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November 2012


Greetings!

 

We're thankful for all our coaches--Wishing you and your swimmers and families a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Swimming for Life.
Your Friends at U.S. Masters Swimming

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Club and Coach Services
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Need help getting your club up and running?
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Club and Coach Services Director: Bill Brenner

 

Club and Coach Services Coordinator: Mel Goldstein 

 
Free marketing materials are available for USMS programs. Caps, stickers, brochures, etc. 

Small club? Just starting out? Don't have an advertising budget? We have created free templates that you can use to promote your program, your swim meets and your open water events.

Thanksgiving Day Workout
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Celebrating with your swimming family
As many of you will be hosting a Thanksgiving Day swim practice, we thought we'd share a workout with you. This one comes from Betsy Durrant and her "1-hour workouts" on the USMS Discussion Forums.

Give thanks for...
  1. Family (Swim 300 choice)  
  2. Friends (Pull 300)
  3. Country (8 x 50) - Odd: drill/swim, Even: swim
  4. Abundant food (5 x 100) on descending interval.
    Starting intervals: 1:55, 2:10, 2:20, 2:30, 3:05
  5. Choice of beverages (200 free) - 50 catch up/50 almost c.u.  
  6. Great desserts (200 Kick)  
  7. Our pool facilities (10 x 50) #1-4 pull; #5-10 swim
  8. Your coaches (200) by 25's
    Odd - perfect push-off, great stroke.
    Even - count stroke 
Questions from Coaches
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by
Bill Brenner, Club and Coach Services Director

Verifying membership when hosting swim clinics
Bill Brenner Questions about growing your club, managing club business, or becoming a better coach? Club and Coach Services Director Bill Brenner has answers.

[email protected].



Q:
If I host a swim clinic, how do I verify USMS membership of the participants?

 

A: It's important to make sure that your clinic information and marketing materials state that USMS membership is required to participate in the clinic. This protects your liability insurance.

  1. Require each participant to show a copy of current membership card at the clinic check-in.
  2. Require each participant to provide current membership number, name as it appears in the USMS database, and LMSC. Verify this information with the LMSC registrars.
  3. Use the third-party event registration vendor, Club Assistant, that can verify the participants as they register for the clinic.
  4. Allow non-members to register for USMS the day of the event. Have a device capable of connecting to the Internet so online registration is possible or have paper entries available. Make sure registrants are aware that online registration requires either a MasterCard or Visa. American Express is not accepted. Checks are accepted for paper registration.

Any one of these options should ensure that all your participants are registered for USMS. 


The New Masters Swimmer
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by
Lisa Wolf,
Montgomery Ancient Mariners District of Columbia Aquatics Club
Making a great first impression
High Performance There is nothing more exciting for a coach than seeing a new face show up at practice. It may be a challenge to integrate this new swimmer into your existing group but the benefits far outweigh any extra effort.

Tips for success

A few things to consider as you see new swimmers nervously making their way across the deck:

  • Welcome and introduce yourself. You're probably the only one on deck wearing clothes, so they'll be looking for you!
  • Ask them about their swimming experience. Did they swim in the past? Do they have any medical or physical issues to consider? Are they current USMS members or are they giving your practice a try? If just trying it out, have them sign the membership form and write "30 day tryout" on the form. (Check out the Insurance section at usms.org for further details.)
  • Give a brief description of practice: warm up/announcements/sets/etc.
  • If they haven't been swimming in awhile, reassure them that they don't have to swim for the full practice but can swim whatever they feel comfortable doing. Let them know their lane assignment may change after you have a chance to observe them swimming.
  • Introduce them to a few teammates before warm up. That can be a great ice breaker to make them feel a bit more comfortable.
  • Welcome them officially as a new swimmer during team announcements to the entire group.
  • Make sure that you talk to them several times during a practice, providing encouragement and feedback.

Taking the time to welcome your new swimmer can go a long way to ensuring that your new swimmer becomes your REGULAR swimmer.

