Minutes of UANA Executive Committee - May 12, 2012

 

UANA Meeting Minutes
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
May 12, 2012

 

ATTENDANCE  --
UANA President - Mr. Coaracy Nunes Filho (BRA)
Honorary UANA Life President - Mr. Eldon C. Godfrey (CAN)
UANA Secretary / Treasurer – Mr. Fernando J Canales (USA)
UANA Vice President - Mr. Errol Clarke (BAR)
UANA Vice President and WP Technical Committee Chair - Mr. Bill Shaw (CAN)
Mr. Luis Leiva Perez (CHI)
Mr. Steve McFarland (USA)
Mr. Ismael Gonzalez (GUA)
Mr. Brian Johnson (CAN)
UANA International Relations Officer - Mrs. Margo Mountjoy (CAN)
UANA Media Officer – Mr. Gregory Eggert (USA)
UANA Financial Advisor – Mr. Mel Goldstein (USA)
Diving Technical Committee Chair – Ms. Kathy Seaman (CAN)
Synchronized Swimming Technical Committee Chair – Ms. Rose Cody (PUR)
Open Water Technical Committee Chair – Mr. Denny Ryther (USA)
Swimming Technical Committee Chair – Mr. Bill Hogan (CAN)

 

UANA PRESIDENT'S WELCOME & REMARKS --  President Coaracy Nunes Filho introduced himself to the UANA members requesting for everyone’s support.  He spoke about his experience as he enters his 22nd year as President of the CBDA , President of CONSANAT and COLAN and 12 years on FINA Bureau. President Coaracy explained how his biggest worry when directing a sports organization is the financial status which ultimately dictates how the administration will be able to work. He introduced Secretary-Treasurer Fernando J Canales and asked the UANA Executive to approve Mel Goldstein as UANA's Financial Manager noting Mel's experience as the longtime and experienced Treasurer of United States Aquatic Sports. He recognized Honorary Life President Eldon Godfrey as “the miracle maker” and his great friend and brother. President Coaracy is confident that we will do very well by working in conjunction with all of the present members of UANA who have the greatest credibility in the sports community.  All members gave a personal introduction.

APPROVAL OF 2011 UANA CONGRESS MINUTES  -  The Minutes of the October 2017 UANA Congress were reviewed and approved and will be posted at the UANA website.

 

UANA FINANCIAL REPORT  --  President Coaracy spoke about his efforts to secure sponsorships for UANA, explaining the substance of our organization and the need for all Federations to support these efforts. He assured the members that he will be present at all UANA events and requested feedback  from all regarding UANA matters, All President’s expenses as well as those from the Brasilian members of the Technical Committees will be covered by CBDA until UANA secures  a sponsor.

It was determined that payments in cash are a good practice for UANA business.  A proposal to amend the dues clause and for 2012 billing after May 15th  and for future dates billing would be in February of the odd year was considered, discussed and approved.  A proposal to authorize the CCCAN and CONSANAT to collect UANA dues was unanimously approved.

Contracts for all UANA events are identical except for water polo and masters.  Water polo has a different model without a formal contract and masters has included a per person participation fee that is split between the NF host and UANA.  Fernando Canales will distribute a copy of our standard contract for review and comments in early July. We will accept suggestions from the members for amendment.

Thanks were offered to Mr. Mel Goldstein for the brilliant idea to apply a small surcharge per athlete during Masters Events that guarantees a future stream of income for UANA.  For the present time, the surcharge does not apply in the same manner to other UANA aquatic disciplines.

 

UANA CALENDAR OF EVENTS --  President Coaracy explained that UANA must promote the participation of juniors in order to be successful and provide better opportunities for the growth of our aquatic disciplines.

Swimming:  President Coaracy indicated that the Brasilian Swimming Federation (CBDA) is prepared to host the 1st UANA PAG Junior Swimming Championships in January of 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. 

