Zone Committee Minutes | 19th Annual Electric City | St Nicholas SCM Invitational
Open Water Benefit | Masters Clinic at Sun City Center
Levinson's Lane | Dixie Zone Financial Report
Dixie Zone Committee Minutes
The Dixie Zone Committee met at the Annual Meeting of United States masters Swimming in Louisville, KY on November 17, 2001. 25 Committee members were present
Coaches Mentor Program: Scott Rabalais reported that the Coaches Mentor Program has been very successful. Questions were asked about the Open Water Clinics provided by USMS in which a top swimmer will be brought out to conduct a clinic held in conjunction with an open water swim. Interested people should contact Dan Gray at dangray45@hotmail.com.
Future Direction of Zones: The Zones continue to be valuable to the success of USMS.
Discussion of Hot Convention Topics: Coaches Committee: Committee chair Scott Rabalais reported that the Coaches Committee budget has been increased to provide the following additional services: (1) fund coaches to attend the ASCA World Clinic held each year; (2) Establish a scholarship fund to help send coaches to the USMS Convention; (3) have 3 coaches post various workouts on the USMS web site as a free member service.
USA Games 2003: Hill Carrow gave an update on the upcoming 2003 USA Games, which will be held in Raleigh NC in June. 2003, and will include 15 sports. USMS swimmers are encouraged to attend. The swim portion will be SCM and will offer prelims and finals.
Election of Zone Representative: June Krauser was re-elected as Chair for the Dixie Zone Committee. The committee commends June on her continuous service to our zone.
New Business: The controversy concerning accessing USMS members' birth dates on the web was discussed. Carl House has developed a code so that this information will remain confidential.
19th Annual Electric City
by Steve Wycoff
The 19th Annual Electric City Masters Swim Meet was held on November 10-11 at the Sheppard Swim Center in Anderson SC. 164 Masters swimmers from 20 teams and 7 states swam in the meet. Parris Island won the team championship with 2,055 points and the Dynamo Masters were second with 1,184 points. Third place went to the North Carolina Masters followed by the Georgia Masters, Team Greenville, Hilton Head Aquatic Club, and the host Anderson Masters.
Robert Poiletman of the Gamecock Aquatic Club lowered his own World and American records in the 100m butterfly with a time of 1:05.45 and the 200m butterfly with a time of 2:28.92 for his 55-59 age group. Florence Carr of the Florida Maverick Masters lowered her own American record in the 50m freestyle with a time of 40.24 in her 75-79 age group. Congratulations to Robert and Florence on their sensational swims! Many state records, Dixie Zone Top Ten and Records, and National Top Ten Times were established as well.
The Anderson Masters social on Saturday night featured good food and a drawing for prizes handed out by our Master of Ceremonies Garry Van Romer and his lovely wife Holly, who played the role of Vanna this year. The "Elvis" award was presented to Jeannie Mitchell of the North Carolina Masters for her support of and dedication to Masters swimming and her great swimming in 2001, which included individual championships in the 200 IM at YMCA Nationals and the 100 back at LC Nationals. Jeannie received the colorful bust of Elvis along with an "Elvis does the butterfly" t-shirt. All four previous "Elvis" award winners were in the house: Joe Kurtzman of Charleston, Coach Dick Fetters of Parris Island, John Zeigler of Atlanta, and John Kortheuer of Charlotte. The "Elvis" award now bears their signatures. Elvis is proud of this select group of "rock and rollin" swimmers. Hopefully, everyone had a great weekend in Anderson and we hope to see you back in November 2002 for the special 20th Annual Electric City.
St. Nicholas SCM Invitational
by Lisa Watson
194 swimmers entered the first St. Nicholas SCM Invitational., which was held at the Mountain View Aquatic Center in Marietta, Georgia, on December 8-9. 34 teams participated from throughout the Dixie Zone and outlying areas as well. Top 3 team finishes in order were Dynamo Masters, Atlanta Rainbow Trout, and Georgia Killer Whales. Top 3 Visiting Team finishes were North Carolina Masters, Music City Masters, and Team Greenville.
