U.S. AQUATIC SPORTS SPRING MEETING - MINUTES MAY 19, 2018 FT. LAUDERDALE, FL The following people attended the meeting: Steve McFarland, Laurette Longmire, Tom Boak, Bruce Stratton, Jeri Marshburn, Greg Eggert, Nadine Day, Dale Neuburger; Patty Miller, Jessica Porter, Jim Miller, Jim Sheehan, Lucinda McRoberts, Tom Gompf, Betty Hazle, Brenda Villa, Van Donkersgood, Mark Weber, Derek Paul, Aaron Piersol and Megan Hansley. President Steve McFarland called the meeting to order at 10:10am. A quorum was present: USA Synchro (Hazle), US Masters Swimming (P. Miller), USA Diving (Gompf), USA Water Polo (Villa), USA Swimming (Sheehan) and USA FINA Bureau member (Neuburger). A. SECRETARY’S REPORT 1. Minutes: The following minutes were approved as distributed: o September 15, 2017 – Aquatics Coordinating Board o September 17, 2017 – Board of Trustees o October 30, 2017 – FINA Bureau Succession Conference Call MSP Sheehan 2. USAS Code of Regulations & Policies Update: Secretary Longmire briefly discussed the 6 topics that will be considered by the working group. July 2nd is the deadline for NGBs to submit Code revision proposals for consideration by the working group. August 1st all Code and Policy recommendations will be distributed to the NGB Presidents/Chairmen for discussion with their respective Board of Directors. All recommended revisions will be approved at the USAS Board of Trustees meeting in September at the USAS Convention. 3. FINA World Aquatics Day: If an NGB is interested in participating, information should be sent to Laurette for submission to FINA. B. TREASURER’S REPORT: Treasurer Boak shared financial statements and noted that USAS is in a good financial position. The Balance Sheet shows a reduction and Net Assets have increased due to an increase in Net Revenues from Convention. It was moved, seconded and approved to accept the Treasurer’s report. MSP P. Miller President McFarland asked if a financial rebate should be shared with the NGBs. It was suggested, and agreed to, to hold off on making that decision until outstanding items, like Convention future, are addressed in September. A formula would need to be created, but those who need the most may get the least. Additionally, what is a baseline reserve needed to continue USAS operations? Treasurer Boak reported that an Audit has been requested and is in process. The annual 990 filing has been completed. C. PRESIDENT’S REPORT 1. Mission Statement: President McFarland reported the final draft version of the USAS Mission Statement, as crafted by the working group: To serve its member organizations by providing representation and advocacy within the international aquatics federations. It was moved, seconded and unanimously approved to accept Page 1 of 4 the USAS Mission Statement as presented by the working group with each NGB asked to ratify the USAS vote before the September ACB meeting. MSP Boak A final recommendation will be made at the ACB meeting for approval at the Board of Trustees meeting on Sunday at the USAS Convention. 2. FINA Bureau Succession Plan – NGB Nominees: The unanimous nominee from each NGB is Janet Evans. The Nominating Committee will contact and talk with Janet about the opportunity. Approval of the USAS nominee for the FINA Bureau will occur at the Board of Trustees meeting on Sunday at the USAS Convention. 3. USAS Convention Update: Next Convention is scheduled for Jacksonville, FL in September 2018. Contractual obligations are in place through 2021. As the USAS Convention is the funding source for Chefs, USAS Luncheons/Dinners and more, if the USAS Convention does not continue where do these funds come from in the future. NGBs are evaluating their involvement in the annual USAS Convention. At this date, there is no specific direction identified from any NGB. President McFarland shared his concerns if the USAS Convention does not continue: o There will still need to be an annual meeting of USAS, o May create or expose a disconnect and a weakening of our collective voice with respect to successes the US has seen in recent years in FINA and UANA, o Leadership and athletes won’t have the ability to interact spontaneously if there is no single location where all can meet, o As heard in the Joint Meeting with CONSANAT, Juan Carlos wants to emulate USAS, and o Limited time to reflect on what we have going for each other. USA Swimming Athlete Representative Weber noted that all should step back and look at the larger picture of USAS, not solely the possible revenue to be gained, and understand the collective influence shared in the international community. On another topic, President McFarland reported that $4,000 has been spent to complete custom programming for continuing USAS registration processing by the Convention Committee. It was moved, seconded and approved to ratify the expenditure to complete the update and upgrade to Windows 10 for convention registration processing. MSP