 

Synchronized Swimming:  UANA Summons for Synchronized Swimming PAG in Cali, Colombia was not available. Secretary/Treasurer Fernando J Canales will contact the Colombian Federation in order to expedite this process so that the summons can be distributed to all UANA Federations.  The Puerto Rico Swimming Federation submitted a bid to host the 2013 UANA Synchronized Swimming Championships in San Juan during July or August of 2013. The bid was accepted and it is the only bid submitted for this event to date.

Open Water:  III Open Water PAG to be held in Isla Margarita, Venezuela from May 13-15 of 2013.

Masters:  The UANA Pan American Masters are scheduled for May 31 to June 10, 2013 in Sarasota, Florida.  There is a possibility that the Organizing Committee will expand the event to include other aquatic disciplines with information available in July.

 

INTRODUCTION OF ISHOF  --  Bruce Wigo welcomed our group and reported the present state of ISHOF affairs. He also gave us a written and oral presentation relating the strong relationship between ISHOF and the FINA Bureau including current and past FINA Presidents. Mr. Wigo was gracious and generous in allowing us to use the wonderful facilities at the ISHOF for the celebration of our meetings. President Coaracy and the UANA Executive Committee gave thanks to Mr. Wigo for his generosity, hard work and good will. 

UANA TECHNICAL COMMITTEE REPORTS  -- 

 

Diving Report  --  UANA Chair Ms. Kathy Seaman detailed a summary of important judges that will be in London 2012, representing a very strong team. She stated that Federations have shown there is a strong need for clinics for coaches. Chile, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica Colombia need assistance and they have agreed to host clinics. UANA's objective will be to improve the coach’s curriculum. The current judges curriculum is very strong. The program for development needs to be consistent. Nine Coaches have been identified that share skill and language qualities that make them special for this program. The goal is to have all UANA judges certified with FINA at Pan American Games. Future certification and clinics will continue at key UANA events. Pan Am Games qualification procedures is being reviewed. Presently we have 60 athletes slated for competition in Toronto 2015 and it is on the TDC agenda to clarify the best practice for qualification. Two neutral judges will be invited to Toronto and a FINA evaluator shall be included at Pan American Games. The TDC will shortly identify an athlete representative for nomination to the committee. The TDC recognizes the need to have other events in addition to Junior events in the near future. Margo Mountjoy questioned about high diving initiative by FINA and would UANA want to be the leaders in this area? The committee will consider her request but they had not met regarding this matter.

 

Swimming Report  --
Pan American Games:  UANA TSC Chair Mr. Bill Hogan, discussed proposals that deal with the experience the committee had with previous Pan American Games in terms of athlete quotas. Also discussed was the UANA list of referees and starters which has been defined and it is nearly completed. This list includes some 80 officials and will be used for future UANA events and the 2015 Pan American Games.

 

The quota of 256 swimmers was a problem because originally there were 176 swimmers qualified over that quota.  The TSC chair proposes to raise the quota for the PAG from 256 to 300 swimmers.  And in addition to that, he requested that there be a maximum # of participants between 16 to 18 per gender, to maximum of 32-36 total participants per federation. This request was a result of discussions with USA Swimming and Swimming Canada to reduce the team size in order to provide better opportunities for smaller countries to send more athletes, as well as meet the “universality” participation for all others.  In addition, the committee chair would like to see an unlimited number of events permitted for the athletes who have met the Games qualifying standard, while still maintaining the maximum of 2 athletes per country allowed to move forward to finals.

 

President Coaracy asked why people were removed from the competition on the eve of Guadalajara PAG, and it was explained that it came down to the quota of 256, and that PASO ordered the Committee to reduce the list of qualifiers to meet that quota.  In order to avoid this problem we should change our method of selection.  The chair stated he would like to follow the same FINA system presently in place to invite athletes based on their times after those athletes with A qualifying times are admitted to the competition.  A provisional entry method would be adopted by invitation only, and working with UANA technical swimming committee secretary Jay Thomas, follow the same system used by FINA for the OG. This method should take care of the qualification problem for all future events.  UANA Media officer Mr. Greg Eggert clarified that useful and exact data may be available through a collaboration with USA Swimming enabling UANA to preview the athletes from each NF who would potentially be qualified and/or invited to attend the PAG in 2015. 

