First of all, thank you to all of the Masters Swimming Clubs in the province. If our Motto is "Fun, Fitness and Friendship", then these 90+ Clubs provide the framework that allows us to live our philosophy. The Clubs provide us with the opportunity to swim by interacting with facilities and coaches, provide us with the social structure to enjoy the camaraderie that is Masters Swimming and provide us with the competitions to measure our fitness and to extend our friendships.

Another group that deserves our profound thanks is the Ontario Swim Officials Association (OSOA). Not only do the Officials volunteer countless hours to ensure that our swim meets are a success, but they once again hosted the Ontario Masters Swimming Championship.

This year, in particular, I think the Board of Directors should be sincerely thanked. The "Swim Ontario Issue" resulted in one of the most stressful years for the Board of Directors that I have ever witnessed. Special thanks are directed to the sub-committee of Shona MacLachlan, Darlene Brown, Claus Koch and Charlie Lane and to President Ralph Chown for steering us through these troubling times.

At the AGM in December three new Directors were elected : Chris Cupidio (EYH), Patricia Davis (TECH) and Michael Stroud (VVV). Six Directors are returning : Mary Brinklow (CRTC), Claus Koch (TYMS), Charlie Lane (ETOB), Shona MacLachlan (MARK), Lesley Mason-Ward (SWYM) and Sue Weir (TYMS). It is these people who give freely of their time and expertise to support our clubs, manage our finances, write our rules, sanction our meets, keep our records and guide our organization.

The Board and the swimmers in the province were further supported last year by the diligence of Geoff Camp (MSC President), Brian Croker (Registrar), Heather Davies (Meeting Secretary), Kelvin Landolt (Web Assistant), Barrie Malloch (Webmeister), Patricia Niblett (Rules Chair) and Christopher Smith (OSOA Rep)

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On behalf of the Board of Directors of MSO, I want to thank everyone who was involved in the debate about affiliation with Swim Ontario.

Our Annual General Meeting was held on Sunday, December 15, 2002, immediately following the North York Gator Pentathlon. At that meeting the motion to remove the requirement to affiliate with Swim Ontario was defeated. Delegates voting in person voted 29 to 5 to defeat the motion. Proxy votes were split evenly 22 votes in agreement with the motion and 22 votes opposed.

Therefore, we maintain our current affiliation with Swim Ontario.

The results of the swimmer survey were about 3 to 1 in favour of not remaining affiliated with Swim Ontario. A total of 306 swimmer surveys were received - reflecting about 9 percent of the total mailed.

Additional information supporting continued affiliation was presented at the meeting.

Again, thank you for your interest and involvement in this important issue.

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While the AGM was at times boisterous, we all eventually realized that the source of the conflict was the tortured structure of swimming in Canada. Christopher Smith proposed the following motion, passed unanimously by those in attendance :

Be it resolved that the Members of Masters Swimming Ontario
reject the current structural relationships between Masters Swimming
Ontario (MSO) and Swim Ontario (SO), also between MSO and Masters
Swimming Canada (MSC). We therefore instruct the Board of MSO to
negotiate new structural relationships with SO and MSC.

The MSO Board, including the MSO Representatives to Masters Swimming Canada, to Swim Ontario and to the Ontario Swim Officials Association now has very clear direction from the Masters Swimmers in the Province. And the goal is twofold :

1. to eliminate the dysfunctional structure of MSC in an effort to improve the efficiency of that organization and to raise the profile of that organization in Canadian swimming, and

2. to negotiate representation for Masters Swimming Canada at the Aquatic Federation of Canada (AFC).

Masters Swimming Canada has always faced the obstacle of Canadian geography; the difficulty of providing adequate representation to all regions of the country, while attempting to attract the volunteers necessary to build the organization and our sport. Ontario will expend considerable time and talent building the required structural relationships.

Masters representation at AFC will mirror the structure now in place at other national aquatic federations and will require the support of SNC at the National level and of SO at the Provincial level. While we recognize the shared resources between Masters and Age Groupers (officials, coaches, clubs), the fundamental difference remains our respective Missions : Swim Ontario and Swim Canada to develop elite swimmers; Masters Swimming Ontario and Masters Swimming Canada to promote life-long adult fitness through the sport of Masters Swimming. The MSO Board believes that each organization understands its basic goal and its constituency and will strive to rebuild the structure of swimming in Canada in ways to best serve all swimmers.

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As I contemplated volunteering for the MSO Board this year, I reflected back on my involvement over the past 2 decades. I recalled that I originally became involved because of a desire to "give back". I met Peggy through Masters Swimming; I have made more friends, I have travelled farther and I am healthier than I would be without swimming. The natural outgrowth of these facts is a feeling of responsibility to pay back the debt I owe Masters Swimming. I laboured under that false pretense for a good long time, frequently butting heads with Boards and Committees, frequently frustrated and disappointed by almost complete inaction.

My epiphany came early in 2002 when a good friend made the comment that I expect too much and that she wanted to spend less time working on MSO details and spend more time on her hobbies, more time on things that she found fun. I realized then, that my involvement with the organizational side of Masters Swimming is my fun. As I pursued the concept further, I heard committee chairs speak of duty, of obligation and of responsibility.

Furthermore, I began to realize that this obligation was viewed as "work", with the resultant idea that the workload must be reduced. I noticed around the table, that the goal seemed to be to provide the same level of service (to the swimmers, to the clubs, to the coaches, to the external organizations) with less work. I realized that my "expecting too much" resulted from a different viewpoint; the viewpoint that, with the same amount of effort (or with more volunteers), we could accomplish more.

And as I thought back over my involvement all these years, I realized that I had maintained my interest in spite of my faulty philosophy for volunteering in the first place. And yet, somewhere along the way, I had subconsciously realized that I was, in fact, having fun.

OK, I know most of you will say that keying in results and revamping organizational structures and writing rules is not fun and that I am probably a very dull boy, but I wonder how many of us think of sitting with needle and thread or mixing chemicals in a darkroom or hurling ourselves down a ski hill as fun ?

Following my epiphany, I now believe that trying to fill the Board with a mix of skills is desirable, but not necessary. I now believe that there is only one skill that volunteers need, and it is neither financial acumen nor legal expertise nor insurance knowledge nor speedy typing nor impeccable grammar, but the ability to view our involvement as fun; nothing more, nothing less, because if we view it as fun, then we can accomplish anything we want.

Which now brings me to my quest of making this fun for those already involved … or … finding more volunteers who already find it fun.

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I smile quietly to myself when I read the Vision of Masters Swimming Ontario : "To be the model for all Masters Swimming Organizations in North America". It is not the loftiness of the goal that bemuses me, but the passivity of the goal.

My personal vision for the upcoming year is based on
1. an increased focus on all swimmers and
2. an increased involvement by all swimmers.

And that vision is not one of an abstract state of existence, but one of action.

Michael Stroud
MSO President
2003.01.13

Questionnaire 2003