"Dara Torres should be the face of United States Masters Swimming"
Brent Rutemiller, October issue Swimming World Magazine
"Of Course, Torres isn't on this trip alone. Aside from the support of Hoffman, her daughter and her coaches, Torres relies on a team. She has a nanny who tends to Tessa, a strength coach, and physical and massage therapists who work her like a piece of dough."
John Lohn, October Swimming World Magazine
With all due respect to Mr. Rutemillier & Mr. Lohn I would suggest that they spend a little more time around the people who not only compete in the meets of our sport but with the people who are the backbone as volunteers in the day to day running of it....Dara's only contribution has been making a few workouts early in her comeback, attending a couple of meets and signing autographs and collecting checks for clinics.
If you want a "face" of Masters Swimming look to Susan Von der Lippe who beat Dara as the first person over 40 to qualify for Trials....and she did it training with a masters team 3x a week...working par time, no nanny, no trainers....no PR person....that to me this is the core of what we are in my opinion.
How about Rob Copeland who somehow manages to run this entire organization, swim extremely well, post on our forum....all without a massage therapist and pilates instructor....again this is what Masters represents...to me.
Dara has done something remarkable for anyone her age... give her credit..but lets see if at some point she wants to time at one of our meets...or be on one of our committee's to help promote masters...without an appearance fee.
Parents
Former Member
Paul,
Not sure if you still receive information on what is happening at the national level or not, so here are a few updates you should be aware of.
1) This summer the Board of Directors embarked on developing a strategic plan. It was presented to the House of Delegates at the annual convention 3 weeks ago.
2) One of the parts of the strategic plan is branding USMS. As you have correctly pointed out, we are not really sure who we are. Lynn Hazelwood is heading up a task force that is working on the branding.
3) All our committees are in the process of evaluating the activities that they do during the year and making sure that they align with the strategic plan. Each committee is then prioritizing the items to address the most strategic first.
4) Growth is something we are beginning to address. Online membership registration will help some. We are also trying harder to find ways to partner with groups like USA Triathlon, the YMCA, etc.
5) I am not sure where you got the impression that our committee leaders want to avoid growth to protect their own lane space. The leaders I have had the privilidge to work with do not examplify that attitude at all. In fact, they conducted a series of workshops at this years convention on ways to get more swimmers in the pool.
We have a lot of work to do, but I believe the organization is moving in the right direction. It will take longer to get there than we would like, but that is true in most things.
Paul,
Not sure if you still receive information on what is happening at the national level or not, so here are a few updates you should be aware of.
1) This summer the Board of Directors embarked on developing a strategic plan. It was presented to the House of Delegates at the annual convention 3 weeks ago.
2) One of the parts of the strategic plan is branding USMS. As you have correctly pointed out, we are not really sure who we are. Lynn Hazelwood is heading up a task force that is working on the branding.
3) All our committees are in the process of evaluating the activities that they do during the year and making sure that they align with the strategic plan. Each committee is then prioritizing the items to address the most strategic first.
4) Growth is something we are beginning to address. Online membership registration will help some. We are also trying harder to find ways to partner with groups like USA Triathlon, the YMCA, etc.
5) I am not sure where you got the impression that our committee leaders want to avoid growth to protect their own lane space. The leaders I have had the privilidge to work with do not examplify that attitude at all. In fact, they conducted a series of workshops at this years convention on ways to get more swimmers in the pool.
We have a lot of work to do, but I believe the organization is moving in the right direction. It will take longer to get there than we would like, but that is true in most things.
