Ed Saltzman Receives Capt. Ransom J. Arthur M.D. Award for His Volunteerism

When his phone rang one August morning, Ed Saltzman wasn’t expecting the major news that he would be receiving the 2025 Capt. Ransom J. Arthur M.D. Award.

“I had been nominated several times for the award and not chosen, so it was the last thing on my mind,” says Saltzman, a member of Dynamo Swim Club. “I can truly say it caught me by surprise. It wasn’t even on my radar anymore.

“It’s a great honor to be recognized for your hard work and to be named among such a distinguished list of USMS contributors from the past 50-plus years.”

The award, USMS’s highest volunteer honor, recognizes a member whose contributions have significantly furthered the objectives of the organization. For Saltzman, being added to a list of recipients spanning decades is validation of his work as an official, LMSC and Zone leader, and committee member.

Saltzman, 74, started officiating when he saw a notice in the Georgia LMSC newsletter that USA Swimming needed more officials. He signed up for a clinic on Nov. 7, 1992.

“I’ve been officiating swim meets for 33 years, accounting for over 2,100 sessions,” he says. “I can’t imagine how many hours that comes out to be.”

For Saltzman, officiating has been more than rules and whistles. It’s been a way to give back to swimming. It’s also opened doors to experiences few could imagine, including serving on multiple USMS committees, chairing the Southeast Zone, running USMS national championships, and working at the Olympics and Paralympics.

Saltzman’s impact extends far beyond the pool deck. While serving on the Officials Committee, Saltzman created a stipend program to help bring officials to national championships, solving a critical staffing challenge.

And after the 2010 USMS Short Course Yards Nationals in Atlanta turned a healthy surplus, Saltzman pushed for the Georgia LMSC to reinvest those funds into its members. That money has covered sanction fees for meets, subsidized coach certifications for 45 coaches, and paid for USMS memberships for one year for students and low-income seniors.

“It made sense to reinvest that money in our LMSC and our members,” Saltzman says.

Saltzman’s swimming résumé also includes a brush with the world’s biggest stage: the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and Paralympics. He ran one of the timing consoles that fed results to the press.

“Being ‘back stage’ and seeing legendary coaches (a little more worn by time) that I used to read about in Swimming World when I was younger and getting to mingle with Olympians, it’s hard to describe the experience,” he says. “[The Paralympics was] equally as exciting to be a part of. It’s hard to describe how it felt to be on the deck in front of capacity crowds and feel the energy.

“Those are experiences that stay with you for life.”

His favorite memories from the meet include having a front row seat to watch the swimming and getting to joke with Team USA athletes that included Amy Van Dyken.

Saltzman traces his enduring love for USMS to his first national championship in Santa Clara, California, in 1993. There, while officiating, he struck up a conversation with an older official who turned out to be Bud Meyer, father of Olympic great Debbie Meyer Weber, one of Saltzman’s heroes.

The next day, Meyer swam in the meet, and Saltzman joined her and her father for dinner. She gave him an autographed Olympic trading card.

“That’s what makes USMS special,” Saltzman says. “All ages, all levels of experience, all sharing the same deck.”

Three decades later, Saltzman remains a fixture on deck because of the joy he gets from helping people and being part of something bigger than himself.

“Getting to meet people you admired and only read about in magazines, that sold me on USMS,” Saltzman says. “That’s what makes USMS unique and great. That’s what makes USMS special—all ages and all levels of experience.”