Eastern Zone Swimming

As approved at the September 2003 Eastern Zone Meeting
 

MINUTES
2003 SPRING EASTERN ZONE MEETING
Philadelphia (PA) Airport Mariott
MAY 10, 2003


 

The meeting was called to order at 10:15 a.m. by Dave Carson and Kerry Ellett - Zone Directors.

The minutes of the September meeting were approved. Bea Hartigan stated that Metro was left out of the attendance from September. They were on the original minutes e-mailed out but accidentally got left off the website version. This will be corrected.

The financial report was given. We have $30.29 in the bank after payment of banners and the refund to GCIT. A motion was made, seconded and approved to make the dues $125.00 per LSC effective immediately. (See who to make check out to, and where to send it, at end of Newsletter).

The Agenda was approved.

MEET COORDINATION CHAIR - Ellen Mace said the Zone Championships meet went well. They had no trouble with the time line with the new events. They had lots of officials. She felt that the timers should show up sooner than they did. Middle Atlantic won the Men's, Women's, and combined awards. There were 395 top 16 reportable times, 25 new zone records, and one National Age Group Record.

Bill Shaw - Virginia - gave out the booklet for the meet in spring 2004. The dates are April 1, 2 & 3, 2004. They will have an HYV file in a couple of weeks.

TECHNICAL PLANNING - Each LSC received three copies of the event order and cuts for this summers' long course meet in Pittsburgh. Issues discussed and voted on at the meeting Friday night.

ZONE

  1. Scoring Open Water as a team to be added to team scores from the swim meet. The vote was no.
  2. Giving an award to each age group in the zone meet. The vote was no.
  3. Date for finishing the zone meet in August. Switch the current manual to say to finish on a Saturday between the 9th and 15th of August. A motion was made, seconded and passed on this.
  4. That Maine be allowed to use conversions for long course as there are no long course pools in Maine. This was passed. Conversions will be in writing so everyone knows what is expected.
  5. The event order for this summer is only for a one pool long course meet.
  6. Get meet info out for meets 90 days ahead.

SPEEDO SECTIONALS

  1. Combine long course summer meet into one. A letter of request will be sent to the Rules Committee to see if this can be done.
  2. Common protocol for both Sectional meets. A task force will be set up to look into this.
  3. Need to post team scores where spectators can see them.
  4. If awarded meets are changed, they need to stay on the same weekend or it should be rebid.

Maryland brought up the following items.

  1. Set time standards for the short course meet. Budget and time line were concerns.
  2. Eliminate 15 and overs completely,
  3. Use a common section cut - not be allowed to swim that event at the zone meet if a swimmer has the cut.

Results of the fifteen minute caucus within each LSC on the above issues. Time standards and cuts - 7 no's, 4 yeses, and 1 no consensus
Eliminating 15 & overs - 8 no's, 3 yeses, and 1 no consensus

SOME COMMENTS:
Don't change anything - some years are good years and some bad.
Older swimmers are not interested in swimming fast - just having fun.
Leave it at 2 per LSC - gives each LSC a chance.
Little kids look up to the big kids whether they are fast or not, so don't put a cap on the times.
Some LSC's have their own time standards - if no swimmer makes that cut, the event is not filled.
What do we want opportunity or equality?
Sectionals are not what they are meant to be - no real progression. There was more logic before they started.
There will be one Junior Meet again in the summer of 2005.

SECTION 1
In favor of one summer meet. Starting with 2004 if possible. The task force is: Sharon Power, and John McIlhargy.

SECTION 2
They have no bid for 2004 so would welcome one meet at Buffalo. The task force is: George Homewood, and Pat Kaplan.

The task force will let Ed Dellert - Chairman - Technical Planning know when they plan to meet and he can keep people informed.

REPORT OF OFFICERS

BUDGET - 2004 Quadrennial Budget was 980,000. in the red. On May 4th it was 429,000. in the red. It will be balanced by August. The Safety rebate should come due and will make it balanced.

THE NOMINEES FOR THE FOLLOWING ARE: (2005-2009)
FINA Bureau - Dale Neuburger
FINA Extraordinary Congress - Jim Wood and Annette Salmeen
ASUA Executive Committee - Carol Zaleski
ASUA Technical Swimming Committee - Jim Wood, Fernando Canales
ASUA Technical Open Water Committee - Sid Cassidy & Denny Ryther

CLUB DEVELOPMENT DIVISION REPORT WAS GIVEN IN HAND OUT TO ALL ATTENDEES.

COACHES EDUCATION - Murray Stephens is the head of the task force on this. Goals are to Provide a successful program of coaches safety training. Plans to update the curriculum. Make the course easier to get. Have an online contact.

FACILITIES TASK FORCE REPORT IN HANDOUT.

PROGRAMS AND SERVICES TASK FORCE REPORT IN HANDOUT.

6 programs in 2004

  1. Additional USA Swimming Field Staff
  2. Expanded USA Swimming Video Resources
  3. High School Swimming Initiative
  4. Expanded Coaches Education
  5. Club Recognition Program
  6. Integrated Template System

 

5 programs in 2005

  1. Club Research
  2. Coach Mentoring Program
  3. Parent Education Program
  4. Pool of Dreams (Rural & Urban Club Development)
  5. Science & Technology Research

 

MARKETING The Duel in the Pool was very successful. The TV ratings increased over two hours and stayed steady. NBC was pleased. They are holding time for a return match. There was some criticism about not all the Aussies coming. But it was stated we should be careful with criticism as in a return match there may be some swimmers who would not travel all that way for a one day meet.

