Arizona Masters Swimming

Freestyle Swim Clinic This Weekend with Skyline Masters Swim Club and Pike Athletics

2010-07-14T16:52:00.001-07:00

Efficient swimming is not only a byproduct of proper technique and training in the water, it is also a matter of understanding and correcting biomechanic limitations on land. We all have them! This clinic will reveal your specific needs and show you how to incorporate simple land-based exercises into your own swimming routine to produce amazing results.

When: Saturday, July 17 at 7:00 - 9:00 AM and Sunday, July 18 at 10:30 - 12:30 AM
Where: Saturday at Skyline Country Club pool (5200 E St. Andrews Dr.) and Sunday at Ventana Vista fitness complex (5051 N Sabino Canyon Rd.)
Cost: $100 per swimmer

On Saturday we will conduct movement screenings, capture underwater video of each swimmer's freestyle stroke, and complete a short drill set in the pool focusing upon freestyle technique. On Sunday we will review the video footage as a group and provide dryland corrective exercises based upon the results of the movement screening and the coaches' observations during the video analysis.

Each swimmer will receive a DVD of their video footage, recommended series of dryland exercises, and a swim cap. Snacks will be provided on Sunday. Registration is limited to the first 10 swimmers. Secure your reservation by emailing junehussey@msn.com. To learn more please visit www.pikeathletics.com

Swim Power and Efficiency Begin on Land

2010-06-20T13:43:00.006-07:00

I was among the few members and coaches from Arizona who took advantage of the tremendous opportunity to attend SwimFest ’10, the two-day swim clinic recently hosted in San Diego by USMS. USMS has produced and posted a great video that shows what you missed! USMS will also publish my personal account of the experience for the benefit of all USMS members in the next issue of Streamlines. (Watch for it in early July.)

Shortly after I filed that story, I received in the mail the results of my Power Swim Test by Dr. G. So, I will devote the rest of this blog entry to sharing with you some of the lessons it spawned, in hopes that you’ll find them as enlightening as I did.

As I point out in my upcoming SwimFest review, Dr. G’s patented GST Swim Power Test measures and analyzes changes in velocity, force, acceleration and power at each phase of one’s stroke. He has conducted the tests on USA Olympians from 2000, 2004 and 2008. His data proves that even the best swimmers in the world have room for improvement, to say nothing of the enormous potential for improvement in average Masters swimmers like me, or you.

After Dr. G. rigged me up to a belt connected by a thin string to some sensitive electronic equipment of his own design, and video-taped me underwater doing a series of freestyle and breaststroke maneuvers (streamlines, breakouts and fast swimming), I eagerly awaited my results to arrive in the mail.

They came within a week: A three-minute video overlaid with a velocity graph (measured in meters per second), plus Dr. G’s two-plus page analysis, including many excellent suggestions for correcting my lifetime of imperfections.

I can’t possibly go into all of my flaws and his suggestion here (though if you email me, I’ll be happy to share them). Suffice it to say, most are very common mistakes.

For example, about my attempt at underwater streamlining, he says "You are generating your underwater fly kick from moving shoulders up and arms down. Try to initiate your underwater kick from the upper abdominal." And, in freestyle, "You are driving your stroke from head and shoulders, but not from hips. As result, you are losing balance during the swim." (Hence my ‘tail wag.’) These are just two of many examples he gives me.

Dr. G offers me some good drills to help correct my flaws, like this one to engage the hips: "Both arms on the sides, kicking with fins and rotating slowly from one side to other, catching breath on every side." (I tried that one yesterday. It’s really good.)

His analysis gives me so much to work on, I wonder where-oh-where should I begin?

I start by forwarding all of Dr. G’s suggestions to my swim coach and two of my teammates who are especially knowledgeable in biomechanics and motor/neural learning principles. Allan Phillips is not only a very good swimmer, scratch golfer, marathon runner and triathlete, he is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists (CSCS), a Certified Functional Movement Screen specialist, and an American College of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer. His wife Katherine, also a very good swimmer, is a USA Triathlon Certified Coach, USA Track and Field Certified Coach, American College of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer and a certified Functional Movement Screen specialist. Together, they own Pike Athletics.

Katherine and Allan aren’t too surprised by Dr. G’s findings. After all, they, together with my coach, had pinpointed many of the same flaws in an underwater video taping/functional movement clinic they conducted for my team last April. So, it begs the question, if I know what I’m doing wrong, why am I still making the same mistakes?

The first thing Katherine and Allan remind me is that many of the visual stroke flaws related to head, arm, or leg position are caused by something more fundamental than simply "poor technique." Their philosophy in working with athletes (runners, golfers, baseball players, gymnasts, swimmers) is that "addressing the body’s basic movement abilities is necessary before one can successfully apply sport-specific motor learning tools."

Dr. G. has made several references to the relationship between the head, shoulders, and body rotation. Allan and Katherine direct me to Allan’s recent blog post dealing with this very issue, Using Feldenkrais rolling patterns to assess and improve long axis swimming rotational efficiency. It includes a video of a body rolling exercise that Allan makes look very simple. I get down on the floor and try it only to find that it is not simple at all, at least not for me.

By now I’m realizing it’s never going to be enough to work on my stroke flaws in the pool alone. In addition to incorporating Dr. G’s drills into my workouts, I must begin to fix imbalances, correct and build proper biomechanics on land. I mean, when Dr. G. says my fingers are pointing in the wrong direction during my breaststroke pull, and my scapula and thorax are so tight that I can’t physically shift my hands into the correct position, it’s obvious that I need to work first on basic flexibilities on land!

All of this information together suddenly reveals very clearly how breakthroughs in functional mobility would help me--and any swimmer--improve swimming technique as well as posture, balance, and overall well being. On the contrary, to fail to address my issues now means they are likely only going to get worse with time. I feel the urgent need to begin.

Many of you probably already do land-based training, as do I. Sure, we’re stronger for it. More fit, for sure. But is it making us better swimmers? Is it making us worse? The answer is: It depends.

Swimming well is all about moving through the water with utmost efficiency. Dr. G. said as much at SwimFest. Gary Hall Sr. preached it with passion. No swim coach would argue this fact.

Katherine and Allan caution:

"Dryland conditioning should be used to restore the quality of the movement, not to add power to inefficiency."

That statement makes a lot of sense to me. So, how do swimmers, trainers and coaches know what particular land work we, as individuals, need? Many don’t.

