Streamlines...From the National Office

In This Section

USMS Officer Reports

PRESIDENT - Nancy Ridout

Spring is in the air and the Nationals are just around the corner. And believe it or not, plans for our convention in September are well under way. I wish you all a very good summer and good swimming both for your mental and physical well-being!

The on-line registration for the Short Course Nationals was an excellent effort by Jim Matysek and the Computer Online Committee. The ease and convenience of entering this way makes me wish all meets had this availability. Congratulations!

The Executive Committee had a very productive mid-year meeting in Phoenix in January. We discussed the transition plan for moving registration to the National Office, future paid positions, evaluation procedures, long range sponsorship objectives, and the convention format and theme. We also began developing a Strategic Plan for the next two years for which we will solicit input from each committee. I will be sending out a letter to the Board of Directors outlining these discussions in more detail, along with a copy of the proposed USMS Strategic Plan. When their input has been gathered, it will be posted on our web site for delegates' reactions and responses.

Our 1st USMS/USOTC Training Camp was a huge success! You will get a full account in the May issue of SWIM Magazine. The eleven participants and six staff members all came away with the feeling that their money and time had been very well spent. Many thanks for a job well done to Leslie Cooper, Scott Rabalais, Jim Miller, Mike Collins, and Mark Stoker! Thanks also to The Victor and Randy Nutt for their sponsorship in helping to make this a first class event, to USA Swimming's Eric Wunderlich and Steve Rousch for coordinating the camp and making sure the schedule worked, to the presenters and testing personnel, Jonty Skinner, the USOTC pool personnel, and the staff at USA Swimming and the USOTC. Check out the article!

Mike Heather attended a USAS meeting in San Diego and declared that the facility should work quite well for us. There is a shopping center across the way, a trolley to downtown and other places (like the Zoo and even Tijuana) also just across the parking lot. Swim workouts are already coordinated and Mike has things well in hand. Let him know ASAP if your committee will have special needs as to equipment, room arrangement, etc.

Have a great summer! Hope to see you in Santa Clara and/or Minneapolis. Don't forget to say "Hi!".

VICE PRESIDENT - Jack Geoghegan

Busy with the USMS Convention Schedule issues (a copy of the schedule is included in the recently mailed convention registration packet) and the Executive Committee.

SECRETARY - Betsy Durrant

After convention, I had a burst of activity. I completed a "Handbook for USMS Committee Chairmen" and mailed copies to everyone on the Board of Directors. The purpose of the handbook is to pull together the information a committee chairman will need and put it in one convenient booklet. I also compiled the minutes from the house of Delegates meetings and mailed them to everyone who was registered at the convention. I made sure I had complete and accurate reports from each committee which I will keep on file for future reference.

The Executive committee has been busy and has done a lot of business. I have written up minutes of all conference calls (approximately once a month) and minutes of our mid-year meeting in January (two very full days of meeting together).

In April, I sent the first notice to LMSC Chairmen concerning convention delegates. I am working with our Executive Secretary to get Registration Packets to everyone who will be attending this year's convention in San Diego.

TREASURER - Jeanne Ensign

During the months since convention, I have continued to pay the bills as directed by our Controller - we're on a "Friday" routine - once a week process and pay requests that have been submitted during the week. Monthly I send information to the Controller on all income I have received on behalf of USMS - from long distance and pool event deposits to sponsor payments and royalties. The National Office and National Registrar deposit directly into a Salomon Smith Barney account, with reports sent to the Controller, myself and certain others. In essence, the Controller directs the spending, and the Treasurer collects the money.

There is no end to the issues that come before the Executive Committee - I can always count on plenty of e-mail and snail mail! With the other members of the committee, I have participated in several very productive conference calls, along with our mid-year meeting in Phoenix in January.

With the passing of April 15^th and busy season just a memory, I am looking forward to more time again for USMS - working my way through the pile of paperwork, but mostly the swimming!

