both ends and both sides.
     • No tumble turns are allowed – for safety reasons
     • Swim stroke is Free or Breaststrokes. Free style – is any stroke
     • 1km events must be seeded according to time, not age groups
   • IISA are looking to have coaching and referee/officials manuals and courses produced
   • Currently, any coaching for ICE swim purposes must be done by certified IISA ICE milers only

5. Medical
   • Before a Mile Swim or 1km swim each swimmer must have:
   • Recent 3 month ECG, Medical History and a Medical check
   • ECG, BP, HR, Blood Oxygen in any event the morning of the event or the previous evening
     • IISA only set the minimal guidelines for safety and medical checks.
     • Each event should set a specific Event medical check requirements, safety procedures and recovery protocol.
   • Doping test and Alcohol level – will be random at events or ICE Miles

6. Records
   • Only IISA Events that have been completed successfully under IISA rules will be recorded in IISA world Record books.
   • IISA understand that some Events cant guarantee the 5C or less water temp. Such events, if successful, will remain as record for the Event in IISA website, however, the swim records will not be included in the IISA World Record books.
   • For purpose of “adventure” swims around the world, IISA will only recognise a 1km and or more if it has been done strictly by IISA rules. Any swims of 450m or more can be recognised as a Qualifying swim only [this will be added to the IISA Website at a later stage]

7. Media
   • Any claims by IISA members or swimmers of records are to be kept locally to the event – but cant be used as an IISA record; unless, it is an IISA recognised record
   • IISA can’t control the media around swims, however, it reserves the right to publish a press release if it sees fit to verify or reject a public claim.
   • IISA have the legal rights to the IISA name, ICE Swimming, logo branding etc…

8. IISA 1km National events
   • Country local event can host any nationality swimmer
   • The foreign swimmer record will go to the global record book and the event record book but not to the hosting country record book
9. Other amendments - Events
   • Swim course must have a predefined Start Point and End Point.
   • The course must be measured by a boat GPS or hand held GPS.
   • The course from Start to End points must be at least one mile (1.609m)
   • The swimmer must swim the course from Start point to End Point. No assistance, walking, running, standing is considered as part of the course. The course distance starts when the swimmer starts swimming to end.
   • Additional distance – A swimmer can only claim an additional distance if he or she continued to swim unassisted from Start to End Point under IISA rules.
   • The course may be longer than a Mile to allow swimmer to arrive at the Start Point but it will not count as an extra distance. The same applies to the finish if the swimmer has to walk or crawl or other assistance required to land, it would not be considered extra distance.
   • Once swimmer reaches endpoint, he/she can be assisted.
   • Indirect routes, longer turns, or route mistakes can’t be considered as an extra distance.
   • A swimmer doing the distance but not as planned from Point-to-Point will not be recognised.
   • Thermometers – if water temperature on any of the thermometers is above 5C the swim director must take several checks to ensure that the entire course water temperature is below 5C.
   • Thermometers must be stationed in the water for at least 5min to record a stable temperature. A digital thermometer with at least one decimal point is recommended. Water temp must be clearly sub 5C for usage of analogue thermometers.
   • In swims where the water temperature is close or at 5C, the observer or event director is required to take several measurements across the course to ensure sub 5C temp.
   • Usage of watches for distance and temp measurement are not allowed.

Individual Swims can take place anywhere on the planet (and others, in the far future…). Safety integrity of individual swims is imperative to the existence of the Ice Sport.

1. IF IN DOUBT – DOUBLE CHECK AND MEASURE, INCREASE SAFETY AND PREPARE FOR EVERY POSSIBLE EVENTUALITY!

IISA Country Association

IISA is a South African based initiative and is flourishing to become truly global phenomena. IISA and the sport of ice swimming needs this to be represented in as many countries as possible to achieve our big goal of taking swimming to the Winter Olympic Games.

IISA is has continually logging results and assigned world records to the deserving competitions following the above vision.

Ice Swimming and the formation of IISA is based on the passion for the ICE. The Ice brings the brutally cold water and environment, which brings the critical SAFETY element as it most important focus, however, the ICE also represents BEAUTY, CLEAN, CRISP, SIMPLE, HONEST, UNSPOILT, NATURAL BEAUTY, FREEDOM, and INTEGRITY.