There is no one size fits all approach. Every body is different. We’re born with individual bodies and we all develop bad biomechanical habits, whether it’s from slumping over our computers, walking wrong, injuries, or becoming stiff with arthritis. To overcome these realities, Pike Athletics recommends this approach:

1. Screening. (A functional movement screening will help you and your trainer or coach determine your focus points. For example, my screening showed my weaknesses or imbalances are thoracic, scapula and inner core.)
2. Correcting. (Rolling patterns, soft tissue, etc.)
3. Learning. (Cords, land drills, TRX, kettlebells, etc.)
4. Conditioning. (Individual strategies for applying the benefits of the neuromuscular learning that is happening on dryland.)

The bottom line is, even when you have access to the best coaches, the best drills, and the best stroke analyzers in the business, sometimes you still have to get yourself out of the pool and learn how to move well on land before you can expect to move better in the water.

The Daily News of Open Water Swimming: Open Water Swimming In The American Desert

2010-04-13T09:12:00.000-07:00

The Daily News of Open Water Swimming: Open Water Swimming In The American Desert

Tarzan Drill

2009-11-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

by Sara McLarty

Sara McLarty, noted open water and triathlon coach and world class triathlete, contributes this month’s training tip. Swim and water polo coaches have long used the Tarzan drill to strengthen the trapezius muscles on the back of the neck and the back itself. McLarty points out that this is especially important for open water swimming, as the demands placed on the neck and back muscles due to the need to sight buoys, especially in rougher water, are much different than when swimming in the pool with your head down.

How To Do It:

Swim freestyle with head and face held completely out of the water; keep head/face pointing forward; don't rotate neck to breathe to the side; arch back to keep legs and feet near the surface of the water; engage a strong kick to keep lower body from sinking.

Suggested Use:

No more than 25 yards at a time for beginners, 50 yards for advanced swimmers; alternate laps with regular, face-down swimming; performed at easy and strong efforts to simulate race pace; example sets: 8x50 as 25 Tarzan Drill/25 Swim; 500 smooth swim where every 4th 25 is fast-pace Tarzan Drill.

Purpose:

The Tarzan drill is specific for Open Water swimming. Most swimmers and triathletes perform 90-100% of their swim training in a pool. On race day, there is no black-line on the bottom of the open water. All swimmers must lift their head up and look forward to sight for the turn-buoys. If the trapezius muscle on the back of the neck is not trained and strengthened, it will be sore and strained before the race is over. Incorporate the Tarzan drill into practice once or twice a week, even more often for open-water-specific swimmers. As a result, the trapezoids (and upper and lower back muscles) will be strengthened and ready for prolonged use on race day.

Sara McLarty (www.saramclarty.com) is a professional triathlete based at the National Training Center (www.usantc.com) in Clermont, Florida. Check out her upcoming 'Swimming for Triathlon' camps.

Swimnetwork.com Special: Getting into the Swim of Things

2009-10-29T20:12:00.004-07:00

By Dr. Chris Colburn

So, you've decided to get in the water again. It's probably been a while since you last hit the pool. Maybe you swam your final conference meet or NCAAs a few months ago, or it could be a decade or three since you last attempted a swim practice. Maybe you're a triathlete or fitness swimmer attending your first organized water workout. In any event, that first practice can often be daunting. Following a few simple rules of thumb may improve your perspective, prepare you for the experience, and keep you coming back for more.

Rule 1: Say hello.

If it's your first day at practice, greeting your new lane mates and alerting the coach to your presence and status as a newbie can go a long way to creating a good experience. Your new training partners will be more receptive to helping you with the drills, local lingo, and the points of some of the sets. The coach, if you're fortunate enough to have one, often will check up on your strokes, and make sure everything proceeds as it should. While it may seem elementary, this can be important, especially in a large program with a number of coaches. Jim Montgomery, Olympic Gold Medalist and Head Coach of Dallas Aquatics Masters, has advised swimmers and coaches to "just say hello" for years. The staff follows up with new arrivals after practice and they find it much easier to do so when the new swimmers introduce themselves.

Rule 2: If you can, ask questions.

Learning about the coach (if you have one) and the workouts often makes for a better experience. Ask about the day's workout, the rest of the workouts for the week, or the overall season plan (if there is one). If you can, ask about these items ahead of time, so you can come on a recovery day, or a day that may best fit your fitness level. That way, if you can only show up on the day when the team is doing a 1650 for time, you can find out if you'll be in for daily doses of the same in the future. At Academy Bullets Masters, we often advise people of a good starting day so their first workout provides both an evaluation of the swimmer's abilities and a representative sample of the different kinds of work we do.

Rule 3: Understand what you can't do, and focus on what you can.

If you have come back to the pool after a long hiatus, you will likely find that the training you can handle now is significantly different from what you remember. Nadine (Takai) Day, former USA National Team member and holder of multiple Masters records, learned quickly that she had to limit her training due to some injuries she sustained in college. "Due to my back problems I can't do dryland, and my body can't take much hard training. I do a lot of drills, technique, and quality pace work. Focusing on the little things has really paid off." The key here is to be positive. Look at what you're able to do, and work with it. Working within some limitations may enable you to overcome those weaknesses.

Rule 4: Take the long view.

One of my newer swimmers, a recent college graduate who came to Masters four months after her last conference meet, finished her first practice saying, "That felt awful!" More often than not, the first day doesn't feel that great, regardless of your fitness level when you arrive. You may be out of aerobic shape. Your muscle memory might not be what it once was. The rules may have changed so much that people look at your turns and ask, "What ARE you doing?" In the big picture, none of that matters. You made it through your first day, and deserve some congratulations for a job well done. Keep in mind that the first day might be hard, but if you stick with it, each successive day gets easier and more successful as you adjust to your new routine.

Chris Colburn (aka DrCoachChris) is the Head Coach of Academy Bullets Masters in Aurora, Illinois, and the Chair of the U.S. Masters Swimming Coaches Committee. He has come back to Masters training many times, and firmly believes that the first day is always the hardest.

For more of Chris’ work and for more swimming, go to Swimnetwork.com.

AZ Open Water Series – Event 5

2009-10-28T20:51:00.003-07:00

The fifth and last open water swim of the season is coming up on Sunday November 8 at Town Lake in Tempe. This will be the biggest and most exciting event of the year. The series champions will be crowned and it promises to be a lot of fun. You can register online or at the event, just remember that registering the day of the event is more expensive.

Swimmers and triathletes from all over are coming to this race, some for the upcoming Ironman Arizona Triathlon, others to complete the open water series, and still others just to see if they can complete the event. Whatever your motivation, it will be worth being a part of.

Special thanks to DCB Adventures and all the volunteers who make this event and the open water series available to our swimmers!

