New England Masters Grand Prix

Your NEMSC Board of Directors announces a new award that is open to NEM members. It is the New England Masters Grand Prix Award. This is an award that takes one year to complete and many swimming events to accomplish. The Grand Prix begins each January 1st and ends each December 31st.

The Grand Prix awards masters swimmers for participating in swim meets and/or open water events. It is both simple and very difficult to accomplish. Each event that you participate in earns you one point, except the One Hour Swim which is worth two points, toward the goal of acquiring the 11 or 17 points toward Grand Prix Champion. But there are a series of awards that depend on your level of participation, as follows:

Grand Prix Pool Awards (majority must be pool events)

17 events during the year, you will achieve the Grand Prix Champion Award
14 events during the year, you will achieve the Grand Prix Gold Award
11 events, you will achieve the Grand Prix Silver Award
8 events, you will achieve the Grand Prix Bronze Award

Grand Prix Open Water Awards (majority must be open water events)

11 events, you will achieve the Grand Prix Open Water Champion Award
9 events, you will achieve the Grand Prix Gold Open Water Award
7 events, you will achieve the Grand Prix Silver Award
5 events, you will achieve the Grand Prix Bronze Award

All USMS sanctioned and recognized events count as one point. So a multi-day Championship and a small meet each count as one point. Non-USMS sanctioned or recognized events count as long as the event is run by an organization or is otherwise a planned activity, such as a Channel swim, or an organized swim for a cause, such as Swim Across America events.

Note that the Grand Prix is not age-based or gender based. It is not workout group based. There are no limits to the numbers of champions in an age group. It is based on you and your love of participating. It isn’t based on winning or losing a race. The NEM Grand Prix award rewards the happy, one-with-the-water side of masters swimming. Win, lose, or tie, it awards you for trying, for experimenting, and for enjoying the experience.

Your record may be in any form. If you wish to submit via paper, download the form (Word or PDF) and complete it. Be sure to list the date, event, and contact information for the meet director or organization. It can be sent to the NEM President at NEM-E-News@cox.net as an attachment or mailed to 175 Old Great Rd., N. Smithfield, RI 02896.

You may also use the web address below to enter your meet information as you go along. This is the easiest way to keep records of your Grand Prix efforts. At any time, assuming you use the same computer and web browser, you can go back and modify old entries or add new entries to your record. The program recognizes you by your computer; so if you use more than one computer, the committee will later combine your entries coming from different computers. The program is a survey program. Every time you complete a new entry, simply click the Next button located at the bottom of the survey and then the Exit button located in the top right. After you have entered your very last entry of the year, you may skip ahead to event 17 and click Submit to process the entry. The website link is here: Grand Prix Entry Website

Good luck and great swimming!