PAST PRESIDENT - Mel Goldstein

As Past President I continue to channel most of my energies in the marketing and promoting of USMS. The funds generated from these efforts help promote programs that benefit our membership. Since convention USMS has acquired 3 new sponsors, VASA Trainer, The Victor and Hasty Awards. VASA Trainer, is the ultimate dryland exercise equipment manufacturer, who offers discounts to USMS teams and coaches. The Victor, a quality swimwear company provides funds for the annual USMS USOTC Camp in Colorado Springs. Hasty Awards, nationally recognized award company has several programs to benefit meet hosts, one such program is a "buy back" of unused medals. In addition to these new sponsors we continue to receive support from NIKE, Speedo, Kast-A-Way Swimwear, Mindspring, MBNA, Alamo, Earthlink Telephone Card, Ultra Swim Hair Products and Destinations.

USMS National Sponsor Trivia Fact: Did you know NIKE as a National USMS Sponsor, in addition to sponsoring the NIKE Olympic Champion Clinics, will pay your team or LMSC $1 for each NIKE Swim suit purchased. Here is how it works, designate one person on you team to collect the "NIKE Hang Tag" from each swim suit purchased, at the end of the year send those hang tags to the NIKE representative, and NIKE will forward you a check. Easy Money! Call our National Office for more information on this program as well as for any other USMS Sponsor.

LEGAL COUNSEL - Jeanne Crouse

The beginning of 1999 has kept your Legal Counsel busy drafting and reviewing sponsorship and other USMS contracts, addressing insurance and intellectual property matters, drafting correspondence, and generally making myself available as a resource for members of the Executive committee, the Board of Directors and individual members of our organization.

As you compose legislation to be considered in San Diego, keep in mind that the members of the Legal Counselors Committee can offer valuable assistance in crafting proposed legislation changes. Don't be hesitant to take advantage of this internal resource - if you need assistance, contact me at: legalcounsel@usms.org, Ph: 301-762-8250, Fax: 301-762-7458 or 600 Marcia Lane, Rockville, MD 20851-1510, and either I or someone from our committee will be glad to help you. The Legal Counselors Committee also will work with Legislation this spring and summer as that committee reviews and rewrites the bylaws section in the LMSC handbook.

Finally, in this issue of Streamlines, you'll find the survey that was distributed to all delegates at the 1998 convention who are lawyers. I ask everyone who receives this issue to distribute copies of the enclosed survey to swimmers in your group, club or LMSC who practice law. Please encourage them to fill it out and return it to me. I know there are more of you out there! We have lots of expertise within our organization that has not been mined so far. Everyone's expertise is needed as USMS moves forward, so don't be shy. Thanks very much for you help on this important project.

ZONE CHAIRMAN - Hugh Moore

In preparation for election of officers at this year's convention, the Zone Committee established procedures at last year's convention. Current officers were automatically nominated. Requests for nominations were listed in the January/February issue of SWIM Magazine, with a deadline for nominations of February 28^th. Since no further nominations were received, we will not host a candidates forum at convention. Nominations from the floor will still be accepted.

The committee has drafted a proposal to update the committee description in the rule book. The committee has also been coordinating listings of upcoming meets in SWIM Magazine and making sure that the National Office is kept current on the dynamic list of LMSC Officers. Colonies, Dixie, Great Lakes, Breadbasket, South Central, and Northwest zones are all running Short Course Zone Championship meets during the month of April.

USMS Committee Reports

CHAMPIONSHIP - Sandi Rousseau

UPDATE ON NATIONALS: While we do not yet have the final number as of this writing, SC Nationals in Santa Clara will likely be over 2000 swimmers. 418 entrants used the new on line entry form, and the process worked well. We will continue to evaluate this process, but we are ready to go on line with the LC Minnesota entry form. Planning is continuing for the 2000 SC and LC Nationals in Phoenix and Baltimore.

BIDS FOR 2001 NATIONALS: Bids for 2001, LC in the WEST and SC in the East. Facilities in these areas are being contacted regarding interest. If anyone knows of a pool and group with the capability to host our National, please contact me.

