Around the NELMSC - October 2023 | |
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Summer is behind us, but the fun is far from over! Dive into our newsletter and relive the excitement of sunny days and summer swims. But that's not all! We have a great Fall meet lineup, packed with thrilling events, fierce competition, and plenty of opportunities to make a splash. So grab your goggles and favorite swim cap, and get ready for a season of swimming success. Stay tuned for more updates and prepare to dive into the fun!
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New England Fall Event Line Up | |
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Oct 29 — 14th Annual Leaf Peepers (SCY)
Upper Valley Aquatic Center, White River Junction, VT — registration open
Nov 5 — Concord Carlisle SCM Mini Meet (SCM)
Beede Center, Concord, MA — registration open
November 11 — Polar Bear Masters Meet (SCY)
Leroy Greason Pool, Brunswick, ME — registration open
November 12 — Rhody College Club & Masters Swimming Meet (SCY)
University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI — registration open
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November 19 — 2023 Portsmouth SCM Mini-Meet
Portsmouth Indoor Pool, Portsmouth, NH — registration open
November 19 — The GYM Turkey Day Prep Meet
YMCA Allard Center, Goffstown, NH — sanction pending
November 23 — 2nd Annual Master Pilgrim Sprints (SCY)
The Egan Center, Milton, MA — registration open
December 15-17 — NELMSC SCM Championship
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA — sanction pending
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YOU'RE INVITED!
SOCIAL EVENT ON SATURDAY BEFORE LEAF PEEPERS
You don’t have to swim or volunteer at the meet to join the fun.
Where: Foley Brothers Beer Garden, Quechee Gorge Village (Hartford, VT)
https://foleybrothersbrewing.com/quechee/
When: Saturday, October 28th, any time between noon and 2:30 (NOTE: This is the day before the meet.)
What: Legendary IPAs, created by UVRay Patrick Foley. Beer-garden menu with friendly prices. Indoor and outdoor seating. Live music featuring UVRay Randy Budner and his band The Loose Cannons
Who: Swimmers plus friends and family!
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BEHIND THE SCENES AT LEAF PEEPERS MASTERS MEET:
CHEF SUSAN REID
Anyone who has attended Leaf Peepers Masters Meet held every October at the Upper Valley Aquatic Facility (UVAC) knows that there are sweet rewards involved. Cakes, caramel corn, cookies, brownies, and whoopee pies await swimmers after their races, with first choice often going to the brave 200 butterflyers. Susan Reid, chef and swimmer, is the person responsible for the amazing prizes.
Culinary arts was not Susan's first career. She spent 10 years as a copy writer honing her wordsmithing. She transitioned into the kitchen in the 90s, working at the Bedford Village Inn. In 2002, her writing skills got her through the door at the King Arthur Baking Company. Susan emailed King Arthur to inquire whether they had any use for “a chef that can write.” They did, and she was hired to test recipes for their Baker’s Companion Cookbook. As the company grew, she transitioned to writing King Arthur’s newsletter where she created new recipes for content and oversaw the publication's growth and expansion into color print and then the digital realm.
READ MORE HERE
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Chair's Corner
For those who I have not (yet) met, I am Jason Weis, the new chair of the New England LMSC. While I just stepped into the Chair role, I have served on the NELMSC board for the past few years as Sanctions Chair, and prior to that helped start College Club Swimming, one of USMS’s key strategic initiatives. I also sit on the national USMS Rules Committee, coach and swim with the Boston University Masters, and have competed in numerous USMS National meets.
I’m excited to assume this new LMSC leadership role and help build upon the NELMSC's great history.
I attended the 2023 USMS Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas, last month, where the USMS Board of Directors emphasized a few themes for local development, which we intend to fully embrace here in New England.
Last year, there was a strong focus on club development, which was the theme of the 2022 Volunteer Relay (aka Leadership Summit). To that end, the NELMSC board began automatically renewing the annual USMS registration of any club or workout group with five or more active USMS members. We have continued this policy for the 2024 registration.