Six-tathlon II

2009-10-27T16:59:00.001-07:00

The second Six-tathlon is coming up on Sunday November 8th at the Brophy Sports Campus in Phoenix. You can download the entry form here for this event. This will be twice the fun as the first because the distances are twice as long! So get your entries in pronto and get ready for a fun meet.

Getting Started with a Healthy Shoulder

2009-10-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

by Jim Miller, M.D.

This fall, most swimmers will be coming off a break following the long-course swimming season. Coaches will be going to their annual national and state meetings, where they learn new training techniques and share some of their own experiences of the past year. The time is now to prevent injuries.

Assuming you can put the topic of high tech suits aside for a moment, the recent World Championship in Rome was inspiring with new, more efficient swimming on display. As an athlete, this is the time to improve stroke technique and work on those aspects of your training that are the weakest. If this time of swimming renewal is taken seriously, the year will be exciting with achieved goals and a decrease in injuries and soreness.

Swimming injuries are almost always related to stroke technique flaws. Overuse injuries in swimmers may involve the neck, lower back, elbow, or knee, but by far, the most common injuries involve the shoulder. Medical research reveals that between 60 and 80 percent of all swimmers will have a shoulder related injury, requiring them to take a break from training for one week or longer, at some point during their swimming careers.

So what can we do about it? Here are several tips to consider. They have been designed to help decrease this number and keep you in the water. After all, who wants to be part of that statistic?

Listen to your coaches. Early season training is not as hard as it will become later, but it is the time to learn and step up to the next level. Your coaches will be using this time to work on technique, including drills, so be patient and use this time to learn. Come out of every practice better than when you started.
Give your coach feedback if a specific drill or stroke is causing you to feel discomfort.
Let your coach know early if discomfort is a daily occurrence.
Be diligent your dry land routines. Dry land is designed to decrease your risk of swimming related injuries, but only if you do it correctly.
If your program does not have a coach or someone to guide you in developing a dry land program, find one. There are numerous clinics across the country and other coaches within USMS that will fill this void for you. The discussion forums at usms.org are a great place to find other coaches and swimmers.
Be very careful while stretching. A lot of accomplished swimmers are flexible, however it is important to not allow this natural gift of flexibility to become a problem. If stretching is overdone, the shoulder will become unstable and more susceptible to injury
If you need to see a medical professional, find a medical practitioner who understands swimmers and swimming. Educate your practitioner about swimming and your training regimen. Merely taking time off isn’t always the answer. Make sure to ask questions so that upon return to the water, you are not plagued by the same discomfort. Seek treatment for the cause, not the symptom.

The best treatment is prevention, so be conscious of your body. Listen to it and allow it to tell you how to proceed during your fall training.

Nutrition and Swimming

2009-10-23T22:31:00.002-07:00

Want to learn more about nutrition and swimming?

Want to learn about these subjects from a world-class swimmer?

Yeah, the guy on that relay in Beijing...

Garrett Weber-Gale is a world-class swimmer, he is also VERY serious about proper eating and nutrition. Go to his website to learn more, it has a lot of good info on it.

Read and learn, you might just find a way to swim faster and live better.

Swimnetwork.com Special: Design a Training Plan

2009-10-22T21:00:00.002-07:00

By Dr. Chris Colburn

You've taken the plunge, and gotten back in the water. You have a training routine, and you've set some some goals. What more do you need? A solid training plan gives you a structured way to both reach your goals and measure your progress along the way. Today we'll show you how to set up your own training plan, based on your routine and goals, to start you on the road to success.

What do you want to do?

You've already set your goals. Now, you want to structure your workouts to help you reach those objectives. Regardless of whether your aim is to learn a new stroke, swim a certain time, or finish a particular distance, put together workouts that will help you to achieve each component of your goals. If you don't have any experience designing workouts, consulting with a coach or training partner may help.

How long is your training cycle?

The length of your training season has a direct effect on how many cycles you can complete, as well as the milestones you set along the way. If you're training for a triathlon, your preparation might last a year or more. If you're following the long course swimming season, you may only have fourteen weeks. In either case, it's often difficult to near impossible for most Masters swimmers to train full time, so careful planning of available workout time is crucial to ensure the best possible preparation.

Vary your training, but keep your eyes on the prize

Many swimmers, even at the Masters level, find themselves getting bored if they do the same workouts every day, or the same series of workouts each week. Spend some days concentrating on strokes and distances you wouldn't normally race. While not quite cross-training, working on off-strokes or events helps to improve conditioning and muscle balance. For example, our triathletes train all four strokes, and they spend at least one day swimming IM each week. Regardless of your goals, keep in mind your original objective! Otherwise, it's easy get lost in the details. Use the changes in your workout to keep your mind and body fresh and ready to attack the next step in your development.

Track your progress: use intermediate goals

Setting a goal that may take a year or four to achieve may seem like an insurmountable task. When we prepare for Nationals a year in advance, we pick meets along the way to break up our training cycles. We set goals for each meet along the way, and track swimmers' progress through their performance at each intermediate step. If the swimmer misses a goal, we look at races in detail to see what the swimmer needs to work on. If the swimmer makes or exceeds a goal, we reset the goal-setting process and set our standards higher. In either case, by tracking progress along the way, we are able to send all of our swimmers back to training with a new plan to reach their long-term objective. By breaking up the time line into more manageable sub-tasks, you can achieve your long-term goals and find satisfaction from meeting your milestones along the way.

Don't forget recovery, or, it really is possible to work too hard!

Over the years, the biggest barriers to achieving swimmers' goals have not been injury, illness, or out-of-water issues. Instead, one of the biggest problems I encounter as a coach is the issue of overtraining. Without taking recovery into account, swimmers often find themselves sore, lethargic, or not able to achieve the speed they were once able to manage. Overtraining can also lead to illness, as the swimmer's body is too broken down to fight disease. We make a concerted effort to design our training programs with recovery in mind. At least one workout per week is dedicated to long, easy swimming to help swimmers recover from the challenges of their other workouts. As we move closer to the end of the season, we increase recovery so swimmers can perform at their best when it counts the most.

When you're ready to start training, make sure to have a plan! Keep in mind the length of your season, the variety of your training, the progress you make, and the rest you need. When you integrate these items into a cohesive structure, you give yourself the best chance of success at go time. Good luck!

Chris Colburn (aka DrCoachChris) is the Head Coach of Academy Bullets Masters in Aurora, IL, and the Chair of the U.S. Masters Swimming Coaches Committee. Chris believes that a good training plan is key to a successful season. He helps many swimmers design their own plans each year.

For more of Chris’ work and for more swimming, go to Swimnetwork.com.

