In this Bulletin:
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Captain's Report
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Your New MSABC Board for 2010-2011
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Team Aquatic Supplies MSABC Championships
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2010 Canadian Masters Swimming Championships
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League Trophy Awarded to Victoria Masters
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Bonnie Pronk to be inducted into I.M.S.H.F.
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New Meets Added for the Upcoming 2011 Season
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Open Water Season is Upon Us!
Article by Leon Politano - What’s With the Whistles?
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Training Videos & DVD's
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Website and Bulletin Information
1. Captain's Report - Summer 2010
It was quite at year for Master Swimming in B.C.. As always, many meets big & small throughout the province.
A great Provincial Championships was hosted by English Bay with over 300 swimmers registered which may be a record number of entries for this event! The success of the meet was due in large part, as always, to the hard work of the organizing committee and all the volunteers. Well done and thanks!
Provincials was followed by the Canadian National Championships in Nanaimo hosted by the Nanaimo Ebbtides who put on yet another successful B.C. run competition! Leon Politano, our Masters official and sanctioning representative with Swim B.C., provides some interesting stats from an official’s point of view in the report on Nationals further down in this Bulletin.
At the AGM, we discussed the normal business of our organization – minutes can be found on the MSABC web site. Also, please welcome our new board member, Ivan Szasz from the U.B.C. Masters, as he joins the existing board members – all of whom have agreed to serve for another year.
I hope that you all have a great summer and, if the weather finally improves, maybe get some open water swims in now that the indoor season is completed. Don’t forget to train though as the first meet of the 2011 season isn’t that far away!
Aart Looye
MSABC President
president@msabc.ca
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2. Your New MSABC Board for 2010-2011
At the Annual AGM held during Provincials, the membership voted in a new Board for this coming year. Here are your Board Members for 2011.
President Aart Looye (Winskill Otters)
Vice-President Keith Kendall (Victoria Masters)
Secretary Nancy Ryan (Nanaimo Ebbtides)
Treasurer Melissa Furlotte (Comox Masters)
Registrar Len Martel (Victoria Masters)
Editor Gilles Beaudin (English Bay)
Webmaster/Dir. At Large John McManus (Navy)
Director at Large Ivan Szazs (UBC Masters)
Director at Large Steve Wallace (Victoria Masters)
We wish them well as they continue to provide MSABC and it’s membership with strong leadership!
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3. Team Aquatic Supplies MSABC Championships
Team Aquatic Supplies 2010 British Columbia Masters Swimming Championships
23-25 April 2010 - Vancouver Aquatic Centre, Vancouver BC
English Bay Swim Club hosted this year’s B.C. Provincial Swim Meet, close to downtown Vancouver at the Vancouver Aquatic Centre. We gather this was the largest B.C. Provincials to-date, with 295 swimmers participating from B.C., Alberta and the U.S.. Most people agreed there was a wonderful positive "vibe" over the weekend and we have received many appreciative comments from the swimmers who enjoyed themselves. There were 35 records broken during the competition (34 B.C., 25 Canadian and one World Record—broken by Sarah MacDonald from Victoria Maters who swam 50m free in a time of 27.96). Results and photos from the event can be viewed at: englishbay/iWeb/swim2010/
The meet was officially opened on Saturday morning with brief remarks from Councillor David Cadman - Deputy Mayor of Vancouver, and Lisa Martella - Executive Director of ‘A Loving Spoonful’, our main charity beneficiary of the meet. English Bay’s own chorister, treasurer and registrar, Patrick McGowan, led the singing of ‘Oh Canada’. A touch of pink was inserted into the proceedings with the Pink Flamingo relay held during the lunchtime break on Saturday - this ‘stylistic race’ involving various props and a good dose of humour, judged for grace as much as speed was won by Victoria Masters.
As for the meet itself, host English Bay Swim Club took home the honours in winning the 3-day competition and along with it, the ‘Champion’s Trophy’.
Here are the top 10 teams:
1. English Bay Swim Club 4522
2. North Shore Masters 3488
3. Victoria Masters Swim Club 2058
4. Winskill Otters Masters S. C 1801
5. Semiahmoo Masters Swim Club 1116
6. Summerland Orca Masters 924
7. Navy Masters Swim Team 866
8. Hyde Creek Masters 833
9. Calgary Masters Swim Club 806
10. Delta Retreads Masters 717
The Banquet was held at the False Creek Yacht Club, which provided the 150 attendees with very splendid city/water views from under the Granville Street Bridge in intimate surroundings. EBSC’s own Gilles Beaudin did his best to distract the hungry swimmers from a rather long food line with a string of enticing awards and prizes.
