Rich Burns Receives the 2026 Capt. Ransom J. Arthur M.D. Award

Rich Burns couldn’t figure out what was happening.

Several of his teammates in the 1980s would disappear for a few days every September and come back talking about rule changes and national championship locations. He eventually asked where they had gone. Their response: U.S. Masters Swimming’s annual meeting.

Burns attended the next year, in 1986, starting 40 years of volunteer service with USMS. His longtime dedication has led to him being named the recipient of the 2026 Capt. Ransom J. Arthur M.D. Award, USMS’s most prestigious volunteer award.

“It’s a great sense of satisfaction that I certainly made a contribution—and, hopefully, that I contributed a little bit to making it a better, different organization,” says Burns, 83. “It’s fun to have the recognition. It’s an affirmation that what you’re doing has some value.”

This is the second major recognition this year for the Tamalpais Aquatic Masters member. Burns, who has set nearly 100 AQUA Masters world records and more than 150 USMS records, was also inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in May alongside multiple Olympians that included Nathan Adrian and Ryan Lochte.

His journey to receiving this year’s Ransom J. Arthur Award—given annually to a volunteer who has done the most to further the objectives of the organization—has been lengthy. 

Burns recalls trying to learn as much as he could about USMS during his flight to his first annual meeting, which was in Fort Worth, Texas. “The distinction between clubs and teams, associations and zones, LMSCs and MSCs became as rarefied as the air I was flying through,” Burns wrote in a personal note about his deep dive into the organization. 

The experience became more confusing once he learned about parliamentary procedure and Robert’s Rules of Order, which govern how the House of Delegates operates at the annual meeting. 

But Burns, who also received a USMS Dorothy Donnelly Service Award in 1998 and the 2015 USMS June Krauser Communications Award, soon found his niche working in marketing.

Burns’s educational and professional background is in graphic design, which allowed him to create USMS’s first logo, which was in place for nearly 20 years. Burns also worked to establish SWIM as the official magazine of the organization—SWIMMER took that title in 2005—and created high-gloss calendars that featured members from multiple age groups to highlight both the membership and the fact that swimming can be done for a lifetime.

One of Burns’s novel creations was a personal planner that allowed swimmers to track their workouts. He secured the organization’s first paid sponsorships and advertisements to help launch this member benefit, which has since been replaced by the digital Fitness Logs.

Burns has extensive committee experience with USMS, serving on the now-defunct Marketing Committee from 1989–2003 and on the Recognition and Awards Committee since 2013. Combined with his work on the Ad Hoc ISHOF Nominating Committee from 2000–03, he’s spent 18 years helping others be recognized for their achievements.

He now deserves to be recognized for his efforts, wrote Tamalpais Aquatic Masters member Nancy Ridout, the 1994 recipient of the Ransom J. Arthur Award, and Ian King, chair of the Pacific LMSC, in their letter nominating Burns for his own Ransom J. Arthur Award.

“Through four decades, Rich’s behind-the-scenes contributions have facilitated the growth and influence of USMS not only within our membership, but to those who didn’t know it existed,” they wrote. “He has not sought recognition for his many contributions, and most of our members probably are unaware of who it was that provided them. Rich is quiet, unassuming, talented, and committed to giving back to the sport he loves. 

“It’s time to recognize Rich’s impact throughout a 40-year period of continuous contributions to enhancing the vision, values, and programs of U.S. Masters Swimming.”