TOP TEN SURVEY: A subcommittee of Championship is developing a survey to be sent to a random sampling of the 1998 (maybe 1997) SC and LC Top Ten placers. The purpose of this survey is to hopefully establish whether our National Championship Meets are meeting the needs and desires of the majority of our more elite swimmers.

COACHES - Scott Rabalais

Into 1999, the Coaches Committee remains active in its projects that benefit both swimmers and coaches in USMS.

The highlight of 1999 has been the involvement of the Coaches Committee in the 1^st Annual USMS/OTC High Altitude Training Camp in Colorado Springs, CO, in February. Two coaches, Dr. Jim Miller and Michael Collins, were selected by the committee to join chairman Scott Rabalais on the coaching staff at the OTC. Committee member Leslie Laing-Cooper joined Nancy Ridout as chief organizers of the event. Eleven athletes attended the camp, a tremendous breakthrough for Masters swimming and its first official step into the Training Center. Another camp is tentatively scheduled for November of this year.

Various clinics are being scheduled around the country to serve the needs of the USMS membership. Two open water clinics have been awarded for the summer - to Virginia Masters and UCLA Bruin Masters. NIKE clinics and Mentor Coach clinics continue to be offered in several locations.

The Coaches Database continues to grow and be modified with 460 active Masters coaches on the list. These coaches help write a regular column in SWIM, "Ask The Coach," and respond to questions asked for the Coaches Committee Quarterly newsletter. Coaches are kept well informed through the coaching section of the USMS web site.

The Snooper Loan Program and the Book and Video Libraries continue to offer the latest in educational tools for the Masters swimmer and coach.

The On-deck Coaching Program has been expanded beyond the national level to the regional level, where it was implemented successfully at the recent NW Zone Championships.

An update of the USMS Coaches Manual is being prepared for distribution this summer.

COMPUTER ONLINE - Jim Matysek

The usms.org web site has continued it's drastic growth rate throughout the year. Our site statistics for March show:

48 MB of disk space used (nearly 5 times that of this time last year)
2.5 GB of monthly bandwidth (2.5 times that of this time last year)
655 daily hits on the "home" page (2 times that of this time last year)
1300 visitors per day (not measured last year)
1200 e-mail aliases registered (nearly 2 times that of this time last year)

We are continuing our affinity marketing relationship with Mindspring, after some administrative difficulties at the beginning of the year resulting in web site down time. We now have a better understanding of our account status and advance notice of account renewal deadlines.

COMPLETED ACTIVITIES:

1998 Long Course Meters and Short Course Meters Top Ten listings are available on line, together with the updates of the All American listings.
The Long Distance section on the web site has been updated to include information, entry forms, and results for all national long distance championships. The 3000/6000 and 1 Hour Swim results are currently available, and the 1998 All American and All Star listings are also available.
Short Course Nationals meet information including the new on line entry system is available on line. A total of 418 swimmers successfully registered on line for this meet. The Long Course Nationals information and on line entry system is also ready to go.
Updates have been made to match 1999 information available for the coaching, rule book, calendar of events, and working calendar sections of the web site.
The Places to Swim database has been handed off to Tracy for ongoing maintenance. Tracy can now print the Places to Swim booklet and update the on line listings from one database. This should drastically reduce the production time required for printing the booklet each year because the database is continually updated throughout the year.
The USMS Bookstore, in association with Amazon.com, was launched in November. The response to this offering has been strong, with about $100 per quarter earned in referral fees.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

An effort to gather registration forms from every LMSC and make them available through the web is under way. A test area has been set up directing swimmers to the proper location on the web to find registration information. Until this area goes "live", a description of how to join USMS has been added to the home page.
We are currently evaluating options for providing an on line meet results database that can show individual or team results from any meet held in USMS, provided the meet results have been submitted to a central coordinator. We hope to have a solution available in time for short course nationals.

