meets

Competition Etiquette... "Competiquette"

Contributed by Crystie McGrail, NE-LMSC Coaches Chair

A few notes on the “lay of the land” for the racing waters we inhabit.

New England does meets like no other. We have two of the biggest, fastest, bestest (that's a word, right?) championship meets every single year. On top of that, we have multitudes of fun mini meets of all styles and a slew of open water events for the truly crazy folks. 

With this many events it’s often evident that a few folks didn’t quite get the memo on the etiquette surrounding some of the rules and common practices of Masters competition. As such, I was enlisted to write a quick article sharing some of the taboo things that happen at swim meets. 

The most common issues surround the enigmatic meet warmup, and that is what this article will focus on.   

Just kidding! Let's help each other out!

WarmUp TaDas and TaDon’ts

 

NO DIVING  

There are only two instances when it is okay to dive in the pool during a competition - the first is when the starter beeps, signaling the beginning of your race (don’t miss that one; it’s important) and the second time is when the officials have opened specific lanes for sprints.  

Two key words in that sentence are officials and specific. If you are unsure if a lane is a sprint lane, ASK! They may look all official and scary in their pristine white shirts hovering about your lane like sharks… no wait, these are masters meets - they are likely lounging in a chair nearby chatting with other swimmers to catch up on the kids and family.  

 

SPRINT LANES are for sprinting

If you see a completely empty lane during a fairly busy warm up, it is safe to say that it’s probably not some Utopian turn of fate to allow you a perfect warm up - it’s a sprint lane. ASK an official if it’s a sprint lane and if it is - please don’t get in and start doing your normal laps. Sprint lanes only happen during the last 15-20 minutes of a warm up and are usually announced. 

A note about “sprinting”: The definition of sprinting is moving at full speed. Always respect that each individual's “full speed” is very different. You can do this by observing the lane you are going to sprint in to make sure that those before you have the opportunity to finish their sprint as they wish without being impeded. 

 

NO PADDLES 

Leave ‘em at home. No one wants to be whacked with your paddles in the middle of a frenetic warm up pool. Oh, and this is actually in the rulebook - no paddles.  

 

ON YOUR LEFT

Much like life, swimming depends on a lot of non-verbal communication. We can’t very well yell out “ON YOUR LEFT” underwater when passing someone like runners do (though most of us probably wish we could). Make sure you pick up the clues and follow the general rule of thumb that passing happens on the left (similar to driving).  

And don’t hang out in the middle of the lane. If you’re at the wall, stopping in the middle is always bad news; stay to the right if you are stopping.  

 

KNOW WHEN WARMUP ENDS

There is nothing worse than the highly responsible first heat of the meet standing cold and ready behind the blocks, waiting to race, while the officials or meet directors chase up and down the pool trying to clear that last person (or few people) out of the competition pool. Respect your fellow swimmers and clear the pool at the scheduled time. Don’t know what time it is? ASK.

Lastly…

BE FRIENDLY 

99.8% of masters swimmers are super friendly. Be one of them. Many of the notes above say “ASK” because at a Masters meet you will be instantly surrounded with some of the best people in the universe and they are extremely helpful. Don’t feel bad asking questions; it’s a great way to make new friends!  

Got questions, comments, or criticisms?  Track me down at a swim meet and tell me!  Or I guess you could email me: NEcoaches@usms.org

NE-LMSC Annual Meeting Summary

Contributed by Douglas Sayles, NE-LMSC Chair

This fall I had the honor of presiding over the NELMSC Annual Meeting in Waltham, MA. I’ve touched upon some highlights below. Full minutes will be posted on the NELMSC website.

Meeting attendees included 13 of the 15 NELMSC officers, three club reps to the board, our SCM and SCY championship meet directors, and other NELMSC members interested in governance issues. On October 16th, the NELMSC had $48,660 in total assets, over 2,500 USMS members, 23 USMS-registered clubs, 54 USMS-registered New England Masters Swim Club workouts groups and two registered Lifetime Swim New England workout groups.

During 2016, there were 16 SCY, 5 SCM and 2 LCM meets in the NELMSC. Our short-course championships continue to be two of the largest Masters meets in the country, attracting hundreds of swimmers each year. If you have not already done so, mark your calendars and book your hotel rooms for our NELMSC SCY Championships at Harvard on March 11 (distance day) and 17-19, 2017.

Despite our championship meets’ popularity and the many other meets held across New England each year, most of our mini meets are quite small (10 to 70 swimmers) and our aggregate meet attendance is slowly decreasing. Collectively we can easily reverse this trend by rallying our swim mates and entering one or two mini meets this season. These events need our support if we want them to continue.

