SWIM ONTARIO 2016-2017 ANNUAL REPORT CONTENTS Welcome Letter from Swimming Canada CEO 1 Board Reports President’s Report 2 Executive Director and Operations Reports 6 Finance and Audit Committee 22 Policy and Planning Committee 23 Nominations Committee 24 Masters Committee 25 Committees of the Executive Director Reports Sport Development Committee 26 Performance Coaches Committee 27 Swim Ontario Coaches Committee 27 Swim Ontario Officials Committee 28 Awards Committee 30 Regional Directors Committee 31 Partner Organization Reports Ontario Aquatic Hall of Fame 36 Award Programmes Records 38 Swim Ontario Award Recipients 40 Association Information Association Profile 43 Association Directory 43 Board of Directors Profiles 44 Board of Directors Summary of Motions 46 Financial Information Audited Financial Statements March 31, 2017 50 The Board of Swim Ontario September 14, 2017 Dear Board, Swimming Canada would like to thank and congratulate Swim Ontario in contributing to the success of not only Swimming Canada but Swimming in Canada. As a member of Swimming Canada, Swim Ontario and its staff have always been willing go above and beyond to take leadership roles in programming, support and leadership. The organization’s collaboration, and ability to integrate and align with Swimming Canada’s objectives and strategic plan has been a key component of the current success of our Strategic plan objectives. The athletes that Swim Ontario is currently supporting and producing is coming from a variety of diverse sources whether it be at the club, university or training centers. While it is it not easy to maintain such a strong swimming ecosystem we congratulate you and the members of Swim Ontario. Coaches, athletes, officials and staff from Ontario continue to assist Swimming Canada on the world stage and we are proud of you all as members. Swimming Canada has very aggressive goals for 2020 and soon to be 2022 and 2026. We look forward to Swim Ontario to continue to assist us and Canada on the world stage. Well done to all the athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers and staff of Swim Ontario. Sincerely, Chief Executive Officer 1 We should all be proud to represent swimming and we should be doubly proud to represent Ontario swimming. For decades those in our sport might only mumble that they were from Ontario while other provincial organizations soaked up the praise and garnished high-fives; now we can say, we are back. Our membership is over 19,000 swimmers Our club base is stable Coaching membership is growing While we can’t take credit for it, new pools are coming on-line in communities around the province Our sport is growing Still while we pat ourselves on the back (or you are encouraged to) we need to also reflect on a few sobering details. Ontario High Performance Sport Initiative & the Ontario Swim Academy At the last AGM, a notice of motion asked the following question, MOTION: S. Baker/P. Robertson To direct the Swim Ontario Board of Directors to investigate the ways & means within the organization’s policies and procedures to cease funding to the Ontario Swim Academy in its current form. *That being a resident based Academy. The motion was carried. November 2016 - select members meet with OHPSI management and funding partners December 2016 - SO approves participation in OHPSI program for 2017-2018 Jan - Mar 2017 - Finance Committee reviews staff reports on OHPSI program April 2017 - BOD receives report from Finance Committee on Impact of OHPSI program May 2017 - A report from Eric Martin and Mike Brown as per the direction of the Board is attached. In sum, a junior resident full-time training environment is required to apply for funding. Funding envelopes the High-Performance Centre, in and out-reach programs; everything. Funding (partners CSIO, SNC and Own the Podium) is tied to Swim Ontario demonstrating this criterion. As well as demonstrating the resident based environment Swim Ontario also has to demonstrate our own partnership investment. So, what does it cost us? For the 2017-18 Fiscal year (beginning April 1, 2017) Swim Ontario will be contributing $38,000 (rounding, exact numbers in the report) for which the partners and participating athletes contribute $379,000. The review of Swim Ontario policy and procedure says that the OHPSI and the OSA is within the purview of staff operations and aligns with the Strategic Plan and not supporting these programs might in itself be indefensible. While some view the negative impacts to the OSA, the positives need to be considered. OSA provides significant benefits that our sport would be disadvantaged if we discontinue in the OHPSI program. Funding and partnerships would be significantly compromised to the detriment of Swim Ontario. Staff and the ED committee structures have also taken steps to address the concerns raised in the relationship of OSA coach and club coaches. Masters Swimming A report from the Masters Committee is included in the AGM report. Staff, the Committee and Board worked very hard to expedite procedures and handle questions for the majority of the year. From September to January, Swim Ontario and MSO were striving to sanction meets and building procedures in anticipation of shared data with SNC. This changed when the Swimming Canada and Masters Swimming Canada deadline terms were not met. Swim Ontario was reminded of our responsibility for sanctioning competition including Masters, and for the registration of Masters for September 2017. 