U.S. Masters Swimming Club of the Year Award

Recipient:	Puget Sound Masters
Year:	2014
LMSC:	Pacific Northwest

Puget Sound Masters (PSM) was a regional USMS club located in northwestern Washington state that had 1276 members and 34 registered workout groups. Formerly called Pacific Northwest Aquatics (PNA), it existed for 40 years and had recently been renamed to PSM.

PSM had a long history of distinguished members actively volunteering at the Local, Zone, and National levels of USMS. PSM volunteers included Hugh Moore, Jane Moore, Jeanne Ensign, Sarah Welch, Sally Dillon, Kathy Casey, Walt Reid, Arni Litt, Steve Peterson, Lisa Dahl, Guila Muir, Linda Chapman, Kerry Ness, Shannon Singer, Jan Kavadas, Doug Jelen, and Jon Walker.

From 1992-2007, their regional club hosted 4 National meets at Federal Way, WA. During 2014, PSM workout groups hosted 6 SCY meets with about 130 attending each meet. PSM had a high participation in USMS Postal events. PSM loved open water swimming and they hosted open water events, some in very cold water, with attendance ranging around 30 to over 300. Open water events included the “Fat Salmon” swim, which was held in Lake Washington (temp ~70), and 2 sanctioned events held in Puget Sound (temp ~56).

The Regional club and the LSMC worked together to offer multiple swim clinics to members and  coaches. Scholarships were provided for coaches to attend USMS Certification and the ASCA World Clinics. PSM offered a free week “try-out” to recruit new members, and club news was communicated through Facebook, emails and the LMSC newsletter, ‘The WetSet’. PSM held occasional social events.

The new Puget Sound Masters provided members with support and excitement, and they achieved noteworthy success when they won regional club honors at the 2014 SCY National Championships in Santa Clara.