This coming year has a larger focus on event development. We’ve had a very strong group of dedicated volunteers helping to promote our classic championship events, and I’m excited to see our SCM Championship meet return to WPI December 15-17.
In addition to our WPI championship meet, we have a full fall meet lineup scheduled, including a brand new event- the Inaugural Rhody College Club & Masters Swimming Meet. This meet will be the first of its kind to have both College Club and Masters swimmers competing side-by-side in the same meet. This promises to be a large new meet, and hopefully the first of many to feature camaraderie and competition among College Club and Masters swimmers. Finally, the focus for next year will center around community development. While we’re still building plans for support around that theme, we’d love to hear your feedback and what you hope to see from our LMSC as we move forward into the next year. Feel free to contact me or anyone else on our LMSC board, and I’m sure we’d all be happy to share what we’re working on and looking forward to in the year(s) to come, and we’d be glad to help get you involved in supporting our LMSC. I’m looking forward to seeing many of you around in and around the pool!
Jason Weis
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New England Summer Recap 2023 | |
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SWIMRI TAKES ON USMS
LONG COURSE NATIONALS
By Sarah Sutton
SARASOTA, FL - The first week of August, I hopped a flight to Sarasota, Florida with several of my SwimRI training partners and joined the rest of our NEM team for a reverse snowbird trip to USMS Long Course Nationals.
“Why would you go to Florida in August?” our friends, family, and co-workers, who don’t understand what could possibly drive a person to swim thousands of yards each week, let alone go to swim meets for grownups, asked us.
I won’t lie – I asked myself the same question when we stepped off the plane into a heavy blanket of wet air and the scorching Florida sun.
This meet was going to be an adjustment for us New Englanders – who are used to swimming backstroke under a pool with a roof; who can barely handle a few weeks of humidity in the summer; and who had only managed about 10 days of training in a long course pool before this meet. To make matters worse, the meet started at 7 a.m. most days (with warmups at 6!), a problem for our group as Chuck Barnes is allergic to swimming before noon.
But the water at the Selby Aquatic Center in Sarasota was mercifully cool, and the timers were brave enough to withstand the heat and dump buckets of cold water onto the blocks before each race so we wouldn’t burn our feet.
All in all, it was a strong week of racing for both SwimRI and our NEM teammates. Our little group left the meet with multiple New England and national records, a world record for Chuck in the 100 backstroke, and 10 first place finishes. I lost count of the New England records set by the NEM relay teams. And as a group, the 24 swimmers from New England Masters finished second overall in the regional club category.
I learned several lessons from my first long course meet since high school:
- The pace you “think” you can keep in the mile in a long course pool is much faster than the pace you will actually be able to keep.
- It’s possible to completely die in the last ten meters of a 50-meter sprint.
- It’s not a great idea to use your flip turns to catch your breath, as it will only slow you down and won’t make you any less tired. (My counter in the mile, Tara Mack, told me she thought I was going to stop and say hi every time I approached the wall).
- The pool feels longer than 50 meters when you’re swimming backstroke and can’t see how far away the wall is.
- When lightning flashes in the middle of a relay, 9 out of 10 Masters swimmers will leap from the blocks and finish the race, so they won’t have to swim it again.
- Chuck Barnes may look superhuman when he swims… but if you wake him up before 10 a.m., he struggles to even get in the pool to warm up. Coffee doesn’t help.
- Don’t let Stuart Cromarty show you and your teammates’ races on replay… he’ll freeze frame all your mistakes and you’ll hear about them for months to come!
- Cheering for your teammates becomes even more fun after you sneak out of the meet for a few beers.
- Did I already say that the mile in a long course pool is ridiculously hard?
The best part of the trip may well have been the last day, when, exhausted from five days of racing, we split our time between the tiki bar and diving for sand dollars at one of the most beautiful (and warmest) beaches I’ve ever visited.
For those of you who have never been to a USMS Nationals meet, it’s always well worth the trip to race with your teammates, to be a part of awesome NEM relays, to visit new places, and to meet other swimmers from all over the country. Hope to see more of you at the next one!