2 Governance Swim Ontario this year spent much of the first months working on not for profit sport organization governance and best practices in parliamentarian procedure with many conversations, consultants, workshops and training undertaken. This was done both to educate and, in some cases, affirm the procedures undertaken at the board level. Collectively, the board must: Determine a governance model and ensure that appropriate organizational policies and structures are in place. o Ours is a policy-based governance model. The Board should not be involved in operational decision making. Instead we have a committee structure – which embraces a number of coaches, officials and other members or our community – to thoughtfully consider and build the guidance for specific area. To define their boundaries, we rely on Terms of Reference for each Committee. Within the TOR is the blueprint for the committee to move forward. Participate in the development of a mission and strategic plan for the organization o The current Mission and Strategic plan runs to 2020. Modifying the strategic plan was not identified as an immediate priority. Hire and ensure that an effective senior management team is in place (i.e., Executive Director) o Welcome back to John Vadeika and thank you to Darin Muma for stepping in as interim ED. Our staff works very hard and has the professional experience necessary to lead in many areas of our sport. Maintain effective partnerships and communication with the community, the organization’s members and its stakeholders o We communicate through the TAS bulletin and our electronic distribution lists created by our registration database. Our website and social media applications are used constantly. Board reports are found on the website. Some reports are necessary to be kept internally due to confidentiality and strategic needs. Maintain fiscal responsibility, including raising income, managing income, and approving and monitoring annual budgets o The Finance Committee and staff work closely to ensure our monthly reporting and annual budgets are within expectation. Our finances are audited and the Board is updated quarterly by the ED who at that time answers any questions which may arise. Ensure transparency in all communication to members, stakeholders and the public o Communication from the board is in the form of minutes. Minutes are the actions undertaken by the board at a meeting – and should not be considered a transcript. Many of the actions taken by the board resulted in communication by staff (announcement on Masters for example). Evaluate the organization’s work in relation to the strategic plan o Annually the Board hears from staff at in-person update on strategic plan. This year the update indicated that in all areas we were ahead or tracking with plan. Evaluate the work of the board of directors, ensuring continuous renewal of the board, and plan for the succession and diversity of the board o Our bylaws call for a nominations committee. This is for a number of reasons. Firstly, we want the best candidates possible and we want them vetted to ensure they meet the expectations as directed by the Nominations Committee Terms of Reference. Secondly a nominations committee insures that the candidates for election are truly independent. Unlike other organizations we have more people than positions annually seeking to be a director of Swim Ontario. To all who seek to stand – thank you! As mentioned we had a great year in the pool. While there are areas for improvement in the organization, that should be considered as normal. Every organization has something to work on or accomplish. We should all be thankful that the topics of concern are manageable. Eric Martin Swim Ontario Board of Directors President 3 Report to the Board – M. Brown and E. Martin At the 93rd Annual General Meeting held on Sunday, October 2, 2016 at the Toronto Airport Marriott Hotel a notice of motion from the floor which said, MOTION: S. Baker/P. Robertson To direct the Swim Ontario Board of Directors to investigate the ways & means within the organization’s policies and procedures to cease funding to the Ontario Swim Academy in its current form. *That being a resident based Academy. The motion was carried. Motion Clarification The motion’s wording has challenges in its exactness. To aid in the understanding, the following will be used for clarity. The key elements of the motion are: • Responsibility - Swim Ontario Board of Directors.