swim nova scotia masters provincial newsletter winter...

Swim Nova Scotia Masters Provincial Newsletter Winter 2007

hanks to Leslie Neate for another great season as our Provincial Registrar! Nova Scotia Masters is at its highest registration number for this time of the season-331!

hanks to John Farley for keeping track of all of the Masters Records!!! Congratulations to the following Masters Swimmers who have set new records this season:

30-34 Female: • Amy Woodworth (Trojan Masters)- 200m Freestyle 2:21.14

40-44 Female: • Patricia Grant (Trojan Masters)- 200m Butterfly 3:19.87

50-54 Female: • Linda Hunt (Trojan Masters)- 200m Freestyle 2:50.43

55-59 Female: • Ewa Gawlik (Trojan Masters)- 200m Individual Medley 3:42.57

70-74 Female: • Shirley Manos (New Glasgow Waverunners)- 50m Butterfly 1:02.31

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25-29 Male: • Aaron Maszko (Dal Masters) - 50m Freestyle 24.17, 100m Backstroke 1:00.41, 100m IM 1:02.74

45-49 Male: • Ian Thomas (Dartmouth Whalers) - 100m Individual Medley 1:14.65, 100m Freestyle 1:04.69

55-59 Male: • Dan Walmsley (Unattached) - 50m Backstroke 35.97, 200m Backstroke 2:52.75

Briand Gaudet (Hazardous Aquatic Mammals): 1. What is your background in the sport of swimming?

I started swimming at 11, training for 3 hours a week in Church Point. Like a lot of swimmers, I worked as a lifeguard and instructor as well. I then swam with the Acadia Axemen for 4 years, coached by Jack Scholz and Gareth Luke. My events were the 50 free, 100 free, 200 free and 100 fly (and of course relays). After university, I had had enough, so I sat down, turned on the TV and essentially stopped swimming for almost 20 years.

2. What made you decide to swim with Masters?

I had a lot of success with strength training in my late 30s and was very surprised to find it much easier to swim efficiently (i.e. with a better stroke) with a stronger upper body. I now alternate weight training with swimming. The weight training makes it easy for me to improve on specific stroke movements, by isolating the muscles involved and applying standard strength training techniques. I find I hardly ever have “bad pool days” anymore, and as a result, it’s much easier to stay motivated.

3. Do you have anyone who has inspired you during your swimming career?

When I was in age-group, Victor Davis and Alex Baumann were both setting world records for Canada, so I guess they were easy to focus on. Competitive swimming wasn’t very big in Church Point when I grew up, so there was no-one locally to look to.

4. Do you have an exciting moment or an event that stands out in your swimming

career?

That would have to be the one time I broke the 2 minute mark in the 200m free. This was at the AUAA finals in 1988, and you never know what will happen once you’ve shaved down and tapered your training schedule.

Being a sprinter, The 200 was my weakest event (I only swam it because the coach made me). My entry time was a 2:12, and my heat was seeded accordingly. Not having any idea what I was doing, I swam the first 100m in 0:55 then followed up with 1:04. Apparently, the entire team had been yelling at me, tying to get me to slow down. Of course, I couldn’t hear a thing and ignored them. I finished the 200 in 1:59.7, 25m ahead of everyone else. I qualified 1st for the final, then completely blew it. The other finals swimmers knew what they were doing and paced themselves properly. I ended up finishing 4th.

I was still elated about the 1:59, and I knew that my friend’s father was videotaping the meet from the bleachers. As it turned out, he taped 3 full days of heats, finals and relays without any batteries in his camera.


5. What inspired you come up with your unusual club name?

I had swam at a couple Masters’ meets as Unattached, and would have liked to belong to an actual club, but none of the local clubs’ schedules worked for me. As well, I’m a single Dad with young children, so my only opportunity to workout is at lunchtime, and also I work as a consultant, so I never know exactly where I’m likely to be from day to day. My solution was to swim wherever and whenever I could, and to form my own club (not associated with an actual pool). As well, this would allow me to swim with some of my brothers (ex-swimmers who live in Montreal, Sydney and Meteghan).

or the third time in the past four months Trojan Masters have collectively exceeded the one million metres mark and remain in the top ten of Canadian Masters teams since the

initiation of the Masters Swim Canada Million Metres Challenge. Of the now 100 teams registered in the MMC Trojan Masters (HALT) have placed between 4th and 9th place on a monthly basis. Congratulations to the 51 Trojans registered on the MMC whose metres have contributed to these terrific totals. The teams previous top total was 1,087,125m in November 2006. Particular congratulations go out to Diana Smith who earlier this month became the fourth Canadian female masters swimmer to achieve the ONE MILLION METRES mark and joins 2006 Trojan Male Swimmer of the Year Paul Girard in this accomplishment. The Masters Swimming Canada 2006 Rankings are now available on the Mymsc website. Seventeen members achieved top 20 ranking in at least one event, and in one case all 18 events, in their respective age group.