CONVENTION - Michael Heather

Worked with Penny Taylor from USAS in firming up schedule and convention requirements which has been forwarded on to the hotel. Went on a site visit to the Town and Country Resort and Convention Center. David Lamott from the San Diego-Imperial LMSC will be our convention liaison. Morning workouts have been scheduled at the University of San Diego pool, transportation will be arranged. Members of the committee are working on a smoother system for the handing out of meeting minutes. Saturday we are working on a LaJolla Cove open water swim. More details later.

FINANCE - Doug Church

The Finance Committee has processed two (2) over budget requests and has monitored the budget through the midyear. Everything is tracking properly at this time and we are operating within the budget. Budget requests for 2000 will be circulated to Committee Chair's and others in the next 90 days.

FITNESS - Mo Chambers

We currently have a record 205 swimmers from the United States, Australia and Singapore participating in the 1999 Check Off Challenge. We have received some real positive correspondence about this event and it is interesting to hear some of the ways the "swimmers" and "teams" are participating. One coach bought the shirt and as his swimmers complete the events, he is checking it off! Another person has been out of the "swimming loop" due to injury and is using the event to help with her comeback. This is a great fitness event for everyone!

INSURANCE - Colleen Driscoll

For the most part, we continue to field questions from LSMCs regarding insurance coverage and how it applies. I keep in contact with our insurance broker, Sandi Blumit, who by the way continues to do an excellent job, regarding questions which have arisen. Within the next quarter I will be soliciting ideas from the committee as to what projects they would like to work on during the next few months. An area I would like to see worked on is the education of our LSMCs with regard to insurance, i.e., filling out accident reports for all incidents, how a member's secondary accident coverage is triggered and what they need to do, etc.

We have successfully renewed our liability and excess coverage per the reduced premium and not reduced coverage which we had voted on at convention.

We hope our losses continue to remain in check and our premiums low!

INTERNAL AUDIT - Danielle Ogier

As the newly appointed chair of the Internal Audit Committee, I am looking forward to working with the fine people that make up USMS. The mid year status of the Internal Audit Committee is relocation. Most of the audit files have been received and reviewed. An audit will be performed on the financial statements for years ended 1997 and 1998 upon receipt of the final files and the financial statements. We anticipate that both years audits will be concluded in time for the convention.

INTERNATIONAL - June Krauser

The ongoing project of updating a list of countries along with contacts - names and addresses - by Ginger Pierson and Bill Tingley is almost completed. Ginger is sending the list to me to look over and after any corrections or additions the list will be sent to Bill who is to put it on disk.

Jack Buchannan, Chairman of the Legislation subcommittee "Committee Description Review" sent a survey that was received in January. On February 6^th I sent a notice to all committee members and asked them to answer all of Jack's questions and return the answers to me by February 20^th. I received two answers by my deadline and then sent them on to Jack. After meeting Jack's deadline, I have received three more answers from committee members.

The consensus of the answers were:

Is this committee necessary? - yes
Are you happy with the number of committee members?- yes
How are your committee members delegated? - This year they were selected with at least one from each zone
Should there be a required number of representation? Yes, and the representation should be at least one from each zone AND have had experience in foreign competition
Do you anticipate a need for more members? No
Does your committee description indicate what is actually happening and/or should it be re-written? The International Committee shall consist of twelve members from the House of Delegates having foreign competition experience, with at least one member from each zone. The committee shall encourage, promote and assist with the dissemination of information on International meets and bring to the attention of USMS any bids for international championship meets
Should all committees have the same representation and numbers? No

I have received no information on the Pan Pacific meet to be held in Perth, Australia as of this date.

LEGISLATION - Elin Zander

The Legislation Committee is continuing to work on a number of projects which should be completed by convention in San Diego. Each year, we review our sections of the USMS Rule Book to assure consistency within the code and with actual practice. This year, we are working on updating and streamlining the USMS committee descriptions and membership requirements, as well as those sections of the code which deal with the financial practices of the organization. In addition, we are working on expanding the "Convention" and "Bylaws" chapters in the LMSC Handbook in order to provide LMSC officers more information that they might find useful in running their own LMSCs. And finally, as this is a "legislation year" at convention, we are looking forward to receiving and reviewing amendment proposals from all of you.

