Ed Saltzman Receives Capt. Ransom J. Arthur M.D. Award for His Volunteerism

When his cellphone rang one August morning, Ed Saltzman wasn’t anticipating the most important information that he could be receiving the 2025 Capt. Ransom J. Arthur M.D. Award.

“I had been nominated several times for the award and not chosen, so it was the last thing on my mind,” says Saltzman, a member of Dynamo Swim Club. “I can actually say it caught me abruptly. It wasn’t even on my radar anymore.

“It’s a great honor to be recognized for your hard work and to be named among such a distinguished list of USMS contributors from the past 50-plus years.”

The award, USMS’s highest volunteer honor, acknowledges a member whose contributions have considerably furthered the targets of the group. For Saltzman, being added to an inventory of recipients spanning many years is validation of his work as an official, LMSC and Zone chief, and committee member.

Saltzman, 74, began officiating when he noticed a discover within the Georgia LMSC publication that USA Swimming wanted extra officers. He signed up for a clinic on Nov. 7, 1992.

“I’ve been officiating swim meets for 33 years, accounting for over 2,100 sessions,” he says. “I can’t imagine how many hours that comes out to be.”

For Saltzman, officiating has been greater than guidelines and whistles. It’s been a technique to give again to swimming. It’s additionally opened doorways to experiences few might think about, together with serving on a number of USMS committees, chairing the Southeast Zone, working USMS nationwide championships, and dealing on the Olympics and Paralympics.

Saltzman’s affect extends far past the pool deck. While serving on the Officials Committee, Saltzman created a stipend program to assist convey officers to nationwide championships, fixing a important staffing problem.

And after the 2010 USMS Short Course Yards Nationals in Atlanta turned a wholesome surplus, Saltzman pushed for the Georgia LMSC to reinvest these funds into its members. That cash has coated sanction charges for meets, sponsored coach certifications for 45 coaches, and paid for USMS memberships for one 12 months for college students and low-income seniors.

“It made sense to reinvest that money in our LMSC and our members,” Saltzman says.

Saltzman’s swimming résumé additionally features a brush with the world’s greatest stage: the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and Paralympics. He ran one of many timing consoles that fed outcomes to the press.

“Being ‘back stage’ and seeing legendary coaches (a little more worn by time) that I used to read about in Swimming World when I was younger and getting to mingle with Olympians, it’s hard to describe the experience,” he says. “[The Paralympics was] equally as thrilling to be part of. It’s onerous to explain the way it felt to be on the deck in entrance of capability crowds and really feel the vitality.

“Those are experiences that stay with you for life.”

His favourite recollections from the meet embody having a entrance row seat to observe the swimming and attending to joke with Team USA athletes that included Amy Van Dyken.

Saltzman traces his enduring love for USMS to his first nationwide championship in Santa Clara, California, in 1993. There, whereas officiating, he struck up a dialog with an older official who turned out to be Bud Meyer, father of Olympic nice Debbie Meyer Weber, one among Saltzman’s heroes.

The subsequent day, Meyer swam within the meet, and Saltzman joined her and her father for dinner. She gave him an autographed Olympic buying and selling card.

“That’s what makes USMS special,” Saltzman says. “All ages, all levels of experience, all sharing the same deck.”

Three many years later, Saltzman stays a fixture on deck due to the enjoyment he will get from serving to folks and being a part of one thing greater than himself.

“Getting to meet people you admired and only read about in magazines, that sold me on USMS,” Saltzman says. “That’s what makes USMS unique and great. That’s what makes USMS special—all ages and all levels of experience.”