Putting on the 2010 B.C. Provincials Swim Meet involved more than 85+ officials and volunteers who gave freely of their time and energy to make it happen and to run as smoothly as it did. EBSC would like to thank the officials and volunteers who helped make the meet a success, as well as the generous support from sponsors including: Team Aquatic Supplies, Cafe Luxy, Olympia Restaurant, Spelt Bakery, Lolo, Whole Foods, President’s Choice, Tartine Bread and Pies and Canadian Dolphins Swim Club.
On behalf of the EBSC Provincials Organizing Committee,
Paul Johnson, Val Hadd, Patrick McGowan & Khosro Mansuri.
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4. 2010 Canadian Masters Swimming Championships
21-24 May 2010 - Nanaimo Aquatic Centre, Nanaimo BC
What an event for our little Nanaimo Ebbtides Master Swim Club! Thanks to our generous sponsors, especially the City of Nanaimo, Team Aquatics Supplies and MSABC, we were able to pull it off and be in the black as well!
Registration closed early as we had reached our goal of 600 swimmers. We had chosen to have a long course meet because we anticipated having difficulty finding enough officials to have a double ended meet as well as not having two sets of timing equipment. Little did we know that the City had decided to purchase an 8 lane score clock as well as all new electronic timing equipment! Once we were told of this exciting news, it was a very long and anxious wait before we actually saw the equipment installed - one week before Nationals! As a result, the technical guru, from Colorado, decided to stay with us for most of the meet. That was greatly appreciated!
Ninety-six clubs took part- ranging from as far away as England, Florida, Vermont, Virginia, the Yukon and Nova Scotia. The age range was from 18 to 91. BC had the largest provincial entry with 245 swimmers but the largest teams were both from Ontario.
echnosport Swim and Tri club from Ottawa had 63 swimmers and Aurora Master Ducks from north of Toronto had 55 swimmers. There were 374 relays that added great excitement- including a grand finale from the Aurora Ducks with their exotic costumes. It was a wonderful way to wrap up a very long weekend.
And yes, the days were very long – perhaps too long but the results were well worth it as a total of ninety-two (92) record applications have been sent off to MSC’s ‘keeper of the records’, Christian Berger ranging from World Relay records to Canadian & American Nationals records as well a slew of Provincial marks!
The Long Course meet proved to be extremely popular with many swimmers especially since both the FINA Masters World Championships in Sweden and the Gay Games in Cologne are being held this summer – they are both traditionally LC competitions.
For registration, we chose an American on line company called ‘Club Assistant’ that caters to swimmers. They were able to provide immediate meet results through www.swimphone.com that swimmers, friends and family were able to access.
As is always the case, swimmers cannot have a meet unless there is a sufficient number of officials and volunteers. Numerous clinics were provided in the past few months to both upgrade officials as well as train our new recruits. We had over 200 volunteers over the span of 4 days.
The ‘meet and greet’ social was held the first day during the 1500’s and many swimmers treated it as their dinner - the delicious spread was consumed far too quickly but, amazingly enough, there was lots of beer and wine left over!
The Banquet, TAS Awards and dance were a huge success as well. VIU provided a delicious gourmet dinner and the ‘33rd Rail Band’ had everyone up dancing until closing!
Once again, we are so appreciative of the response from our community and we hope to be able to put back into the swimming community some of our surplus funds.
Even though the days were extremely long for swimmers, officials and our volunteers, the consensus, by the number of smiles on everyone’s faces and the positive emails that we have received, is that it was a success!
Please check out our photos by going to our website http://cmsc2010.ca/ and click on ‘Images’. Enjoy! -
Nancy Ryan (Meet Manager)
Nationals from an Official’s point of view:
Did you know that during the 4 days of the Nationals hosted by the Nanaimo Ebbtides that 41 senior officials (stroke/turn judges, chief timers, clerks of the course, booth staff, starters, and referees) and over 200 volunteers (timers, gophers, hospitality, awards, set up/take down, results, etc) were on deck working to make the meet a success?
This does not include the members of the Ebbtides that worked hundreds of hours on committees during the year and a half before the meet took place. Their preparation made it possible for the senior officials and volunteers to work as a team and the reason that the meet ran so well and everyone, competitors, spectators, volunteers, and officials, enjoyed themselves.
Nanaimo Ebbtides definitely showcased what Masters Swimming is all about in BC and set the standard for others to follow. - Leon Politano
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5. League Trophy Awarded to Victoria Masters for a 2nd Consecutive Year!
The League Trophy is awarded to the team which has scored the most number of combined points, based on the Hy-Tek’s point system, during our regular BC meets up to but not including Provincials. The more swimmers your club sends to each of these meets, the better your chances of scoring the most points! This trophy was awarded during the 2010 Provincial Banquet to the Victoria Masters. Congratulations!
