AROUND THE NE-LMSC
FEBRUARY 2016
Please join our NE-LMSC Facebook group for regular updates, photos and member news! You can also follow us on Twitter: @NewEnglandLMSC.  Continue sending anything you would like to see highlighted here and remember to bookmark nelmsc.org to get easy access to regular updates from around the region.
IT'S NOT TOO LATE! ENTRY FEES RAISED, BUT REGISTRATION STILL OPEN FOR SCY CHAMPS AT HARVARD
It's not too late to claim your spot in one of the NE-LMSC's biggest and best meets. The 2016 New England SCY Champs will take place at Harvard University's Blodgett Pool on March 12 (distance day) and the weekend of March 18-20. Check out the event line up and register here . 

Entries will close once the meet reaches 900 swimmers so don't wait any longer!
HOLYOKE YMCA SEA DRAGON MASTERS HOSTS
 1st OFFICIAL USMS CLUB MEET 

The Holyoke YMCA Sea Dragon Masters kicked off its first year as an official USMS club with its annual "Dive into the New Year" meet on January 3rd. The team welcomed 45 swimmers from around the Northeast, including USMS members from as far as New Jersey. 

After swimming together for three years under Coach Matt Musiak, an accomplished swimmer and triathlete, Michelle Novak Toner assumed the coaching duties this past September and pushed forward to enroll the team as a USMS club. What might seems like a small step really made a great impact. For the Holyoke Sea Dragons, it makes a lot of sense; the team is made up almost entirely of adults who were "swimmers first". While almost every individual on the team now calls themselves a multi-sport athlete they all called the pool their first home. For a master's team, this is fairly unique and can make practices exciting. They are as charged up about 25-yard butterfly  sprints from the blocks on two minutes as they are about 10x300 on a tight interval. 

Bringing USMS membership to the club encouraged many of the members to enroll as USMS members and enticed several of them to step up on the blocks outside their home pool for the first time in years at December's NE-LMSC SCM Championships. The team participated in the One Hour Swim in January and there are members planning to attend SCY Championships in March. As a coach and lifelong swimmer, Coach Michelle says it's great to see adults getting fired up about competing again. The Sea Dragons' meet in January won't be its last for the year. Participation was up over 35% from 2015 with over triple the number of splashes and it's in no small part due to the team's recent enrollment as a USMS club. 

Be on the lookout for a late Spring or early Summer meet in Holyoke, Massachusetts!
Sea Dragons at SCM Champs at WPI
CASCO BAY Y & MAINE MASTERS HOST ANOTTHER SUCCESSFUL "TOUGHEN UP CHALLENGE" 
The 9th Annual "Toughen Up Challenge" was held on February 21. This  challenge is a five-event competition to find the "toughest" masters swimmers. Participants race five times, then their times are age graded and added together. The swimmer with the lowest total time in each category takes the title.

Sprint Challenge ( 50 fly, 50 back, 50 breast, 50 free, 100 IM) 
Men: Michael Regan                         Women: Katrine Alcaide

Distance Challenge (200 fly, 200 back, 200 breast, 200 free,  400 IM) 
Men: Mike Hurd                                 Women: Anne Uecker 

2016 women's sprint champ Katrine Alcaide with former champ Mary Estabrook

Men's distance champ Michael Regan
Men's sprint champ Mike Hurd
Women's distance champ Anne Uecker
SWIMMING SAVES LIVES HITS NEW ENGLAND AGAIN 



For the third year in a row, the New England LMSC will celebrate "April is Adult-Learn-to-Swim" Month." This is the time of year when USMS members nationwide focus on others and share the gift of swimming by volunteering to teach adult swimming lessons in their local communities. 

If you know adults who could benefit from swim lessons or if you want to volunteer to help teach, please reach out to any of the teams below or contact  Sue Jensen  or  Bill Meier . A few hours of your time could change or save a life!  

Also contact Sue or Bill if your masters team is interested in running a Swimming Saves Lives program. Some funds are still available to provide financial support for lifeguard salaries, etc.

If you are interested in more comprehensive ALTS instructor training that will enable you to teach swimming as a professional option throughout the year, consider taking the ALTS certification course in Boston on April 23, 2016.

The Swimming Saves Lives program is made possible through donations to USMS's Swimming Saves Lives Foundation. To learn more, visit the April is Adult Learn-to-Swim Month and Swimming Saves Lives Foundation websites or contact USMS Education Manager

Currently, the 15 New England teams listed below plan to run Swimming Saves Lives Adult Learn to Swim programs in 2016. Please email the contact below with questions or to volunteer.

Massachusetts
Bard College at Simon's Rock, Great Barrington - Bill Meier
Cambridge Masters Swim Club, Cambridge - Sue Jensen
Martha's Vineyard Masters, Vineyard Haven - Les Cutler
Pittsfield Polar Bear Masters - Mary Dickson 
Score 4 More, Boston - Mamenasha Tesfaye
Worcester Area Masters, Worcester - CJ Dickson

Vermont
Burlington Area Sink or Swim - Kimberly Fry
Intrepid Athletics, Inc., Rutland - Natalie Boyle
Johnson State College / Norwich University - Cara Hancy
Killington Aquatic Club Masters, Killington - Kristin Schiessl-Alf
Stowe Swimmers Foundation, Stowe - Charlotte Brynn

New Hampshire
TBD

Rhode Island
MWR Lobster Swim Club, Naval Station Newport - Amy Bourke
Newport Athletic Club Masters Swimming, Middletown - Paul Dow

Maine
Maine Masters, Waterville - Tim Lecrone
PenBay Masters Swimming, Rockport - Susan Rardin

Thank you to everyone who contributes your time to participate in these worthwhile programs!
PHOTOS OF THE MONTH - EXETER MINI MEET 

L-R: Liz Sullivan, George Chen, Alana Aubin & Sarah Chepeleff, all of Cambridge Masters
MARCH 2016
March 5 - Maine Masters SCY Championships (Recognized SCY)
Kennebec Valley YMCA, Augusta, ME

March 12 & 18-20 (SCY, Sanctioned)
2016 NE-LMSC SCY Championships 
Blodgett Pool at Harvard - Cambridge, MA
APRIL 2016
April 9 - 5th Annual Monumental Masters Mini Meet (Recognized, SCY)
Bennington, VT

April 24 - 2nd Annual Northfield Area Masters Mid-Spring Meet (SCY, Recognized)
Northfield, VT

April 28 - May 1 - USMS SCY Nationals 
Greensboro, NC
Contact Information
To include your news and events, email
Christina Smith
Communications Chair,  New England LMSC