General Chair, Jim Mohr, called the meeting to order at 7:15 P.M.

1. Minutes:

There was a correction made to the minutes from the March 23, 1999 House of Delegates meeting minutes under the Technical Planning Chair’s report. Sectionals is a quality meet. The motion was made by Barb Stirn and seconded by Carol Graham. Motion carried to clarify that Sectionals is considered a quality meet.

2. Reports of Officers and Board Members:

Chairman – Jim welcomed back Wes Sinclair as a coach in the LSC. He is now with MAST. Thanks for a job well done to former MAST coach Robert Webster.

Jim summarized the concerns of the Board of Directors as discussed in this evening’s board meeting. Board members felt that there was pressure for teams to advance on the schedule especially to produce a senior qualifier. That may not be practical for all clubs. It was suggested that this program may force some clubs to not compete or to chose to drop their USA Swimming affiliation because of this program. Another concern was how many benefits most clubs would see from this program. If your club would like more information, please contact one of the board members.

Treasurer – Mary Schneider reported a loss of less than $1,000 at this point. The travel fund is still doing well. There are still a few people that need to be reimbursed from Seniors. The General Fund has $83,209.99 and the Travel Fund has $99,714.58. Coaches were paid $6,700. Written reports were available in the front of the room for those that desired more details. Joe Schweitz moved and Mike Young seconded the approval of the Treasurer’s report. Motion carried.

Administrative Chair – Barb Stirn reported that things are going well. Many short course season bids have been submitted already. Barb gave a pat on the back to Dick Zache because he has meet information for 2000 submitted already. Meet bids are due to Barb no later than the 2^nd Tuesday in July (July 13, 1999) if the LSC meeting is moved up one week because of Juniors. She would really appreciate bids being submitted by the first Tuesday if at all possible (July 6, 1999.)

Age Group Chair – Bob White requested time to read a written statement. Permission to read his statement was granted. Bob withdrew the proposal that he made at the March 1999 LSC House of Delegates meeting. Age Group Chair Steve Schiessel reported that he had discussed this proposal with the Senior Chair. Others approached him with alternate ideas.

Senior Chair – Drew Walden reported that the Age Group committee had met in the fall and voted not to change the championships for this upcoming year until we knew what was happening at the national level with the club championship concept.

Dave Dahler obtained rooms for Juniors. Dave Anderson reported that additional rooms might be available if you travel in to the city.

Drew stated that we need to look at and discuss the club development proposal. He urged clubs to call USA Swimming with their questions regarding this proposal. It is the most sweeping change in many years. Most feedback on the super sectionals has been negative. E-mailing your feelings on this will be helpful in getting our views heard. Drew further explained that in 2001, there would no longer be Juniors and Seniors. There will be club championships instead. Clubs will qualify out of a sectional. The top three teams (male and female) will go to the championships. The concept has been changed so that anyone can go to any sectional. The top ten swimmers ranked on the FINA scale and the top 48 ranked male and female teams will be invited to the club championship. Drew asked, "Where will this leave Wisconsin Swimming? Out in the cold?" Please let USA Swimming know of your displeasure for this concept!

Registration – Carol Graham reported that there are 5, 065 athletes registered, 407 seasonal athletes, and 590 non-athletes registered. There are three new clubs, Swim Ozaukee, ECY (Eau Claire YMCA), and BURL (Burlington.)

For Fall registration, everyone must fill out a new form for each person. Carol cautioned coaches that certifications that meet American Red Cross standards might not be the same as the certifications required for coach membership. All certifications must remain current throughout the length of the meet in order to be a coach at the meet.

Please be sure that you enter an athlete’s legal name for all USA Swimming purposes. The new software used to verify membership will not match variations of one person’s name and the athlete could show up as not registered in the database match of athletes/meet entries. It is also important to have the membership number correct. Athletes MUST be registered BEFORE entering meets. There is a fine of $100/event for entering an unregistered athlete in a meet.

If an athlete does not have a middle name, leave the middle initial blank.

Carol is now required to verify coach credentials on forms for national meets so make sure that she receives your new certifications as soon as you renew certifications.

Because she will be on vacation, the date to have materials included in the next LSC mailing will be Monday, June 28, 1999.

Safety Chair – Cathie Marty reminded those present of the only planned Safety Training for Swim Coaches course for this summer. The course will be held at Waunakee High School on Sunday, June 13, 1999 beginning at 9:00 A.M. Please pre-register with the American Red Cross in Madison so that sufficient materials will be available the day of the course. If you need directions to the high school, see Cathie or Cris Lewis after the meeting.