World records set by John Kortheuer (NCMS) in the 50 & 100m breaststrokes, Robert Poiletman (GCAM) in the 200m butterfly, and Florence Carr (FMM) in the 100m free. Many state and zone records were broken as well, including relays since this meet also offered 400 & 800m relays.
No records broken but lots of fun in the special "reindeer relays" on Saturday -- 8 man (reindeer?) teams, antlers & red noses -- well, you really have to have been there!
Meet sponsors were the Georgia Masters Killer Whales and Atlanta Rainbow Trout -- meet director Lisa Watson. This meet was considered a huge success, and will become an annual event -- already on the docket for next year -- December 7-8, 2002.
Open Water Benefit
by Bill Korey
I just wanted to thank all of those who have expressed interest in and especially those who came out today to swim or volunteer. By all accounts, the race was a big success. As you all know, Florida Gold Coast Masters swimming and Captain Speed Swimming as a benefit for the Wildlife Care Center organized the swim.
65 swimmers braved 4-6 foot seas. strong currents, and man-of-war jellyfish to compete today. More than $4,500 was raised today to help injured and orphaned animals. Thanks again for everyone's support and donations.
I would especially like to thank the following people and companies: Barry Connell (assistant race director), Nancy Connell, Andrea & Scott Woodburn, Mark Potter, Michelle Schraer, Marty Hendrick and all the volunteers. I would also like to thank Stu Marvin and the lifeguards, as well as the members of BEST who lent us their timing equipment and knowledge. I could not have organized this event without the help of Randy Nutt of The Victor. For months Randy has been giving advice and sharing his expertise (as well as donating the swim caps for the race). I also would like to thank our sponsors and I hope that you all will patronize them: Holy Cross Hospital, Southport Gym, Penn Eagle Aviation, Renaissance Hotel, Bistro 17, The Victor, Whole Foods Market, Offerdahl's Eat Fresh, St. Bart's Coffee Company, Ocean Shores Realty (Jon Olsen), Roy Cady Massage, Downtown Bicycles, Victory Aviation, and GK! Marketing Group Inc. Thanks all.
Masters Clinic at Sun City Center
Jean Troy organized the clinic at Sun City Center on November 7 & 8. Dr. Paul Hutinger, assisted by Margie, presented the 2nd Maverick Clinic which marked the debut of the team camcorder. Troy hosted the dry part of the clinic at her house on Wednesday night. The twelve participants watched a video (Swimming Smarter; Swimming Faster by Kenney and Quick) on swimming technique, Hutinger interpreted the drills and described the stroke techniques as they pertain to the ever-changing physical needs of the older Masters swimmers. A question and answer session followed with a flexibility check of swimmers. Uhrich asked a trivia question, "Who devised and demonstrated the first swim fin?" Hutinger surprised him by knowing it was the Churchill fin, and that it was Ralph Flannagan. Handouts included a copy of Hutinger's aging research as well as a percentage of effort chart. The evening ended with the swimmers having to make difficult decisions about choosing among Troy's enticing desserts.
The wet part of the clinic took place at the pool in the Recreation Center. Hutinger demonstrated the four strokes and reviewed some of the drills from the video. Hutinger videoed two strokes of each of the swimmers. They also received a written check-off evaluation of these strokes. He emphasized distance per stroke and practice on basic turns. A tether challenge concluded the pool session, with each swimmer attempting to swim 25 yards attached to a tether only 12 yards long. We are happy to announce, ALL were successful in reaching the opposite end of the pool. Before the swimmers headed for home, they each viewed their videos. "I didn't know I did that," was a common response. They all felt the clinic was a success. especially with the camcorder, which provided enlightening insights of their strokes. A follow-up clinic is being planned for the spring. As we become more proficient using the camcorder, we would encourage each of you to take advantage of this new opportunity to see your strokes as coach does. This can be done at meets or our pool or your pool.
