Thank-you Letter

August 2, 2001

Dear Friends:

3000+ swims and about a million bottles of Poland Spring later, the 2001 Long Course LSC Championship is in the books. I hope all our swimmers, coaches, volunteers and spectators had as good a time as I did. Certainly it was terrific to see such a high level of competition and sportsmanship. The record-breaking swims are reported on page one of the website, but how many hundreds of personal bests did we see? Congratulations to all of our outstanding athletes.

Personally it was a wonderful experience meeting and working with so many of you. Over the course of the meet we filled approximately 435 job assignments. Yes, that’s right: 435! That is a staggering amount of volunteer labor and, I can tell you, it was some very high quality labor indeed! If you are wondering why the sessions started on time and ran smoothly, it’s because of the great crew of parents and friends who showed up ready to time and officiate and patrol and post and sell and sort and announce and compute and copy and serve and clean up. I wish I had been able to meet and thank every individual who walked on deck and picked up a watch or a clipboard or a box or a pencil. Please accept sincere thanks now, on behalf of myself, Connecticut Swimming, and your children!

My special thanks to my partner Ed Doernberger, who as Meet Referee led a team of officials that Connecticut Swimming can be proud of. Ed ran the deck with wisdom, knowledge, fairness and the interest of the swimmers paramount. He was always on an even keel, even late in his 15-hour days. We are very grateful to all of the officials (including the wounded but smiling Peter Boucher) who helped out, many of whom worked 3 sessions and more. We could not have had such a high-quality Championship without your high-quality service!

Three teams who each took large parts of this meet’s organization off of my plate and into their capable hands deserve mention. All of those awards your kids brought home were labeled and sorted by an army of New England Saints parents, who also distributed the pins and helped out in many other ways. Linda Prus, Jeanne Taylor, Mary Beth McCarthy and many more from Cougar Aquatic Team ran the office flawlessly and reliably (thank goodness!). And the cheerful Cheshire Water Devils parents managed a restaurant that fed 3 meals a day to coaches from 42 teams, a big crew of officials, and me. Surely they will get a "30" for service in the next edition of Zagat’s!

The computer table is the nerve center of the meet, and one need not be nervous when Ginger McCurdy and Mark Johnston are in command. Those two were under pressure from the first whistle to the last, and performed like champions. Next to them we had some first-rate announcing talent in the Heyde’s, Bill Loftus and Morty, and Pam Meyer, who juggled microphones, scratch sheets and CD’s with dignity and style. Kevin Carneiro, the best in the timing technology business, saved the day more than once, worked 17+ hour days and was generally responsible for our smooth interface with the Wesleyan facility. Upstairs but under no less pressure were the Zone Team registrars, led by the powerhouse team of Johanne Taft and Bonnie Fisher. I imagine that other LSC’s need 5 or 6 volunteers to do the work of those two. Thanks to all.

Finally, all of Connecticut’s swimming families should be grateful to have the Cooper family among us. Clark, who cannot stay away from our meets, brought his usual wisdom and good cheer. The recuperating Liz provided critical office help, especially in the early hours of the meet (and gave up quite a bit of her weekend), and Andrew got the Finals results up where they were needed. One cannot possibly overstate the contribution of Nan Cooper. Entry chair, office manager, supply logistics chief, supply hauler, webmaster, printer, nutritionist, staff psychologist, trusted friend: it’s all Nan.

With all this wonderful support from all of you, I can honestly report that I am looking forward to our next Championship next spring!

Best regards,

Barry Silver
Meet Director

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