In both USMS sanctioned meets and recognized meets, times swum by USMS members are usually official for USMS purposes. The main differences are that sanctioning provides insurance liability coverage for the swimmers, volunteers and event host and requires all of the swimmers to be USMS members.

During 2015 there were 10 sanctioned and 20 recognized meets in the NELMSC, accounting for 25 percent of all recognized meets nationwide, substantially more recognized meets than in any other LMSC and proportionally far fewer sanctioned meets than most large LMSCs.

At the USMS convention this past September, the House of Delegates voted to impose a new $100 fee on each recognized meet in 2017. This fee will be charged to the local LMSC. The primary rationale was that recognized meets were benefiting from USMS and LMSC meet promotion, creating more work for volunteer Top Ten recorders and otherwise receiving USMS benefits for free.

Consequently, at the NELMSC meeting we adjusted our subsidies and policies to incentivize sanctioning over recognition. At the same time, we want to avoid alienating meet directors who prefer recognition because if they walk away from USMS altogether USMS members’ times from those meets will not be recorded in the USMS database.

A meet host can now apply to the NELMSC for a sanction at no cost (we fully subsidize the $50 USMS fee) or else pay $50 for meet recognition (we partially subsidize the USMS $100 fee). We now also allow sanctioned meet hosts the option to offer non-USMS members a $15 one-event USMS membership, which can be applied toward a full USMS membership within 30 days of the meet. We had previously only allowed one-event memberships for open water events.

During our meeting we also reviewed several successful NELMSC-subsidized coaching initiatives from the past year, including swimmer clinics, coaching clinics and certification courses, Adult Learn to Swim instructor certification, and National Coaches Clinic scholarships. We have budgeted for similar initiatives in 2017. On a similar note, at convention we learned that USMS officials training will soon include an online certification option.

During the NELMSC meeting, we formally voted Alana Aubin onto the board as the new NELMSC communications chair. She took over this position several months ago from Christina Dwiggins, who I want to publicly thank for her contributions and able stewardship of the monthly NELMSC e-newsletter. This is a natural transition for Alana, who deserves credit for recent website improvements and for launching the NELMSC Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. In September, she and NELMSC Registrar Tim Lecrone also ran a very well-received social media workshop at the USMS convention.

Other topics covered during our meeting included bestowal of the NELMSC Coach and Contributor of the Year Awards (congrats to WAM’s Alford Green), the forthcoming introduction of a new NELMSC awards process, ideas for raising awareness and Masters Swimming opportunities for para athletes, promoting open water swimming, and other steps the NELMSC can potentially take to increase USMS member value in New England and at the national level.

In an effort to offset the $2 increase in 2017 USMS membership dues and reduce our NELMSC cash balance, we voted to reduce the NELMSC annual membership fee from $7 to $5 and approved a deficit budget for 2017. If we incur all $32,400 in budgeted expenses (which is unlikely) and realize $13,000 in forecast revenue, our cash balance will decrease by $19,400 in 2017 while still leaving a healthy reserve.

At the national level in September, the USMS board of directors and new CEO Dawson Hughes presented an updated strategic plan and infographic. Key 2017 initiatives included the aforementioned recognition fee to promote meet sanctions, allocating resources toward developing a new fitness swimmer program, upgrading the USMS website including enhancing Places to Swim and developing an open-water event results database, supporting college clubs to attract younger Masters swimmers after graduation, ongoing training of USMS coaches and Adult Learn to Swim instructors, and expanding swimmer clinics nationwide.

On behalf of the NELMSC board of directors, thank you to all of the swimmers, coaches, officials, organizers and volunteers who contribute to the vibrant Masters Swimming community that enriches all of our lives.

And if you haven’t done so already, don’t forget to renew your USMS membership before December 31st to receive special merchandise discounts from Speedo, TYR, FINIS, SwimOutlet and other USMS partners.

Happy Holidays and New Year!

Douglas Sayles

Chair, New England LMSC

SCM Championship Meet at WPI a Huge Success

Contributed by Alford Green, Meet Director

Mark Wild, Danielle Caron, & Craig Mitchell of meet host WAM

WORCESTER, MA - Last weekend, for the first time in the history of the meet, more than 500 swimmers journeyed to the WPI Sports and Recreation Center (Worcester, MA) for the 2016 NE-LMSC & Colonies Zone SCM Championships. Swimmers came from as far away as Texas and California to compete in one of the nation’s largest masters meets, and by all accounts, it was well worth the trip.

