Good morning and welcome to SportsPark home of the ASA

to the first of what we hope will become a regular event. The National Masters Conference.

It is fantastic to see you all here.

In planning this event we thought that if we attracted 60 swimmers that would be great. As you can see we have exceeded this and in fact the conference was a sell out by the beginning of September.

Which I think is really encouraging for the future of Masters.

So what do we have planned for you today.

Well to use that hackneyed cliché it’s a day of two halves

We would like to use this morning to enthuse and inspire you

And this afternoon we hope you can channel some of that enthusiasm into focus groups and discussions about how we take Masters forward.


Well I've got the first speaking slot and (therefore you may have realised I was lying about the enthuse and inspire part as you’ve now got to listen to me drone on.

My presentation has three aims

Firstly I'm going to use this spot to introduce everybody you will be hearing from

Secondly I'm going to try and give a bit of historical (not hysterical) context

And finally try to explain our thinking ( honest there was some thought put into this conference) in inviting everyone here today.

After that we will hear from Sharon (more about her later) who has recently spent some time interviewing Jane Asher

What can I say about Jane she is quite simply the greatest masters swimmer we've ever had and a thoroughly nice person as well.

As is often the case with superstars she can't be with us today (rather surprisingly she preferred to be in Barbados) but we will be hearing from her by video.

Next up we have coaching royalty

Steve is the coach of the preeminent Masters club in the country. Otter Masters ( that’ s tongue in cheek for all the Spencer and Trafford metro swimmers here today.

Steve has had numerous record breaking masters through his hands as part of the "Bratt pack" and also coached Susie Rodgers to a bronze medal in the 2012 Paralympics

and ..... if I do say so myself he has a rather natty taste in head gear.

Steve's going to let us into the secrets of what's needed for a successful Masters club.

Following Steve we have Maggie Kelly who may be

a 3 time Olympian
She may be an Olympic Medalist, a real World championship medalist
And she may have an MBE

but as you can see she's still perfecting the art of the selfie

She will be talking about ..... Swimming once you start you just can't stop.... Enough to make your spine Pringle

So......

Can I apologise in advance for this bit but if I'm going to pitch my plan to you I suppose I should establish my credentials

So …. Who am I ....well
For those of you fortunate enough never to have met me before my name is Verity.
If you've met me around the pool It may be hard for you to imagine that I’ve a professional or grown up life but I'm the managing partner of a law firm in NW Durham,

I've spent 30 years as a masters swimmer
Served on the Masters committee for 22 years, (fairly inadequately as the secretary,) and I am the current chair.

I have written the Masterstrokes column in the swimming times since 1996 and more recently I've developed an alter ego as the binge swimmer....

Quite simply....

my passion is swimming I have swum competitively since I was 9 and

To me the essence of Masters swimming is its inclusiveness and the fact that it is as satisfying for the complete novice as it is for the more seasoned competitor.

After 45 years in the water I'm still not sure if I can properly articulate the attraction, but I just love
the sport,
the training,
the people,
the competition
the camaraderie
the challenge.

Swimming has provided me with a great excuse to travel to competitions all over the world.

it's gives you such a buzz to walk down the street in a strange city on the other side of the world and bump into a bunch of mates.

I have had some incredible and absolutely brilliant experiences as a swimmer which I would like to,share with you.

For example.........

Does anyone happen to know who this is.

Sandy Neilson Bell the 1972 Olympic champion in the women’s 100m freestyle.

I was privileged to watch her astonishing victory in the 30 years 100 free at the World Masters in Brisbane in a time which was half a second faster than the time she recorded when she won the Olympics in 1972.

Inspirational.

A little bit closer to home I was present at the Bournemouth Nationals in 1989 when the Doyen of British Masters swimming Vivienne Cherriman received a spontaneous standing ovation from her fellow competitors when she took to the warm up pool for a bit of a paddle having been left blind by a stroke.
It just made the hairs stand up on on the back of your neck.

Of course none of this is really about spectating it’s about doing things and more precisely racing and competition.

If we're being honest I expect for everyone in this room this is what it's all about.

I just love it, even when I'm unfit and unprepared nothing quite beats standing on a block testing yourself.