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Accomplishing the Impossible:
Grit and Determination Drive Swimmer's Successful Alcatraz Swim
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By Victoria Dow
My aunt dropped me off on a muggy summer day in July 2022. As I climbed the stairs to the office of my physical therapist, Casey, I contemplated how to break the news. We started off the session making small talk.
As he rotated my stubborn shoulder, I finally proclaimed, “I’m going to swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco next summer.”
Casey stared at me for a few seconds before responding, “Victoria, I admire that you set goals, but this one is a stretch for you. Honestly, I think it’s impossible”.
“I know,” I said, smiling. “But I’m going to do it anyway.”
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The years 2021 and 2022 were tough in all aspects of my life. In March 2021, I fractured my hip moving my husband’s motorcycle. Then I fell ill with pneumonia in May and relapsed in June. And just when I started feeling better, I contracted COVID-19 and was carted away in an ambulance for what became a 10-day hospital stay, the first six of which I was so weak I could barely lift my arm to reach the call bell.
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There's Still No Crying In Butterfly:
A Newbie's Take on World Aquatics Masters Championships
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By Olivia Jaras
FUKUOKA, JAPAN — Stepping onto the grand stage of World Aquatics Masters Championships in Kyushu, Japan, I felt a mix of excitement and nervousness. As a fairly new swimmer who had only been doing Masters Swimming for less than a year, and has only been *attempting* to swim butterfly for less than half of that time, it’s fair to say I felt slightly intimidated at Kyushu.
While I was humbled by the number of amazing swimmers from all over the world who had gathered for this prestigious event, the atmosphere at the championship was electric. Swimmers of all ages, backgrounds, and skill levels came together, united by their love for their sport. Olympians, world champions, moms, aunts, granddads, and people from all walks of life were there to perform at their best. It was a competitive atmosphere that simultaneously felt like a 10-day celebration of swimming and swimmers world-wide.
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All Shook Up for the Glen Lake Swim:
Viva Las Glennie
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By Gary Girolimon
The Glen Lake Swim, Viva Las Glennie was held in Goffstown, NH on August 13th. A threatening forecast had volunteers on edge for several days leading up to the event, but come race morning, the sun came poking through, delivering a beautiful day on which to hold the fifth episode of this unique U.S. Masters Swimming-sanctioned competition. The water temperature was 72 degrees, making it perfect for swimming with or without a wetsuit.
The Glen Lake Swim has a subtitle each year. This year’s Viva Las Glennie theme harkened back to the days of the very first verifiable Glennie sightings at Glen Lake during the 1960s, and was a celebration of the best music from that era. Glennie is the friendly plesiosaur-like creature that has been trapped in Glen Lake since the Gregg’s Falls Dam was constructed in 1918. Rocking the lake shore before, during, and after the race was Mark Shelton, a three-time inductee in the Elvis Tribute Artist Hall of Fame. Mark sang many of Elvis’ greatest hits, including a special composition written just for the day, entitled “Viva Las Glennie.”
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World Aquatic Masters Championships Recap Reel | | |
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JT LCM Mini-Meet:
Fun While It Lasted
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Swimmers gathered in Dover at the Jenny Thompson Pool for Great Bay Master's annual long course mini meet. The rain and cold weather was not a deterrence to racers until the thunder cracked and the meet was called after 7 events.
See you in 2024!
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On My Calendar In Ink:
New England Summer Swims
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By Jocelyn Nokes
Every spring I can hardly wait for the lakes in New England to warm up enough to start open water swimming (OWS), and I look forward to planning my summer OWS events calendar. There are three events I always make sure to mark in ink. I look forward to these events every year for very different reasons.