In addition to the numerous personal best times and New England records that were broken, the weekend saw 3 world records and 6 national records being smashed.

Diann Uustal, SwimRI (Women 70-74)

  • 50m Free – 32.38 – World, National
  • 100m IM – 1:23.23 – World, National
  • 50m Back – 38.21 – National
  • 100m Back – 1:22.75 – National

Scott Heber, Rockwall Aquatics (Men 50-54)

  • 100m IM – 1:00.57 – World, National

Beth Estel, Granite State Penguins (Women 60-64)

  • 50m Breast – 38.97 - National

The beautiful facility at WPI

Worcester Area Masters (WAM) and the WPI Swimming and Diving varsity teams served as hosts for the meet. New this year were a revamped order of events, a tradition of championship collectors’ pins, and custom meet t-shirts.

Special thanks to the meet officials Bob Fredette, Priscilla Davis, Kevin Curly , Sue Hoey, and Jack Kurke for helping to make these championships successful.

GBM coach Crystie McGrail competes in backstroke.

Individual Awards

Female High Point

1. Beth Estel, Granite State Penguins – 181

2. Melinda Williams, Granite State Penguins – 170

2. Charlotte Brynn, Stowe Masters – 170

 

Male High Point

1. Michael Emmons, Charles River Masters – 184

 2. David Stiles, St. Pete Masters – 176

3. William Jones, Maine Masters – 175

 

 

Members of CRM accept their team awards.

Team Awards

Large Teams (31+)

1. Charles River Masters - 3,802

2. Minuteman Masters Swim Club - 2,775

3. Great Bay Masters Swimming - 2,477

 

Medium Teams (10-30)

1. SwimRI - 2,305

2. Connecticut Masters - 2,276.50

3. Worcester Area Masters - 2,206

 

Small Teams (4-9)

1. Waltham Masters Swimmers - 857

2. Umac-Terrapin Masters - 690

3. Boston University Masters - 514

Don't Forget to Thank Your Officials!

Contributed by Sue Jensen, NE-LMSC Officials Chair

Thank you WPI meet officials !

A huge shoutout and thank you to our amazing team of meet officials at this past weekend’s NE-LMSC & Colonies Zone SCM Championship at WPI: Priscilla Davis, Bob Fredette, Kevin Curley, Sue Hoey and Jack Kurkel. They were the ones with the white shirts, the whistles, the clipboards, and even the cowbells. Together with meet director Alford Green and their combined decades of experience running swim meets, they kept our meet running smoothly, fairly, and efficiently, and in an incredibly professional way too.  

On behalf of the entire NE-LMSC and Colonies Zone, an enormous thank you Priscilla, Bob, Kevin, Sue and Jack. We are grateful for the 25+ hours you spent on deck during this 3-day meet, and for your enthusiastic support of masters swimming. We couldn’t run our meets without you.

Bath Sprint Meet Draws Impressive Crowds

Contributed by Tim Lecrone, NE-LMSC Registrar

Chris Cloitre, Sally Joachim Gallagher, and Glenn Gallagher of GBM (photo contributed by Sally Joachim Gallagher)

BATH, ME - With over 70 competitors, the Bath Sprint Meet was not only a huge success, it was the largest mini meet held in recent Maine Masters Swimming history!

Swimmers from NEM, GBM, MESC, and of course many first time participants all came together to make an amazing, fun filled event!  A huge thanks goes out to the Bath YMCA for all of their efforts, and we look forward to seeing everyone come out for the upcoming First Annual MDI Masters Meet on January 29th!

Two NE Records Bested at 17th Annual Erswell Meet in Maine

Contributed by Tim Lecrone, NE-LMSC Registrar

Photos contributed by Sue Jensen

Fred Schlicher and Sue Jensen

BRUNSWICK, ME - It was another great mini meet in Maine on Halloween weekend!  The 17th Annual George Erswell Masters Meet, held at Bowdoin College on October 29, found swimmers and fans residing poolside with great swims and even greater smiles. Four teams - MESC, GBM, NEM, and RICE of South Texas - were represented. There were some memorable moments, starting with Dick Hutchings setting a New England record in the men's 75-79 500-yard freestyle with a time of 7:18.23. Of course, great things come in pairs, and Fred Schlicher demolished the New England record in the men's 65-69 200-yard butterfly with a blazing 2:31.01. 

