2007-01-26
YMCA Nationals
For those of you who swim at a YMCA, here is some news about an upcoming event you may be interested in. The 2007 YMCA Masters National Championship entry has now been posted on the YMCA of the USA website. The meet will be held April 12-15, 2007, in Indianapolis in the "Worlds Fastest Pool" the IUPUI Natatorium. All hotels listed are headquarter hotels, and are within walking distance of the pool. However all discounted rooms will be released February 1, 2007. Make your hotel reservations early. For more information email Mel Goldstein.
2007-01-25
Construction Zone
As many of you have noticed, our website has not undergone any major changes in several years. This is about to change.Our new webmaster, Coach Dana Hunter from Tucson, is in the midst of redesigning the web page to make it more useful. These days, web pages are very important to organizations of all sizes and ours will soon be up to contemporary standards.
The changes will come over the next few weeks so stay tuned for more information.
2007-01-23
By the numbers
In case you were wondering, we had 837 registered members last year. This is down slightly from 2005 but Arizona remains one of the largest LMSCs in Masters Swimming.
We have already seen some expansion with current teams (ex. Sun Devil Masters with the City of Scottsdale) along with inquiries from possible new teams. There are a lot of people and facilities interested in starting new workout groups and teams, this is an exciting time indeed.
Let's see how many fellow swimmers we have in our ranks this time next year...
2007-01-21
Polar Bear Meet Deadline
Hope to see you in a couple of weeks!
Jim Stites
Ford Aquatics Masters
2007-01-20
Social Event in Tucson - 02/03/2007
Arizona Masters Swimming is going to host a social event in Tucson the day before the Polar Bear Meet. It will be at the Kingfisher Bar and Grill, which is at 2564 E Grant Rd, Tucson, AZ 85716. Our group will be in the Green Room from 4-6pm that afternoon.
This will be an opportunity for swimmers from the Tucson area to get together outside of the pool and socialize. Plus, if you know of anybody who is interested in swimming and has questions, bring them along too. Members of the Board will be present to answer your questions and to enjoy the time with you.
If you need additional information, give them a call at 520-323-7739 or visit their website.
For a directions, you can either call the Kingfisher or go to Google maps and create your own.
See you there!
2007-01-18
Local Talent
Perhaps some of you noticed a familiar name as you were reading the latest issue of USMS Swimmer Magazine.
Here is a hint, the article was about the 2007 Short Course Nationals...
Need another one, the writer is from Tucson...
Still need help? Ok, this guy is a really fast swimmer!
If you guessed Jeff Commings, you got it right. Here is a picture of him on dry land:
It is great to see one of our local swimmers practice his craft in a national publication. My guess is that later on this spring, we will see Jeff demonstrate his swimming skills at this event.
Great work Jeff!
Here is a hint, the article was about the 2007 Short Course Nationals...
Need another one, the writer is from Tucson...
Still need help? Ok, this guy is a really fast swimmer!
If you guessed Jeff Commings, you got it right. Here is a picture of him on dry land:
It is great to see one of our local swimmers practice his craft in a national publication. My guess is that later on this spring, we will see Jeff demonstrate his swimming skills at this event.
Great work Jeff!
2007-01-17
Short Course Nationals
The Pacific Northwest Association of Masters Swimmers is hosting the 2007 USMS National Short Course Championships at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, WA. This facility has hosted numerous local, national, and international events since it opened in 1990. It is a world-class pool and will certainly be an excellent event.Meet information is now available on the web, in the January issue of USMS SWIMMER magazine, and on the USMS home page.
NOTE: All times listed for this meet are Pacific Daylight Savings Time (PDT).
On line entry for this meet will once again be offered and encouraged. Swimmers who enter online receive immediate confirmation of their entry and entering this way helps us to reduce processing time and entry errors. The on line entry system is currently being tested and will be available soon (by February 1 at the absolute latest).
If you are interested in attending this event, let your coach know. We will set-up a location where Arizona swimmers can go and talk about their plans for this meet.
2007-01-16
Expanding into Scottsdale!