LONG DISTANCE - Sally Dillon

Much has been accomplished since the last Long Distance Committee report. The committee has been very active, as usual.

Peter Crumbine tabulated and I verified the All American list for 1998. It has been submitted to SWIM Magazine for Publication and the National Office has notified the swimmers.
NIKE has come "on board" as the sponsor for the Long Distance All Star Team and they sent awards to the 1997 team.
Marcia Benjamin tabulated the 1998 Long Distance All Star Team, the National Office sent the swimmers beautiful certificates and NIKE will send awards to the swimmers as well.
The 1998 Long Distance National Championship events concluded and a record 2774 participated. The 1999 One Hour Postal Championship had a record 1838 participants and Davis Masters won the team title with 299 swimmers.
Lynn Hazlewood distributed bid forms for the 2001 championship events and solicited listings for the LD Calendar. Lynn also does a wonderful job maintaining the LD web site. Information/results for the LD National Championship events and a current calendar of events are only a couple of the many items available on the web site.
Robert Zeitner continues to manage medal distribution to championship hosts for the LD committee.
Maureen Koss maintains the records for LD events and sees that they're submitted to the rule book in a timely manner.
I wrote articles for SWIM Magazine about the upcoming National Championship postal swims and open water events which will be published in the May/June issue. I also put together the annual mailing of the LD Calendar and National Championship entry forms which goes to LMSC representatives and others.
The committee has responded by written questionnaire and e-mail to a number of issues that have required our attention. Those issues include discussion of club tabulations for postal events, the One Hour Swim event deadlines and registration problems, and some new ideas being considered for the One Hour Postal 2000 event.

MARKETING/PUBLICATIONS - Hill Carrow

Hosted a USMS booth at the National Recreation and Parks Association Aquatics Conference in Mesa, AZ, March 7-8^th. Gene and Lola Donner manned the booth. There were 400 attendees at the conference and the booth received lots of inquiries re: Masters swimming.
Negotiations are currently underway for a USMS booth at the ASCA Coaches Clinic to be held in San Diego the week prior to Convention. Clay Evans is in charge.
The video PSAs on Masters swimming and USMS has been completed and Jim Wheeler has provided copies to three LMSCs
Hill Carrow provided assistance with planning and execution (including the official staff and participant shirts) of the first-ever USMS Swim Clinic at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs is November.

OFFICIALS - David Diehl

As the newly appointed chair of the Officials Committee I am looking forward to serving United States Masters Swimming. I will be contacting the members of the committee in the near future to get their input for agenda items for the upcoming convention. I hope to continue the outstanding work of my predecessors in this position.

PLANNING - Nancy Miller

I would like to bring you up-to-date on a few things. Doug Church has informed me that the Fund has done quiet well for its first year. It has received monies from the check-off system on our 1999 registration forms as well as some additional contributions. He has also had inquiries from other individuals interested in making contributions. Doug reports that he thinks the next report will indicate a significant overall increase.

The Altitude Training Camp held in February at the USOTC was a huge success by all accounts. It represented the first true collaborative effort of its type between USMS and USA Swimming. Its success promised many more such camps to come, and I congratulate those who organized and ran it.

We as a committee directed the Executive Secretary "to be a repository for any and all information developed by various groups as that information pertains to the construction costs and expected operating costs and expected usage for a new facility. The purpose is to make this information readily available as a research resource to any interested Masters group." Jim Wheeler, our Parliamentarian, was involved in a project of this type last year and volunteered to share his data with us. See the announcement in this issue of Streamlines soliciting input from anyone else with pertinent information to share.

Our committee also expressed some concern regarding "outside" groups offering alternative adult swimming competitions and their possible negative impact on USMS activities and programs.