· 1. Victoria Masters - 7352
· 2. English Bay - 4620
· 3. Winskill Otters - 3759
· 4. Nanaimo Ebbtides - 2719
· 5. Comox Valley Masters - 2439
· 6. UBC Masters - 2400
· 7. White Rock Wave - 1520
· 8. Hyde Creek Masters - 1227
· 9. Navy - 1147
· 10. North Shore Masters - 1022
As only 3 of the proposed 8 ‘League’ meets, for this coming season, are slated for Vancouver Island, the race for the ‘League Trophy’ will be more interesting as Victoria Masters will have to make a strong showing off the Island if they want to repeat for a third year. The challenge has been made!
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6. Bonnie Pronk to be inducted into I.M.S.H.F.
Bonnie Pronk will be inducted into the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame as a 2010 Honour Swimmer. Bonnie was unanimously chosen by 60 + worldwide members of the Masters Selection Committee and the induction ceremony will take place this September in Dallas TX. This is a well deserved honour for Bonnie and a recognition for her contribution to Masters Swimming and her numerous world masters records. She is the first Canadian Masters swimmer to be inducted.
Bonnie, a resident of Campbell River, has compiled some astounding statistics throughout her Masters career. As a recent example, in the 60-to-64 age group, she set 22 Masters world records and 31 Canadian records. Among these, in 2002, were eight world records with four first-place finishes and one second-place finish at that year's Australian National Championships. This was followed by seven world records with four first-place finishes and one second-place finish at the 2002 World Swimming Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand. The following year, Bonnie added five first-place finishes at the U.S. Masters Nationals, in Cleveland. She is now well into the 65-to-69 age group still setting World Records with no sign of slowing down!
Bonnie has also been quite involved on the organizational side of Masters Swimming having been an instrumental part of the MSABC Board of Directors for many years.
Once again, from everyone at MSABC, congratulations Bonnie for such a well deserved honour to such a deserving individual.
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7. New Meets Added for the Upcoming 2011 British Columbia Masters Season!
Our meet schedule for the upcoming season is quickly taking shape. Two new competitions have already been sanctioned! This is what the meet schedule appears to be shaping up as:
*- denotes a ‘League’ meet with points counting towards the ‘League Trophy’
* Saturday, 9 October Okanagan Winefest Swim Meet Kelowna
- this ‘short course’ meet will be held at the brand new H2O Adventure & Fitness Centre in Kelowna during their ever popular ‘Winefest’ celebrations! The meet is expected to have a late start to give participants the option of either arriving on the Friday night or the Saturday morning. The H2O Centre will be the site of this year’s Provincial Championships so this is the opportunity to get a feel for the facilities and after the meet, book a night at one of the many hotels available and make it a weekend by taking advantage of the Winefest activities in & around the city!
* Saturday, 23 October North Shore Masters Swim Meet North Vancouver
- this ‘short course’ meet will be held at the Harry Jerome Centre in North Vancouver. The North Shore Masters Swim Club is made up of the swimmers who train at various pools in and around the North Shore – Harry Jerome being one of these facilities. This inaugural meet will feature a 50 I.M. (a half length of fly, back, breast & free) which will surely prove a challenge for the meet’s stroke & turn officials! J
* Sunday, 14 November UBC Masters Swim Meet UBC, Vancouver
- this annual ‘short course’ meet will once again be held at the UBC Aquatic Centre on the UBC Campus in Vancouver. It is always a popular, well run competition with a hearty post meet buffet for those not rushing off to catch their ferries home.
* Saturday, 27 November Nanaimo Ebbtides Annual Swim Meet Nanaimo
- this annual ‘short course’ meet will be held at the Nanaimo Aquatic Centre in Kelowna – site of this past year’s successful Canadian Masters Swimming Championships. The Ebbtides have proven that they know how to put on a great meet and their post meet spread is not to be missed nor their awesome water slides!
* January *tentative Comox Masters Swim Meet Comox
- this ‘short course’ meet was first introduced to our schedule last year to fill in for the cancelled Cowichan January competition. As there is still no meet scheduled for January, we are hoping that Comox will once again step up to the plate and play host. The Comox Valley Aquatic Centre is a super facility equal to any in the Province!
* Sunday, 13 February EBSC’s Annual ‘Love to Swim’ UBC, Vancouver
- after a year’s hiatus, this annual ‘short course’ meet makes its return to the ever popular UBC Aquatic Centre on the UBC Campus in Vancouver. Renown for its ever popular ‘Pink Flamingo Relay’, the English Bay Swim Club hopes to make this Valentine Day Weekend just that much more special!
* March * tentative Victoria Masters Annual Swim Meet Victoria
- the Commonwealth Games Pool in Saanich – the only long course meet of the season plus an awesome waterslide! – what more can I say? This annual ‘long course’ meet has yet to decide upon it’s date but we look forward to another well run competition put on by Vic Masters!