Boak 4. Chef Roles/Responsibilities Update: A questionnaire was issued to each NGB prior to the meeting with only USA Swimming offering a reply. Each NGB is asked to respond to the questionnaire, paying particular attention to: o Accommodations o Departures / Hotel Checkout o Transportation The scouting the Chefs have done in the past has been helpful to master’s participants. It is desired to have this continue with the upcoming World Championships in Gwangju (KOR). Designating a Masters point person would be helpful to the Chefs in gathering desired information and reporting results. Page 2 of 4 5. USAS Officer Elections – Jacksonville: No NGB has identified a candidate at this time. Elections will occur on Sunday in the Board of Trustees meeting with nominations made on Friday during the ACB meeting. D. FINA & UANA UPDATE 1. FINA o 100th FINA Anniversary – Lausanne (SUI), 18-19 July 2018: President McFarland cannot attend. He asked USAS Officers in the meeting if they were available to attend – Tom Boak, no; Laurette Longmire, yes. He will follow-up with Bruce Stratton and Bill Smith for their availability. A USAS representative will attend the Anniversary proceedings. o FINA Sports Medicine: A report from committee member Jim Miller was distributed prior to the meeting. 2. 2019 Pan American Games – Lima (PER), 27 July – 9 Aug o UANA Legislation: Athletes are to be added to the UANA Executive. An Extraordinary Congress is being considered for Hangzhou (CHN) in December 2018 to incorporate athlete representation in to the UANA Constitution. UANA President Neuburger could not confirm dates or Congress legislation at this time. o UANA Executive Committee: The USAS rotation is for SW & SS with the following nominations made: ➢ Swimming: Van Donkersgood ➢ Synchro: no name available at this time ➢ Water Polo: Brenda Villa Additional nominations will be taken in September at the ACB meeting with a discussion and determination made if the USAS rotation will be followed or not. UANA President Neuburger shared that six (6) members of the Executive will be named as liaisons to the Technical Committees. For the 2019-2023 UANA quad, Zone 3 (USAS) will have a Vice President and a member of the UANA Executive. o UANA Congress Delegates: The USAS delegate rotation is for SW & DV for the UANA Congress to be held at the time of the Pan American Games in Lima (PER): ➢ Swimming: Has not identified an individual at this time; nomination will be made in September. ➢ Diving: Jim Stillson o UANA Technical Committee – Nominees: The following nominations were made: ➢ Open Water: Rick Walker & Andrew Gemmil ➢ Swimming: Jay Thomas & Cecil Gordon ➢ Diving: Colleen “Cokie” Huffman & Jim Stillson ➢ Water Polo: TBD ➢ Synchro: TBD ➢ Masters: Mel Goldstein, as Chair, with Nadine Day & Ed Tsuzuki Page 3 of 4 o UANA Specialized Committees - Nominees: ➢ Athlete: TBD ➢ Coach: Michael Lawrence ➢ Legal: Patty Miller ➢ Sports Medicine: Danny Mistry & Jim Miller 3. 2019 World Championships – Gwangju (KOR), 12 – 28 July - & 2019 Masters World Championships – Gwangju (KOR), 5 – 18 Aug o Chef Update: The village has been identified as the primary location for housing during the event. A listing of hotels has been requested. A trip will be scheduled once a reply is received from the Organizing Committee about possible dates. NGBs should present candidates for consideration as Chef de Mission to assist Jeri Marshburn with the responsibilities of the role. 4. Max Ritter Award: A message from Carol Zaleski reported that Denny Ryther nominated Frankie Flowers from the Cayman Islands (CAY) for the Max Ritter Award. He instituted the Flowers 1-mile sea swim will all money going to charity. It was moved, seconded and approved to present the 2018 R. Max Ritter Award to Frankie Flowers. MSP Sheehan E. 2018 USAS CONVENTION – Jacksonville, FL, 23 – 30 Sept: A report from Chairman Ellaine Cox was distributed prior to the meeting. The pre-planning meeting was held. At this time, Gay Wright is continuing in her role with all others retiring after this Convention. Staffing has been addressed to allow for shadowing of roles to occur and to share learnings. It is estimated there will be $6,000 in travel and housing expenses for the new volunteers. It was moved, seconded and approved to fund up to $8,000 for the Convention Transition Group. MSP Boak F. ATHLETE MENTOR REPORT: Nadine Day noted that the USA Swimming Athlete Executive will be meeting on Sunday, May 20th. Invitations have been extended to the athletes attending this USAS meeting. Secretary Longmire noted that as Athlete Representation will be added to the USAS Code of Regulations, specific thoughts from the athletes about how that representation should look would be appreciated by the Code/Policy Working Group. With no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 2:35pm. Respectively Submitted, Laurette I. Longmire Secretary Page 4 of 4 .