Swim With A Mission (SWAM), held annually in July at beautiful Newfound Lake, New Hampshire, offers several different events including 1K, 5K, and 10K individual competitive swims, a 10K competitive relay and a non-competitive 5K “Honor the Fallen” Memorial Swim Relay pulling the Fallen Soldier Battlefield Memorial kayak. There are other non-swim fundraising events such as paintball. Funds raised support Veteran Service Organizations. Navy SEALS and their Military Working Dogs line up to give high-fives as you enter and exit the water, Gold Star Families are in attendance to cheer you on, and special guest speakers get the event underway and are a part of the post swim ceremony. If that doesn’t get your patriotic juices flowing, then seeing the Fallen Soldier Battlefield Memorial kayak with name pennants of the fallen fluttering in the breeze will. I have raced this event before, but for the past 2 years I have been part of the “Honor the Fallen” Memorial Relay. As a veteran myself, and with the names of my fallen family members and friends on some of those pennants, this event holds a special place in my heart. The Memorial Relay team members enjoy working together to support swimmers of differing abilities during their turn pulling. Each puller is accompanied by a safety kayak and at least one other swimmer while the others rest and ride on an escort boat. However, often several of the teammates jump back in the water in a team effort to escort the puller, we enjoy the camaraderie and support involved. I’m pretty sure it’s my imagination but I think I can hear the crowd chanting “USA! USA! USA!” Can you hear it.
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International, National and Local Awards | |
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Sue Jensen
USMS Dorothy Donnelly Service Award
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Sue Jensen is the New England LMSC Officials Coordinator and also chairs the NELMSC Championship Subcommittee. In these roles, she facilitates and promotes high-caliber meets, secures officials, and ensures they are prepared, supported, and fairly compensated.
Sue led efforts to re-establish and grow the NELMSC SCM and SCY championship meets coming out of the pandemic, which among other challenges required negotiating new agreements with meet venues and event directors. The 2023 NELMSC SCY championship meet was the LMSC’s largest since 2019, with 466 registered swimmers representing 55 teams.
Sue is a USMS-certified Adult Learn to Swim instructor, led a local ALTS program for seven years, and was previously provided administrative support during the creation and introduction of ALTS in New England before it became a USMS national program.
Sue recently worked with pandemic-displaced swimmers to establish the new Cambridge Masters Swimming workout group’s midday practices at Harvard’s Blodgett Pool.
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Doug Sayles
USMS Dorothy Donnelly Service Award
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Douglas Sayles has been one of the New England LMSC’s most dedicated and involved volunteers for over a decade, serving in various leadership roles at the national, zone, LMSC, and local levels.
At the national level, Doug sits on the USMS LMSC Development Committee and previously served on the Legislation, Registration, and Governance committees.
At the regional level, Doug is the Colonies Zone chair and prior vice chair. He is also the current NELMSC membership coordinator and former board chair and registrar. When needed, he previously stepped up to temporarily serve as the acting NELMSC board vice chair, secretary, and open water sanctions chair. He currently sits on the NELMSC Championship Subcommittee and previously served on the ad hoc Grievance Subcommittee, COVID Relief Task Force, and Open Water National Championship task force.
At the local level, Doug is the SwimRI workout group administrator and previously coached Masters practices at Newport Athletic Club. He is a USMS-certified Level 3 Coach and Adult Learn to Swim instructor, and also organizes, promotes, and directs meets and open water events, including the upcoming inaugural Rhody College Club & Masters Swimming Meet, the 2024 Colonies Zone SCY Championship, and the annual Swim Across America – Rhode Island Open Water Swim.
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Stacy Sweetser
USMS Swimming Fitness Award
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Stacy Sweetser is an American Swim Coaches Association Level II certified coach, U.S. Masters Swimming Certified Coach, and U.S. Masters Swimming Adult Learn to Swim Instructor. Stacy has an extensive background coaching USA Swimming age groupers, U.S. Master's swimmers of all levels and triathletes of all skill and distance levels.