SPMA SCM Regional Meet

2009-10-20T21:30:00.003-07:00

The largest Masters non-Championship meet west of the Mississippi takes place during the first weekend in December every year. For the last several years, this meet has been hosted by the Long Beach Grunions at the Belmont Pool. This classic facility is on the Beach and has played host to countless meets over the years.

This year, the meet format has changed slightly. It will be a full three day meet, click here for more details and the order of events. Between 550-600 swimmers are expected so be prepared for long days.

You can register online for this meet too. They have negotiated special room rates at the Marriott Courtyard Long Beach Downtown, click here for details on that. So start making your plans now and be a part of this large, fun, and fast meet!

Arizona Open Water Series - Round IV

2009-10-17T14:07:00.008-07:00

The forth round of the Arizona Open Water Series was held at Lake Pleasant on Saturday and produced some great swims. Over 160 swimmers of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds took to the water in both the 2000M and 4000M distances.

This round was held on the southeast side of the lake adjacent to Pleasant Harbor Marina. The water was 70F and clear, perfect conditions for an open water swim.

DCB Adventures had their crew out there setting up early. They were ready to make sure the swim went well.

The 2000M waves went off first and most swimmers got done before the 4000M events started. The picture above was the wetsuit wave of the 4000M swim.

The cove was calm...until the swimmers started churning up the water. This picture shows the mad dash to the first marker buoy.

Results for this event will be posted here if you want to see how everybody did. Make sure you join us for the final race of the season at Town Lake.

Great job by the entire DCB Adventures crew!

Buying a Suit: Knowing What Size, Cut and Material is Right for You

2009-10-16T20:08:00.001-07:00

Swimmers come in all different shapes and sizes, and so does swimwear. When purchasing a new swimsuit, there are a few important factors that should be considered. Most importantly, you should consider …

Size
Cut
Material

So how do you decide? Here are a few tips to help you when purchasing swimwear.

What size do you wear?

Because there are so many different cuts of swimwear and different materials offered, it is hard to know exactly what size to purchase. Height and weight are our primary determining factors in selecting the right size swimsuit. Males, of course, are easier to fit than females. For male sizing, one should rely heavily on waist size. For female sizing, it is best to compare suit sizes to dress sizes. Always remember that suits need to be tight to reduce drag, and depending on the fabric, suits may stretch. Below is a sizing chart that will be helpful when determining your suit size.

What about the cut?

There are many different styles and cuts of competitive swimwear. For males, there are three popular styles of swimsuits: the jammer, the square leg suit and the brief. Jammers reduce water resistance and are great if you prefer more coverage. Square leg suits are form fitting and are slightly longer than briefs. Briefs provide the least coverage, but are great for competitive swimming and diving. All male swimsuit styles are equally efficient and depend most on your preference and the purpose of the suit.

For females, there are many more choices. You may prefer a more traditional thick-strapped proback suit for competition, or a more fashionable cut, such as the Speedo flyback or the Nike racerback. For those who prefer more coverage or support, you may prefer a thicker-strapped suit with lining or cups, or a more conservative knee-length suit. It is recommended that adult swimmers try on a variety of different styles and cuts to see which is most comfortable.

What material should you choose?

Most suits are made of a Lycra or polyester blend. Lycra or Lycra-blend suits are made of an elastic synthetic fiber. They’re durable, but not as long lasting as polyester suits, which often explains the slight difference in price. Polyester suits, made from synthesized polymers that tend to be more resilient than Lycra fabrics, are meant to fight chlorine and endure countless practices. Both fabrics are water-resistant and lightweight. Other materials include nylon and spandex, which may be blended with Lycra or polyester materials in swimwear.

USMS Statement on Swimsuits

2009-10-14T20:29:00.002-07:00

Here is the latest on swimsuits from the US Masters Swimming Rules Committee:

The FINA Masters Committee has recommended that the FINA Bureau, meeting in mid-January, approve its recommendation that Masters swimmers be governed by the same swimsuit rules as the elite pool swimmers. If the Bureau approves the committee's recommendation, it is anticipated it would go into effect after the Bureau meeting. If this recommendation becomes policy with the FINA Bureau, USMS will implement it for our sanctioned swim meets.

For the time being and until the FINA Bureau issues its policy for Masters, the June 1, 2009 ruling that allowed technical suits in USMS swim meets is still in effect. If you choose to compete in a USA Swimming sanctioned meet, you must follow USA Swimming rules.

If you would like more information on purchasing technical suits, you may contact your swimsuit dealer or any of the following:

blueseventy; blueseventy.com

FINIS; finisinc.com

Speedo; speedo.com

TYR; tyr.com

Baby Wrinkles; Leather Faces

2009-10-13T20:42:00.001-07:00

by Dr. Jim Miller

Recently, a U.S. Masters Swimming member who is in her 20s approached me with a question about her "baby wrinkles" from the years of swimming outside. What could she do before they got too bad? She did not want the leather face of the tanning disciples or her older colleagues of 40 (!) What caused them besides the sun? Well, the simple answer is, aside from genetic complexion, nothing caused them but exposure to the sun.

What creams or mixes will help her baby wrinkles? Skin lubrication with moisturizers daily or multiple times per day will help the skin to restore as much as it is capable of doing. The big problem is that each year's sun damage is layered over the damage of prior years - it is not a clean slate each year. The sun thins the skin and damages the elasticity of the skin, causing sagging and wrinkling. Unfortunately, the skin on our faces, which is the most exposed skin we have, is also the thinnest, so it is the most prone to damage. The message here is that your moisturizer needs to have a high level of sun block built in, throughout the year. I'll not get into the benefits of all the different rejuvenating creams with vitamin E, lanolin and everything else that has been tried. Studies are somewhat conflicting but one thing is clear: Nothing is as good as what you came with originally. Protect it! When applying sun block, remember ears, lips, nose, and wear a hat - full brim - not a ball cap with your ears hanging out.

This quickly takes me to the topic of SPF, or sun protection factor levels. What do they mean? As the SPF level goes up, the sun blocking protection goes up. However, the duration of protection does NOT go up. So, an SPF 14 and an SPF 25 both last the same length of time. Since we are all aquatic athletes, you should expect to have a lotion/cream/spray/gel to last about four hours. I know, there are ones that say they are good for ALL DAY PROTECTION. Really, does this make sense? Not hardly. The effects of swimming, toweling, sand, salt water, goggles up and down, fins/paddles on and off, time of day, and method of application all come into play here. Take home message: reapply at four hours whenever possible. For those of you who swim that open water 25K, there are some sun blocks that stick in place better than others. They are greasy and usually tough to apply, but worth the effort. What is the best block? This is actually an easy answer: zinc oxide. Remember the white stuff your mother put on your nose (or in the 70s green, pink, orange, blue)? That is it! However, there is now a clear version that works great and is available through your pharmacist. If applied correctly, it is close to being a complete block.