* April *tentative Winskill Otter’s Endurance Meet Tsawwassen
- for all of you distance nuts (I’m including all our Tri members here!), this is the meet for you! If the Winskill Otters decide to once again organise this competition, get ready for those 400s, 800s & 1500s as well as those rare 800 relays! This will be the last meet of the season before Provincials and a good place to pick up those extra points before the tabulations for the ‘League Trophy’ commence!
Fri.-Sun., 15-17 April 2011 BC Provincial Championships Kelowna
- MSABC Provincials are heading back to the Okanagan! The brand new H2O Adventure & Fitness Centre will be the venue of this year’s 3-day ‘short course’ championship meet. Host team, Okanagan Masters Swim Club will be looking to bring the ‘Champions Trophy’ to the land of Ogopogo but expect a fight from the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island teams!
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8. Open Water Season is Upon Us!
With the months of July & August upon us, we welcome the Open Water season. Many masters swimmers use this ‘other’ season to stay in shape during the summer months though, to be fair, it must be pointed out that many Open Water swimmers use our ‘indoor’ season to stay in shape during the course of the year. Open water swimmers are a different breed .. well, at least to the author of this article! If only they would allow fins & paint a line on the bottom, maybe then I’d be tempted but alas, rules are rules .. ;)
Here are some of the Open Water competitions planned for this coming summer:
Saturday, 17JUL Kelowna Across the Lake Swim Kelowna
Info: http://www.msabc.ca/meets/2010ATLS.htm
Sunday, 18JUL 79th Annual – The Bay Challenge Vancouver
Info: http://vowsa.bc.ca/schedule/
Sunday, 25JUL Thetis Lake Swim for MS Victoria
Info: http://chapters.mssociety.ca/default.aspx?ChapterID=701&PageID=767&L=2
Saturday, 14AUG Kitsilano Challenge Vancouver
Info: http://vowsa.bc.ca/schedule/
Fri/Sat, 20-21AUG Kelowna Apple Open Water Swim Kelowna
Info: http://www.msabc.ca/meets/2010KelownaApple.pdf
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9. Article by Leon Politano - What’s With the Whistles?
As a referee, I often get asked that question at masters’ meets where many swimmers have not come up through the age group ranks.
Masters’ meets in BC are sanctioned meets that follow the SNC rules with FINA Masters exemptions and the BC Swim Technical Guide. The protocol for the start of a race is described in the SNC rule book. The referee shall give three short whistle blasts. This is not an invitation to get on the blocks or into the pool. It is simply a notification that something is about to happen. Once the referee determines that it is safe, he or she invites the swimmers to mount the blocks or get into the water by giving one long blast of the whistle after which the race may be turned over to the starter. Backstroke starts are different in that a second long whistle sounds once the last swimmer surfaces after entering the water.
If a swimmer gets on the blocks before the long whistle command is given, the starter will say, “Step down.” Other reasons may give cause for, “Step down.” Often, if all swimmers are on the blocks after the long whistle and there is a delay, the starter may say, “Swimmers relax,” rather than, “Step down.” This happens at masters’ meets because for some of us older competitors, getting on and off the blocks can be a safety issue.
Observing start protocol helps in making a meet run smoothly, efficiently and safely, plus it looks good on TV when everyone gets on the blocks at the same time.
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10. Training Videos & DVD's
Don’t forget to check out our MSABC video/DVD library! We have several complete series including Go Swim, Frank Busch, Richard Quick, and Bill Sweetenham. For a complete listing, please see www.msabc.ca/video.html. DVD’s and videos are available for a 2 to 3 week loan period (depending on demand). Contact Gilles Beaudin at vanguy@telus.net to borrow videos and/or DVD’s.
Also, check out our website to find out about borrowing the video camera and underwater lens www.msabc.ca/camera.html. Arrangements and bookings can be made by contacting Glen Mehus at gmehus@shaw.ca.
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11. Website and Bulletin Information
If there is anything you would like to see posted on the MSABC website, please send it to Keith Kendall (vicepresident@msabc.ca).
Would you like to write an article, or have some news that you would like to share with BC Masters swimmers? Submit it to the Bulletin! Ideas for articles, feedback and suggestions are always welcome. Contact Gilles Beaudin at vanguy@telus.net
Deadlines for submissions:
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September 15th for July/August/September issue
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December 15th for October/November/December issue
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March 15th for January/February/March issue
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June 15th for April/May/June issue
To subscribe to the Bulletin: Go to www.msabc.ca/newsletter/, enter your email address in the appropriate spot and click “subscribe”.
To unsubscribe to the Bulletin: Go towww.msabc.ca/newsletter/, enter your email address in the appropriate spot and click “unsubscribe”.
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