 

As for the meet format for PAG 2015, the committee recommends Semi-Finals & Finals format for 200m events and under; Heats & ‘A’ Finals (400m and up); 800m/1500m events be Time Finals with slower heats in the morning and the fastest seeded heat at night (only 2 swimmers per country can be seeded into the fastest heat at night); Relays with Preliminaries and A Finals; and that there be no stroke 50’s; no 800m Free (men); no 1500m Free (women).
 
Junior Swimming Championships:  A future UANA Junior Swimming Championships was discussed and Brazil offered to host the first event in January of 2014. There is a proposal to have a coach’s clinic and also an official’s clinic during the Junior Swimming Championships event.  The TSC chair recommended that the competition format mirror the format and age groupings of the FINA World Juniors.

 

Synchronized Swimming Report  --  UANA Chair Ms. Rose Cody detailed how our key events over the last year have been very exciting and she welcomed Ms. Ana Maria Lobo (BRA) back to the Technical Committee. In addition she wishes to soon have the athlete representative back. She read her written report which follows:  Additional information provided in a written report submitted to the UANA Executive Committee prior to the meeting.

 

Open Water Swimming Report  --  UANA Chair Mr. Denny Ryther detailed the present situation for Open Water Swimming.  Additional information provided in a written report submitted to the UANA Executive Committee prior to the meeting.

 

Water Polo Report  --  UANA Chair Mr. Roberto Cabral detailed the present situation for Water Polo.  Additional information provided in a written report submitted to the UANA Executive Committee prior to the meeting.

 

Masters Report  --  Masters Chair Mr. Mel Goldstein detailed the present situation for Masters.  The 2013 PAG Masters Championships will take place from June 1-13 in Sarasota, Florida. The Masters Committee nominated David Morrell as athlete representative to UANA Masters Commission. The athlete representation provides excellent input as to the running of events and their administration.  Additional information provided in a written report submitted to the UANA Executive Committee prior to the meeting.

 

PARTICIPATION OF AFC & USAS PRESIDENTS  --  President Coaracy was thrilled to have both Lisa Schott and Jim Wood present in our meeting and he expressed his hope that collaboration between AFC, USAS and UANA will continue during the next quadrennial. He also offered financial collaboration from CBDA for future meetings of the UANA Executive and of future UANA Conferences like the editions held in 2009 and 2010.  With the financial participation of CBDA, it was noted that future costs can be shared equally by AFC, CBDA, UANA and USAS.  The UANA President described the sponsorship proposal he had submitted to IMG. President Coaracy requested the assistance of AFC and USAS for leads or contacts that will assist UANA in securing future sponsorships.  Mr. Wood and Ms. Schott spoke and assured UANA that USAS and AFC support will continue through Toronto 2015 and he will also collaborate whenever possible in assisting UANA procurement of potential sponsors.

 

Toronto 2015 & Competition Calendar Conflict with 2015 FINA World Championships --  Report was submitted by Ms. Margo Mountjoy regarding the timing conflicts that have arisen due to the conflict of dates between Toronto 2015 and the FINA World Championships in Kazan. This presents serious challenges for all aquatic disciplines that are being dealt now.  Ms. Mountjoy updated the group on the progress made during the meeting in London in February 2012 with Ian Troop (CEO Toronto 2015) and Julio Maglione and Cornel Marculescu.  The various scenarios and possible solutions were reviewed. As changing the dates of the either event is not feasible, promotion within the UANA family as encouraged in all disciplines to ensure adequate attendance in Toronto.   Ms. Mountjoy submitted the following summary:

 

