Our 6 national meets ran 90% on the time of the refined schedule orchestrated by the entries for each championship. However, in the transitional stage we find ourselves in the delegation of responsibilities between the marketing side and the competitive side, we must strive to overcome some problems similar in each of the meets

Entry deadlines need to be clearly defined that all monies due MUST accompany the entry forms for a valid entry. Entry procedures for foreign entries must be clarified as to the deadline, where entry and monies are to be sent.

Contracts, which were signed with the hosts at bid time, were not in line with contracts signed later with meet vendors. Both vendors and meet hosts must agree on their expectations prior to the meet commencement. Competition arrangements must be beneficial to both parties to enable an effective technique for raising funds. Securing bids for championships will become difficult if the huge amount of volunteer help is not rewarded with some financial gain.

Both the E-Synchro Age group and the US Open contained some very long days of competition due to the effort to give more time between the two competitions. I suggest we go back to having and extra ½ day of competition for each meet to avoid the fatigue factor involved for athletes, coaches and judges.

The "FLIGHT" system for both figures and routines seems to work well for all involved in the competition.
At the age group, having a team event just prior to the figure competition is not advantageous to the overall scheduling as there was not sufficient time to be secure the correct people for the figure competition. This also included a computer program problem, which prevented us from scoring the last 2 age groups as one. Thanks to our good scoring people we were able to resolve this problem-well into the wee hours of the morning.

The US OPEN had a great inauguration! It was nice to have 4 federations join our American athletes for this competition. However, we need to stay with our original plans for entry of foreign athletes. The large entry for American athletes shows that it is indeed a meet our GOOD athletes want. The COMBO event more than doubled in entry from 2002.

International protocol MUST be discussed and applied to this meet. Both the Competitive Structure and the Event Management Committees need to resolve the issues involved.
1. meet entry deadline and fee collection
2. housing and transportation-same expectations for all athletes
3. US rules and competitive etiquette vs FINA
4. National anthem and flag presentation
5. Gift giving or exchange

I do wish to THANK the coaches, athletes and judges for their full support in making our competitions operate in a highly professional manner. Without your cooperation, this was an impossible task. You have been grand and have made this an uplifting experience for me!

Committee reports:
Rules: The committee has made a sincere effort to have the rules meetings run smoothly and to keep everyone informed as we proceed thru the convention. The Rules committee agrees with the proposal to only change rules once a quad to promote living with the changes and to make sure changes are truly necessary. Work is in process to resolve the " tie" situation and clarify the" pre-swimmer" situation.
Also see enclosed report from Carole Mitchell.

Event Management: Figures first day of US Juniors and Open was a huge success. It put the focus on routine swimming and eased the scoring pressure big time. United Airlines Open was successfully conducted under FINA rules with 301 junior and 100+ senior swimmers. 4 Federations sent entries. The Free Combo Routine was a competitive event this year and drew 17 entries-more than double last year's exhiubition event. Schedule evaluations for the various meets will take place at convention.

Scoring: Hats off to our scoring chairs for their great devotion to duty! Problems needing action: the number of computers needed to handle the scoring load for collegiates is 4 and perhaps an additional one if needed on deck for composite scores. The computer program must be expanded to allow a greater number of entries if the 16-17 age groups are to perform figures at the same time. We need space for 400 swimmers. At the US Open we need one person to handle the junior list for phase 2 for Junior Trials.

Competitve Structure: This committee will meet in San Diego to discuss the following questions:
1. How can US Synchro's competitive structure be revised to bridge the gap between the 13's Technical routines and the Junior program and may they enter the Junior program?
2. How do developmental programs feed into the different levels of competition?
3. Are the coaches in your area using programs such as SNAAP to develop their athletes? If not, why not?
4. Do any of our current rules hamper the coach's ability to develop her athletes? If so, which ones and how can we revise them?

Competitive sites: We need people to beat the bushes for sites for the 2005 season! PLEASE HELP! Perhaps we need to have 2 people per zone to help!

Figures: no report except for wording changes and a clarification which can wait until the legislative year.

Technical Committee: wish to THANK Colorado Timing and Oceanears for their great cooperation in having their equipment on site and ready to go for all our CHAMPIONSHIPS! The VP'S personal THANKS to ED Kaminski for setting up, operating, taking down and preparing this equipment for return to sender at each of our Championships. He is a silent hard worker who gives graciously of his time and effort.

Masters, Collegiate have no reports at this time.