Dear House of Delegates,

Last year, U.S. Masters Swimming's liability insurance premium increased by $238,800. The majority of this net premium increase, estimated at $133,000, was attributable to open water. The liability insurance cost for each sanctioned open water event was $2,330. The USMS Board of Directors had to exercise its emergency powers to levy a $1,000 insurance surcharge to the LMSCs for each sanctioned open water event.

The Board decided it would serve the best interests of USMS to apply an insurance surcharge to sanctioned open water events again this year. The Board has gone through the same process as last year to establish the insurance surcharge.

The process requires the Board to adopt a rule allowing for an insurance surcharge. Rule 506.3.9 requires the Board to act with the advice and consent of the Legislation Committee and legal counsel. The Legislation Committee voted on February 7, 2014, in favor of granting the Board emergency powers to establish an insurance surcharge for 2014. Legal counsel supported the Legislation Committee's recommendation. On February 8, 2014, the Board voted unanimously to establish an insurance surcharge of $1,000 for each USMS sanctioned open water event to the LMSCs. This action will be effective until the next meeting of the House of Delegates.

As presented during the 2013 meeting of the House of Delegates, the 2014 Budget includes $60,000 for insurance surcharges and $10,000 in rebates to assist LMSCs that cannot afford the surcharge. An insurance rebate task force reviews and approves rebate requests from LMSCs.

Moving forward, the BOD will continue to evaluate and make recommendations on an open water strategy for USMS.

Best Regards,

Nadine KM Day, USMS President

To promote health, wellness, fitness and competition for adults through swimming.

USMS will be the premier resource for adult aquatic fitness in the United States and will make fitness through swimming available to as many adults as possible.

U.S. Masters Swimming will hold elections for all At-Large DirectorsBreadbasket Zone, Colonies Zone, Dixie Zone, Great Lakes Zone, Northwest Zone, Oceana Zone, South Central Zone, and Southwest Zone) at its Annual Meeting of the House of Delegates, Sept. 17-21, 2014, during the United States Aquatic Sports Convention in Jacksonville, Florida. The nomination deadline is April 30, 2014, and nomination packets may be obtained from the Election page of the USMS website or by contacting Elections Chair Cheryl Gettelfinger.

We're looking for energetic volunteers with a desire to help lead U.S. Masters Swimming. If you're interested in leadership and service at our highest level, or you know someone who would be willing to serve, please let us know.

To place your name in nomination for an officer position, download the nomination packet and election guidelines or request them by email from Cheryl Gettelfinger. Please read the entire packet, including the election operating guidelines, and return the Candidate Questionnaire/Consent-to-Run form to the elections chair by April 30, 2014.

To be eligible for nomination, candidates shall: 

• Be members in good standing of U.S. Masters Swimming for the year when the election is held; 
• Have attended more than one USMS annual meeting of the National House of Delegates in the preceding five years; 
• Plan to attend the annual meeting of the National House of Delegates for the election year in which they are standing for election, and plan to attend all House of Delegates meetings during their tenure; and 
• Candidates for director shall be a resident and a member of the Zone from which they are seeking election (applicable in even years only).

If after reading the materials, you have questions about the role of any USMS officer position or the nomination/election process, please contact Cheryl Gettelfinger.

***This blurb was incorrect in the March issue of STREAMLINES, as it read that Officer positions will be up for election this year, when in fact, At-Large Director positions are up this year. (Officer and At-Large elections alternate each year.) *** 

Open Water Safety Education

The Open Water Committee is pleased to announce a series of open water safety education opportunities including:

• An Open Water Safety Webinar with Jim Wheeler on Sunday,April 13, 2014, 7:30-8:30 PM EDT 
• A series of 30-minute, in-depth webinars that expand on topics covered during the April webinar, presented by Jim Wheeler and Bob Bruce form May through August
• And an open water workshop during our Annual Meeting at Convention

Additional information on upcoming education will be published in STREAMLINES and the Convention packet. Register for the April webinar by Thursday, April 10. Direct Questions to OpenWater@usms.org.

Insurance Surcharge Rebate Program

The U.S. Masters Swimming Open Water Committee is pleased to announce that USMS has again approved and funded an Open Water Insurance Surcharge Rebate Program. Rebates of up to $1,000 are available to LMSCs to help offset the open water sanction insurance surcharge. Check out the complete information about the 2014 Insurance Fees and Rebate Program and direct Questions to OpenWaterRebate@usms.org. The Rebate Application can be submitted online.

Sanction and Safety Guideline Changes

Major changes to the OWGTO Sanction and Safety Guidelines have been made for 2014. The changes, defined in Sanction and Safety Guidelines-Major Changes for 2014, include Mandatory Safety Regulations, the creation of simplified Safety Guidelines and checklists for event officials. The Open Water Compliance Coordinator will discuss these changes with Event Directors during the Sanction and Safety Plan approval process.

In 2012, many convention delegates participated in peer-to-peer discussions as part of a "brainwriting" workshop for LMSC volunteers. The LMSC Development Committee is extending that opportunity to all LMSC volunteers through two methods: USMS Discussion Forums and periodic teleconference calls.

We invite all LMSC volunteers to log on to the USMS Discussion Forums at their convenience and subscribe to the LMSC Administration threads that get posted.

The next scheduled teleconference conversation is for LMSC Officials Chairs and will be held on Tuesday, April 22. Please email your RSVP to obtain the dial-in code.

The peer-to-peer teleconference program is facilitated by the LMSC Development Committee and, as future sessions are set up, volunteers can expect invitations based on their LMSC roles. The goal for each initiative is simple: to get as many volunteers as possible to participate in the conversations; and facilitate an exchange of ideas, suggestions, and experiences with a community of your peers.

Over the coming weeks, the LMSC Development Mentoring Subcommittee will be posting topics to the LMSC Administration Forum that are meant to generate discussion and lead to a supportive venue to pose questions, raise concerns, and find applicable solutions and best practices. The initial focus of the online forum conversations will be on topics related to the required standards with which LMSCs have reported the greatest challenges.

Thank you in advance for participating and special thanks for volunteering; your time and efforts are a great benefit to the members of USMS.

In 2014, USMS added Vanity IDs and Recognized Coach status to the registration system. If you did not purchase either of these items at the time of renewal, but would like to do so now, you still can. Just go to the membership update page to begin.

Becoming a recognized Masters coach lends credibility to your business and also gives you access to special sponsor discounts. As a Recognized Coach, you'll also be eligible for hospitality at Spring and Summer Nationals, select volunteer opportunities, stipends for writing technique articles and workouts, and a slew of other exclusive benefits.

Your permanent ID is the last five characters of your annual registration number. These characters uniquely identify you as a USMS member, so why not have some fun with them? For a one-time fee of $50, you can get your own, customized string of identifying characters--think of it as a personalized license plate for Masters swimmers. Get your own special ID and see how creative you can get with designating who you are to the Masters world!