Diving:   The competition program will be adjusted in Toronto and Kazan to allow for attendance at both events               

 

Swimming: The competition program will be adjusted in Toronto and Kazan to allow for attendance at both events               

 

Water polo: Due to the competition program, attendance at both events is not possible; appropriate development in UANA Federations is necessary to ensure enough teams attend in Toronto               

 

Synchro:  Due to the competition program, attendance at both events is not possible; appropriate development in UANA Federations is necessary to ensure enough teams attend in Toronto; Attendance at both events for duet  competition is feasible 

 

Open Water:  The competition program already allows feasibility for attendance at both events 

 

UANA CONSTITUTION  --  UANA Vice President Bill Shaw explained the proposed "housekeeping" changes to the UANA Constitution that he has made.  He is working with CONSANAT President Javier Lopez who will be submitting proposals for changes to Mr. Shaw at a future date. The UANA Constitution will be posted to the UANA website in the near future.

 

UANA Media Officer’s Report  --  UANA Media Officer Gregory Eggert, explained that our website is up and running and gave thanks for Jay Thomas and Mel Goldstein for work in the first phase of the construction.  In the second phase, each aquatic disciplines has been invited to nominate a “go to person” for their respective area of the website.  Nominations were received from:

 

Jay Thomas – Swimming

 

Heather Archer – Synchro

 

Felix Calderon – Diving

 

Jorge Delgado – Open Water

 

Water Polo - To be nominated at a later date.
 

OLD BUSINESS -- 

 

 

NEW BUSINESS  --   

Ratification of UANA Technical Committees Appointments:   CCCAN President Mr. Errol Clarke stated that CCCAN was abstaining from the vote to ratify the appointments to UANA Technical Committees.  Ana Maria Lobo was added to the UANA Technical Synchronized Swimming Committee and Ricardo Bunuelos was added to the UANA Technical Diving Committee.  Steve McFarland proposed to add an athlete representative to all UANA Technical Committees and that the athlete would be from the same country as the Chair of the Committee except for Masters Swimming. It was suggested that a similar procedure be in place at the UANA Congress Toronto 2015 and be following in the future.  It was proposed that the Chair and Secretaries of the UANA Technical Committees might be funded to attend future editions of CONSANAT and CCCAN Championships and Congress. This proposal will be discussed and resolved at a later date.

 

Ecuador  --  The situation in Ecuador was discussed. FINA appointed President Coaracy to investigate the situation regarding Ecuador’s Government and its intervention with their Olympic Committee and all their sports NGB’s, as well as their Swimming Federation. President Coaracy scheduled a trip to Ecuador with all the documents needed to work efficiently there. This problem is a political struggle between the government, the Olympic committee and Ecuador’s sports Federations.

FINA Technical Rules Changes  --  UANA International Relations Officer and FINA Bureau member Ms. Margo Mountjoy discussed how technical rules changes will happen as a result of the 2013 FINA Congress that will take place in Barcelona. She suggested for UANA to act in a more efficient manner by submitting the desired changes as a group rather than each Federation acting independently. Each Federations requests will carry a stronger message by asking for support from the 42 UANA countries.

It was recommended for all Federations to bring forth all suggestions for rules changes and/or ideas and have them submitted to Secretary / Treasurer Fernando J Canales in order for UANA to submit them to FINA by November 1 of 2012. This would not negate the right of the individual countries to submit proposals individually.  Proposed submissions from the UANA Technical Committees are due to UANA (FC) September 30, 2012.

FUTURE MEETING DATES OF UANA EXECUTIVE & TECHNICAL CHAIRS  --  Future meeting dates were suggested:  May 2013 in Fort Lauderdale in conjunction with the Induction events of the ISHOF.  May 2014 date and location is open;  May 2015 meeting of UANA Executive and Technical Delegates to be proposed in Toronto.

 

Respectfully submitted by UANA Secretary / Treasurer Fernando J Canales