Levinson's Lane
by David A Levinson
Every comp0etitive swimmer has found himself at one time or another in a discussion about swimming with a nonswimmer. Dealing with the nonswimmer's manifold misconceptions can be a frustrating experience, but, fortunately, most of these discussions proceed along nearly identical lines. What follow is a list of the questions and comments typically directed to swimmers by nonswimmers, and how to respond to them.
How many laps do you swim? It's difficult to understand why the nonswimmer asks this question; it doesn't contain enough information for you to provide an answer. If you attempt to answer it, you first have to ask him what he means by "lap." Usually he responds with "down and back." Then you have to ask him what course length he's referring to. He will say "any course. It doesn't matter." Right. One hundred meters in a 50-meter pool is no different from 19 meters in a kidney-shaped motel pool. So just tell him, "I train in a 25-yard pool, and dividing a typical Rinconada workout of 4000 yards by 50 yards per lap, the answer is 80 laps." This immediately will give rise to his next question:
Without stopping? When I first heard this question decades ago, I was so flabbergasted I didn't know where to begin to answer it. Someone who asks this question actually beieves that floating through 4000 yards without stopping is more difficult than doing 4000 yards worth of repeats. This comes from the nonswimmer's belief that there are only two possible states in swimming: (1) survival and (2) drowning. From this erroneous premise comes the false conclusion that if someone is a good enough swimmer to be in category (1), then n+1 strokes clearly necessitate more brute endurance than n strokes. The concept of a slow, nonstop 1000 being much easier than 10X100 on 1:20 is beyond his comprehension because you get to stop and rest every four lengths during the latter. All you really can do is say "No, you can't get in shape by swimming continuously. It would be like training for a mile run by walking 20 miles nonstop every day." This usually sort of satisfies him and leads to the next question:
How many laps can you swim? Again, the nonswimmer doesn't realize that if you swim slowly enough, cardiovascular conditioning is not a significant factor in how far you can swim. Long before your heart and lungs give out, you will be forced to stop swimming because you get hungry or thirsty, or need sleep, or start fantasizing about Lucy Lawless, Xena: Warrior Princess, instead of concentrating on your stroke mechanics. If the nonswimmer hasn't given up on the disucssion at this point, he usually moves on to the inevitable next question:
Did you swim in the Olympics? Here, the nonswimmer is not trying to flatter you. He is not so impressed by your swimming prowess that he thinks you are of Olympic caliber, In fact, he couldn't judge whether you're a good swimmer or not, even if he saw you swim. It all looks the same to him. You either can swim or you can't. He asks the question because he has not seen any television, newspaper, or magazine coverage of swimming except during the Olympics, and therefore thinks that the swimming portion of the Olympics every four years is the only significant swimming competition there is. So naturally, if you are serious enough a swimmer to have trained for competition, in his mind you must have trained for the oonly competition he know about -- the Olympics. So just tell him the truth: "No, I'm not good enough. I'm training for the Masters Nationals." After recovering from the shock of finding out that there is at least one meet other than the Olympics, he then will address your comment that you are not good enough to swim in the Olympics by saying:
Well, you're better than I am. Believe it or not, now he is trying to flatter you. Here you are, training to swim against the best swimmers in the nation in your age group, and this nonswimmer expects you to regard that fact that you can beat him as a significant achievement, something you truly can be proud of. When this happens, it's best just to go on to something else. There's not much you can say that won't offend him. Since you have made it known to him that the Nationals are coming up, he may ask:
When the Nationals get close, do you train extra hard? This goes back to the survival view of swimming. The nonswimmer instinctively feels that swimming without drowning takes so much conditioning that if you stop training hard for even one day you are courting certain death. The idea of tapering for a big meet to enhance one's performance will be difficult for him to fathom. At this point, the nonswimmer usually turns the focus of the discussion to himself. He next might say:
I don't swim for speed; I swim for distance. Here, all you can do is explain to him that speed is the only thing that matters for any distance in swimming. Point out that there are no swimming competitions wherein the object is to swim as far as you can regardless of speed. T-shirts with "I swam very slowly, but I finished the whole race" written on them are not big sellers, burt swiming a 1500 at age 50 in 17:30 probably will impress most swimmers. Sooner or later, the discussion will turn to the practice of shaving down for big meets. The question all nonswimmers ask is:
Aren't the benefits of shaving down purely psychological? Here again, the nonswimmer views simming as a life or death battle against hostile elements. The notion that shaving hair off your body could make the battle less severe is absolutely incomprehensible to him. For some unknown reason, nonswimmers seem to want desperately for the improvements in performance attributable to shaving down to be a psychological phenomenon rather than a physical one. They can get very upset when you tell them it isn't -- for reasons I have yet to discover. One question I get from a lot of nonswimmers is:
Don't you want to put on some fat so you can float better? Once again, the view of swimming as survival underlies the question. You have to explain that swimming is about moving rapidly through the water, not about bobbing up and down like a cork, safe and secure, and that a small cross-section facilities the former.
