MAC Fall Fest - WOW What a Meet!

WOW!

WHAT A GREAT MEET!!  The 2009 MAC Fall Fest was an unbelievable success.  I was asked to take on the position of Meet Manager for this year and I did it based on the fact that I knew that the MAC parents were ready to step up and help out as they always have - and then some!  Everybody was willing to jump in and help – and it made my job simple.

I did not make it upstairs very often but when I did, the coffee was hot, the food was great and the atmosphere was positive and happy.  Thank you so much to Mandy, Josephine and their hardworking staff who made it easy for me to concentrate on the pool area during the meet.  The positive comments I have received from the parents and the Town Staff are a testament to the great job the kitchen staff did.

A lot of action took place in the office where the wireless dolphin timer signals and laptop computers were meshing to provide the MAC Family with their first ever experience with a score clock.  Everyone loved seeing the times flash up after the races.  Thank you to the many volunteers who showed up to our second volunteer night and here specifically, to those who spent their time figuring out the clock and helping to give us all this extra enjoyment at our meet.

Kevin Walker led a dedicated team of technicians and office staff from setting up and maintaining the equipment to getting all of the swimmer’s information and times right over the course of the meet.  Having Frank Wang and Janice Aung-gyi sitting in the office for twelve hours a day solving all of the problems that came up was phenomenal.   The meet did not run ‘without a hitch’.  It had many hitches.  This is where Kevin and his crew shined.  They worked diligently and made the problems go away – again, making my job simple.

And out on deck, the white shirts, the dedicated timers, starters, stroke and turn judges, clerks of course, of course, referees et al, did a great job to make the experience enjoyable for all of the swimmers.  This group showed the MAC Family values in helping our newest swimmers have very positive experiences swimming in their first ever home meet.

When I mention words like ‘crew’ and ‘staff’ above, they are only words to show a collection of people.  The fact is there was no crew or staff at this meet.  There were just many, many team members.  The cooperation I saw over the last few days was inspiring.  It was contagious.  While we had all of the positions filled, I still had many parents come up and tell me that if I needed anything at all, to please call them over as they would be happy to help.  This is all about the kids and I think that our parents know this and felt something special this weekend.

Finally, I would like to thank YY Wong and Silvina Mazieres, volunteer alumni who came back to help me with this difficult chore.  YY is a volunteer alumnus who has a passion for swimming that even I cannot match.  She loves to be involved, loves to share her knowledge and teach and has helped Markham Aquatic Club to stay ahead of a difficult process presented to swim clubs by Swim Ontario Officials Association.  She helped me for many hours prior to the meet to try to be ready for the unexpected. I have learned a lot from YY and this should make the next journey to our MAC 25th Annual Winter Invitational in January a little bit easier.  Thanks YY.

Thank you again to everyone involved as this was a wonderful team effort!

Peter McNamara
MAC Meet Manager