So now that I have ruined that golden brown tan, is there anything else to worry about? What about freckles? Well, freckles are sun damage! Sure they are real cute when you are 3 years old with a full head of red hair. But, have you ever seen cute freckles on the face of a wispy, balding 50-year-old guy? Maybe, but what you are more likely to see in the future is biopsy sites from his medical practitioner. The message here is also simple: If you have a skin area that is changing in any way, have someone look at it. Change means that the cells are mutating and that is not a good thing. Do not wait. In this case, a dose of paranoia is a good thing. Don't trust anything on the skin that is in transition. If you are vigilant, you may be lucky enough to catch that innocent mole before it turns into one of several types of skin cancers.

Anything else? Of course: According to an overwhelming majority of health experts, tanning beds = BAD!

So back to the title of our article. Is there a link between baby wrinkles and leather face? Actually, they are the same thing - just different stages in a history of ongoing sun damage.

Dr. Jim Miller, MD is no stranger to U.S. Masters Swimming. Dr. Miller served as U.S. Masters Swimming President from 2001-2005. He has received the USMS Coach of the Year and the Ransom J. Arthur awards. Dr. Miller is engrosed in the sports medicin community and has served as the Chair of the FINIA World Sports Medicine Congress amongst various other positions within the swimming sports medicine industry.

Ask Natalie

2009-10-10T07:29:00.002-07:00

Want to get tips from an expert, ask Natalie.

Yes, Natalie Coughlin!

She has a page that offers several tips that can help make you a better swimmer.

They are not guaranteed to make you a multi-medal winner at multiple Olympic games but they come from one of the best female swimmers in the history of the sport...

So check it out and learn from Natalie!

AZ Open Water Series – Event 4

2009-10-08T19:51:00.002-07:00

The forth open water swimming event of the season is coming up on October 17th at Lake Pleasant. This swim will take place by the Pleasant Harbor Marina on the southeast side of the lake. The course will be laid-out in a cove adjacent to the marina and should offer smooth water.

You can register here for the event or do it the day of the event. Both 2000M and 4000M distances are offered as well as separate wetsuit and non-wetsuit divisions. This event is perfect for triathletes who want to get some race prep in for upcoming events. For distance swimmers, this is a great event too as it offers a new challenge.

Good luck to all participants and see you at the lake!

Getting Rowdy!

2009-10-07T20:33:00.002-07:00

What's better than watching Rowdy Gaines on TV?

Being a part of a swim clinic he conducts!

Yes, one year after Jason Lezak came to Arizona we have another Olympic hero coming to town. This time, Rowdy will be at the Kino Aquatics Center conducting a clinic in conjunction with Mesa Aquatics Club. Both Age Group and Masters are welcome at this event, everybody will get a lot out of it.

To register, go here and fill-out your information.

See you there, this should be another great swim clinic!

Swimnetwork.com Special: We Don’t Retire

2009-10-06T20:13:00.003-07:00

By Dr. Chris Colburn

I had the good fortune of attending a USA Swimming Foundation event this week in Chicago. The evening featured the opportunity to meet and chat with twelve Olympians (eleven of them swimmers) while learning more about the mission of the Foundation and the work it does, both for our swimmers and for swimming throughout the country. Many members of the Chicago-area swimming community attended and took the opportunity to get to know these champions. Part of the program included videos about the USA Swimming Foundation and their Make a Splash initiative. The videos demonstrated how our swimming heroes give back to the sport, and how the USA Swimming Foundation helps to support our athletes until they retire.

You might be asking yourself how or why this event has anything to do with Masters swimming, and based on the main message, maybe it doesn't. On meeting the athletes, though, another story emerges. Eight years ago, I watched Megan Quann make her first Olympic Team at the 2000 Trials. Her storied career, from two gold medals in Sydney, to the disappointment of not making the team in 2004, to her amazing comeback in qualifying for Beijing, is well documented elsewhere. Nine years later, I had the privilege of meeting Megan (now Megan Jendrick) at the aforementioned event, and talked to her a little about her past and future career. Being a Masters coach, I couldn't help but ask the obvious question: "When your days on the National Team have come to a close, what's next? Have you ever considered swimming Masters?"

Megan's response was quick, but thoughtful: "I'm already a registered Masters swimmer. I was giving some thought to going to Masters Nationals this Spring, but broke my leg in March. After not qualifying for World Championships, I considered coming back to Indy in August for Long Course Nationals, but I missed the entry deadline." I thanked Megan for chatting with me, and encouraged her to check out a Nationals at some point in the future.

I have to admit that I was pretty psyched to meet Megan, and my wife was even nice enough to snap a picture of us. While brief, our conversation got me thinking. How many other elite swimmers look at Masters swimming the way Megan Jendrick does? Swimming is a part of their lives, and many of these athletes don't really retire: they continue swimming for fitness or competition well past their Olympic years. Rowdy Gaines is a perfect example. While he'll probably get on my case for writing that he recently turned 50, Rowdy still swims regularly within the bounds allowed by work, family, and a heavy travel schedule... and he still manages to set an age-group world record or two along the way.

The important message here, though, is not that champion swimmers continue with swimming well past their elite swimming days. What's important is that our swimming heroes embody many of the tenets of Masters swimming as they move on to the next chapters in their lives: swimming continues to afford them opportunities for lifelong fun, fitness, and friendship.

It is my hope that in the future, more elite swimmers like Megan and Rowdy can take the time to tell the story of Masters swimming in their travels. You see, we swimmers, like many other athletes, look up to our heroes. If those swimmers continue their careers in Masters swimming, it is my hope that more athletes will be drawn to Masters as well. Who knows... many of these elite athletes are more than happy to snap a photo or sign an autograph at a meet, at Convention, or in the NBC Sports booth, so you may run into one of your heroes when you least expect it. At the very least, I hope they tell the story that many elite swimmers may retire from Olympic competition, the drug testing, the double workouts, and the media spotlight, but they never retire from their love for swimming.

Chris Colburn (aka DrCoachChris) is the head coach of Academy Bullets Masters in Aurora, Ill., and the Chair of the U.S. Masters Swimming Coaches Committee. He believes that a break between seasons is a good thing. Break time is a great opportunity to set goals and make positive changes for the coming year.

For more of Chris’ work and for more swimming, go to Swimnetwork.com.

Butterfly - Breakout

2009-10-05T17:15:00.001-07:00

Here is a good butterfly drill to work on, courtesy of GoSwim.

These videos are also linked on the Drills page.

