AUGUST 2014

STREAMLINES

FINA Worlds is in full swing and Summer Nats is just around the corner. Are you in top racing form? We hope so! Best of luck for best times and a lot of fun at these big events!

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

Pool Lessons from Ball Sports

Bob Jennings finds inspiration in football

Many of us are always trying to swim faster, improve our strokes, and delay Father Time. To accomplish these goals, we talk to our coaches, watch training videos, attend clinics or camps, watch and try to copy elite swimmers, read articles, books, and the USMS website, and talk to other swimmers and coaches. These are the logical places to find inspiration to help us swim better, but they aren't the only ones.

Managing Open Water Anxiety

Part of our "Open Water Swimming 101" Series

Although open water swimming can be one of the most calming, cathartic, and tranquil sports you can take part in, not everyone feels comfortable in the open water. Even experienced pool swimmers sometimes find they experience panic while swimming in open water.

Fad Fitness Tips Got You Down?

Four things that will always be true about training and racing

Dive, streamline, underwater, swimmer, swimming

It's easy to become overwhelmed with data and performance tracking when it comes to your training. Every season there seems to be a new training method that comes out as the sure-fire way to guarantee improvement. And over the years, the messages can become conflicting and confusing.

Swimmers' Hair and Skin Challenges

Advertorial: Insights from the Professionals at Malibu C

Every time you swim, you're diving into a pool of minerals and chemicals that affect your hair and skin. In addition, a majority of the population in the U.S. is showering in hard water. These swimmers are exposed to a double dose of minerals and chemicals and the result is "swimmers' hair."

New Staff Blogs

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

Ever wondered what it's like behind the scenes at U.S. Masters Swimming? Three new staff blogs on our USMS Discussion Forums may interest you.

Executive Director Rob Butcher's blog, "From the Executive Director: U.S. Masters Swimming's Journey," explores USMS's evolution, strategic plan, and goals. Subscribe to this blog to keep updated on the business side of USMS and how Rob's passion for the sport and leadership are changing our "best kept secret" status.

Communications and Publications Director Laura Hamel explores our subculture and the impact swimming has on our lives in her "SWIMMER Editorials" blog. Topics range from camaraderie to burnout and touch on a variety of cultural, historical, and scientific aspects of our sport. Subscribe to this blog and you'll enjoy sharing her insights with the swimmers and nonswimmers in your life, as well as stay current on what's happening with our flagship publication, SWIMMER magazine.

Education Director Bill Brenner has run a Q & A column in STREAMLINES for Coaches for several years. The questions are on a variety of topics in the club and coach development realm. Now they're all in one place: his "Questions From Coaches" blog. If you're a coach, you need to subscribe to this blog.

Want to Work at USMS?

We're seeking a web/software developer

Do you have PHP and MySQL programming experience? Are you experienced with JavaScript and JQuery? Are you a Masters swimmer or triathlete, or do you have any competitive swimming background? Do you live in the Sarasota area or are you willing to relocate to Sarasota? If you answered "yes" to these questions, please apply online.

Summer Nats are Almost Here!

We're giving it the old College (Park) try this summer!

The 2014 Marriott U.S. Masters Swimming Summer National Championship is right around the corner, and we're looking forward to seeing you in College Park, Md. Aug. 13 through 17. If you've signed up, watch your email inbox for updates about all aspects of the meet from directions and parking to what to do after the splashing is over for the day. These updates are now also posted on the Summer Nats page.

Not going? You can watch the event online Aug. 13-17 on the USMS website's dedicated video streaming page and get the insider perspective on all that's happening on deck and in the pool.You never know--you just might catch a world record-setting swim from your easy chair!

FINA Worlds

1500+ USMS members are swimming in Montreal

Keep up with what's going on in Montreal at Worlds. Heat sheets have been published. There's a spectacular Facebook page and a Twitter feed (@FINAMasters2014), as well as an app to check results Available for iOS and Android. And, of, course the main webpage for the event. Good luck to all our USMS members!

This Aquatic Life

Associate Editor Elaine K. Howley's BIG Swim

Usually EKH (or Marathoner-in-Chief, as she's known around the office) is the one pulling content together for STREAMLINES, but she has the day off. Why? Because she's resting up after this amazing swim. The video captures her final strokes on Thursday before landing a 20.5-hour, 34-mile swim the curving length of Lake Pend Oreille in Northern Idaho. The whole town came out to cheer her onshore. Congratulations Elaine--we couldn't be prouder!

Elaine Howley's BIG swim of Lake Pend Oreille: Success!

Seen on Our Facebook Page

Lots of people enjoyed a recent Daily Burn article about starting a swimming fitness regimen. The story offers 6 Tips to Improve Your Swimming Right Now and included such sensible recommendations as choosing quality over quantity and joining a group to swim with. Lots of people commented, sharing their stories of swimming. Marialyce Tobin Gradek wrote she has "been contemplating this for the past year!" We say, "Come on in, the water's fine!" See what else they wrote and join the conversation!

About U.S. Masters Swimming

U.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. Nearly 60,000 adults are registered members of U.S. Masters Swimming.

About STREAMLINES

U.S. Masters Swimming encourages all USMS members to subscribe to STREAMLINES, a monthly publication. However, if you'd rather not receive this update, please do not click the "SafeUnsubscribe" link, as that will remove you from all other USMS National Office mailings. Rather, click on the "Update Profile/Email Address" link to manage your subscriptions to U.S. Masters Swimming electronic communications.

Open Water Nats!

See results and register for 2 more swims!

Congratulations to all participants in the 1-mile, 2.4-mile, and 10-mile open water National Championship events. Results are now available. There's also still time to register for the last 2 swims in the series. See the schedule below and happy racing!

Aug. 16, 2-Mile Cable. Mirror Lake, Lake Placid, N.Y. REGISTER
Aug. 23, 10K. Lake George, Hague, N.Y. REGISTER

Check-Off Challenge

There are still 5 months to go!

Looking for another fun challenge in the second half of the year? The Check-Off Challenge is just your ticket. Swim these 18 events in meets or practice prior to December 31 and check off all the blocks!

And if your club is interested in hosting the Check-Off Challenge next year, submit your bids to the Fitness Committee by Aug. 15!

6 Weeks Left for 5K and 10K ePostals

You've still got plenty of time!

You have until Sept. 15 to complete your 5K and 10K pool swims for the ePostal events. Don't miss out on this great way to take part in a National Championship from the comfort and convenience of a local 50M pool. Full details are posted online and you can submit your swims up until Sept. 25. Now get going!

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