Some of you gathered for the second LMSC Leadership Summit, held in Houston, Texas. Many thanks for your dedicated service and for your commitment to continued improvement and collaboration. This organization is great because of your efforts and those of your predecessors and successors. We're powered by volunteers! In case you want to review or share, the presentation materials can be found at the bottom of the
LMSC Management
page in the
Guide to Operations
.
Swimming for Life,
Your Friends at U.S. Masters Swimming
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April is Adult Learn-to-Swim Month!
Help adults in your community learn to swim
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More than a third of adults in the United States cannot swim the length of a pool, putting them at risk of being one of the 10 people who drown every day in this country. USMS aims to improve this statistic, and you can help.
USMS clubs, certified adult learn-to-swim instructors, and Swimming Saves Lives Foundation grant programs around the country are offering low- and no-cost swim lessons in the month of April as a way to both raise awareness to the problem of adult drowning and give back to the sport and activity that they love.
If you have an April event planned,
we want to hear about it. Or if you want to help with an April program,
let us know, so we can help connect you to one. You don't have to be a certified instructor to participate in an April program, or to teach someone to swim. Check out the
April is Adult Learn to Swim Month page on usms.org to get ideas, and to download helpful templates and lesson plans.
We think once you teach an adult to swim, you'll be hooked. Check out
the ALTS instructor certification program, and consider applying for a
Swimming Saves Lives Foundation grant. These grants can give an existing program a boost, or, in some cases, can be used to start a program from scratch. The application for the 2018 grant cycle will open in May.
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LMSC Minutes and Financials Due
Submit this info by April 30
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LMSC Annual Meeting Minutes
Per USMS Rule 502.3, each LMSC is required to hold an annual meeting that is open to all individual members of the LMSC. Your LMSC is required to take minutes at that meeting and, per Rule 502.7, send a copy of your 2016 minutes
to Membership Director
Anna Lea Matysek
by
April 30, 2017.
LMSC Annual Financial Statements
Per USMS Rule 502.7, each LMSC must submit an annual financial report to the national office. Instructions for creating the report can be found in the
USMS Guide to Operations
. Please submit your report to Membership Director
Anna Lea Matysek
by
April 30, 2017.
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Election Nominations Due April 30
Want to run for one of these important positions in 2017?
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U.S. Masters Swimming will hold elections for all officers at its Annual Meeting of the House of Delegates, Sept. 13-17, 2017, during the
United States Aquatic Sports Convention in Dallas. The nomination deadline is April 30, 2017, and nomination packets may be obtained from the
Election page of the USMS website or by contacting Elections Chair
Cheryl Gettelfinger.
We're looking for energetic volunteers with a desire to help lead U.S. Masters Swimming. If you're interested in leadership and service at our highest level, or you know someone who would be willing to serve, please let us know.
To be eligible for nomination, candidates shall:
- Be members in good standing of U.S. Masters Swimming for the year when the election is held;
- Have attended more than one USMS Annual Meeting of the House of Delegates in the preceding five years; and
- Plan to attend the annual meeting of the House of Delegates for the election year in which they are standing for election, and plan to attend all House of Delegates meetings during their tenure
If after reading the materials, you have questions about the role of any USMS officer position or the nomination and election process, please contact
Cheryl Gettelfinger.
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Add a Vanity ID
Special designation shows your passion for swimming
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Your permanent ID is the last five characters of your annual membership number. These characters uniquely identify you as a USMS member, so why not have some fun with them? For a one-time fee of $50, you can get your own, customized string of identifying characters--think of it as a personalized license plate for Masters swimmers.
Get your own special ID
and see how creative you can get with designating who you are to the Masters community!
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Peer-to-Peer Calls
Why reinvent the wheel when you can learn from others?
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Mark your calendars for the next three peer-to-peer teleconference calls for:
- Officials Chairs: Tuesday, April 4, 5:30 p.m. PDT | 8:30 p.m. EDT
- Open Water Chairs: Tuesday, May 2, 5:30 p.m. PDT | 8:30 p.m. EDT
- Top 10 & Records: Tuesday, June 6, 5:30 p.m. PDT | 8:30 p.m. EDT
Teleconferences will each take approximately 1 hour. Email invitations are sent to those in each role in advance with dial-in information. Contact the
LMSC Development Committee for more information.
The goal of these facilitated calls is to provide an opportunity for you to converse with your peers, pose questions, get answers, discuss challenges, and share successes related to your LMSC volunteer role. In turn, the LMSC Development Committee can use the information shared to help build a repository of best practices for each of our volunteer positions.
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Bids for LD/OWS Champs Open
Want to host a national championship event in 2019?
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Want to host an ePostal or open water or long distance
national championship in 2019? The bidding process is open to events that have run successfully for three years in a row before bidding. Hosting a national championship provides lots of national exposure, which can help your event grow substantially. Bidding information is available on the
Long Distance Championship page.
Bids are due
July 1, 2017.
Selection will be based on the overall suitability of the bid received and, in the case of open water, the committee will also be considering the area in which the event is to be held, safety, and the annual event schedule as a whole. For more information and detailed instructions, check out the
Championship Bid Information page.
Applications for both ePostal and open water e
vents can be completed online.
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2017 Volunteer Service Awards
Nominate a deserving volunteer today
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USMS presents a number of awards annually to members who have excelled in various areas. The details and recipients of each type of award may be found on our
Awards page
.
Send in your nominations today for Speedo USMS Coach of the Year, Dorothy Donnelly Service, June Krauser Communications, and others.
See all the award categories on the Awards page.
Nominations for all awards are due
July 1
(except the Capt. Ransom J. Arthur Award, which was due on March 15).
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STEP UP TO THE CHALLENGE: The USMS Check-Off Challenge
A fun and creative way to raise funds and build team unity!
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The Flathead Lake Open Water Swimmers in Montana are this year's host of the
USMS Check-Off Challenge
! They're calling it the "2017 American Records Tour." The event T-shirt lists both men's and women's American Record holders and their times in each event. This event is designed to motivate swimmers to complete 18 pool events during the 2017 calendar year. It challenges all levels of swimmers: novice swimmers can swim new events and experienced swimmers can try for personal bests. The events may be swum in practices or in meets, in yards or in meters, from the blocks or a push, any time during 2017. The CHALLENGE is to complete all the events. $5 of each entry will support
The Swim Guide
, an organization that monitors water quality at swim beaches around the world, including Flathead Lake, and is available as a phone app.
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Volunteer Swag
Thank your volunteers for their hard work
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Want to show your appreciation for the hard working volunteers who make your LMSC or club run? We have just the ticket in our new online swag shop. You can order all kinds of gifts and tokens that are perfect for end-of-year gifts or anytime to express your thanks for all their hard work.
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About U.S. Masters Swimming
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U.S. Masters Swimming
encourages adults to enjoy the health, fitness, and social benefits of swimming by providing more than 2,000 adult swimming programs and events across the country, including open water and pool competitions. USMS's nearly 70,000 members range from age 18 to 99 and include swimmers of all ability levels. USMS, a nonprofit, also trains and certifies coaches and provides online workouts, a bimonthly member magazine, monthly eNewsletters, and technique articles and videos at
usms.org
.
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About STREAMLINES for Volunteers
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A subscription to STREAMLINES for Volunteers is required for all LMSC and national-level USMS volunteers;
please do not click "SafeUnsubscribe," as that will remove you from all other USMS National Office mailings.
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