Masters Swimming Editorial January 2000

We are very fortunate to have a number of new members on the Board of Director’s for Masters Swimming Ontario. I’d like to welcome Claus Koch, Ann Gunther and Mary Brinklow. Claus and Ann both hail from the Master Blasters Swim Club while Mary is a member of Courtice Swim Club. Those of you who are in the Eastern region of the province will recognise Mary as your devoted Regional Representative. Continuing to serve on the Board are Pat Niblett, Darlene Brown, Ralph Chown, Lesley Mason-Ward and Charlie Lane. Charlie has taken over from Cheryl Blay as the competition committee co-ordinator so contact Charlie about meet information. Barrie Malloch is working hard as our Webmaster while Brian Croker has the duties of Registrar. Chris Smith continues as our Past President. We look forward to a productive year serving the needs of the MSO membership. Please feel free to contact any of us if you have concerns or comments.

You will find complete contact information on the MSO web site at www.sentex.net/mso. The web site provides a wealth of information regarding clubs, competitions, statistics and records, and more. Barrie is constantly updating the site to ensure that it is current.

You will be happy to know that Provincials will be held this year thanks to the diligence of Charlie Lane. So mark April 7-9, 2000 on your calendar and send in your registration. Provincials this year will be held at the Etobicoke Olympium and is being hosted by EOMAC (Etobicoke Masters).

Charlie has also arranged for the Etobicoke Olympium to be available through to 2002 for use by any club that wishes to host Provincials but does not have access to a pool. This means that your club from anywhere in Ontario can host Provincials in your area or in the Toronto area using the Etobicoke pool. Be sure to submit your bid to the MSO Board of Directors as soon as possible.

With the World Masters Swimming Championships in Munich coming up quickly, it is time to form the Algonquin Swim Club. This Club is created for international competitions to enable all swimmers in Ontario to participate in relays. If you plan to swim in Munich, contact Brian Croker at msoreg@mastersswimmingontario.ca and join the club.

Be sure to register right away for the next MSO Swim Camp that has been organised by Grant Sinclair, the chair of the Fitness Committee. Attached you will find an information sheet. The swim camp will be held Sunday, April 2, 2000 at the Etobicoke Olympium. Registration is limited so register early.

Since a large number of people are accessing the Internet, it has been decided that MSO should make better use of the web site. A motion was passed at the Annual General Meeting to adopt the procedure of posting MSO meeting minutes and MSO meet schedules on the web site. Minutes will continue to be mailed until August 2000. Club contacts will be notified by e-mail when new minutes are posted on the web site. Thus we would appreciate if all club contacts and unattached swimmers would provide their e-mail addresses to Brian Croker if they have not already done so. If you do not have Internet access, you can request that the minutes continue to be mailed to you. Once again, forward your request to Brian Croker.

Our medal return program remains in effect with $1.00 contributed to the Heart and Stroke Foundation in your name for each medal returned. Send or give your medals to our Treasurer, Darlene Brown.

We are pleased to announce that Michael Stroud will receive the SWIMS award this year. The award will be presented to Michael at the 2000 Provincials as recognition for his many years of hard work on behalf of masters swimming. If you know someone who deserves an award in recognition of their time spent on masters swimming, please contact a board member.

I’d like to thank all the people who have helped out masters swimming in the past year. Without the people who organise, time, referee, etc, masters swimming would not be what it is today. So please step forward and volunteer your time, no matter what your expertise is. Masters swimming needs the help of everyone.

Sharon Cockerton
MSO President