Share Your Knowledge
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Apply to be an online coach
Coach on Deck The USMS Online Coaching Program provides regular themed practices from qualified coaches to interested members through the USMS website. Applications for the 2013 program are now being accepted. Once again, this highly acclaimed and successful program will include seven different training themes: High Volume, High Intensity, Stroke & IM, Fitness for Beginners, Open Water, Triathlon, and Swimming for Expectant Mothers.

Coaches who wish to participate in this program, which includes a stipend, may download an application. The application deadline has been extended to December 1, 2012, with a starting date of January 1, 2013.
What Rule is THAT?!
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with
Kathy Casey, USMS Rules Chair
Foot placement during starts
Cathy Kasey

Q: Is it permissible to stand on the block for the start with one or both feet back from the forward edge of the block? Do some toes have to be at the forward edge of the block?

 

A: At least one foot has to be on the front part of the block, but placing the toes of one foot at the forward edge of the block is not required (101.1.1). Both feet cannot be at the back of the block; at least one foot has to be on the front part of the platform. It is permissible to place both feet at the front of the block. Once the feet are placed, the swimmer is to remain there (103.8.5A). A number of years ago, USS (now USA-S) swimmers had to stay at the back of the blocks until "Take your mark". At "Take your mark" the USS swimmers then stepped forward into the starting position. It was difficult for some Masters swimmers to move forward quickly enough to assume the starting position after "Take your mark" and before the starting signal. So USMS has always had a different rule allowing swimmers to place at least one foot at the front of the block before "Take your mark."

 

For any questions about rules contact Kathy Casey, USMS Rules Chair  

Certification Opportunities
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Become a certified USMS coach
USMS Certification Pin

The USMS Coaches Committee and Club and Coach Services have developed new curricula for Levels 1, 2 and 3 USMS Masters Coach Certification. The new courses are taught in classroom settings throughout the country. Participants receive a "Certificate of Participation" once they finish the class. If participants wish to become certified, they must join ASCA and deliver to ASCA the completed tests from the coursework and the application for USMS/ASCA Masters Coach Certification. ASCA will grade the tests, process the applications and deliver the certificates.   

 

Level I & II

Feb. 10, 2013 Mission Viejo, Calif. 

March 9, 2013 New York City  

April 7, 2013 Grinnell, Iowa   

April 20, 2013 Denver, Colo.  

 

Level III (Level II a prerequisite)     

March 10, 2013 New York City  

March 23, 2013 Pasadena, Calif.  

April 21, 2013 Denver, Colo.    

 

(Contact Bill Brenner for more information)
Masters Coaching Opportunities
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Looking for a coach? Looking for a club?
Coaching on Deck
USMS maintains a discussion forum on usms.org to match up coaches and clubs. The Coaching Forum has several current threads posted; check back for frequently for updates. And remember, if you are hired in a position or you hire a coach, please update your posting to save time for others who follow you to this helpful forum.
 
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Media Partners
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About Us
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About U.S. Masters Swimming
U.S. Masters SwimmingU.S. Masters Swimming, founded in 1970, is a membership-operated national governing body that promotes health, wellness, fitness and competition for adults through swimming. It does so by partnering with more than 1,500 adult swim programs across the country; promoting information via the bimonthly member magazine, SWIMMER, monthly e-newsletters, STREAMLINES, and website, usms.org; and by sanctioning and promoting pool, open water and virtual events and competitions. More than 55,000 adults are registered members of U.S. Masters Swimming. 

About STREAMLINES for Coaches
Coach talking U.S. Masters Swimming encourages all U.S. Masters Swimming coaches to subscribe to STREAMLINES for Coaches. However if you would rather not receive this update, please do not click the unsubscribe button, as that will remove you from all other USMS National Office mailings. Rather, please click on the "Update Profile/Email Address" link at the bottom of this email. Here you can select to discontinue your STREAMLINES for Coaches service or sign up for the monthly members' newsletter, STREAMLINES, and/or STREAMLINES for Volunteers, a bimonthly publication.