Midwestern Swimming, Inc.
Minutes – Board of Directors Meeting
Nebraska Wesleyan University – Lincoln, Nebraska
Sunday, December 28, 2003

The Midwestern Board of Directors was called to order by Mary Losee at 12:00 PM at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Present were Mary Losee, Betty Kooy, Paul Kemp, Jack Jackson, Mary Kocsis, Patrick Rowan, Erin Holtmeyer, Kim Pappas, Mike Hale, Bruce Schomburg.

 Minutes:
Minutes of the July BOD meeting were distributed and posted on the web. Motion made to accept minutes as printed and posted. Seconded. Approved.

Treasurer’s Report:
Mary Kocsis reported 2003 income was $1627.19 under budget; expenses for 2003 were $3348.07 under budget. There will still be some office expenses and swimmer reimbursement expenses along with some splash fee income and Allstar income. The AmEx account is closed. Motion to accept the report. Seconded. Approved.

Officers Reports:
Registration Report:
Gary Flury sent a written report. Seventeen clubs are registered for 2004. Two club registrations are being held pending receipt of registration for Safety Coordinator. Eight clubs have not submitted renewals as of December 27. Total registrations are about 400 short of where they were last year at this time. The problem of reconciliation for the SWIMS program was discussed. Most of the clubs are cleaning up their TM databases but there are several recurring problems. Motion was made that after January 1, 2004, the club submitting the TM database to a meet host with registration information that does not conform to that in the SWIMS database will receive a warning via a copy of the reconciliation report to change their TM to conform with the SWIMS db; in that event that this change does not occur by the next entered meet, a fine of $25 will be levied for each swimmer occurrence. Letters will be sent to clubs informing them of this policy along with correct rosters from the SWIMS database. Seconded. Approved.

Officials Report:
Paul stated that there are 146 current officials with 32 starters and 20 referees. There are a whole bunch who have not reregistered for 2004 and have not taken a clinic recently. Paul stated that officials’ requirements are gray. USA is coming with recommended guidelines. Paul will come to the HOD meeting in May with proposals for updates for the Redbook for officials’ certification and recertification. Paul has been sending updates on officials to Gary who then makes sure the SWIMS db is current. Paul attended the Officials’ Chairs meeting in Colorado Springs. Issues of uniformity, clinic requirements, etc were discussed. Also, there is question as to whether the officials’ workshops will continue as they have been. USA Swimming is encouraging LSCs to send people to work a sectional meet for the learning experience.
Paul also mentioned discussion regarding USA Swimming insurance. If a swimmer comes for a 2-week tryout and continues to swim with a club and does NOT register after the 2-week period, NO ONE has coverage. Marv as Safety Chair will do some follow-up.
Paul also mentioned that LSC meets have place judges even though automatic equipment is in place.
The USA Swimming officials committee is recommending that the local LSC help fund officials to work at national level meets.
It is recommended that LSC championship meets apply for national certification.
There is a need for a decertification process. Paul will come with recommendations in May.
Paul also would like an officials committee at the LSC level to help with the process of cleaning up the gray areas.

Disability:
Jack Jackson will be going to the Disability workshop in Colorado Spring in January.
Technical Chair:
Bruce Schomburg and the committee of Kim Pappas, Jeanie Neal and Patrick Rowan submitted the following for discussion and recommended changes to the MW meet schedule and championship meet format. Discussion was held on the various items. Bruce will bring the proposals to the HOD in May.
1. Level I & II Meets: We propose that Midwestern use the National BB Time Standards for all of our meets including the Championship Meets. Level II meets will be for swimmers that do not have BB times or better. Level I meets will be set up for swimmers with BB times or better. (Level I meets will accept maximum entries from swimmers with 2 BB times except in the Championship meets when they can only enter events in which they have BB times or better.
2. Optimum Schedule: We propose that the teams of Midwestern provide on Level II and one Level I meet each month during the summer (June and July) and winter (October thru February). We would also like to recommend one Prelim/Final met for December and one for June.
3. We would request the meet schedule finalized earlier than it is currently.
4. We want to have regional championship meets instead of “Last Chance Meets” in the summer and winter for the Level II swimmers. We want the meet to mirror the Level I Championship Meets.
5. We propose the following changes to the MW Level I Championship Meets:
                A. Have on the following age groups: 10 & U, 11-12, 13-14, 15 & O
                B. Include ALL the 11-12 events (200s of strokes, 400 IM and 800/1000 and 1500/1650 freestyles)
                C. Prelim/Finals for all events except 1000/1650 and 11-12 200s and 400IM
                D. 8 lane pools for both winter and summer championship with 16 place scoring
                E. 6 events maximum for all swimmers plus relays. 3 events per day maximum.
                F. 1 relay entry per team. Fastest heat of relays swim in finals.
                G. Awards to be meet mementos for everyone plus medals on the award stand.
                H. Awards presentations at the finals.

Executive Secretary:
TM Online is up and running. New website is operational. A date will be put on the old one for its disappearance.
Betty recommended that the Redbook be posted in PDF format on the web site (in sections) and that the revised version be distributed to clubs via CD ROM after the current updates are incorporated. Motion was made to put the Redbook on CD and distribute to clubs and officers. Seconded. Approved.

Age Group Chair:
Patrick Rowan said more chaperones are needed for Allstars. He will finalize the itinerary after warm-up time is confirmed. Suits, caps and shirts are ordered. Patrick is working on food in Lawrence – particularly lunch on Saturday and dinner on both Friday and Saturday. There are 67 swimmers currently planning to swim the meet. Betty has put all the information for each swimmer in an Excel spreadsheet for the coaches. Meet entries are due January 7. Betty will do those and make sure they are entered.

Midwestern Championships:
Mary reminded everyone that MW is the Host. Clubs will be contacted regarding help. Clubs will be assigned lanes and sessions for timers. Mary, Lisa and Betty will get together in January to finalize plans for the meet.

General Chair:
Mary mentioned that clubs are not mailing out meet flyers. Labels are sent with sanction packets. The Redbook requires that the flyer be mailed to clubs prior to the meets.

New Business:
Jack Jackson brought up the issue of Swimmers with a Disability and their inclusion in the LSC championship meets which has been recommended by USA Swimming. Motion was made to allow swimmers with a disability to swim in the Midwestern championship meets irregardless of entry time. The swimmer must be a member of USA Swimming and should enter the meet with his team. Seconded. Approved.

 Motion to adjourn at 1:45 p.m.. Seconded. Approved.

Respectfully submitted:
Betty Kooy, Secretary ProTem