Masters Swimming Canada Update – Nigel Kemp

• Members will have noticed the first of regular MSC Bulletins to appear on the MYMSC website. Information is available about a number of services and programs available to MSC members including the Canadian masters swimming Championships May 18-21, 2007; upcoming Masters swimming Canada Board Elections. If you have not already done so you are encouraged to check this out at www.mymsc.ca/Bulletins/200701.jsp • The MSC Board and its Program Committees continue to work to advance Masters Swimming in Canada.

The Competition Committee has produced a contract for nationals hosts which is about to be signed by the Winnipeg host committee following Board approval. The intent is to ensure standardization of Championship competitions. The Committee also intends to circulate a summary of competition rule differences between Swimming Canada and Masters Swimming Canada for officials, coaches and competitors. The Committee is also in the process of developing a proposal on the simplification of record and ranking procedures.

The Leadership and Coaching Committee are developing stroke evaluation procedures to make available on the MYMSC website for use with all masters swimmers. The committee is also responsible for Awards and Recognition of contributions towards the enhancement of the vision of MSC.

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The development of a Canadian Masters Coaches Directory and Coaching Accreditation Program within the National Coaching certification Program is also underway.

The Health and Fitness Committee are moving to put in place additional motivational programs as well as investigate the opportunity to collaborate with a health related charitable organization to put in place a program which would be of mutual benefit. Long term plans include the seeking of ‘buy in’ from government and community agencies for lifelong health and fitness through aquatics and adult swim advancement programs.

The Member Services Committee continues to explore ways of both improving and increasing communication with the MSC membership most particularly via the MYMSC website.

Whilst MSC is operating in a small deficit position for the 2006-07 year this is reflective of a broad front of activities currently being pursued by the Board and its Committees for the benefit of the membership. Treasurer Brent Schurman is to be complimented for his production and maintenance of the MSC Financial Operating Guidelines as well as the clockwork production of the financial statements and continuous improvement of the organization's financial processes. A comprehensive template for a sponsorship program has also been developed which is imperative if MSC programs are to be expanded without fee increases. It should at the same time be noted that no MSC fee increase has taken place for over a decade! MSC also now has a Privacy Policy in place.

Meantime keep clocking those meaningful metres on MYMSC. Congratulations to the FIVE Nova Scotia who were amongst the top 20 masters swimmers in Canada in terms of metres swum in the month of January 2007!! Are you registered in the Million Metre Challenge? If not now is the time to dive in!

Council of Provinces Meeting, Montreal Quebec

he Council of Provinces (COP) held their first face-to-face meeting in Montreal in December. This has been the first chance for the newly created COP to meet since MSC

began it’s restructuring. This meeting gave the COP representatives a chance to discuss what was happening in their Provincial Masters Organizations (PMOs) and to discuss issues that have risen with the changes to Masters Swim Canada (MSC).

One of the main issues dealt with had to do with registration and the My.MSC website. The COP felt that it would be a good idea to try and get all the individuals PMO’s to use one registration system. After a presentation about the Swim Direct Registration system, representatives felt that this may be a good way to have Masters Swimmers register and run their meets. Several PMO’s were already using swim direct and Swim Direct could be interfaced with the current My.MSC site.

The COP discussed the upcoming Masters Nationals in Manitoba, and the events and structure of the meet. The COP is hoping that more clubs will get involved in the bidding process for Nationals and that Nationals will continue to move around the country so that as many swimmers as possible can participate.

The COP decided that its members should get involved at the committee level to have provincial representation on these committees. The COP also is hoping to see the My.MSC website include topics like “How to start a club” and “How to run a swim meet”. The COP is hoping to tap into the resources already used by each individual PMO and to share information to help improve Masters Swimming for all provinces.

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With the MSC elections coming up, the COP felt that the provincial representative’s should be promoting the elections and answering any questions that clubs or individuals might have. Information packages will be coming out to each club with voting information for the Spring Elections.

Good luck to those swimmers logging meters for the Million Meter Challenge. It is great to see Nova Scotia Swimmers on the map and standing out as a driving swimming force among Masters Swimmers in Canada! Alanna Mason NS Representative for the COP

Trojan Masters Long Course Swim Meet – Saturday February 17th Centennial Pool Dalhousie Tigers Aquathlon – February 18th & March 25th Dalplex Pool Provincials – Saturday March 24th Dartmouth Sportsplex The Canadian Masters Nationals are in Winnipeg this year on the Victoria day weekend. Meet details are posted on the Mymsc website.

wim Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Lifeguard Service will be hosting two Open Water Swim Events.

Registration information will be available at www.swimnovascotia.com

f you have a suggestion for future newsletters please email Alanna Mason [email protected] with your ideas & we’ll be sure to include them in future issues!

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swim nova scotia masters provincial newsletter winter...

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