OSI News Archive - February, 2007

We are in need of stroke and turn officials for the Senior Championships being held in the Multnomah Athletic Club, March 1-4th. We also need someone to run HY-TEK on Sunday, both the AM and PM sessions. Available stroke and turn officials should reply to Julie Carpenter ccarpen001@aol.com available HY-TEK operators to Laura Tyrrell tyrrellfamily@comcast.net

Congratulations to all athletes who qualified for the Championships. And to the highpoint winners.

• 11 Year old girls: Grace Carlson, LOSC,
• 12 Year old girls: Rachel Murphy, RST.
• 13 year old girls: Kaylin Bing, RST.
• 14 Year old girls: Tori Simenec, BRSC
• 11 year old boys: Cameron Stitt, TDPS
• 12 year old boys: Daniel Chen, LOSC
• 13 year old boys: Neil O'Halloran, THSC
• 14 year old boys: Austin Ringquist, HEAT

Team Awards:

1. THSC 824
2. LOSC 654.50
3. BEND 472
4. CAT 434.50
5. MHST 361
6. HEAT 297
7. TDPS 233
8. RST 187
9. BRSC 162
10. CRST 146.

The Tualatin Hills Baracudas need 2 stroke & turn judges and 1 electronic timing official for their Pentathlon meet on March 18th at Nike Campus in Beaverton. The meet begins at 8 am, and it's limited to 100 swimmer, so we expect it to be very fast. Anyone interested can contact Marisa Frieder at mmfrieder@yahoo.com, or, 503-452-7053.

There will be a trainer's clinic offered between sessions at 11-14 championships on Friday and Saturday. Posted under the officials training tab, you will find the updated trainer requirements. If you are interested in attending, please contact Jacki Allender at jallender@marykay.com.

Pursuant to USA Swimming Rule 504.8, the USA Swimming Board of Directors has decided to amend Rule 103.2.2 (page 43 of the 2007 Rules & Regulations) which specifically applies to teaching racing starts to provide as follows:

103.2 WATER DEPTH
.2 /M/ Teaching Racing Starts – Minimum water depth for teaching racing starts in any setting from any height starting block or the deck shall be 6 feet (1.84 meters) measured for a distance of 3 feet 31/2 inches (1.0 meter) to 16 feet 5 inches (5.0 meters) from the end wall.

This decision has been made with the advice and consent of the Safety Education Committee, the Rules and Regulations Committee, and legal counsel. The purpose of this action is to further protect novice swimmers from accidental bottom strikes while they are learning to execute racing starts. This change is effective immediately.

Please direct any questions about this announcement to Bruce Stratton, Chairperson of the Rules and Regulations Committee. His email address is: bruce@strattoncpa.com.

1,650 Yard events 1 and 3, 2 and 4, 1,000 Yard events 119 and 121, 120 and 122 have been combined. They will be scored seperate.

Brenda Cha of LOSC set two OSI records this past weekend at the 10 and Under Championships. Her first record came in the 50 free. She swam 26.80, just nipping the old record of 26.81 held by Karen Turner set in 2004. Brenda's second record came in the 100 IM, where she bettered a 19 year old record. Her time of 1:07.30 bettered Lonnie Nadal's 1:07.86 set in 1988.

Saturday: 8&U - 12pm - 12:20pm, starts - 12:20p - 12:30p
9 & 10 - 12:30p - 1pm, Starts - 1pm - 1:15p
Sunday: 8 & U - 8:30am - 8:50a, Starts 8:50a - 9am
9 & 10 - 9am - 9:30am, Starts 9:30am - 9:45am

All 400 IM timed finals events at the 11-14 OSI Championships will swim the fastest heat in finals.

A starter clinic will be conducted in the Portland area. The date will be posted later. Contact Rob Hampel at Robert.Hampel@xerox.com if you are interested.

USA Swimming and Lionsgate are proud to announce special screenings of the movie Pride in select cities throughout the country. As you may know, PRIDE is a story based on true events and the life of Jim Ellis, USA Swimming coach for PDR in Philadelphia. An inspirational story in the sport of swimming - this is an event that you will not want to miss!

Screenings will be held in 28 cities on February 26, 27, 28 and March 1. To find a screening near you click here.

If you and your team would like to attend a screening, please contact Heather Hass at hhass@usaswimming.org or call 719-866-3516.

In your email, please include the following information:
Name
Email
Phone Number
Mailing Address
Quantity of tickets requested
Market/City attending

All ticket requests must be received by February 16th, 2007.

Admission is with tickets only and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Seating is not guaranteed.

Based on true events, Lionsgate tells the inspiring story of Jim Ellis, a charismatic school teacher in the 1970s who changed lives forever when he founded an African-American swim team in one of Philadelphia's roughest neighborhoods. Directed by Sunu Gonera, this life-affirming drama stars Academy Award nominee Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow, Crash, Ray), Bernie Mac (Guess Who, Oceans 12, Bad Santa) and Kimberly Elise (Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Manchurian Candidate, John Q).

The 2006-2007 Scholastic All-America Team application has been posted. To download the application, go to the forms page. Applications are due by August 1, 2007.

The Scholastic All-America Team is comprised of high school student-athletes, who
have a grade point average of 3.5 or higher, and have competed in an individual
event in the 2006 National Disability Championships, 2006 Open Water National
Championships, 2006 Summer Speedo Champions Series (summer sectionals),
2006 ConocoPhillips Nationals, 2006 Junior Championships, 2006 U.S. Open, 2007
Speedo Champions Series (spring sectionals), and 2007 Spring Championships.