The meeting was called to order by the General Chairman, Thirl Crudup at 7:15 pm. In attendance were John Blaschke, Thirl Crudup, Mark Eldridge, John Ertter, Ward Foley, Jim Garner, John Hirschmann, Linda Klopfenstein, Kit Mathews, Bob Walker, Greg York, Ward Foley, Irene Millman, and Linda Edmunds.

Approval of the February BOD Meeting Minutes
Linda E. noted that the minutes have been revised to add Linda Klopfenstein to the attendance and that the second #8 under Competition has been corrected to #9.

Motion to accept the February BOD minutes as distributed. PASSED.

Treasurer's Report
John E. presented a written report of the financial position of the LSC. The LSC has a balance of $281,861.45. John H. inquired if there was anything atypical in the current year as the Association seems to be ~$30,000 better off than in the previous fiscal year. John E. stated that it would be discussed during the Budget portion of the meeting, and that based his projections it was likely a real difference rather than one resulting from the timing of receipts and disbursements.

General Chairman's Report
Thirl stated that he had received an email from the PVS Master's swimming group with an idea and an offer. This organization currently has excess cash reserves and would be interested in exploring the possibility of making annual donations to Potomac Valley Swimming of approximately $500. This donation would need to be set up for a specific use. Thirl stated that the decision should be contemplated and he would respond when the Board members had had time to consider this proposal.

Thirl stated that he recommends the following members to be assigned At-Large votes at the May 2001 House of Delegates meeting: Boots Hall, Linda Crudup, Linda Edmunds, Kerry Ellett, Frank Persico, Linda Klopfenstein, John McDonald, Irene Millman, Don Smith, Marie Buck. PASSED.

New Business
Mark Eldridge extended congratulations and thanks to the entire Zone meet staff. He stated that he had heard only very positive feedback with regard to the meet.

Mark Eldridge extended thanks to the volunteers and all involved with the Sectional meet. Thirl stated that the feedback regarding this meet had been very positive. Mark E. stated that it was one of the fastest of the 13 Sectional meets held throughout the country.

Athlete Representatives
No athletes were present at the meeting and no written report was provided.

Competition
Jim G. stated that he had nothing to report.

Mark E. asked that the delegation attending the USA Swimming Eastern Zone Meeting in May try to "iron out" what a Sectional meet should be. He stated that there were differing opinions and that this made it very difficult to meet everybody's expectations at the meet. Thirl stated that Mark should forward an email to this effect to both EZ Directors, Kerry Ellett and Dave Carson. In response to a question, Mark E. stated that it was the coaches in general who had varying opinions and that an agreement needed to be worked out.

Mark E. stated that he had been approached by other LSC's in the Section with regard to the Long Course Sectional meet. There is concern about the conditions and an inquiry was made to see if our Association (or a member club) would be interested in attending/hosting an alternative meet. He further stated that coaches from his team shared the concerns. Thirl stated that he had heard similar concerns from some members of another LSC. He stated that teams can choose to do their own meet. Mark E. stated that his primary concern was offering a quality meet that was free of extreme unshaded outdoor heat and the risk of swims being cancelled due to thunderstorms. Greg Y stated a concern that athletes may bypass Sectionals and attend Zones., making this meet much larger than it has been historically He stated that the cuts would need to be tighter as athletes would be looking for a "fall-back" meet. John H. stated that based on a conversation at the Sectional meet, his understanding is that a huge meet would be fine with the hosting LSC. Ward asked if Potomac Valley Swimming would sanction another meet. There was discussion, but no response. John H asked if there was currently any information on the time standards for the LC Sectional meet. Jim G. stated that he had forwarded time standards to Kerry Ellett, Dave Carson and Southmayd, but he had yet to receive a response.

Administrative Division
The attached written report had been submitted. There was no further discussion

Strategic Planning
Greg York submitted the attached written report.

With regard to the addendum to his report, Greg stated that he had been contacted by coaches about the concern and that this item would be addressed at Competition as well. He said coaches were questioning the need to have a Competition Committee if the recommendations were not approved by the PVS BoD. Bob stated that he did not feel that the concerns voiced by himself and Jim G. with regard to the December Championship Meet proposal had been brought back to the coaching community. Greg stated that this was not an issue of his personal opinion, but rather the concerns that coaches had expressed to him. John B. stated that as the current Coaches representative, he has made himself available, yet only 2 teams have contacted him. He further stated that without feedback, he could not represent them. Ward stated that he found it appropriate and desirable for the elected delegates to be financially responsible in their decision making. Mark E. stated that in his opinion, it was necessary for the Age Group and Senior Chair to vote as Competition did, but that the Coaches representative was chosen as a leader and could make decisions on that basis. It was also suggested by Linda K that historically some past Competition Committee chairman when presenting items to the Board have both presented the Competition Committee vote and their understanding of why Competition voted as it did and then separately and identified as such (if appropriate) their personal views on a matter.

Nomination Committee Report
Written report submitted.

Operations Division
John H. submitted the attached written report.

He stated that concerns about how many sets of timing equipment PVS should own would be addressed during the Budget portion of the meeting.

Age Group Division
Bob W. submitted the attached report.

Bob stated that the Zone level cut times would determine whether the Sectional meet was a fast or slow meet. He further stated that the budget line item for the zone team will require extra consideration unless the Association will be hosting the Zone Meet for 2002 and that there is a problem with the application process and withdrawals. To clarify he stated that many athletes had withdrawn or applied without the intention of participating. Ward stated that he had been leary of stepping into the Zone Manager position, but that the meet had gone very well.