One of the most exciting things about the meet was the large number of newcomers to masters swimming. This was Maine's second meet of the fall season, and both featured excellent turnout from new participants. This year's Erswell meet hosted 46 athletes, up from 38 last year. This bodes well for new energy and enthusiasm in the form of new faces for the coming season!  

Rob Schiller preparing for his race

Sue Jensen and Anne Uecker

The beautiful Bowdoin pool

Fast Swims and New Fast Friends at 8th Annual UVAC Leaf Peepers Mini Meet

Release and Photos Contributed by Barbara Hummel

Diann Uustal nabs two national records at Leaf Peepers.

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, VT - On October 22, the UVRays hosted their 8th Annual Leaf Peepers meet, famous for its friendly atmosphere, fast pool, and phenomenal awards table. This year’s short course meters meet attracted 84 swimmers from at least 10 states and representing 24 workout groups.

Diann Uustal from Swim Rhode Island was the meet’s outstanding swimmer, setting national records in women’s 70-74 100m backstroke (1:24.93) and 100m IM (1:24.30).  Diann’s 38.93 in the 50m backstroke was just 3 one-hundredths off the national record, but was good for a New England record, as was her 45.43 in the 50m breaststroke. Greg Shaw of Keene Masters set three regional marks in the men’s 65-69 age group: 50m butterfly (31.03), 100m butterfly (1:10.40), and 200m IM (2:43.35). Fritz Bedford of the host team, UVRays, nabbed a New England record in the men’s 50-54 100m breaststroke (1:14.37). Beth Estel of the Granite State Penguins set a regional record in the women’s 60-64 200m backstroke (3:01.68) and Lee Ann Banks of Virginia set a regional record in the women’s 55-59 100m backstroke (1:20.91).

Susan Reid of the UVRays (and King Arthur Flour) puts finishing touches on Leaf Peepers awards table 

This year’s edition of the Ice Breaker relay encouraged total strangers to become fast friends by swimming with noodles and apples and by howling through the dog-paddle leg. The renowned awards table, courtesy of UVRays Susan Reid and Sue Gray, featured dozens of pies, cakes, breads, brownies, cookies, and pumpkins as well as local maple syrup – ensuring a take-home prize for every swimmer. 

For additional information, contact:

Barbara Hummel

barbara@goswim.tv

Mobile:  802-356-6677 

Simmons October Swim Fest Results

RESULTS

BOSTON, MA - Simmons College hosted the ninth edition of the October Swim Fest on October 15 in Boston. About sixty-five swimmers participated for a total of 190 splashes. The short course meters event is run by the Simmons College Swimming & Diving team and helps fund the team's winter training trip to Florida. There were certainly some fun and fast races!

Warmup before the meet

Entries Open for 2016 NE-LMSC & Colonies Zone SCM Championships at WPI

Contributed by Alford Green, Meet Director

Entries are now open! Worcester Area Masters are pleased to again host the NE-LMSC & Colonies Zone SCM Championships at the WPI Sports and Recreation Center on December 9-11, 2016. Last year was our first time hosting the meet at this location, and with that came a few teething problems. We took note of which new additions were a hit, and worked on ways to improve the aspects that were not up to standard. I am pleased to report that these overhauled championships should be an even greater experience for New England swimming!

Exciting features of these championships include:

  • A revamped order of events.
  • Online and deck individual event check-in, which open at noon on the prior day and close at 9:30 am on the day of the event.
  • On-site screen printing of meet t-shirts. You will be able to choose your t-shirt color and have the names of your team members printed on the back.
  • Coaches’ hospitality room
  • Free meet collector’s pin for each meet entrant
  • Warmer competition course
  • Free parking
  • Photo area and a special Snapchat filter
  • Complimentary photography
  • An incentivized 4x100m I.M. relay at the end of the meet.

I urge you to visit the updated meet website www.scmchamps.blogspot.com to learn more about the meet, and to find directions and partner hotels. The final entry deadline is November 28, and late entries will not be accepted. Also, please note that spaces in the 800m Free are limited, so register early.

I look forward to seeing you all in December for what will be a truly great experience!

Sincerely,

Alford Green, Meet Director

Jenny Thompson Meet Results

Contributed by Guy Davis, NE-LMSC Vice-Chair

Great Bay Masters hosted another successful summer LCM meet on July 17 at Dover's Jenny Thompson pool. The meet is popular with swimmers looking to achieve LCM top 10 times and to prepare for the LCM Nationals. 64 swimmers from 7 clubs participated.

Meet Director Crystie McGrail hard at work running an excellent meet