Around the NELMSC - December 2019
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Renew TODAY to q
ualify for special USMS partner discounts and help your team qualify for USMS membership contest awards
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Chair's Corner
Crystie McGrail, NELMSC Chair
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Happy New Year!
The coming year is shepherding in quite a few exciting things! We have the Summer Olympics, a leap year, the launch of the Mars 2020 mission, the U.S. Masters Swimming 50th Anniversary (and obligatory celebrations), and a bunch of Friday holidays. I hope that as you plan out your calendar for all of the exciting upcoming events you also set aside time to practice your own renewal and rest.
I think swimming is one of the best activities to help cut out the noise of the world and allow you to sink into a comfortable routine of movement and stretching. Make the most of your laps this year by attending to mindfulness and self care. Here is a quick article on
Mindful Swimming
that may help you along.
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Jan 1-Dec 31 -- Go the Distance
Swim anywhere & track your distance --
Details
Jan 1-Feb 29 -- USMS 1-hour ePostal National Championships (Sanctioned SCY, SCM, LCM)
Any pool 25 yards or longer --
Details
Jan 18 -- Building a Better Freestyle Clinic with Coach Bill Meier
Jan 25 -- Officials Certification Training Clinic for Masters Swimming
Jan 26 -- New England Masters (NEM) 1-hour Swim Heats (SCY)
Jan 26 -- 4th Annual MDI Masters Meet (Recognized SCY)
Feb 2 -- Exeter Mini Meet (Sanctioned SCY)
Exeter, NH -- Details soon
Feb 15-29 -- USMS SmartyPants Vitamin USMS Winter Fitness Challenge (30 min swim)
March 14 & 20-22 -- NELMSC SCY Championship (Sanctioned SCY)
April 1-30 -- Adult Learn-to-Swim Month
April 3-5 -- Colonies Zone SCY Championship
April 4-5 -- USMS Education Weekend
April 23-26 -- USMS Spring National Championship (Sanctioned SCY)
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NELMSC SCY Championships:
New Format for 2020
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Distance Day: Saturday, March 14
- At BSI-Wellesley
- 9:30 am warmup, 10:30 start
- 1000 free & 1650 free
Friday, March 20
- At Harvard
- 3 pm warmup, 4 pm start
- 500 free & 800 free relay
Saturday-Sunday, March 21-22
- At Harvard
- 8 am warmup, 9 am start
- All other events
Complete meet information and full order of events will be posted in January.
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Workout of the Week
Bob Ouellette, NELMSC Coaches Chair
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This week's Workout Wednesday is a 2020-themed sampler with a little bit of everything. Keep an eye out for a new workout every Wednesday on our
website and in our
Facebook group. Then send us your favorite workout to share with the LMSC!
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Art by Joanna Florio-Jefferys
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Warmup (200)
200 swim, non-freestyle
Main Set (5000)
20x 100 on :15R as 4x through:
- 100 fly
- 100 back
- 100 breast
- 100 free
- 100 IM
20x 50 on :10R as follows:
- 1-5 drill choice
- 6-10 free, breathe every 5th stroke
- 11-15 kick with snorkel, focus on good head position & body line
- 16-20 free, descend to 100% effort
20x 100 on 1:45 or :15R as follows:
- 1-5 swim with fins
- 6-10 swim with paddles
- 11-15 swim with fins and paddles
- 16-20 pull with snorkel
Cooldown (300)
300 easy swim
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SCM Championship Recap
Alana Aubin, NELMSC Communications Chair
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WORCESTER, MA –
Drew Modrov
took down two national records at the 2019 NELMSC and Colonies Zone SCM Championships, held December 13-15 at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Modrov, a member of Chelsea Piers Masters,
took 3.52 seconds off the men's 30-34 400-meter freestyle record with his time of 3:53.95 and bettered the 50-meter butterfly record by 0.23 seconds with a 24.14.
In individual scoring,
Ann Louise Onton
(CONN) scored 221 points to win the women’s high point award after tying for first in 2018.
Maura Twomey
and
Sue Garland
of Charles River Masters rounded out the podium with 190 and 186 points, respectively. On the men’s side,
Ben Hammond
(WAM) was tops with 195 points, followed by
George Coupe
(GSP) with 184 and
Ben Wyckoff
(CONN) with 178.
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Kent YMCA doubled the size of their meet contingent this year.
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In the team competition, 2017 champ Connecticut Masters took back the title in Medium Team scoring with 2467 points. Host Worcester Area Masters grabbed second place, beating out Granite State Penguins 2156 to 2081. Terrapin Masters took the Small Team division with 841 points over Wild Crab Masters Swimming’s 766. Minuteman Masters (572) edged Chelsea Piers Fitness (561) by just 9 points to take third place. Lowell YMCA Flippers Masters ran away with the Squad Team championship by racking up 366 points, followed by Sarasota Sharks Masters (272) and Colonials 1776 (147).
