Those Present were Phil Winder (Beds ASA President), Joan.Wheeler (Beds ASA Secretary), Gerry Metcalf (Beds ASA Treasurer), John Bellis (South Beds Masters), Keith Spence (South Beds Masters), Paul Clarke (Secretary and Team Luton Masters)

Paul Clarke acted as Chairman.

Apologies were received from Colin Mayes (Team Luton), Pam Russell (Beavers Masters).

The minutes were approved as an accurate record of the meeting.

The following actions were cleared:

1. (Foreword) PC confirmed that thanks had been sent to Pat Dowsett, the retiring Secretary, for her services to Beds Masters swimming.
2. Item 6:- JB had sorted out the number of swim caps to be provided for the Inter-county Masters Competition swum in November 2011.
3. Item 8a:- Everyone had been asked to find officials for the Inter-County Masters Competition. The County (Exec) had provided the officials.
4. Item 8b:- PC had forwarded John Bellis's details, (together with those of the other Beds Masters committee members), to David Robinson (East Region Masters Manager) as a contact for the Inter-County Masters Competition. JB is the Beds Masters Team Manager for the Competition.
5. Item 10:- PC had produced some draft web pages for discussion, that covered the topics listed in the pre-meeting notes.
6. Item 11:- PC had made enquiries as to whether East Region Masters or Team Luton SC Masters had any plans to run a meet at the new 50M pool at Luton or would be interested in running a joint meet there with Beds ASA Masters. They both had no plans and little current interest in this.
7. Item 13:- PC had sent an email to the Beds Clubs' Masters Representatives asking how many swimmers would be interested in having a Beds Masters training session in the new Luton 50M pool once a month assuming reasonable cost and suitable times. Only Colin Mayes (Team Luton) and John Bellis (South Beds Masters) had replied and neither could supply an estimate of interested swimmers. Currently we do not have the costs of lane hire at the pool or times of availability.

Although Masters have been swimming in a Beds County Championship since 1997, or earlier, the meet had taken many different formats. PC tried to clarify the purpose of having a Beds Masters Championship. Unlike junior swimming, there is no real concept of "County level swimming" in Masters. He proposed that Masters would like a local swim at a reasonable price. It may be possible to determine a County Champion (male and female) on points or age-group champions or just champions in each event.

JW asked what evidence there was of demand for a local meet. PC said that several swimmers had asked for that. He thought it was self evident. JB explained that most of the other local Masters meets such as Milton Keynes, Amersham, Aylesbury (N. Bucks and Oxford) had ceased - mainly because the organisers had tired after long spells of running the meets and there was now nothing in this area.

Suitable Bedfordshire pools were discussed. Luton 50M Pool was currently too expensive. Biggleswade Saxon 25M Pool was only available on a Saturday evening which would limit the format of the meet. Other pools were discussed but were not suitable.

PC, JB and KS were in favour of an Open Masters Meet.

PC asked if Beds ASA was prepared to provide an Open Masters swim that includes non-county swimmers (which other counties do.)? JW replied that Beds ASA could not expect its Championship Secretary, and other volunteers, to organise the meet for the masters. Although some of the Executive may be prepared to assist, most work would have to be done by the masters group. There was no objection to having a meet with non-county swimmers.

PC, JB and KS favoured a two-session afternoon and evening meet, which would provide a range of strokes and distances. A larger meet might be possible if organised in conjunction with or by the East Region Masters.

JW considered that it would be better if the meet was not a licensed meet.

JB noted that Herts. Masters (contact Derek Hughes) have a Closed Championship held at Borehamwood. He asked if they would be prepared to hold a joint meet with Beds Masters.

(ACTION:- PC to investigate this.)

The number of timekeepers, starters and judges was discussed. It was noted that Team Luton had a good number of these and might make them available if the meet was at Luton.

(ACTION:- PC to find out if Luton Officials are prepared to officiate at a Masters meet.)

Pool and equipment hire was discussed and it was noted that Luton 50M Pool was considerably more expensive than comparable pools such as K2 (Crawley) or Aldershot Garrison.

PC, JB and KS considered electronic timing to be essential for the meet results to qualify for inclusion in the national database.

It was noted that because Masters meets have many age-groups, they use a lot of medals. This is a major expense. JB proposed that we don't give medals.

JW said that if a meet were organised by Beds ASA it would be covered by the County’s ASA Public Liability Insurance. Swimmers, officials and helpers must be ASA members and would be covered by their own ASA membership insurance.

It was noted that the County uses SportsSystems Software for processing meet entry, programme and results.

After discussion it was agreed that:

1. Given the cost of pool hire a Beds ASA Masters Meet for 2012 was not a viable option
2. The option of again using the results from the ASA East Region Masters Championships to determine the Bedfordshire results be agreed as soon as possible with ASAER, and BASA, then notified to masters
3. The possibility of a Beds ASA Masters Meet, that was also open to swimmers from outside Bedfordshire, be further considered for 2013 when the hire costs and conditions for the Luton pool had been finalised. It was agreed that a date for such a meet would have to be agreed well in advance taking into account other masters, and age group, meets
4. The possibility of a regional long course meet, held at Luton, be raised by Paul at the next ASA East Region Masters Committee meeting on 26 May. Gerry cautioned that ASAER was in a difficult financial position and consequently all events must at least break even.
   (ACTION:- PC)

KS described his proposal to use the National Masters Decathlon results to identify the all-round best Beds Male and Female swimmer of the year. The Decathlon encourages swimmers to participate in more events and different strokes. He proposed that there could be an annual award for winners.

Everyone agreed that this was a good idea. JW said that, subject to approval by the Executive, two trophies could be provided. These would need to be returned each year for engraving.

There was discussion as to how we could ensure that only Beds swimmers were included. Membership of a Beds club at the start and end of the year seemed to be the best way. The final annual Decathlon results are usually made available in February of the following year, so there would be a delay before knowing who the champions are for the year. The Decathlon does not include Senior (18-24 age) swimmers. A presentation of awards could be made to the winners at the County Championships or at a club night. Although several months have passed, it was decided to start the competition this year.

The Decathlon rules and results are on the ASA Masters website. Interim and final results for Beds Masters could be extracted and put on the Beds ASA Website and/or sent out in an emailed newsletter.

(ACTION:- KS to finalise the proposal for a Beds Masters Decathlon Championship to be considered by BASA Executive in May.)

1. Newsletter

JB proposed that there should be a Masters emailed newsletter similar to the one Chris Jessup produced. Everyone supported this.

(ACTION:- JB to provide an up-to-date list of known Beds Masters and Senior swimmers' email addresses and send to PC.)

2. Relay Records

After discussion, JB proposed that we should maintain Beds Masters relay records. There would be one set regardless of whether swum in long course or short course pools (similar to the East Region Masters relay records). The results should give the swimmers names in the correct swim order and ensure they are all from the same Beds club.

(ACTION:- KS to extract the records from the national database, starting from 2006.)

3. Website

It was noted that the Masters pages of the Beds ASA web site needed updating. JW agreed to do this. It was also agreed that the Bedfordshire results from the ASAER 2011 Championships should be included

(ACTION:- JW).

No date was set.