Montgomery County Swim League

Representatives Meeting

Minutes of February 14, 2002

Call to Order: Marty Cohen called the meeting to order at 8:00 pm.

Advertisers: The following MCSL Handbook supporters gave presentations to the membership:

Dolfin Swimwear

Agonswim.com

Please support our advertisers. Their support helps us fund our programs.

Treasurer’s Report: The budget will be voted on at the March meeting. We will have a deficit budget this year due to the expense of purchasing the Meet Manager for Windows program, but we do not anticipate a change in dues. The budget will be posted on the web for reps to review before the March meeting.

Automation: The League is moving to Meet Manager for Windows this season. We hope to provide each team with a copy of the program at the March meeting. Teams will need to upgrade to Team Manager II—contact Hy-Tek through their website (hy-tekltd.com) or by phone (252-633-5111). That cost is estimated at $20 to $30. Commlink will no longer be necessary. To run these programs, you will need a computer with, at a minimum, a Pentium 300 MHZ processor and 64MB of memory. You may encounter problems running these programs with Windows ME or XP. It is recommended that you test the compatibility of your printer before the first meet, particularly with printing labels. Training sessions will be scheduled in late May or early June, but teams should begin to explore the program when they receive it.

Handbook: If you have discovered errors in the text of the MCSL handbook—typos, misspelled names, etc.—you can email them to Mike Lincoln (automation@mcsl.org).

Web: We are still accepting ads for coaches—submit your ad through the web (web@mcsl.org). The officials listing is being reorganized and will soon be available by 2002 division. The budget and proposed rule changes will also be available to review on the before the March meeting.

Pool Information: A handout was distributed listing the information we need about your pool for the handbook and the web. (Addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, etc.) Please email your information, including the shallowest depth of the competition section of your pool at both ends, to Sally MacKenzie (secretary@mcsl.org or mcsalswim@aol.com). That information is due by the March meeting to be included in the handbook. Information that is not available until after that meeting will be included on the web.

Transfer Window: Please remember that the transfer window for a swimmer to change teams without a physical move is from 3/15 to 5/16/02. Email a request through the web to Marty Cohen. A handout was distributed at the meeting on this subject; the guidelines for changing teams are also in Section 2 of the MCSL Rules for Competition.

Awards: Tracey Glass is again in charge of awards. If you have any problems, or never picked up awards from last year, email Tracey (awards@mcsl.org).

Six Flags: Six Flags will again be sponsoring a swim team day at the park. They will be attending our March meeting as an advertiser and will have more information then. The date has been confirmed for Monday, July 15. If you have any suggestions to improve on last year’s effort, please email Tracey. She has already addressed some problems. All the pools should be open this year, and there will be more staff working to improve the flow of cars and people so everyone will get into the event in a timely manner.

Records: Mary Parker will again be in charge of records, and hopes to design a certificate or other tangible award for children who break records. She is also working to make all our databases consistent. If you note a discrepancy in a record listing, please let her know (records@mcsl.org).

Proposed Rule Changes: Bill Ferguson discussed and explained the proposed rule changes for this season. The proposed changes will be posted on the web for reps to review before the March meeting. Please discuss these proposals with your coaches and other team personnel. One proposal would change the backstroke turn rule to conform to NCAA, high school and YMCA standards; another would add a second relay team for each pool in events 3 and 4. In addition to these discretionary changes, we clarified the rule on backstroke flag distances. Finally, in response to recent USA Swimming changes, we addressed the question of the depth of our pools. USA Swimming requires the depth for diving to be 3’6”. Therefore, we are changing events 49 and 50 so that no child needs to dive into the shallower end of the pool. This safety concern may also affect which pools can host relay carnival.

May Meeting: Marty Cohen reminded all teams that they must have a representative at the May meeting to pick up awards and handbooks.

Adjournment and Next Meeting: The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 pm. The next meeting will be held at the Executive Office Building cafeteria on Thursday, March 14, 2002, 8:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Sally MacKenzie

Secretary