Nickelodeon is happy with Splash TV. They will rerun some episodes and have some new ones.

Summer Splash tour will be in the Eastern Zone from June 30th to July 20th - if you have any ideas on where it should go, get in touch with the marketing department.

GOVERNANCE - Greg Eggert . there are a few smaller changes . want to identify who goes to convention by Dec. 1 of each year so they can receive information. . metrics - what does this term actually mean. . President makes committee appointments and can take them away if needed. . OIOC - elected this fall - 2003 - would push back changes.

ATHLETE REPORT
No athlete report at this time. Our athlete reps' plane was cancelled and she never got to our meeting.

SUE ANDERSON - NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE TO THE EASTERN ZONE
Speedo Sectional Meet Sites - the bid process will go through USA office. This will help teams know what their obligation is. What has to be used and financial status etc.. USA Swimming will know who the contact is for each meet. 2004 teams awarded meets have to fill out the contract. The zone picks the host team, the USA forms are just for information purposes. They must be in by July 1. As we voted to bid two years out we would like to do this a year ahead.

Task force for pools - this will be set up to teach you how to do this, not build a pool for you.

Club Development, Club Leadership and Business Management Seminars were help in Virginia for 4 nights in different locations. In 2004 this will be required. It is free. USA Swimming needs more than two clubs to offer it. There are four coordinators who teach this. There is budgeted money to help expand this. One suggestion was to publish who held this and to give certificates to the clubs that attended.

Sue is visiting Potomac Valley June 23 - 29, 2003

AGE GROUP PLANNING - Marci Callan - has a report on trends in Age Group Swimming from a survey sent out to all the LSC's. If you want a copy contact her.

NATIONAL OFFICIALS - Frances Klier encouraged all LSC's to send in candidates for the Maxwell Award. This is done 6 times a year and is published in Swimming World

COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE - Ed Dellert - sent letter to all LSC chairs - looking for who is their webmaster. Interested in finding out what two (or more) LSC's of similar size are doing. They will have a seminar at convention in September.

ADAPTED SWIMMING COMMITTEE - Bea Hartigan - Working on a workshop at convention. US Paralympic Committee is now with the USOC. She is looking forward to a meet where all disabilities work together. Feels that sometimes they are going a step backwards.

Middle Atlantic has had Open Water Championships for swimmers with Disabilities for a few years. This year it is Aug. 8th - - Back Bay area - Ventnor, N. J. For information: e-mail [email protected] or [email protected]

STEERING - Greg Eggert for Jim Wood
. Preparations for Athens are coming along well.
. World University Games - in South Korea will be on the watch list
. World Championships in Barcelona preparations are going well.
. Pan Am's in the Dominican Republic preparations are going well. They are allowing four athletes per event.
Two delegates will be going to the meeting on July 11th on anti-doping.

ELECTIONS - In September in San Diego we are electing a new non-coach Zone Director. Get your bios in to USA Swimming if you are interested. Let's try to have a few interested people.

SPRING MEETING - Niagara and Maine bid for the spring 2004 meeting. It will be on May 8th in Portland, Maine.

Barry Roffer made a statement that all LSC's should support the Sectional Meets, and not run meets up against them. The consensus of the group was this should be highly encouraged.

NEW BUSINESS
From Virginia A motion was made, seconded and passed and reads as follows:

  1. That the Eastern Zone adopt a two year pilot program to permit inclusion of swimmers with disabilities at zone meets.
  2. In order to implement this policy, the Adapted Swimming Chairman for Virginia Swimming would act as a committee of one to coordinate needed actions with the Adapted Swimming Chairs from the other LSC's in the Eastern Zone, the Zone Meet Director, and the Meet Referee.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,


Isabelle Fraser - Secretary-Treasurer
 

Ellen Mace requested that her website be included in our minutes as zone info will be posted there as well. It is: www.besmarttinc.com

****

DUES SHOULD BE MAILED TO: ISABELLE FRASER, 24292 BUCKINGHAM WAY, PORT CHARLOTTE, FL. 33980-5519 DUES ARE $125.00 PER LSC. THE CHECK SHOULD BE MADE OUT TO: ISABELLE FRASER I do not have a separate zone account at this time. If you need a record on the check, please write Eastern Zone in the left corner of your check.

ATTENDANCE - MAY 10, 2003
AM - Pete Gannon
AD - JoAnn Faucett, John Ogden
CT - Nan Cooper, Clark Cooper
ME - Bonnie Alcaide, Sharon Power
MD - Roger Weinberg, Pat Kaplan, Chris Gibeau, Sheryl Lepisto, Megan Riley (athlete)
MR - Ray D'Annolfo, Bea Hartigan, Barry Roffer, John "Mac" McIlhargy
MA - Cherita Gentilucci, Tom Southmayd, Kim Southmayd, Dave Carson, Patric Mills, George George Breen, Mike Seip, Jon Larson
NE - Ray Grant
NJ - Ed Dellert, Stephanie Crofton, Greg Eggert
NI - Barbara Paradis, Frances Klier, Marci Callan, Steve Root, Tom Nowakowski (athlete), Dave Finger
PV - Thirl Crudup, John Ertter, John Hirschmann, Jim Garner, Greg York, Bill Marlin
VA - Dianne Limerick, Louise Limerick, Dave Henderson, Bill Shaw, George Homewood, Chuck Swanson, Peter Maloney, Jerry Hayes

Zone Directors - Dave Carson, Kerry Ellett
Secretary - Treasurer - Isabelle Fraser
National Eastern Zone Coordinator - Sue Pitt Anderson