JULY/AUGUST 2008 BULLETIN

In this Bulletin:

1. President’s Log
2. Upcoming Meets
3. Coaching
4. Training
5. Butterfly Swimmers Unite!
6. Website & Bulletin Information

1. President’s Log

I hope that everyone had a great time at Nationals this year!? We had many outstanding swims with special recognition going to our World Record breaking swimmers. World records were set in the 4 X 50 Free Women's Relay with congratulations going to Avila Rhodes, Joan Parnell, Elizabeth Smith, and Sarah Macdonald, and again to Joan Parnell for breaking the 75-79 Women’s 100m IM. We also saw many Canadian records fall by BC swimmers. Leading the way was John Graves breaking 5 Canadian records in the Men’s 75-79 age group and Mike Stamhuis re-wrote 2 records. Avila Rhodes, Valerie Hadd and Graham Welbourn each set a Canadian record as well. BC swimmers registering as MSBC also swam their way to a second place finish overall, a very good showing seeing that there were many larger teams there. Great swimming and a lot of great fun was had by all who participated! Congratulations to everyone and I’m looking forward to next year!

On the National front, we have a new President with Masters Swimming Canada. Nigel Kemp has been elected as MSC President for the next 2 years. I have worked with Nigel over the last couple of years and we could not ask for a better president. Lindsay Patten has stepped down from the board and has become MSC's new Director of Operations. Lindsay is the one responsible for the great MSC website and the Million Meter Challenge for those who don't know him. MSABC looks forward to working with both Nigel and Lindsay over the next while. The MSC AGM was held in Quebec City where four new board members were elected, Robert Diewold from Red Deer, AB, Christian Berger from Brossard, QC, Carolyn Prebble from St. Catherines, ON, and Sylvie Potvin from Prevost, QC. I am looking forward to working with them on the MSC board.

Provincials turned out to be a very good meet for many of our swimmers with many provincial and National records broken, and Joan Parnell making claim to yet another world record. Congratulations Joan! Provincials were attend by approximately 200 swimmers, all who were just as glad to be inside that weekend with the weather feeling like late winter instead of the middle of spring. Now let’s all gear up for next year in Duncan and their new pool!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish Brent Hobbs of Okanagan Masters all the best in his English Channel swim towards the end of July. Brent has been training hard for this swim, including many swims without a wetsuit both at the coast and in the interior over the last few months, this in water with a temperature of 11 or 12 degrees!!! Brent is proof that Masters swimmers can do just about anything they put their minds to. When Brent completes the swim he will become only the second swimmer from BC to ever complete this non-wetsuit event.

Many of us have been training for upcoming open water swims throughout BC, as well as other parts of Canada and into the US. What a great way to enjoy the summer! Keep an eye on our website for more information about open water swims, as well as the meets for the 2008/09 swim season.

For those swimmers that swim for the fitness, remember that you can log your meters on MSC’s Million Meter Challenge at mymsc.ca. Those that love to swim in the lakes and ocean during the summer can estimate their meters and enter those meters as well. Good luck to all that are competing in the many triathlons throughout BC.

Keep up the swimming, have fun and enjoy your summer!

Glen Mehus
MSABC President
president@mastersswimming.bc.ca

\\ back to top \\

2. Upcoming Meets

Open Water Swims
Saturday, July 19	Kelowna Across the Lake, Kelowna	-click for web site-
Sunday, July 20	Kits Challenge, Vancouver	-click for web site-
Sunday, July 27	Bay Challenge, Vancouver	-click for web site-
Sunday, July 27	Thetis Lake , Victoria	-click for web site-
August 15-16	Kelowna Apple, Kelowna	-click for web site-
USA Swim Meets
August 14-17	USMS LC Masters, Portland OR	-click for web site-
Sunday, September 7	Patriot Games, Camas WA	-click for entry- -click for email-
Sunday, September 21	Oak Harbor Pentathlon, WA	-click for entry-
BC Meets for 2008/09 Season
Saturday, November 29	Ebbtides SC Swim Meet, Nanaimo	-click for web site-
Mid-February	English Bay SC Meet, Vancouver	-click for web site-
Saturday, March 7	Victoria Masters LC Meet, Victoria	-click for web site-
Saturday, April 4	Winskill SC Endurance Time Trial, Vancouver
April 2009	MSABC Provincials, Duncan
May 15-18, 2009	MSC Nationals (SC), Etobicoke ON

