PORTLAND

USMS, a national organization that provides structured workouts, competitions, clinics and workshops for adults age 18 and over, presents the Fitness Award annually for outstanding contribution to fitness programs for Masters swimmers. USMS honored Volckening for his work on the USMS Fitness Committee.

In 2002, Volckening was instrumental in redesigning the fitness section of the USMS Web site. The updated fitness section now contains resources for beginning Masters swimmers, information about USMS fitness events, new articles each month, and a section of archived articles.

Volckening is volunteer director of the USMS 2003 Check-Off Challenge. He also has actively participated in the development of the Virtual Swim Series, online logs in which swimmers can chart their routine workout swim distances as "virtual swims" along maps of selected lakes, reservoirs, and rivers throughout the United States.

United States Masters Swimming (www.usms.org) is a national organization that provides organized workouts, competitions, clinics and workshops for adults age 18 and over. Programs are open to all adult swimmers (fitness, triathlete, competitive, non-competitive) who are dedicated to improving their fitness through swimming and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Founded in 1970, USMS is organized with 500 clubs in 53 regions throughout the nation.