In addition, I will be directing inquiries to Jim Miller (Sports Medicine Committee) and Jim Matysek (Computer Online Committee) to see what progress they have made with regard to our remaining action items from last year's convention. Sports Medicine was to develop an official USMS "sports drug policy" to avoid the potential for performance-enhancing drug abuse in Masters swimming. Computer Online was to study "the issue of changing technology and how it will affect USMS business, particularly in the area of member privacy." The Coaches Committee was also to provide the Computer Online Committee with all pertinent data to be posted on our web site so that all Masters programs and facility directors, coaches, etc. who do not receive an actual visit from a mentor coach can still be up to speed with regard to available information.

About a month ago USMS was contacted by Fitness Swimmer with regard to the possibility of Fitness Swimmer Magazine developing a closer relationship with USMS. Nancy Ridout informed them that USMS will be drawing up a list of all those things which the Board of Directors believes are important in such a relationship, and she has requested that this item be on all committee agendas at convention in order to solicit even wider input.

Any other topics I'm forgetting or that you've thought of since last fall from Planning to sink our collective teeth into? There is one which was mentioned in passing: USMS should network more extensively with other aquatic organizations to provide greater cooperation and awareness. This is done to some extent via the Aquatic Summit, but the interaction at that meeting does not seem to carry over to any great extent.

I think this is a good start.

RECORDS & TABULATION - Pieter Cath

TOP TEN - Top Ten Tabulations for 1997/98 Short Course Yards, 1998 Long Course Meters and 1998 Short Course Meters were sent to the printers and distributed. The World Record listings in these publications were supplied by Walt Reid. The Top Ten information is also available on the web. Carl House continues to improve these presentations.

ALL AMERICANS - Individual and Relay All American tabulations were completed. The Individual list will appear in the May/June issue of SWIM Magazine and the Relay list was sent to all members of this Committee and to representative of the registered Clubs. The Relay list is also available on the USMS web site.

RECORDS - During the 1998 year, more than 450 records were listed. This does not include those that were broken more than once during the year. There were 174 in SCM (146 individual and 28 relay), 127 in SCY (114 individual and 13 relay), and 149 in LCM (122 individual and 27 relay). All record applications were processed by Walt Reid.

PROBLEM AREAS - We continue to have problems with meets that are not reported, especially recognized meets. Participants in recognized events do not know they themselves are responsible for reporting their results to their Top Ten Recorder.

Unfortunately some swimmers with one-event registrations show up on the All American and Top Ten tabulations. Maybe improved communication between the meet directors and the LMSC involved could alleviate this.

REGISTRATION - Sarah Hromada

The Registration Committee is working on the transition of the National Registrar position for year 2000 registrations. All LMSCs should be using Leo's software or have a transition plan for use by the 2000 registration year. The program is available free of charge to any registrar. For more information contact Leo Letendre:

Leo Letendre
Glandore Drive
Manchester, MO 63021-5618
314-394-6395
leo.j.letendre@monsanto.com

The National Registrar position is moving to the National Office starting with the 2000 registrations. The USMS Executive Committee has developed a transition plan for the Registrar change. We are looking for input from the local registrars for improvements in the registration system. Any suggestions should be directed to Sarah Hromada (Registration@usms.org)

RULE BOOK - Meg Smath

As usual, the committee took a nice, long rest after getting the camera-ready copy for the 1999 rule book to the printer in November. This year's rule book has a different spiral binding than previously used, which we expect to be more durable.

Just getting the camera-ready copy to the printer was a bit more of a challenge this year, because we printed two rule books: the regular, full-size rule book, and a "mini" rule book containing only the parts of the rule book needed for officiating at a swim meet. We printed 600 mini rule books, and are happy to report that all 600 have been sold. We will have to carefully consider how many mini's to print next year. We will also have to consider whether to include the ads in the mini rule book as well as the full rule book.

Updated files for the online version of the rule book were sent to Jim Matysek, who has done a wonderful job of updating the rule book there. A new feature of the online rule book is a sponsors' page, which includes links to sponsors' web sites.

