recaps

6th Annual Monumental Masters Swim Meet Recap

Contributed by Mike Leake

BENNINGTON, VT -- Amid light snowfall and Vermont Maple Weekend, 30 swimmers and their supporters came together on Saturday, March 25, at the Bennington Recreation Center for the 6th Annual Monumental Masters Swim Meet. Swimmers of all abilities enjoyed a fun morning of easy-going competition and encouragement. The proceeds of the event benefited the Bennington Marauders swim team, which provides youth swimming in southwestern Vermont. 

This year, folks traveled from as far away as New Jersey and Niagara Falls, NY, with many of our aquatic neighbors from the Adirondacks making the shorter drive to attend. Western Massachusetts was also well represented, with swimmers from Williamstown, the Pittsfield Polar Bears, and the Simon's Rock Pace Makers competing for the day. All who came were able to take home free U.S. Masters Swimming caps and stickers as well as some fun giveaways, including stroopwafels from Bakkerij Krijnen and maple syrup from Dunn's Leak-ee Bucket Sugar House.

Swimming for the first time with host team Monument Masters were Eric Florio and Tim Russell. Returning to the pool again were Amanda Robson, Carol Newell, Matt Moon, Gabrielle Betit-Mattison, and Rebecca Healy. Siblings Jeff, Jill, and Mike Leake were joined by Kevin Murphy in the Monumental streak of swimming in every installment of the meet so far. 

With fun events that included the Tarzan Swim and Monument Kick Sprints in addition to relays, excitement is building for our next installment in the spring of 2018!  

First Annual MDI YMCA Masters Meet Draws a Crowd

Contributed by Tim Lecrone, NE-LMSC Registrar

Results

A great time was had by all at the Mount Desert Island YMCA First Annual Masters Meet on January 29. With over forty participants, the meet was a resounding success, including many new facing in addition to the regulars - clearly it was difficult to resist the scenic drive on Route 1 to have the chance to compete in unexplored masters waters. Many participants also took the opportunity to make a weekend of it by staying on the island and taking advantage of the amazing, off-season rates. A huge thanks goes out to Mark Schoon, Jim Willis, and the rest of the staff for holding such an excellent, well run meet, and we look forward to next year to do it all again!

Two NE-LMSC Relay Records Broken at Exeter Meet

RESULTS

Contributed by Sue Jensen, NE-LMSC Officials Chair

The 65+ men’s relay team of Fred Schlicher, Dan Epstein, Jay Jones, and Rob Schiller shattered two long-standing New England relay records at the Exeter mini meet this weekend in Exeter, New Hampshire. First, the quartet finished the 200 medley relay in 2:09.56, breaking the 2013 record of 2:15.87. They continued with the 200 freestyle relay, besting the 2010 record of 1:59.76 with a time of 1:53.89. The foursome train together at Charles River Masters.

Way to go and congratulations Fred, Dan, Jay and Rob!

Rob, Jay, Dan, and Fred after a record-setting swim

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 wins USMS Early Renewal Contest & Stroke Development Clinic!!

CONGRATULATIONS and THANK YOU for helping us win the USMS LMSC Renewal Contest. Our 57% early renewal percentage between Nov 1 and Dec 31, 2016 was the highest among all Tier 1 LMSCs nationwide (1500+ members). Our reward is an additional USMS Stroke Development Clinic in New England in 2017. Kudos to the MIDDLEBURY MUFFINTOPS for early renewal of 84.8% of its members -- 4th nationwide among USMS-registered teams (clubs & workout groups) with 30-74 members.

- Douglas Sayles, NE-LMSC Chair

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

Swimming for a Cause - Speedo Diplomacy

Contributed by Crystie McGrail, NE-LMSC Coaches Chair

I had the pleasure of attending the 2016 USMS National Coaches Clinic in San Francisco in November. One of the first presenters was Open Water Swimming legend Steve Munatones. Steve presented about the very interesting past, present, and future of open water swimming and one specific topic drew me in: “Speedo Diplomacy.”

What is Speedo Diplomacy?

“Speedo diplomacy is a politically-sensitive swim or actions based on an unprecedented open water swim that results in positive action by governments or leaders around the world, especially those with fundamentally different perspectives and viewpoints.” (http://openwaterpedia.com)

A Historical Example

Lynne Cox swims across the Bering Strait in 1987 (from her website)

One Speedo Diplomacy swim you might be familiar with is when Lynne Cox tackled a pioneering cold water swim in 1987 across the Bering Strait. Her goal was to open US-Soviet border for the first time in 48 years by swimming from Alaska to the Soviet Union. Lynne succeeded by completing the 2.7 mile swim in just over 2 hours, though 37 degree water. Read more from BBC 

Current Feats

A map of Pugh's five swims for Antarctica (from his website)

A map of Pugh's five swims for Antarctica (from his website)

More recently, in October 2016, Lewis Pugh successfully pushed through the creation of the largest Marine Protection Area in history, located in the Ross Sea of Antarctica. He accomplished this through 5 unprecedented solo swims and tireless lobbying. In addition to setting a new precedent for conservation, this is remarkable because, in his own words, “Russia, the US, the EU and the 22 other CCAMLR nations shook hands in a time of strained political relations”.

The Longest Swim

Ben Lecomte plans to swim across the Pacific Ocean next year (photo from NPR)

Another epic event is coming in spring 2017 when Ben Lecomte tackles swimming from Tokyo to San Francisco, a whopping 5,500 miles! This expedition is expected to take 6 months while swimming 8 hours each day and includes traversing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Along the way, Ben and the crew will be collecting oceanic and medical research data in 8 different fields through the support of 12 scientific institutions including Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and NASA. “From plastic pollution to space exploration, this adventure will be a unique opportunity to collect data and learn more about the oceans and human body in extreme conditions.”  

There are many more examples - including local examples - of swimming to encourage positive actions for the environment and human health.  Maybe you even have an idea of your own swimming feat to promote the conservation of this one wild and wonderful world in which we live! 

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!