A History of Okanagan Masters Swim Club (OMSC)
(Photo credit – an old banner with the original logo of OMSC. Contributed by Connie Stamhuis)
A number of Masters swim clubs have operated in the central Okanagan area for several years, having successfully grown the image and support for Masters swimming over the last two decades. Masters swim clubs in British Columbia are affiliated with the Masters Swimming Association of BC (MSABC), established to serve the interests of the sport in BC, and through which competitive meets are sanctioned together with Swim BC.
In the period leading up to 2004, Masters Swim Clubs included Athans Masters (the precursor to Okanagan Masters Swim Club), so named because it was based at the Athans Pool in Rutland at the time. The facility was subsequently upgraded and is now known as the Kelowna Family YMCA. Kelowna Masters, based at the Parkinson Recreation Centre, was in addition, for many years, the host of the popular Across The Lake Swim. On the west side of Lake Okanagan, Westside Thunder Masters is based at the Johnson Bentley Memorial Aquatic Facility, in the municipality now named West Kelowna.
Okanagan Masters Swim Club (OMSC) emerged in late 2004 from the Athans Masters Swim Club. Founded as a non-profit society, the step was taken in anticipation of having the opportunity to expand membership, operate its own coached program, and compete under its own name. A significant obstacle faced by OMSC at the time was that the Athans facility operator, the YMCA Okanagan, declined to allow third-party coaching at the Athans facility. For its first four years, OMSC operated under a restriction that precluded it from providing coached sessions at its home pool.
A positive game-changer for Masters swimming in the central Okanagan was the addition of a modern new aquatic centre in Kelowna’s Lower Mission. The city-owned H2O Adventure & Fitness Centre commenced construction in 2007 and opened its doors in April 2009, providing competitive swimmers with a modern facility and the community with a desperately needed third public swimming pool. The aquatic side of the ‘H2O’ features an eight-lane 50m pool complete with moveable bulkheads, diving boards and accoutrements. The facility also boasts water slides, a river run, hot tubs and wave rider. The YMCA bid for and won the first 3-year operating contract for the new facility in 2009, and has retained this position since then.
In 2008, ahead of the H2O opening, three local Masters swim clubs got together to petition the City to become the first resident Masters swim club at the H2O, with the ability to operate independently of the facility operator by offering an independent coached program under its own direction and management. The three clubs involved were Okanagan Masters, Kelowna Masters and Westside Thunder Masters. Members of all three clubs voted at a collective special general meeting to use registered non-profit society OMSC as the legal entity through which a successful tenancy bid would later be submitted to the City of Kelowna.
The members also voted to retain the OMSC constitution, including its name and purpose, as ideally suited to expansion of the club through open membership and relocation to the H2O. Members from each of the three clubs were elected to the board of the newly expanded club and tasked with negotiating preferential lane access at the new aquatic facility, before it opened its doors in April 2009. OMSC moved its home pool from the Rutland Family YMCA to the new H2O pool the same month the new facility opened.
OMSC was appointed as representative for Masters swimming on the City of Kelowna’s Aquatic Advisory Committee, and has retained that role to date. The intent of the AAC policy: “to establish the general use and allocation of time and space of aquatic facilities to Aquatic Sports Clubs by the City of Kelowna.” The aquatic advisory committee serves a valuable role in determining allocation priorities for youth, adults and different aquatic sports clubs. OMSC is a respected contributor to the committee, and has been represented in that role by a number of individual OMSC board members over the years. Fair and equitable allocation of ‘time and space’ has become increasingly relevant after ten years’ operation of the H2O, as the facility is literally bulging at the seams during popular times of day when demand exceeds availability.
Later in 2009, in support of OMSC’s ‘fresh start’, a new logo was created. OMSC has a well-recognised and respected brand within the Masters swimming community throughout our province.
In 2010, the OMSC Annual Awards was introduced, to recognize individual members for performance and skills improvement, competitive success, tenacity and determination, courage and outstanding acts of volunteerism. The awards were soon expanded to a few more categories including a light-hearted ‘Hammer Award’, awarded to one relentlessly driven member each year.
OMSC has hosted several leading competitive Masters swimming meets since 2009. It hosted the very successful BC Provincial Masters Swim Championships in 2011, 2014 and 2017. OMSC also co-hosted and led the team that organized a very successful 2012 Canadian Masters National Championships. Financial surpluses from each of these meets has helped OMSC build up a financial reserve to protect members against unexpected costs, allowing also for ongoing development and training of coaches, and capital to invest in special initiatives including equipment, programs, hardware and software.
Between 2009 and 2014 the club operated as a self-funded independent entity, hiring lanes, contracting with coaches and buying equipment and accessories to deliver the swim program. As lane rental costs increased exponentially towards 2016/2017, in an endeavor to continue to secure affordability, adequate lane allocations and improved member benefits, OMSC negotiated a partnership agreement with the facility operator, YMCA Okanagan. The change in operating model reflected in the new partnership agreement received overwhelming member support and was adopted at a special general meeting conducted at season end in 2014. The club has continued to operate under this partnership agreement until today, the terms of which are renegotiated annually, during which time the swim program and cost sharing elements are determined for the season ahead.
OMSC offers one of the most diverse and comprehensive Masters swim programs in the country. The partnership agreement in place between OMSC and the YMCA requires every OMSC member to be a YMCA member, and gives every member full access to the OMSC program as well as the entire H2O Adventure & Fitness Centre and its own programs.
As embodied in its constitution, the purposes of OMSC, the Society, are to promote fun, fitness, health, fellowship and participation among adult swimmers, to give guidance and leadership in the direction, development and execution of programs for non-competitive and competitive adult swimmers in the Okanagan, to encourage the development and use of facilities for swimming, in general, and for Masters swimming in particular.
For over a decade, OMSC has accommodated members from throughout the Okanagan. Membership in OMSC is open to any resident of British Columbia.
Written and contributed by long-time OMSC members Jeanette & Tony Hoft