Stacy is a former NCAA Division I swimmer. Most recently, Stacy is an All American in both U.S. Masters Swimming and U.S.A. Triathlon, holding multiple New England Masters Swimming records and multiple USMS Top Ten performances. Stacy is experienced in events as diverse as sprinting the 50 Free and 100 IM through to racing the1650yd Freestyle. She is experienced in open water swimming events ranging from sprint, Olympic, 70.3 and 140.6 distance triathlons to the 4.4 mile Chesapeake Bay Swim and the 10K at the Barbados Open Water Swimming Festival.
Stacy successfully created and grew her personal training business, Sweetwater Swim Studio, using her privately-owned Endless Pool. She has secured liability insurance for these activities by registering her clients as USMS members and business as a USMS club.
Stacy’s athletic accomplishments and expertise, business acumen, and ability to communicate across mediums makes her a much sought-after coach and fitness professional.
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Elaine Howley
International Swimming Hall of Fame Buck Dawson Author’s Award
Elaine Howley, New England LMSC Hall of Fame member and award winning free-lance journalist, and her co-author Thomas Gompf were awarded the prestigious Buck Dawson Author’s Award for their memoir, “A Life Aloft.”
Read More
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2023 New England LMSC Awards
2023 Frank Wuest Open Water Swimming Award Recipient
Mina Elnaccash
Jennifer Downing
2023 Appreciation Awards
Chris Landry (Granite State Penguins)
Emily Mitchell (Edge Masters Swim Team)
2023 Coach of the Year
Chris Payson (Shamrock Swim Club)
2023 Contributor of the Year
Sue Jensen (Cambridge Masters Swimming)
2023 Distinguished Service
Douglas Sayles (SwimRI)
2022 Frank Wuest Open Water Swimming Award Recipients
Amanda Smith Dakowicz
Alana Aubin
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3rd Annual New England LMSC
Awards & Hall of Fame Induction Celebration
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Over a 100 attendees convened on October 1st at the Neighborhood Tavern in Northborough, Massachusetts to celebrate the achievements of the NELMSC award winners and Hall of Fame inductees. The annual celebration will take place on the last weekend of September.
The NELMSC Hall of Fame is funded solely on donations which allow the LMSC to recognize and celebrate our outstanding members. If you are interested in making a donation, this can be made during your annual registration by clicking on the LMSC Donation box and the full amount will go the Hall of Fame. Thank you for your support!
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THE SELF COACHED SWIMMER
By David Grilli
Republished from New England Masters Newsletter, Nov. 2002
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Continuing in our series of advice for the proper training cycle, if you have been paying attention, I have defined the proper training cycle and have described the first phase. Namely the aerobic conditioning phase. If you have bought it so far, I have some more sage advice.
If you have built the proper aerobic base over a span of 6 - 10 weeks, longer for the sloth-like, shorter for the triathlon training, over achiever, obsessive types. You are ready for phase 2. This is where we will build speed. Now some people have God given talent for speed. Others can achieve speed through hard work. Yet others will never be fast, no matter what. If you fall into the last category, blessed art thou for you shall inherit the distance events. Still speed training has its place for you. You just won’t enjoy it as much.
Speed training involves swimming fast. Makes sense, doesn’t it. But it also involves swimming correctly under duress. The proper speed training set will have you swimming fully rested for a fraction of the swim and finish you off by swimming the last part of the set totally exhausted. It will hurt but only for a short period of time. Then you get lots of rest so you can do it again. My favorite set to achieve this is the broken swim set. Typically I will swim 4 x 200 on an interval that allows for at least 1 - 2 minutes rest between swims. Now during each 200, you will stop for 10 seconds after the first 50 yards, and the second 50 yards. Upon completing the last 100 yards of the 200 yard swim you will note your final time and subtract the 20 seconds of rest time to determine your swim time. On your next 200 vary it by swimming 50 - 100 - 50. Subsequent to that swim 100 - 50 - 50 and finally 75 - 50 - 75. each time trying to shorten your total swim time. It’s a challenge for sure. Remember, each break is 10 seconds and make sure your interval allows for a full recovery between swims.