 

For additional and regularly updated swim meet information, please see the MSABC website: www.mastersswimming.bc.ca/upcoming.html

Out of Province Records: The Board of MSABC, in consultation with Julie Jones, have designed a new Out of Province Records application form which, when completed, will make it easier for MSABC swimmers to apply for BC Records.  The form is posted on the MSABC website under Club & Record Info - BC records: http://www.mastersswimming.bc.ca/records.html

\\ back to top \\

3. Coaching

Just a reminder that the Coaches’ Meeting, held just before the start of the 2008 Provincials in Kamloops , resulted in the proposal to hold a Coaches’ Clinic next October, possibly in Tsawassen. If you have any ideas or suggestions regarding content at this Coaches’ Clinic, please contact Gilles Beaudin (vanguy@telus.net). October will be here before we know it, so please don’t delay in contacting Gilles!

And a reminder for anyone interested in completing the Skills Coach Courses offered by SwimBC: MSABC will now be reimbursing $150 for each completed level (Skills Coach; Level 2; and Level 3) upon producing a completed and valid application! Go to http://www.swim.bc.ca/sbcnccp.aspx to check for upcoming courses.

\\ back to top \\

4. Training

While many of us are actively participating in open water swims this summer, it is also a time when many of us slow down our training, or even stop training, because of vacations and other fun-time summer activities. While you are lying on the beach, with a cool beverage in hand, it might be a good time to review your goals and accomplishments from the past swim season, and start setting some new goals for the upcoming swim season. It’s also a great time to borrow a few DVD’s from the MSABC library! We’ve just upgraded our Richard Quick videos to DVD, purchased two new Go Swim DVD’s, and also purchased the Fast Lane series by Frank Busch. Check our full video/DVD library at www.mastersswimming.bc.ca/video.html . DVD’s and videos are available for a 2 to 3 week loan period (depending on demand). Contact Claudia Sperling at sperlingclaudia@gmail.com to borrow videos and/or DVD’s.

Also, check out our website to find out about borrowing the video camera and underwater lens http://www.mastersswimming.bc.ca/camera.html. Arrangements and bookings can be made by contacting Glen Mehus at gmehus@shaw.ca.

\\ back to top \\

5. Butterfly Swimmers Unite!

Submitted by Steve Wallace, MSABC Member at Large

Attention all butterfly swimmers! We are being discriminated against! Butterfly swimmers unite! Virtually every other stroke has had a rule enhancement in the past 50 years of competitive swimming, except fly.

Breaststrokers can now put their heads under water, use a fly kick off the turn (stolen from true athletic fly specialists) and even break the water with their hand action. No wonder their times are faster.

Backstroke swimmers are allowed to turn onto their front and flip turn, and then dolphin kick from the start (stolen again from the purist butterfly swimmers)!

Freestyle swimmers have always been able to do whatever they want, so they’ve also stolen the fly kick off the turn!

Only butterfly swimmers have seen no advancement to the rules governing their stroke. It is time we fly swimmers were allowed to tumble turn at least. Perhaps we should be permitted to touch with one hand or even stay under water as long as we feel like it. Anything would be an improvement. Or perhaps we will never see a rule change and remain forever the only pure stroke amongst our fellow swimmers.

BUTTERFLY FOREVER

\\ back to top \\

6. Website and Bulletin Information

If there is anything you would like to see posted on the MSABC website, please send it to Tony Zezza (vicepresident@mastersswimming.bc.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 Claudia Sperling (sperlingclaudia@gmail.com).

Deadlines for submissions:

• August 15th for September/October issue

• October 15th for November/December issue

• December 15th for January/February issue

• February 15th for the March/April issue

• April 15th for May/June issue

• June 15th for July/August issue

To subscribe to the Bulletin: Go to www.mastersswimming.bc.ca/bulletin.html, enter your email address in the appropriate spot and click “subscribe”.

To unsubscribe to the Bulletin: Go to www.mastersswimming.bc.ca/bulletin.html, enter your email address in the appropriate spot and click “unsubscribe”.

\\ back to top \\