15-minute Postal

2009-10-03T20:14:00.002-07:00

The 15-Minute Postal Swim is now up and running! This is a great event for any swimmer who wishes to see how far they can swim in fifteen minutes. All you need is a short course yards pool, a timer with a watch, and a split sheet the record the times on. The event is online at www.15minutepostal.com so get your entry in today!

The event runs from now until the end of the year and is a great event for a team to do as a group. It is a good fitness challenge that swimmers of all abilities and backgrounds can be a part of. Good luck to all competitors...

Coaching Multi-Sport Athletes

2009-10-02T20:27:00.000-07:00

by Sue Sotir, Minute Man Masters

Freakin' triathletes! They come to their first Masters practice and tell you that they are only going to swim freestyle and that their coach is giving them their workouts and they just need you to spend the whole practice just fixing their stroke ... immediately... Did I miss anything?

If that is how you're seeing your triathlete members, you're missing out on the passion, focus and commitment these athletes can add to your program. These athletes are extremely motivated to improve and they come to a U.S. Masters Swimming program looking for a coach who can guide them toward that improvement. Your role is to educate these athletes on swimming technique and the sport-specific conditioning demands unique to swimming.

Technique for triathletes should initially focus on reducing drag and increasing propulsion. Practice sets should include long-distance endurance building (800s and up), sets that challenge an athlete to maintain an uncomfortable pace over time (this morning I used 10 x 200 on descending intervals), and sprint sets that build strength and power. Sport-specific skills and tactics should also be included, just as they would for a swimmer preparing for a goal event at Nationals. Triathlon-specific needs include confidence in adverse conditions and head-up sighting. Using breathing pattern sets (such as three strokes, breathe, five strokes breathe, three, then seven, three then nine) can be one way to teach confidence under pressure.

Head-up swimming for sighting can be included using head-up/Tarzan swim and butterfly. Yes, I'm recommending that triathletes swim strokes other than freestyle. Butterfly builds core/lower back strength, demands early vertical forearm, swim-specific strength, and independent head rotation for breathing. So, yes, other strokes have their place in triathlon training. However, you cannot give triathletes all IM work all the time during their competitive season; it is disrespectful of their athletic goals. As a coach, you would not train a swimmer for the 200 breaststroke by having her swim the majority of her sets as sprint backstroke. Now, the off season is an entirely different story!

Swimming economy is the primary goal for a triathlete, meaning the fastest possible swim for the least amount of effort expended. Approach technique from a "most bang for the buck" way-- what is going to allow for the most improvement most rapidly. The number one foe of fast swimming is drag, therefore, drag reduction should be the first improvement sought. Improve body position, alignment and body balance.

Look at the kick. Is it small, even and balanced or is the athlete compensating for poor body balance with a big, wide, drag-creating kick? Many triathletes are absolutely terrible flutter kickers because their ankles are inflexible. Time kicking can be maximized by defining the purpose of the kick set: drag reduction. Many triathlon-specific swimming articles say "don't kick, save your legs." Great, now you are using double the energy to drag the dead weight of half your body along through open water. A small, efficient two-beat or four-beat kick requires minimal muscular energy, increases propulsion to a small degree and reduces drag to a much greater degree. It also aids the circulation of oxygen-rich blood through the system. More circulation equals less accumulated waste in the muscles. One other kicking note: Many triathletes also have inflexible shoulders, so kicking with a kickboard forces the hips down, creating drag. I ask these triathletes to kick using a pull buoy as the board, lifting the head for a breath as needed, or simply have them kick balanced on their side.

Increasing propulsion is the second area to target with triathletes. Many triathlon swimmers do not have an effective catch or pull. Common areas for improvement include: a delay in initiating an early vertical forearm (the arm drops straight toward the bottom, creating drag and forcing the pull to rely on the strength of the small muscles of the shoulder); dropped elbows during the pull phase, limiting the amount of leverage a swimmer can capitalize on; and the dreaded cross-over, either in front during the extension or under the body during the pull phase. Repetition of the correct muscle patterning through the use of just a few well-performed drills is beneficial. There is no good reason for practicing any drill without an image in the athlete's mind of what is right and a focus on attempting mastery.

In our program, we have deliberately chosen to minimize the drills we use for each stroke. Many drills accomplish many different technical aspects of the stroke, but very few adult athletes have the amount of time in the water to master every nuance of a long list of drills. Using a few drills may seem repetitive, but all athletes-- both swimmers and triathletes-- can really achieve mastery of a small number of drills to the benefit of overall technical efficiency. Athletes who can feel that they have mastered a skill increase their belief in the ability to use that skill. The fancy term for this is self-efficacy and it is the basis of sport performance. Self- efficacy is the belief an individual has in his or her ability to successfully perform a specific skill that is required for a successful result. Self-efficacy specifically refers to the perceived level of competence an athlete feels for a specific skill or behavior. The athlete must trust the skill. If the athlete doesn't trust the skill, the skill will not get used and habits that have been "good enough" in the past will be selected instead. Nothing keeps those pre-race nerves in check like knowing you're starting the race thoroughly prepared. It's our job as USMS coaches to both physically prepare and educate our athletes so that all: fitness swimmer, competitive swimmer or triathlete, can feel that trust, both in their conditioning and in their skill mastery and can enter a competition with the confidence offered by that preparation.

Drills Used at Minuteman Masters
12:1 -- Twelve kicks on one side, one stroke, then 12 kicks on the other side; repeat.
Goals: body balance, head position and alignment, proper depth and location of the extended arm

Triple Switch -- Three freestyle strokes, then 12 kicks in the side position, three more freestyle strokes, 12 kicks
Goals: maintaining all of the skills practiced in 12:1, with the added difficulty of using the arms

Dryland Catch -- On land, the athlete bends from the waist and extends both arms out in front like Superman. Moving both arms together, the athlete will catch from the elbow and pull toward the same side hip through to the finish by the thigh. Reverse the pattern using the same high elbow to return through the pull path in reverse, back to the Superman starting position.
Goals: Teaching mastery and muscle patterning for the underwater phase of the stroke

One-Arm Drill -- With the unused arm at the side, not out front as it would be for catch-up drill. Breathing can be same side or opposite side, depending on mastery level.
Goals: increasing propulsion, body balance and drag reduction

Sue Sotir has 21 years of coaching experience, including 10 years coaching Masters swimming. The last 7 years, she has been with Minuteman Masters Swim Club in Bedford , MA joyfully coaching (and swimming with) athletes ranging from novice swimmers to professional triathletes. Sue is currently a PhD candidate in Physical Education/Sport Psychology at Springfield College.