I have lots of great memories chasing Maggie Kelly at Leeds to a British record, swimming 800 at the world masters in Riccione and realizing I was at least 15 metres up on Maggie smith at the 300 mark and I knew for a certainty she was at least 10 secs faster than me! Which led to a very painful final 400 metres.....

but one that really sticks out

Was Brisbane in 1988

I'd come second in the 50 and won the 100 breast both times beating the local favourite. Each time the gap between us was getting narrower and In the showers after the race I overheard her say "I'll get her in the 200"

Hmmm we'll see about that.

My race plan was to go out hard but controlled and then stretch it out. The gun goes I get to the first turn and realise, I was about 2 metres up.

I'm not sure why but my next thought was.....well if you're going to get me it's going to effing hurt

it's funny how your ability to think in expletives is unimpaired when you're under pressure!

So off I went down that 2nd 50 at a suicidal pace. I think I turned probably faster than I'd won the 100 (well it felt like it)

You can see what's coming can't you down that final 50 the elephant landed and in the final 15 he started playing a bloody piano.....I'm not sure how I managed it but I held on. But wow was that a painful but immensely satisfying experience.....

I'd like to think it was A tactic Rebecca Soni attempted to execute in the final of the Rome world championships but without my success.

You know a picture's worth a 1000 words and This is a great image of Patrick which to me sums up what it's all about,
I'm sure he won't mind me saying he's not the most competitive but that smile or would you call it a "grinace" gives away his satisfaction with the swim whilst his whole body language is telling you he's given his all.

Then There's also (and I know this will sound pretty flakey) the almost Zen like experience of being one with the water when everything just comes together and is absolutely perfect….. I can give you a couple of examples of that .....

Swimming in a Masters Session at North Sydney Olympic Pool, on a balmy evening ploughing up and down against the backdrop of a spectacular sunset silhouetting the bridge and the opera house,
was quite simply magical.

And Finally...

Slide 10 Tyne River Swim

for a dose of gritty reality, on a cold grey October day last year completing the Tyne River swim, yes that's jumping in at the Marina under the Tyne Bridge and popping up at South Shields 10 miles downstream.

Now I've always thought of the Tyne as quite a small compact river but as I swam past the DFDS ferry at North Shields into a headwind and 3 foot waves I was really struck by its size, power and the volume of the water rushing past me, and just How insignificant I was. An emotional, challenging and humbling experience.

So I hope by now you realize that I am completely obsessed by my swimming.

To paraphrase the Messiah himself Kevin Keegan Masters swimming I love it love it

And I’m on a mission to see Masters Succeed in a way we’ve never dared imagine I want as many people as possible to have the opportunity to share in these life affirming experiences.

To do that we need a vibrant and imaginative Masters movement which harnesses the enthusiasm and passion for the sport that I know is out there.

Now whilst I may be an Apprentice when it comes to presentations and pitches I think I know a bit about Masters and I'm about to introduce that cliched concept beloved of reality TV

The Journey.......

Masters have historically an uneasy relationship with their governing body.

The Technical committee was formed at the end of the 80's and I think there has been a constant struggle as to how to fit an adult participation movement into what is essentially a competitive framework.

There have Also been significant communication issues with the professional staff not really understanding us, and pretty much ignoring us. as we have struggled to navigate Masters through the ASA bureaucracy.

We agonised over whether we wanted to be an independent organisation and after a wide spread consultation rejected this

Overriding reason is the structural environment of masters swimming in this country. ie that there are very few standalone masters clubs the vast majority of masters are members of ASA clubs and would still need to be members of the ASA.

Also do we really want to be involved in the back office functions, personnel, payroll, legal etc.

The next step was the commissioning of Kelvin Juba by the ASA to write a strategy for Masters swimming.

I think back in 2007 in the swimming times I described Kelvin Juba as the Masters Fairy Godmother. ( oh no he's not!) I hear you shout!

Kelvin bless him, a strange sort of fairy godmother. His report is in places a little wooly and unfocussed and in parts it is virtually impenetrable. but his recommendations are crystal clear:-

To make substantial progress in Masters it needs to be professionalised

Need to involve masters in running the discipline and making decisions.

After a few false starts we finally persuaded the ASA BOARD to implement Juba

And we began the process of making Masters visible and giving them a voice and dragging them into the limelight….

This process started with
The most exciting development for masters swimming in a generation…..

Yes our very own Masters Swimming Officer. SHARON LOCK

The quest to locate our Masters Professional began in earnest in February this year with a fabulous response to the advert we had over 50 really high quality candidates applied for the job.