All of these should be employed as IISA code of conduct in every aspect of the sport, its Ice attempts, competitions, branding and promotion of our “mad” sport.

1. Formation of an IISA Country Association

As Ice swimming continues to grow the IISA have decided to set up an 'IISA country Association'  - a global network of frozen ones with their warm friends, families and supporters.

For a country to qualify for 'IISA country association' they are required to have at least three Ice Members. IISA will appoint the country Chairperson of the association, and in turn the Chairperson will invite nominations to the local board. The local board will have maximum of 5 members which at least 3 of them must be ICE Members. The other two must IISA Members.

For a country who has not got the required number of ICE Members to set up a local association they will be permitted to appoint associate members who then have maximum of 18 months to qualify as ICE Members as specified above.

IISA has a unique strong brand and vision and it wishes to keep this focus avoiding  “sport politics” that can happen when growth and decentralisation happens. To ensure this IISA will retain one central IISA constitution and every country association which all will adhere to.

The constitution is reviewed once a year and countries are welcome to offer amendments, which will be considered. If a country has local requirements that are country specific due to regulations or safety, the ‘IISA country association’ should contact IISA for approval on local specifications the IISA constitution must never be overridden. The IISA constitution endeavours to regulate the integrity and safety of the ice swimming and any local amendments can only be additional to IISA guidelines and at the consent of the IISA.

A country wishes to form a local IISA Association should approach IISA.

IISA will appoint the Chairperson and assist in forming the local Association.

2. Naming the Country Association

• IISA country
• IISA Ireland
• IISA GB
• IISA Russia
• Etc…

3. The Role of the 'IISA country association'

• Organise 1km events
• Arrange for qualifiers for the world championships
• Support of personal Ice Miles in line with the IISA rules safety.
• Organised events to promote ice swimming and the IISA
• Promote IISA brand within the country
• Assist in disputes raised locally in line with the IISA constitution
• Dissemination knowledge of Ice Swimming for the benefit of the future of the sport
• Report to IISA
• The Local Association will decide its own structure and role of its board members to deliver the above objective.as and when required with regard to its rule above.
• Reporting to IISA board will done
• PLEASE REMEMBER – keep it SIMPLE, CLEAR, CLEAN, SAFE with INTEGRITY.

4. Promotion and communication

IISA will provide each country with a page link on main IISA site to maintain centralisation of all data including swim records and events.

Each country Association will receive a direct link to its page in IISA website called: country.inernationliceswimming.com(e.g., Ireland.internationaliceswimming.com)

Entries of data regarding all IISA approved events will be completed via IISA country page so to will results and records be added. Each country will have a local list of records and members and these members will be included in the main IISA record.

Promotion of IISA country association swims and of the local IISA country, association can be offered on this local webpage.

5. Country Association Logo

Each country can have its own logo as long as it is contained in the Iceberg, diamond like shape like the original IISA logo. Colours and content can be anything desired by the Association. IISA advise Country association to endeavour to capture the spirit of the ICE as explained above in its colour, shapes and fonts at the same time IISA encourage countries to capture the country spirit and colours in their logos.

The IISA logo and branding can be used for local 'IISA country association' marketing as long as it uses the IISA original logo, flags, etc and that this is only used to market IISA globally or locally and not for commercial purposes.

IISA will retain control of this logo. Local country associations can produce Products and Branding containing the local name and logo.

6. IISA Products and Branding

IISA has established legal rights to its name, logo and branding. This is IISA’s only real asset aside from the swimmers. IISA would like to retain control of this and therefore only IISA is allowed to produce products containing the IISA name and logo.

IISA is in the process of producing IISA products such as badges, jackets, towels, caps, etc.. which will be sent in bulk to local country associations for distribution locally. It will allow for cheaper pricing and affordable products to swimmers.

7. Costs and Profits

IISA is established as a non-profit organisation. Its incorporation will change location from South Africa to a global location soon. IISA is seeking sponsors and funders willing to assist IISA in its mission. IISA strongly support the spirit of “make the sport as affordable as possible to the Athletes”.