One Big Happy Family

2009-09-30T17:34:00.001-07:00

Want to learn how a masters program grew from a handful of members to over 500?

Read the article here, it is inspirational and instructive at the same time.

USAS Convention Wrap-up

2009-09-29T20:44:00.002-07:00

If you want to get a good overview of what happened in Chicago at the 2009 USAS Convention, click here. A lot of things are going on at the National level of US Masters Swimming so read up and stay informed. Thanks to out delegates and for everybody who serves masters swimming at all levels!

Masters Moves Closer To Same Suit Ban As Elite

2009-09-28T19:47:00.001-07:00

By no means is this the end of the whole swimsuit controversy, but it looks like some changes are afoot regarding masters swimwear. This article provides a helpful update...but certainly not the last one.

More on this to come so stay tuned.

Posting about Triathletes and Swimming

2009-09-26T06:53:00.004-07:00

The following is a very interesting and timely article that was posted on the Southern California Aquatics blog last month. It discusses the importance of swimming training for triathletes, especially in light of some recent incidents. The takeaway is that triathletes need to become better swimmers for their own well-being and safety. Masters Swimming can help, but we all need to reach out to our triathlon friends and encourage them to workout with an adult aquatics program.

Here is the article...

Triathletes should be certified by the USMS or USA Swimming!

Triathlete death rates during the swim portion surpass those of marathon runners!

60% of triathletes are terrible swimmers. Most need fins and lessons.

My informal statistic reminds me of an eBay joke I once heard: 50% of the the junk on eBay is crap and the other 50% is fake crap!

I don't say that lightly: Their death rates during the swim portion of the triathlon are twice that of marathon runners.

In just three weeks or so we see these news stories:

August 2nd: Reuters: The chief executive officer of Deutsche Telekom Asia, Calvin Lee Wee Sing, died on Sunday after he got into difficulty during the swimming leg of the annual Singapore triathlon.

August 10: (UPI) OSHKOSH, Wis., Aug. 10 -- Police in Winnebago County, Wis., say a 43-year-old woman died while competing in the swim portion of the Oshkosh Triathlon.

July 18: Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal: In the past six weeks, a 54-year-old woman and - last Sunday - a 33-year-old man died during the swim portion of area triathlons, despite near-immediate efforts to rescue them...

Now, is this a red flag or what? From The Independent:

"... Now a study has revealed that the risk of dying in a triathlon, though low, is nearly double the risk of dying in a marathon. A study presented to the American College of Cardiology Conference showed there were 14 deaths among almost one million competitors, a rate of 1.5 per 100,000. A further four deaths occurred among non-officially recognised events.

[Link]

If I want to swim next year in the Pier to Pier race from Hermosa to Manhattan Beach, I have to swim a 500-yard test without a wetsuit for a L.A. County lifeguard to validate that I am qualified to swim with the other 900-racers in the event.

500-yards is probably the average swim distance for a triathlon and if triathletes are dying at such a rate why can't the USTS hold a triathlete to the same standard that the L.A. County Lifeguards do? No one has ever died during the Pier-to-Pier event and it is a 2-mile swim, not a 500-meter warm-up.

The USAT and USMS co-marketing efforts are not enough, insurance companies should mandate that the USMS and/or USA Swimming certify triathletes as knowing how to swim before they race.

This certification can be accomplished by the triathlete competing in a sanction USMS/USA Swimming event and producing the results of their meet as a passport for competing in a triathlon.

The State of Masters Swimming

2009-09-23T19:20:00.001-07:00

U.S. Masters Swimming's Rob Butcher joins SwimmingWorld.TV's Garrett McCaffrey at the 2009 USAS Convention to discuss the State of Masters Swimming. Watch and enjoy...

Good stuff all the way around!

Arizona Open Water Series - Event 3

2009-09-22T19:49:00.004-07:00

On Saturday, 220 swimmers of all ages participated in the third round of the Arizona Open Water Series at Saguaro Lake. The course had changed to a 1000M loop and a new finish chute was installed along with stairs at the end of the course. However, the event proved just as popular as the earlier rounds.

There were multiple waves since this event featured both 2000M and 4000M distances along with wetsuit and non-wetsuit divisions. The weather was warm and the water was at 76F, in other words perfect conditions for swimming!

The entire crew at DCB Adventures put on a great event and everybody had a wonderful time. Results are listed online along with the remaining two event of the season.

If you are into open water swimming for any reason, be it triathlon preparation, competition, or just a change of pace, give this series a look.

Arizona to host 2011 US Masters Short Course Nationals

2009-09-19T11:37:00.003-07:00

Big news out of Chicago, IL, Arizona is going to host the 2011 US Masters Short Course National Championships! The meet host will be Mesa Aquatics Club and the pool will be the recently renovated Kino Aquatics Center.

This is great news for our state and will give us an opportunity to showcase a great facility along with great Arizona hospitality. Swimmers from all over the country are already excited about coming back to our state after a successful 2003 Short Course Nationals at ASU.

2011 will be here sooner than you think so start making your preparations now. There will be several meets at Kino over the next year and a half so plan on attending and getting familiar with the venue. Stay tuned for more details but keep this event in mind for your upcoming training plans.

Special thanks to the City of Mesa and Mesa Aquatics Club for putting together a winning bid!

Successful Sun Lakes Swimmer at Senior Games

2009-09-16T17:37:00.003-07:00

Between July 31 and Aug 5 over 350 of the nation’s top Sr. (50+) Swimmers met at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA to compete for the National Titles.

To Qualify for the National Meet a swimmer must compete in the Sate Meet and finish 1st or 2nd and / or meet the qualifying times established by the "National Games Association"

The AZ Qualification events are held throughout Metro Phoenix early March / late February every two years (even years, 2010, 2012, etc). State games are held yearly with the Nationals are held every two years (Odd years, 2009, 2011, etc.) at various locals throughout the USA. The next meet will be 2011, in Houston TX.

Events include Archery, Badminton, and Basketball... Sailing, Soccer, Water Polo. For a compete listing see http://www.seniorgames.org/

Sun Lakes Resident Ken McKinney represented AZ in the 70-74 age group swimming in three events and coming away with 1 gold (100 yd Free style and Personal record) and 2 silvers (50 yard free and 200 yard Free, personal record).

Now is the time to start training for the state events in 2010. If you do not want to compete...local organizers are always looking for volunteer. If you have expertise in a particular sport or just want to help call 602-274-7742

Contacts:

AZ Sr. Olympics
PO Box 33278
Phoenix, AZ
602 274 7742
http://www.seniorgames.org/

National Sr. Games
Po Box 54892
New Orleans, LA
70154-4892
http://www.2009seniorgames.org/

Way to go Ken!