I hope you find the foregoing useful the next time a nonswimmer starts saying dumb things to you about swimming.
Dixie Zone Financial Report -- November 14, 2001
| 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | ||
| Balance | 409.12 | 797.81 | 860.66 | 1369.70 | 1550.34 | 1355.11 | 1608.39 | |
| INCOME: | ||||||||
| SCM | 124.00 | 260.00 | 147.00 | 180.00 | 120.00 | 177.00 | ||
| SCY | 192.00 | 181.00 | 365.00 | 197.00 | 274.00 | 205.00 | ||
| LCM | 120.00 | |||||||
| LCM | 119.00 | 126.00 | 100.00 | 104.00 | 152.00 | |||
| USMS | 513.08 | 469.15 | 389.86 | 110.52 | 195.18 | 61.66 | ||
| Patches | 117.00 | 39.00 | ||||||
| USMS | 85.75 | |||||||
| SCM | 215.00 | |||||||
| Misc. | ||||||||
| TOTAL INC. | 948.08 | 1036.15 | 1001.86 | 591.52 | 706.18 | 1055.41 | 1861.54 | |
| EXPENSES: | ||||||||
| Misc. | 18.96 | |||||||
| Recorder | 16.34 | 27.56 | ||||||
| Convention | 75.00 | 100.00 | 203.35 | 263.24 | 241.92 | |||
| News-Oct | 47.95 | 46.90 | 48.47 | 54.73 | 56.78 | 61.66 | ||
| News-Jan | 38.67 | 33.61 | 38.60 | 48.49 | 105.05 | 53.38 | ||
| News-Apr | 45.71 | 39.36 | 38.35 | 48.52 | 97.71 | 58.67 | ||
| News-Jul | 46.84 | 53.30 | 54.69 | 55.79 | 97.47 | 85.75 | ||
| News-Oct | 47.60 | |||||||
| SCY TT Rec | 214.77 | |||||||
| LCM TT Rec | 97.56 | 103.01 | 148.00 | |||||
| SCM TT Rec | 161.35 | 354.79 | 164.71 | |||||
| Patches | 262.20 | |||||||
| TOTAL EXP. | 559.39 | 973.30 | 492.82 | 410.88 | 901.41 | 548.98 | ||
| Prev. yr. balance | 409.12 | 797.81 | 860.66 | 1369.70 | 1550.34 | 1355.11 | 1861.54 | |
| + Income | 948.08 | 1036.15 | 1001.86 | 591.52 | 706.18 | 1055.41 | ||
| - Expenses | -559.39 | -973.30 | -492.82 | -410.88 | -901.41 | -548.98 | ||
| BALANCE | 797.81 | 860.66 | 1369.70 | 1550.34 | 1355.11 | 1861.54 | ||