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Let's Celebrate Greatness!
Tara Mack, NELMSC Awards & Recognition Chair
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Happy New Year and New Decade! WOW!
After an incredibly successful fall filled with recognition and awards on both the Local (NELMSC) and National (USMS) levels I am pleased to announce that the next round of nominations is open!
The awards to be presented in Spring 2020 are:
Please note that there are specific requirements for each category; they are listed on the nomination form. Be sure to complete the
all
of the fields required to ensure your nomination can be accepted. T
he
Frank Wuest Open Water Swimming Award
has been officially changed to correspond to the open water season and nominations will open again next summer.
I am grateful to be the Awards and Recognition Chair for our LMSC and appreciate the time and care you put into all of your nominations. Thank you so much for taking the time to recognize someone special to you and our sport. Here's to an amazing new year, new decade, and new round of celebrating our sport's ambassadors!
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Calling All Aspiring Officials
Sue Jensen, NELMSC Officials Chair
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Are you (or your partner, friend, or family member) a future USMS official?
Meet officials are essential to USMS and the NELMSC; we cannot run USMS-sanctioned or recognized meets without them. While New England currently has a great team of officials, we need to train and certify more officials to ensure that is the case for years to come.
To that end, the New England LMSC is excited to host its first ever
Officials Certification Training Clinic for Masters Swimming on Saturday, January 25 from 9-11:30am in Needham, MA.
Ken Galica
, one of our most experienced Masters officials, will lead this free clinic. The clinic is open to anyone, age 18 or older, who is interested in becoming a
U.S. Masters Swimming Certified Official
and working at a couple of USMS meets in New England throughout the year. USMS membership is recommended, but not required.
If you are interested in becoming a USMS-certified official or would like further information, please email
Sue Jensen
, NELMSC Officials Chair.
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Reflections of a Lane Three Swimmer
Bob Ouellette, NELMSC Coaches Chair
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As I gazed the length of the lane, my eyes were immediately drawn to the dark sky visible through the pool windows. The clock had just turned to 5:00 am and, as usual, I procrastinated getting into the pool. Once in the water, I began stroking my way to the wall and a wave of nostalgia ran over me as I realized that—like most days—I was swimming in lane 3!
As I began to reminisce about my time in the pool I suddenly realized that I’ve been a lane 3 swimmer in this YMCA pool for more than half a century! First as an age grouper and high school swimmer, then later as an adult triathlete and lap swimmer, I recall most often ending up in lane 3. Gone are the diving board and old square starting blocks since replaced by newer sleeker ones, however, it is still the same lane 3 that I’ve known for so long.
For a brief few years in the mid 80’s I was the top dog, proudly claiming my rightful place with the big boys in Lane 4. I clearly remember those days when the fledgling triathletes and lap swimmers envied my smooth, rhythmic stroke as I smugly swam back and forth and provided them with “nuggets” to help them in their quest for that elusive perfect stroke. Although I relished my new status, it only lasted a few years as the younger and faster swimmers returned to the pool after the inevitable post college hiatus.
As I swam, I reflected upon the games of tag, swim workouts and meets, lifeguard classes, and college break workouts. Especially etched in my mind are those glorious snow days (then and now) when I have the opportunity to swim longer and even mix in an after swim steam room session. I flashed back to the fond memories of my diaper-clad son shrieking with glee as he jumped into the pool, and our weekly two-hour Saturday afternoon family swim sessions.
As I continued my swim, images of my parents in their water aerobics class (which they still participate in well into their eighties) popped into my mind, as did the many lap swimmers of yesteryear who willingly offered advice to the 16-year-old “kid” watching over them each evening. Although many of these events have faded away, the sunrises, sunsets and smell of chlorine continue to spark those cherished memories of the 50 years gone by.
Sometimes my morning swims bring me back to those high school days when my interval splits were faster and my workouts longer. Sometimes when finishing my Saturday morning swims I linger for a few minutes to watch the young instructors teaching their swim lessons and remember those days when I was the student and was also blessed to have that wonderful job!
As I reminisce about my 50+ years of swimming in this very pool I can’t help but ponder what lies ahead: Will I be able to secure my “retirement gig,” going back to where my first job of lifeguarding and teaching swimming began? How long can I continue my morning Lane 3 reservation? Will I eventually become one of the water aerobics crowd?
Whatever the future holds I know that it’ll involve my beloved pool that has served me well for five decades and watched me grow from a curious and energetic child to a “mature” swimmer nearing retirement. In hindsight, I’ve been blessed to have this facility and to have met and swum with so many wonderful people over the years. This rectangular body of water has been my sanctuary, my refuge, and my happy place for most of my life and I hope to continue in my beloved lane 3 for many more years to come. One of my swim coaches once told us, “When you’re young you pay the pool and when you’re older the pool pays you.” I’d say that the pool has more than paid me back and I’m forever grateful for the opportunity it’s given me!
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