One of the top masters teams in the state is expanding into new territory!Sun Devil Masters has won the contract to run City of Scottsdale Masters workouts! City of Scottsdale has four pools and eventually SDM will be working out of all of them. To start, the team will have workouts at the Cactus Pool in the Mornings and at Noon.
More details to come but this is exciting news indeed.
If you have any questions, contact Coach Simon Percy.
2007-01-15
Arizona Wellness Council
Arizona Masters Swimming has recently joined the Arizona Wellness Council as a part of our efforts to increase awareness of masters swimming. WELCOAZ is a Tucson-based organization of about 200 for-profit and non-profit organizations dedicated to improving health and wellness throughout the state. They organize about 30 health fairs a year at companies in both the Tucson and Phoenix metro areas.In addition, WELCOAZ coordinates wellness programs for over 200,000 Arizona employees. This includes companies like Aetna, Direct Alliance Corporation, Davis-Monthan AFB, Eli Lilly, Jim Click Automotive Group, Sleep America, Rural Metro, Motorola, Red Cross, March of Dimes, YMCA of Tucson, and many others. Ask your Human Resources Department if the Wellness Council runs your company's wellness program!
Over time, there will be more announcements regarding joint activities and events that our two organizations will be a part of. Stay tuned...
2007-01-14
Page 20
By now you have probably received the January-February edition of USMS Swimmer magazine.Turn to page 20 and you will see a familiar face and read his words of wisdom...
Ron Johnson has an excellent article on sculling drills and how they can improve your feel for the water. Ron is a legend in swimming and his list of accolades as a swimmer, coach, and student of the sport is long. He has written many articles and books over the years about many swimming-related subjects, of which this is just the latest example.
Try these drills out when you have a chance and see how this impacts your feel for the water.
BTW, the swimmer in the article is long-time masters swimmer Vern Fuller from Mesa!
Thanks to Ron, Vern, ASU, and USMS Swimmer Magazine for the excellent article!
2007-01-13
One Hour Postal Swim
How far can you swim in one hour?
The most popular postal event sponsored by USMS is back again this month. Anyone can participate in their own pool any time in January by swimming as far as they can in a one hour period while a friend or team mate logs your yardage and splits. The entry form for the one hour postal swim is available for download here.
Subtle hint, this may be a good Saturday workout...
2007-01-01
Go the Distance in 2007
The objective of this event is for participants to track the distance they swim during the year 2007. When participants achieve specific distance milestones of 50 miles, 100 miles, 250 miles, 500 miles, 750 miles and 1000 miles – they will be recognized on the USMS website and awards will be available for purchase (for a minimal fee).
There is no cost to enter this event. Participants are requested to email (or use snail mail) to submit the total distance they swim each month. A list of miles per month and cumulative mileage will be tabulated for each swimmer. Once a distance milestone is achieved awards will be available for purchase. They will include swim caps, certificates, patches and t-shirts with the event logo and the distance of the milestone achieved. Details on these awards and how to purchase them will be available soon.
Each month the results will be updated on the USMS website in the Fitness Section. There will be lists to recognize all those that have achieved each distance milestone.Participants will also be able to look up their current total as well as view their progress toward the next distance milestone. In addition there will be graphs illustrating the participation for each zone, lmsc, age groupse etc..
This event was designed to encourage folks to track the distance they swim in order to review their progress and to be recognized for their achievements. There is no time limit for the distance milestones (except that it must be in 2007) so speed does not count – just the effort to attain the next goal. We wish to recognize participation and achievement of goals with this event.
There will be an entry form, monthly results, award request form and a “distance tracking log” available on the USMS website (fitness section) soon. The log can be used to track one’s daily distance swum but is not required.
The Canadian Masters have a Million Metre Challenge that is quite successful. This event is similar in design but will be implemented a bit differently in the beginning. And of course, our goals will be in miles instead of meters!
I would very much appreciate it if you could spread the word to folks and consider participating yourselves! If you need any more information or would like to comment and make suggestions please contact Mary Sweat at
Wishing you lots of fun swimming in 2007!
Mary Sweat
For the USMS Fitness Committee