Technical Planning – We need to vote for the second time on Swimming rules/Policies 2.8.2c Quality Meets (re-add State Championship meets and strike No other shorter events may be offered.) This was printed as a rule in the 1997 printing of our handbook but was somehow omitted in the 1998 printing. It is now being re-added for housekeeping purposes.

Meet Management 5.5 – We are voting to strike or fees for Time Trials so that Travel Fund calculations will be on individual events only. Host clubs offer time trials as a courtesy. Cathie Marty and Barb Stirn moved/seconded to refer this back to the committee for further clarification of what is a time trial. Motion carried and referred back to the committee.

Athletes’ Representative – No report. No representatives present.

Coaches’ Representative – No report.

3. Reports of Committees:

Camps Committee – Everything is ready for the camps scheduled for this upcoming weekend. The 12 & Under response was good. The 13 & Older response was dismal. It was pointed out that this weekend is right before semester exams and graduation for high school students. She plans to have all of the information on the web site. Please give her feedback from the swimmers from your club that attend.

Club Development Committee – The committee is working on a carnival/fund raiser activity for clubs.

Finance Committee – Mike Young reported that the books were audited and found to be in order.

Open Water Committee – Meghan Olson was introduced as the new committee chair. She did open water racing after college swimming and has organized races. She is looking for others to be involved in this committee so please contact her and volunteer.

Officials Committee – Susan Zblewski reported that new officials rosters are available. Thirty new officials have been added through the recent trainings. She encouraged meet directors to use this new roster to obtain officials for meets. There are now 198 officials in our LSC. The officials will be wearing navy shorts/slacks/skirts rather than white. Steve Suprenant went to the officials clinic in Colorado.

Records/OVC’s – Jackie Groiss reported that the records are now on the LSC website. The top 16 have been submitted.

Zone C – Cris Lewis reported that she has the preliminary design for the t-shirts, polos, caps, shorts, etc. Walter’s Swim Supplies has been awarded the bid for apparel. The jacket from last year’s uniform will be optional this year and at an additional cost to the swimmer. The coaching staff will be :

Head Coach – Jim Weitzer
Head Age Group Coach – Jacob Weber
Senior Coach – Lynn Winnecki
13/14 Coach – Jeff Wirch, Eric Severson
10 & Under Coach – Steve Schiessel

Election of Officers – The following persons were elected by unanimous ballot:

 

General Chair Secretary Age Group Chair Technical Planning Finance Chair Officials Chair Safety Chair

Jim Mohr Patty Kramer Steve Schiessel Dave Anderson Mike Young Susan Zbelwski Cathie Marty

Review Board Cathie Marty  Mary Schneider Barb Stirn Dave Westphal

4. Unfinished Business:

Outstanding Service to LSC award – Two candidates were nominated for this award. Dale Nickels, president of the Verona Aquatic Club and LSC webmaster was chosen by a vote of the House of Delegates. The award will be presented at the State Championship meet in July. Congratulations, Dale!

5. New Business/Announcements:

The House of Delegates needs to approve for the second time, a proposal brought forward by the Age Group committee at the March 23, 1999 meeting regarding a warm-up rule change for any session of a meet where only 12 and under swimmers will be competing. This proposal was favorably approved at the March meeting and now needs a second affirmative vote in order to become an LSC rule. The motion was approved so that effective September 1, 1999, a warm-up of no less than 30 minutes can be offered at meet sessions where only 12 and under swimmers will be competing.

Dave Westphal announced that Dwight Davis, the WIAA high school coaches’ association president is looking for arguments in favor of in season participation and out of season contact for high school swimmers. You may contact Dwight at 414-351-8149.

The next House of Delegates meeting is scheduled for July 27 which is during the Juniors meet. The board recommends that the LSC meeting be moved up one week to meet on July 20. Motion carried. Please get your bids for short course season meets to Barb Stirn as soon as possible.

Meghan Olson would like to have time trials at all sectionals. (Two of the four sectionals did this season.)

The next Age Group meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 9 at 10:00 A.M. at the Fond du Lac Aquatic Center. Directions to this meeting will be posted on the web site.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:38 P.M.

Jim Mohr addressed the house and stated that when he began his term as General Chair, his goal was to view the competition as other sports rather than other clubs. He would like to continue this as a goal in the upcoming term and asked for the cooperation of all. He reminded the house that the next year, LSC meetings will only be held three times – in October, January and June.

Submitted by Cathie Marty, Safety Chair and acting Secretary