And Sharon came on board in June (her job description may say one thing ) but her role is

1. to raise the profile of masters and our needs within the organisation.

2. To raise the profile of masters outside the organisation

3. To organise masters volunteers into an effective work force.

4. To harness ASA resources for Masters.

Now going back to taking Masters forward

I see Sharon’s appointment as Phase 1

And today our first conference is Phase 2 the first time we’ve had an opportunity to involve a wider selection of Masters and have them directly influence the direction of the sport.

this conference is Phase 2

We had to write a bid for the funding of this conference….it was such a grueling task that they sent us to Trieste for some peace and quiet to do it!

The details of the bid are in your delegates pack but we set out our aims which were

1. To consult with Masters on the direction of the sport; clarify and agree our objectives.

2. To identify and harness the talent which undoubtedly exists in the Masters community and from that pool of talent agree and populate project groups

3. To come up with ways of working which are effective, proportionate and fulfilling for both the aims and direction of Masters and the individuals helping to achieve those aims.

4. To identify and engage with the non competitive ASA Masters Swimmer

5. To introduce Sharon and explain her role

6. Positive PR and to showcase the work of the ASA and this wonderful facility.

(The last one was an appeal to Jane Nickerson’s vanity (she chairs the bid panel and was pretty pivotal in delivering this building…..

but here’s the thing, The ASA is not some distant, unapproachable unaccountable body……

The ASA is you…. And in fact Masters swimming is the essence of the ASA’s branding strap line….. If we can’t show the board how to swim for life then we might as well all pack up and go home.

We need to take control of our discipline and transform Masters swimming.

That’s what I would call Phase 3

And that's where you all come in

Today we have an opportunity to set the tone and direction of our sport. But it requires effort from you the swimmers.

Can today inspire you to

"Live the logo" and swim for life.

I’ve assured the board that there are the skills and desire in the Masters community to run our discipline the way we want it to be run.

We need to demonstrate to the board that we can be trusted to deliver the vibrant successful Organisation we all want.

We have a clean sheet in how we do this, because the technical committee structure has been abandoned

Our initial thoughts were that we would do this through a series of project groups….

Hopefully increasing the number of volunteers, drawing on people's skill sets.

Now although we have 7 focus groups this afternoon that is not a limiting number they were the groupings which Sharon and I came up with which seemed to broadly work. But feel free to suggest other groups and how you would tackle the projects dear to your hearts.

There is quite a big task to develop a constitutional basis for the framework which would manage masters and hopefully deliver some democracy to our discipline.

The next few slides illustrate a few of the groups I’d thought about,

There is a very broad paper on Masters financing in your delegate pack I do think we should be capable of being self financing and thinking of our activities producing surpluses which can be reinvested

Communication we’re not very good at this we need to improve

Needs to be interesting, informative and fun….

Now a few of you may dispute this but I’m an adult and I’ve been in this sport for almost 50 years I think I know a little about it, when I read something I want to be informed and also entertained… We have a brilliant sport but so much of what’s written about swimming is flat and dull. We have some fantastic characters with unbelievable stories and I want to hear about them

There's never been a more exciting time to do this because

we have the 2016 Europeans in London.

The baton (or perhaps more accurately the LEN Flag) has been passed to us, you can see Geoff stokes and Jane Asher receiving it in Eindhoven

It’s coming and we have 18 – 24 months to capitalize on this opportunity
To use this event to inspire Masters

You know We are a wasteful sport with awful retention rates losing the vast majority of our swimmers as teenagers...

This is an opportunity to inspire people to get back into the sport
So they can compete in the Olympic pool at a monster competition

We have a precedent for this.
World champs in Sheffield in 1996. At the time it was the Biggest swim meet on the planet 4500 competitors 1600 Brits took part

London 20 years on the Europeans will be a major international meet in an accessible and desirable location at an iconic venue
I predict it will be huge and the competitors could easily top 7,000 just imagine if 3500 were British and every Masters club in the country were represented

We would truly have inspired the generations

I hope that by the end of today you're inspired to action and to get involved in volunteering for masters and that you will, contribute to our project groups both today and in the future.


Why you? well you’ve given up a Saturday to flog up here and listen to me drone on and that suggests that you have the interest, the passion, and the desire and can
Ask yourself

If not you then who?

If not now then when?


Ready to go?

Any questions?