Follow this set with 4 x 100s broken. Again choosing an interval allowing 1 - 2 minutes rest between 100s. Break the 100s up, 25 - 25 - 50, 25 - 50 - 25, 50 - 25 - 25 and 25 - 25 - 25 - 25. Each break for this set is 5 seconds. In a similar fashion you want to swim each 100 on a total swim time faster than the previous one. Note: You get extra break
on the last swim.
Incorporating this set into a workout should go something like this;
1) Swim a 500 warm up.
2) 4 x 25 kicks on 1:00 (Or an interval that allows some recovery)
3) 4 x 25 swim on :30
4 x 25 swim on :25
4 X 25 swim on :20
The stroke and interval is arbitrary. Do your favorite stroke and
swim at an interval you can handle that gets progressively faster.
4) 4 x 200 broken
Easy 100 swim
5) 4 x 100 broken
Easy 100 swim
6) 8 x 100 IM Rest 15 seconds between swims.
7) 8 x 25 on 1 minute
On the first swim take as many breaths as you wish.
On subsequent swim take 6, 5, 4, 3 , 2, 1 and finally on the last 25,
try to swim it without breathing.
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THE GEEZER ZONE
What is the best way for an older athlete to get back into shape?
By David Edsall
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A recent issue of SWIMMER magazine tells the story of John Stafford, the father of 2022 Super Bowl champion Matt Stafford. John returned to competitive swimming in 2023 after a 40-year break and won two national championships in the men’s 75-79 age group 200y and 1000y freestyle. He also took second place in the 500y free to my prep school co-captain, Bob Bruce, who has been swimming competitively since high school. Comparing these two athletes — one who has been swimming competitively his whole life and the other just back in the pool — got me thinking about the following question: What is the best way for an older athlete to get back into shape?
My story is not as dramatic as John’s. After a 44-year lapse, I returned to the pool in 2014 in response to my daughter’s challenge to qualify for World Masters Championship in Montreal, Canada. I trained for a month, qualified at my first meet, and headed to Montreal. I was hooked.
At the Montreal meet, I reconnected with a college teammate who had become a successful Masters swimmer. I asked him how long he thought it would take to get into shape at age 65. He told me 3 years. Based on my experience, that seems to be about right barring injuries.
I did experience setbacks which delayed my ability to get into shape. After six years of setbacks — a torn shoulder, a broken neck requiring surgery, giant cell arteritis, the pandemic, and a stroke and another surgery — I returned to competition in 2021. However, I seemed to have slowed down more than my peers. In the 50y freestyle, I went from :33.47 in 2014 to :40.99 in 2023. I had my sights set on the World Masters Championships in Japan and wanted to reach my potential at that meet.
I started researching data-driven health and training advice, but found very little for the over-60 athlete, especially on the topic of injury avoidance. In April 2023, I discovered Gabriella Lyon’s and Peter Attia's podcasts. Both are former athletes, practicing medical doctors turned nutritionists, and online consultant podcasters. I also found “The Proof” podcast by physiotherapist, nutritionist, and author Simon Hill. These experts emphasize four key areas: VO2 max, Zone 2 training, muscle mass, and high-protein nutrition.
VO2 max is the measure of the maximum rate of oxygen consumption attainable during physical exertion and is arguably the best metric to predict longevity and late-life health. You can quickly improve VO2 max via sports such as swimming, rowing, and cross-country skiing, which utilize all muscle groups, are continuously aerobic, and can easily become anaerobic. According to Peter Attia, MD, podcaster and author of Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, if you are in the top 3% of VO2 max in the general population versus the bottom 25%, your risk of death drops by 400% for the next year.
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Muscle mass, or the amount of muscle in your body measured as a percentage of your total body mass, increases health and longevity by preventing diseases such as diabetes, arterial plaque, and Alzheimer’s disease. Muscle mass also has health benefits beyond longevity, namely glucose control and fall prevention.