Mark E. thanked Ron Whalen for his hard work at SC Champs and stated that a great job had been done at this meet. He inquired whether the 13/14 age group would be included in the LC Age Group Champs meet. Bob W. stated that it would be very difficult to include that age group this summer and that Jr. Champs would accommodate them. The feasibility of doing so for LC'02 would be explored. There was discussion of the presentation of awards at the LC Jr. Champs meet. Kit stated that the 13/14 age group could swim at the LC Jr. Champs meet as usual, but the scoring and awards could be separated.

In response to a question, Thirl stated that this meeting was not the proper time for discussion of changes to the Zone Meet. John H. stated that comments should be shared before the USA Swimming Eastern Zone meeting. Kit stated that there was time to have the discussion and that a serious review of the team selection needs to be conducted. In clarification, Bob W. stated that his concerns were both with the Zone meet format and the Zone team selection. It was recognized the former needs to be addressed to and decided by the Zone and the later by PVS.

Senior Division
Jim G. had nothing to report.

Coach Representatives
John Blaschke submitted the attached written report

With regard to the JO meet, John B. amplified it by stating he learned that the facility was very anxious about the time available for pool conversion for the evening (final) swims. Ward stated that the pool configuration used (one 8-lane course in championship mode and 7 lanes cross pool behind it) had created an unfair playing field as the first 2 lanes were in shallow water and too close to the bulkhead. He further stated that there is published information about "bounce back" in water of that depth. Irene stated that the new management at the facility is less flexible and that different facilities may need to be used in the future -- given the size of this particular meet. She also stated that the management had great concerns regarding the number of participants. Greg stated that the meet host had not made the necessary arrangements sufficiently in advance with the pool's management and this contributed to the problems. Bob W. stated that this issue goes back to the selection of the facilities for use.

Finance Division -- Budget FY 2002
John E. provided an overview of the proposed budget as distributed at the meeting. He provided several points of reference for the accounts -- current year (FY'01) budget, this FY to date vs last year to date, last year's actual and this year's currently projected actual, and the preliminary proposed budget for FY'02

He stated the proposed budget presumptions are based on the fees remaining the same as this year. He further stated that he would be proposing a change to the manner in which the Zone team expenses are budgeted. In response to a question, John E. stated that after reviewing the entire budget, the Board would need to make decisions about how surpluses would be handled (retained, new programs initiated or revenue reduced.).

John E. reviewed the line items of the proposed budget. There was discussion of the pool budget. Irene stated that the actual expenses for the current year's pool rentals is projected to exceed the budgeted $80,000 by approximately $3000. It was stated that the FY'02 pool budget need not be as high as the initially proposed figure. Irene explained, that facilities planned for use in the fall '01 are based on availability and are less expensive. Also, the January Championship meet would not be taking place. The possibility that the Open meets would be less well attended and that it could impact expected combination of Entry Fees and/or the PVS Share of club meets was also raised.

John E. further explained the request for funding from the Equipment manager. There was discussion of the equipment owned by Potomac Valley Swimming and how many sets of equipment the Association should own. Mark E. and others stated that the equipment is very expensive and that clubs should be encouraged to rent equipment elsewhere when feasible rather than the Association purchasing an additional set for expected use once or twice a year. John H proposed as an alternative PVS buy enough additional equipment to run a third course on buttons only -- this would be about half the additional cost of also buying pads. Greg York stated that at the March Madness meet, there was no equipment, because there was no Potomac Valley Swimming equipment available. Thirl asked what PVS equipment was at the meet. Ward responded that there was none. There was further discussion of the responsibility to make equipment available. John H noted that the possibility of not having a full set of PVS equipment had been noted at the July 2000 Board meeting when the request to change the date of this meet was submitted to the Board. He also noted the inability to support this meet with its third (or reserve) harness only happened as a result of a failure harness just prior to the 14/U JO Champs and attendance at Spring Champs requiring the use of a two courses.

John E. stated that the proposed travel assistance budget was based on historical presumptions. Ward suggested that a amount of travel funding be agreed upon and that the shares be determined based on the number of athletes, with an upper limit set on the value any one share could have. There was discussion of this concept.

John E. discussed the approach he proposes to take with regard to the line items for SC and LC Zone team expenses. He suggested that expenses be defined in greater detail in terms of costs of travel/lodging/food for zone coaches and managers, outfitting of coaches and managers, the subsidy to be provided for the LSC for athlete outfitting, and the subsidy to be provided by the LSC for athlete travel. It was agreed for any season the LSC did not travel, the last item would not need to be budgeted.

Old Business
Thirl stated that he had received 2 recommendations for the Phillips Award. He reminded the Board he needed to receive any other suggestions within the next week so that chosen name could be submitted to USA Swimming in time to allow the presentation to be made at the May House meeting.

There was discussion of the date set for the House of Delegate's meeting. There was a consensus to change the date to Thursday, May 24, 2001 so that the Treasurer could be present to make the budget presentation.

Mark E. inquired regarding a response to the email he had sent to the Board members regarding support of the t-shirts for volunteers at the Sectional meet. Thirl stated that for the 2000 SC Zone meet, PVS did not pay for the Officials collared shirts. Mark asked what the $900 line item in the 2000 SC Zone meet expense report was for. Thirl stated that this was for t-shirts for the timers and athlete parent volunteers -- which is done regardless of whether the meet is in PVS. Mark stated that his request for support was based on this line item and informal conversation at the January meeting that implied the LSC would help underwrite the cost of this item.

Motion that PVS provide a $900 subsidy to the 2001 SC Sectional meet host as support with the understanding that no precedent would be set based on this support. PASSED.

Mark E. asked how the Board would respond to Competition with regard to its concerns. Thirl stated that Jim and Bob would respond to the Committee and explain the Board's point of view.

Motion to adjourn at 9:40. PASSED.

Respectfully submitted,


Linda Edmunds
Potomac Valley Swimming
Administrative Assistant