Dubai - proposed changes

I have been so busy with the XI FINA Masters World Championships, I have not been able to report some of the other things that I learned at the FINA Bureau meeting in Dubai last month. One of the great things about going to the meetings is the ability to develop personal relationships with the members of the Bureau. On Saturday afternoon, the Bureau meetings were finished. I was walking through the lobby of the beautiful Fairmont Dubai, at one table was Cornel Marculescu, FINA Executive Director, Bill Matson and Dale Neuburger, our FINA rep. I got called over to them and we talked about the championships to be held at Stanford. After a couple of glasses of wine, somehow the conversation got on the topic of evening out the competition. I told them that when I was in high school in San Francisco, they had a system of exponents for teams and a person could have no more than x amount of points (points were given for age, height and weight). This way you could have a basketball team of people of about like physical ability playing the game. Bill Matson said that FINA Masters Committee was looking at differenciating the records. The FINA Bureau wants to be more inclusive and the ability to have more records. When you have different types of records more people can go after them.- it will create more excitement and maybe more people will want to swim Masters As FINA is divided into different geographical segments North America, South American, Europe, Asia and Pacific the FINA Masters Committee will be recommending that the records be kept for those areas. (I thought I heard that this was being proposed by the French who wanted there swimmers to be able to get international recognition – there best women Masters swimmers are in the same age group as Laura Val). Dale said that the US is been opposed to this and that he and June Krauser have been working to keep it in committee, but it looks like he does not have the votes to keep it there. The US thinks that there should be only one set of records and in the current format. He also said that there is going to be “super category” of Masters records. Masters Masters (age 40-59) and Senior Masters (60+). Cornel said that Walt Reid, who keeps track of all the International Masters Records, while initially opposed to the idea, has developed the software to handle all the new data that will be coming in. Dale said FINA Masters will be recommending that the Federations have new categories for swimmers who were not age group swimmers (he thought this was marketing than from the competition committee). I laughed and said yea – right – the next thing you would do is to keep records on the BMI (Body Mass Index Scale). Cornel said that was considerd but they would like to see some other changes made first. Bill said that all that is left to do is that it has to pass the FINA Masters Committee. They will be meeting in Riccione, Italy just before the X FINA Masters World Championships. (Dale thinks that the French and Europeans have the votes to get it through). After it passes there, it will go the the FINA Congress (In past years, it met at the same time as the Olympics, but starting with this Congress, it will meet at the World Championships). Anyway, that is what I learned at Dubai. And thought you might like to know. michael