Soon we will begin scouring the rule book for proposed housekeeping changes to the rule book, particularly parts 2, 4, 5 and 6, since 1999 is a "legislation" year. We will submit these proposals as early as possible to the chairs of Rules, Legislation and Long Distance, so that they can consider them separately from substantive amendments.

The May/June issue of SWIM Magazine will contain notice of the contest to design the cover of the 2000 rule book. This year the notice will state that all submissions become the property of USMS, and we will ask each contestant to sign a release as well. This is so USMS will have the option of using the cover designs for purposes other than the rule book cover. Last year's cover was also used for note cards. Three other designs that were not chosen for the rule book cover were turned into T-shirts, offered for sale by Kast-A-Way Swimwear (see page 43, upper left corner, of their latest catalog). Order one (or all) of these attractive T-shirts, and kill three birds with on stone: support USMS, support one of our sponsors, and look really spiffy!

RULES - Leo Letendre

We have been dealing with the normal questions that arise during the year.

SAFETY EDUCATION - Julie Paque

Members of the Safety Education Committee have been hard at work. Leslie Smith wrote a pool safety poem "Slippin' and Slidin'" for the March/April issue of SWIM Magazine, accompanied by one of Kerry O'Brien's masterpiece cartoons. Dan Gray has written an article on water quality in open water swims to appear in a future issue. We are also working on a safety section for the LMSC Handbook, and a safety booklet for each USMS club.

SPORTS MEDICINE - Jim Miller

The first half of the year has been very productive from the standpoint of the Sports Medicine Committee. We completed the participant survey from the USMS Altitude Training Camp which was held in February in Colorado springs and are currently working on revisions for future use. We are also currently three articles ahead of SWIM magazine's needs and have four articles in the hands of John Leonard for use in USA Swimming/ASCA publications. FINA's position statement regarding our opposition to drug testing in Masters athletes has been forwarded, though their confirmation has not yet been received. Our only disappointment so far has been the numerous SWIM Magazine editions that have not had room to include the writings submitted by the Sports Medicine Committee.

ISHOF NOMINATING - Tom Boak

The committee nominated Kelley Lemmon and Maxine Merlino for induction to the International Hall of Fame. I was recently contacted by our President, Nancy Ridout informing me that both Kelley and Maxine have been accepted and will be installed during the induction ceremony at the ISHOF on May 9^th. Congratulations to both!

RECOGNITION & AWARDS - Mary Lee Watson

The call for nominations for the 1999 Ransom Arthur honoree was sent out in February. We had a good response and submitted a slate of highly qualified nominees to the committee on March 23^rd. The votes are now in and tabulated and the honored Master Swimmer will be announced in May at the Short Course Nationals in Santa Clara.

A call for nominations for the 1999 Service Award recipients is now being published in SWIM Magazine and in this issue of Streamlines. The deadline for these nominations is August 1, 1999. The awards will be presented in the house of delegates at convention in September.

The committee feels that the time has come for the Ad Hoc Recognition and Awards Committee to be elevated to its deserved stature of a standing committee. It's responsibilities are on-going throughout the year and are constantly expanding. In addition to managing the Ransom Arthur and Service Awards, the committee screens and approves all proposed National awards, thus assuring the quality and quantity of our major awards.

ENDOWMENT FUND - Doug Church

The United States Masters Swimming Endowment Fund is starting to build momentum and the $15,000 challenge grant should easily be met by convention. The $1 check-off system is working although not as well as hoped. More information to all USMS swimmers about the Endowment Fund should increase the check-off collections in future years. On the plus side, we have had several significant contributions from individuals and organizations. Significant contributions have been received from Tod Spieker, Roy Abramowitz, Tom Boak, Catie Cooper, Debra Ellis, the Potomac Valley LMSC, Greater Indiana Masters who made a contribution from the remaining proceeds from the 1998 Short Course National Championships, and the YWCA Masters of New York City who conducted a raffle during the annual meeting and contributed the proceeds. We have received gifts in memory of a loved one or in commemoration of an event. Additional efforts are being developed which will be discussed more fully at convention to spread the word both inside and outside Masters swimming about this important resource for future program development benefiting all Masters swimmers.