Lyon, Attia and Hill all emphasize correct nutrition, weightlifting, Zone 2 training (at a heat rate just short of anaerobic metabolism), and high-intensity interval training as the quickest ways to improve athletic performance without injury. HIIT is better than long workouts and high yardage for speed, but Zone 2 training is needed for endurance. Exercise physiologist Pat Davidson, PhD, and others discuss how to lift for strength (i.e., for power, not bulk) to maximize athletic performance.
At the USMS Spring Nationals in Irvine in April 2023, I swam a time of :40.99 in the 50 freestyle and :49.96 in the 50 breaststroke. After this less-than-stellar performance, I developed a training regimen to prepare for the World Masters Championships in August, based on what I had learned from the aforementioned resources and PubMed literature searches. Three months later in Japan, I dropped two seconds in both events, swimming a :38.90 (converted from LCM :43.99) and :47.36 (converted from LCM :53.57), thereby reversing a decade of steady decline.
Today’s medical literature is full of HIIT and protein-intake articles contradicting what I learned in medical school 50 years ago — e.g., you can gain muscle mass and strength in your 70s, high protein intake does not threaten your kidneys, and increasing muscle mass is the best way to regulate early onset diabetes.
Case in point: I had been on insulin and two other diabetic medications and am now off all diabetic meds and almost off my blood pressure medication. My strength increased 25% in three months. My reaction time (RT) off the blocks is still very slow (1.7 seconds) — nerves are slower to repair than muscle — but my emphasis on power versus strength lifting should improve my RT over time. Also, my waistline has decreased four inches but I have not lost weight, which is to be expected with increased muscle mass.
I am old, but these basic health and physical conditioning precepts applied consistently in my daily life have put the bounce back in my step. I look forward to making further strides in my overall conditioning and athletic performance in practice and at upcoming Masters Swimming competitions.
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USMS Volunteer
Relay 2023
Seven New England LMSC volunteers traveled to Houston to participate in the 2023 Volunteer Relay. This leadership summit brought volunteers from across the country to share ideas, collaborate, and motivate each other through workshops, presentations and networking. Presenters from New England included:
- Gary Girolimon, Event Director for the Glen Lake Swim and NELMSC Open Water Coordinator, presented "Adding Pizzazz to Your Already Established Event."
- Doug Sayles, Colonies Zone Chair, NELMSC Memberhip Coordinator, SwimRI Adminstrator and Event Director for Swim Across America presented "Community Building Events."
- Rick Osterberg, Event Director for NELMSC SCY Championship "Harvard Meet" from 2000 to 2019, presented in the event showcase.
Click here for more information on Relay 2023
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Boston Education Weekend
On October 14 & 15, dozens of USMS-registered swimmers and current and prospective coaches from New England and other LMSCs gathered for the bienniel USMS Boston Education Weekend. This program consisted of the USMS Level 2 & 3 coach certification courses, the “How To” Clinic Course for Coaches, the Swimmer Stroke Development Clinic, and the Adult Learn to Swim instructor certification course.
Lead USMS instructors extraordinaire Bill Brenner, Mel Goldstein, and Bill Meier did not disappoint, and attendee feedback was extremely positive, once again demonstrating that that these well-received educational initiatives are some of USMS’s highest-value membership benefits.
USMS is compiling a report of who completed what courses. Once received, the NELMSC will mail reimbursement checks equaling 80% of the aggregate registration fees for the courses completed by each member.
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Become a USMS member today and take your swimming to the next level. Here are just some of the great benefits you'll receive:
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Technique and training advice in SWIMMER magazine, STREAMLINES newsletters, and here at usms.org
- A vast workout library that features seven specialties and loads of workouts for every swimming level
- Ability to participate in USMS pool, open water, or virtual events
- Access to local club workouts
- Exclusive discounts from our partners
- Ability to link your account with Swim.com and analyze your workout or race information
- A digital community to connect with coaches and members nationwide
- Fun social interaction with like-minded adults
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The New England Local Masters Swimming Committee is a volunteer-run, nonprofit subsidiary of U.S. Masters Swimming that serves as the regional governing body for USMS-registered clubs, workout groups, swimmers, coaches, and officials in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
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