HCMSWG (or British Masters in old money)

The new English Rep who is confusingly Irish

The new Welsh Masters Rep who is confusingly English!

We have Nicola to thank for the schedules which she produces for the National championships.

Our Scot's rep same old same old!

A quick review of 2019 and our starting point is

Dagobah, in the Sluis sector, is a world of murky swamps, steaming bayous, and petrified forests, resembling

AKA Rother valley the venue for the national masters open water Championships.

Took place on perhaps the only poor day we had all summer when storm conditions meant that the event had to be called off at the last moment

In the hope of capturing better conditions and also giving us some more flexibility about the date, we are examining a change of venue.

The facilities here look promising.

Since we last met we have had 2 national championships in which the qualifying times have featured.

I spoke about this in detail last year. The regional representatives have had the opportunity to discuss the result and I think that they have been favourably received.

There is evidence that there has been and increasing participation in regional events, and more opportunities to swim 1500

The 2018 Championships were virtually full to capacity.

There were no significant issues and the event was a huge success.

The working group agreed that there should be a gradual inflation or tightening of the qualifying times to improve standards.

I call this the Disney approach as they increase the entry prices to their parks by a small amount on a regular basis rather than by a larger amount on a more infrequent basis.

The introductory level for qualifying times were set at 200 decathlon points in 2017.

For 2018 this was increased to 2010 and will require further adjustment for 2019 particularly as there is a need to Control the numbers.

(presumably over to David for a realistic assessment of where we can draw the line)

The 2018 British Championships made their way to Plymouth.

Again another highly successful meet with almost 700 competitors.

It had been hoped to have a separate 1500 event because of pressure of time.

This was not possible and a Limited (four heats) of the 1500 Took place.

To limit the numbers the qualifying times were set at 450 decathlon points. At the time this level was chosen there were 100 swimmers in the country who had achieved this level.

As it turned out there were 42 entries and because of dropouts all of the reserves were able to swim.

It is accepted that this was not ideal but an interesting example of how qualifying times can regulate an event. Thanks to David Cheney for his carefully judged advice in setting this limit.

Scene of this years European Masters Championships

It was very much business as usual with a well run meet in a refurbished pool

It wasn't without its usual quirks including the Continental affinity for ambiguity when it comes to dressing rooms!


However this was quickly put right when brought to the attention of the organising committee

Although not before our own Black country girl walked round drawing Male and female icons on the signs!

Now Ms Tunnicliffe led a British Charge as our 400 odd swimmers (most of whom were very odd!) Finished Second in the medal table behind the Germans.

plans well advanced for Swansea

2 tier entry system?

looked at parking and the food concessions

very keen and enthusiastic

separate 1500 (seek views on when best time)

major championship next year worlds in South Korea the 18th event

lots of interest

Korean Organising Committee very keen to drum up interest

nearer to home, tentative plans to return to London for the 2020 British championships

looking carefully at the budget

so where are we on governance,

When I some last year I was talking about establishing both the

Swim England Masters Working group as a permanent group within the Swim England structure

those of you unfortunate enough to be here last year might remember this slide

1. Draw 2 circles

2. Draw the rest of the F****** owl

which I used to describe where we are in Masters Governance

ie drawing 2 circles

Well

The HCMSWG TORs are approved and should be signed off by the home country CEO's in December.

You may recall it was agreed that the SE MWG was formed for 2 years and part of its remit was to make the case for a permanent group well

I won't bore you with the changes in governance within Swim England but it has been recognised that Masters should have a permanent working group and the job between now and the 31st March next year is to consider what skills we need to run Masters, draw up some terms of reference and agree how we are to fill the positions.

The group will sit under the Swimming Management Group

So looking at our developing owls I would say we're pretty much there on the British stuff 6 and by April next year we should be finished on the SE side

So.....probably most of you in the room are old enough to remember this advertising strap line!

best foot forward

and lift off