From the USA Swimming Convention

Dramatic shifts were the big story at the USA Swimming Convention in September (13-19) in San Diego. The highlights are below.

1. Junior Nationals Eliminated.
Perhaps the most startling news came on the next to the last day, when an overwhelming coaches vote of 198-2 led to the House of Delegates strongly endorsing the end of the Junior Nationals / Junior Championships concept. The last "Juniors" will be held in 2000, with the 2001 competition calendar featuring 12 Sectional meets open to all athletes, with locally determined time standards, and perhaps as many as 12-14,000 athletes participating, as a lead-up to the National Championships. National Championship and Trials meets’ time standards (reportedly including the Olympic Trials) will be "relaxed" to provide for a larger field.

The Coaching Caucus the day before overwhelmingly came to the conclusion after 2 plus hours of discussion, that Juniors was holding the USA back, and the current system did not allow for "team competition" of the sort so prevalent in the 70’s. A return to large regional or sectional meets for senior swimmers was the answer. Interestingly, it seemed that athletes and coaches were largely on the same side of this issue on the floor, with officials the only group holding out for retaining juniors.

A sudden end to a contentious and difficult choice, and proof positive that the cumbersome USA Swimming governance system CAN, finally, re-invent itself when necessary.

2. Coach Vice-President Slot approved.
The Executive Committee of USA Swimming will have a Vice Presidential slot open for election in 2000 for the first time in history. Coaches David Salo and Ira Klein have pushed for the slot for the past three years, and this year saw it as a winner. Candidates must be active coaches who have placed athletes in the National Championships within the past four meets.

Direct, guaranteed technical input on the Executive Committee was the driving issue to get the position approved, and the vote was a big winner.

5. Continued great progress by the USA in the international arena is the result of improved operation of the USA International Relations Committee (see following article). Attorney Rich Young continues to be a major player in the improvement of anti-doping regulations, with a variety of new legislation being prepared for the FINA Congress in Sydney in 2000, prepared by Rich Young and the International Relations Committee, to protect our athletes from those who would cheat with performance enhancing drugs.