Before the meeting started, John Bellis proposed, and all those present agreed, that thanks should be sent to Pat Dowsett, the retiring Secretary, for her services to Beds Masters swimming.

Paul Clarke acted as Chairman.

Those Present were

Joan.Wheeler (Beds ASA President), Gerry Metcalf (Beds ASA Treasurer), John Bellis (S. Beds Masters), Keith Spence (S. Beds Masters), Paul Clarke (Team Luton SC, Masters)

Apologies were received from Marcel Scholten (Modernians), Colin Mayes (Team Luton), Pam Russell (Beavers Masters)

It was agreed that a County Masters Group could promote and encourage Masters competition at a county and inter-county level.

The following were elected by default to the committee

Chairman: none elected

Secretary: Paul Clarke

Inter-Counties Masters Team Manager: John Bellis

Records: Keith Spence

Webmaster: Paul Clarke

The list of clubs was reviewed. It was noted that Bedford Masters and Houghton Regis SC no longer exist and to the best of our knowledge, Leighton Buzzard SC (Masters Section) no longer has any members, Linslade Crusaders SC (Masters Section) no longer has any members, Dunstable SC (Masters Section) no longer has any members and Putteridge Recreation Centre SC (Masters Section) no longer has any members

That leaves:-

Beavers Masters, Bedford (about 6 members)

Biggleswade SC (Masters and Seniors Section, about 14 members)

Flitwick Dolphins SC (Masters Section, about 4 members)

Mid Beds Swim Squad (with one "Senior" member known)

Modernians SC (Masters Section, about 5 members)

South Beds Masters SC (with about 25 members)

Team Luton SC (Masters Section, about 20 members))

Gerry Metcalf explained that all financial requests should be directed to the Beds ASA Exec. (through her). There may be some items such as the new (black) swim hats that could be provided free of charge where swimmers were representing the county and it may be possible to source round neck tee shirts with the Beds ASA logo that could be purchased

Joan Wheeler explained that Beds ASA Executive had taken the view that it expected the Masters section to be self-financing, rather than subsidised by funding raised through age group swimming. In addition to the county affiliation fee of £2.50 paid by ASA Category 2 swimmers, there had been a profit of approximately £200 from last year's Masters meet which could be used to fund hats and T shirts for the team. The funding would not stretch to subsidising transport.

It was agreed that the 2011 Beds Masters Champs would be held as a competition within the East Region Masters Championships on the first of October 2011 at Newmarket. It was known, from the organiser Bernie Buck, that there were about 21 entrants from Bedfordshire Clubs. This figure is low compared to last year, but can partly be blamed on the short notice given of the decision to include a Beds championship. Joan Wheeler reported that a fee of £25 had been paid to East Region to allow this in accordance with their rules.

JB agreed to co-ordinate this year's Inter-county Masters team for 20 November 2011 at Newmarket. He said that he would need some help in this. He said that we also needed to provide officials. Gerry Metcalf reported that Beds ASA regularly organise officials training and suggested that Masters clubs should actively encourage partners to qualify as officials. Apart from South Beds Masters all other Bedfordshire clubs with Masters swimmers have a range of ASA Technical officials who could be asked to assist.

Paul Clarke said that David Robinson (East Region Masters Manager) had been asking who, in Beds Masters, to send information about the 2011 Inter-Counties Masters.

Keith Spence said that he had started work on extracting records from the ASA results database which has details dating back to 2006. He noted that there were earlier records but was not sure whether these were still valid. There was a break when no records had been kept and no results were available (2002-2005).

He was concerned whether the rules should state that Masters records could only be recorded in a Masters meet, and by a person only swimming for a Beds Club and that the swimmer should be registered as Cat 2. Joan Wheeler advised that Beds ASA records have to be ratified by the County Executive and are only open to those who are competing for a Beds ASA Club or for the Bedfordshire ASA Team.

Paul Clarke suggested that he get help and advice from David Robinson who manages the East Region Masters Records.

Paul Clarke agreed to produce some draft web pages for discussion. These would cover topics listed in the pre-meeting notes. Joan Wheeler advised that as the Beds ASA web site had a Masters section this should be used rather than a separate site.

(ACTION: PC)

John Bellis suggested that we should "start small" as Beds does not have enough Masters swimmers to support a viable 'closed' champs. He noted that Norfolk run a viable County Masters Champs as an "Open" Masters meet - with swimmers from elsewhere to make up the numbers and cover the costs.

The question of the need for electronic timing was raised. It was noted that it could cost about £500/day to hire. Paul Clarke said that results would not be accepted for the ASA database unless electronic timing had been used. This then carried through to the National Masters Rankings, Records and the National Masters Swimming Decathlon. JB also noted that the database was also used to substantiate qualifying times for entry to the European and World Masters Championships.

JB noted that the new 50M pool at Luton, which is due to open next July, would be an attractive venue and was keen to know if we could run a joint meet with East Region Masters or with Team Luton SC Masters

(ACTION PC to find out their plans).

Paul Clarke noted that Beds Masters Rankings can be extracted from the ASA database. There was no need for us to record these.

John Bellis enquired if there would be the possibility of having a Beds Masters training session in the new Luton 50M pool once a month.

(ACTION PC to investigate feasibility and likely cost)

No date was set.