USMS Special Appointments and Liaisons Reports

CONTROLLER - Suzanne Rague

The Controller is current on authorizing expenses, and with the prompt response from our wonderful Treasurer,

people are receiving their reimbursement checks in a timely manner.

The 1998 financial statements are being worked on, with the goal/deadline of May 15^th - our corporation's tax filing deadline, as the date for both our internal statements and the tax return to be completed.

HISTORIAN - Edie Grunder

As Historian, I'm keeping photo albums with pictures sent from USMS members and pictures I take at USMS functions during the year. Very few pictures have been sent to date, so I am asking that a notice be sent from the National Office (in this issue of Streamlines) to all LMSCs (put in their newsletters for clubs/members) requesting that I be sent photographs of significant USMS events and activities.

The Newsletters that have been sent to me, or Joan Smith will be combined in another album.

Carl House is accumulating data, articles, stories and photographs and posting them to the Internet at http:///www.swimgold.org/hist/. He urges that we establish official USMS Archives and that these materials be included.

SWIM MAGAZINE EDITOR - Susan Ludwig

I recently received an e-mail from Dan Frost concerning expanding the USMS Newsletter of the Year Award. He's got some important points to make.

I get many, many excellent newsletters and an equal number of just plain good newsletters, and the job of finding one winning publication each year is not only daunting, it's not a good indicator of what's out there. Indeed, Dan mentions that he "cannot believe it is best for USMS for judges to attempt to single out any one publication per year above others of similar excellence, and not recognize the efforts of others." He goes on to suggest some fixes: keeping the award an overall Newsletter of the Year Award and recognizing the finalists (who are also outstanding) or create different categories of the Award to reflect the size of the club producing the newsletter. Also, awards for graphic design, original writing, editorial excellence and photography could be given out.

I believe that Dan has some terrific ideas here, and I am sending them out to you for comment. I would like to change the Award system and would also like to have a committee made up of a good cross section of club representatives to be the judges. As it is now, newsletters are judged by USMS Executive Committee members - let's spread this job around. Your comments and suggestions via e-mail are appreciated. If we are to change the Newsletter of the Year Award this year (doubtful?), we would have to start the gears turning immediately.

USA SWIMMING - Ted Haartz

I have no report to give by this printing of Streamlines. The next USA Swimming board meeting is on May 1^st. I will send my report from those meetings to Nancy Ridout.

YMCA - Stu Marvin

The 1999 Masters YMCA National Swimming Championships will be held at the Schroeder YMCA & Aquatic Center in Brown Deer, Wisconsin, April 22-25, 1999. Hosting the meet this year will be Dave Anderson and the Schroeder YMCA Masters Swim Team. This will be the first time the meet is not being run by the YMCA Competitive Swimming & Diving Committee and its dedicated group of volunteers. The "central committee" approach to running the meet has worked well in the past, however the meet dates typically fell on the weekend following the National YMCA Swimming & Diving Championships. This placed a strain on many committee members who had to extend their stay or travel to another site to work the Masters Championship. There are not many folks out there who are available and willing to spend two consecutive weeks of vacation working swimming meets!

In an effort to alleviate this strain on such a dedicated group, the YMCA of the USA decided to adopt a competitive bid approach to hosting the event, similar to that of USMS. It was also hoped that such an approach would encourage local YMCAs and their Masters teams to take a more active role in supporting the YMCA Masters program. Hats are off to the folks at the Schroeder YMCA for being the first to step up and run the meet themselves.

Going from the "centralized committee" to the "private bidder" has had some growing pains, but the meet is shaping up nicely with 483 entries. I have received suggestions from many Masters swimmers about the future of YMCA Masters Championships and will forward them to the YMCA of the USA. For information about the possibility of hosting this meet in the future, calls should be directed to Dick Jones, Associate Director of Sports, YMCA of the USA, at 614-621-1231.