USMS 3000/6000 Yard Postal

2009-09-14T16:59:00.003-07:00

Starting tomorrow, you can enter the US Masters Swimming 3000 or 6000 Yard Postal Championship. Click here to go to the online registration form. Clemson Aquatic Team is the host for this event, good luck to all participants!

Oh, you can also swim this as a relay if you don't relish the though of swimming 3000 yards by yourself...

And if you prefer paper forms, you can download one by going here.

San Diego Harbor Sharkfest Swim

2009-09-13T06:58:00.002-07:00

If you want an excuse to go out to San Diego and swim, here is one for you. The San Diego-Coronado Sharkfest(tm) will take place on October 25 and promises to be a fun event. The swim is one mile in San Diego harbor, you can get more details by clicking here. So give this event some consideration when making your open water plans for the fall. Good luck!

Sixtathlons!

2009-09-12T06:49:00.002-07:00

BEST Swim Club is hosting TWO Sixtathlons this fall at their pool! The first one is going to be on Sunday September 27th and will feature the shorter version of the event.

So what is a Sixtathlon you ask? You swim a 100 Free followed by a 50 of each stroke in IM order then finish it off with a 100 IM. The times are added up from all six events and the results calculated. There will be 5-10 minute breaks in between each event so you will have a chance to recover a little bit in between swims.

Of course, you can also choose not to swim all six events and just focus on a couple of races...

This should be a fun meet format, especially if this is your first swim meet. Come on out and swim in this fun and fast event!

3-3-3

2009-09-07T09:12:00.001-07:00

Here is another butterfly drill to try, courtesy of GoSwim:

Try it out and see how it helps your stroke!

Swimnetwork.com Special: What Next?

2009-09-06T09:19:00.002-07:00

By Dr. Chris Colburn

You've made it through Long Course Nationals (or not), and it's time to take a break, look back and look forward. This week, we'll look at what you can do to get ready for next season, whether that season starts next week or next year.

Take a Break

Even if you only swam one or two days at the Big Splash, you're likely ready for a break. If you swam four or five days at the meet, you've probably slept in for a few days already. Everyone can benefit from even a short break at the end of a competitive season. A hiatus from the pool gives both mind and body a chance to rejuvenate, to come back to the pool ready to jump into the next season. Many swimmers ask how long a break they should take. I typically give the same advice to all my swimmers: when you're ready to get back in the pool, you'll know. Some swimmers like to take a day, while others might stay away for a couple of months. Either way, the best time to return is when your mind and body tell you. I took off five days after Nationals, while some of my swimmers were back at it after two. If you're not willing to trust yourself on this, take a week off and see how you feel. The rest will do you some good.

Assess Your Progress

Maybe you did as well or better than you dreamed at the Big Meet. Did you meet your goals? If not, did you reach an intermediate milestone? It's important to look back on the meet and see what went well and what didn't. Hopefully, you'll be able to reflect on the conditions that contributed to your successes so you can repeat those in the future. It's equally important to analyze where you may not have performed as well as you had hoped. Careful attention to the less-than-stellar swims can also help you assess what worked last season. Now is the time for some introspection on the details of your training. Was your taper too long or too short? Did you do enough stroke, drills or sprinting? Regardless of your assessment, some careful reflection on all your swims will show you what you can work on next.

What You Can Work On, or Change is Good

Maybe you really hit your starts. Perhaps your walls need a little work. Possibly, that last 50 could have felt better with some more legs. Now is the time to decide what to work on for the coming season. Some swimmers may not desire many changes, while others will want to change their training to focus on their observations from the meet. In any case, the beginning of the season is the best time to implement changes, as it gives you time to incorporate them into your training long before you return to racing. Nevertheless, work with your coach (if you have one) to make the changes you need to reach the next level of your swimming journey.

Chris Colburn (aka DrCoachChris) is the head coach of Academy Bullets Masters in Aurora, Ill., and the Chair of the U.S. Masters Swimming Coaches Committee. He believes that a break between seasons is a good thing. Break time is a great opportunity to set goals and make positive changes for the coming year.

For more of Chris’ work and for more swimming, go to Swimnetwork.com.

Open Water Coaching from Preparation to Pep Talk

2009-09-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

by Randy Nutt

The inherent variables in open water swimming present several opportunities for coaches to prepare their athletes to perform at high levels. Preparation, when done properly, will allow swimmers to be comfortable in any situation. When comfortable, energies can be spent on swimming fast and not expended on nonrace-related issues. Preparation and training should incorporate race-like conditions so that your swimmers are used to being in the anticipated situation and can respond with confidence.

Ideally, athletes should gain a lot of their open water experience in open water; however, given that most swimmers do the majority or all of their training in the pool, there are several things you can do to enhance race-like conditions in the pool.

Pack the Lanes
Have the swimmers train with multiple swimmers in each lane. This allows the swimmers to practice swimming in close proximity to others. An added benefit is learning proper drafting techniques. Training with elbows flying, additional turbulence in the lanes and small areas in which to navigate can teach swimmers to be at ease with these conditions.

Visit the Race Course
If possible, accompany your swimmers while visiting the race course in advance of the event to become familiar with the layout, landmarks and landscape. It is critical that the view the swimmers are becoming familiar with is the view from the course, not the view most swimmers get standing on the beach and looking out onto the course. In many cases, this requires the swimmers to enter the course for a practice swim. Once out on the course, the swimmers should be instructed to pay attention to the structures, including buildings, trees or other landmarks, along the course. Help the swimmers make some mental notes, including where the sun will be during the event since that may cause change in sightings.

Know the Signals
If you will be supporting from a boat or kayak, work on a couple of simple arm or hand signals that will act as motivation during the race. Depending on the length of the race, you may also want to develop signals for "snack," "water break," or other sorts of similar elements during the event.

Pump ‘Em Up
The pep talk from coach to swimmers should be to remind the athletes that the training has been done and is in the bank. Having confidence in the training that has been done will make the race less scary. Remind swimmers that they are prepared and now is the time to enjoy all of the hard word that has already been done.

Masters Open Water Swimmer Alex Kostich

2009-09-03T20:23:00.002-07:00

The Morning Swim Show had a good feature on masters open water swimmer Alex Kostich. Click here to find out more...good stuff!

Fall Open Water Events

2009-09-01T20:54:00.001-07:00

In September, the Open Water Series begins again with a stop at Saguaro Lake. In October the series visits Lake Pleasant with the series finale is in early November at Tempe Town Lake. All events offer both 2000M and 4000M distances along with separate waves for wetsuit and non-wetsuit wearing competitors. Go to the DCB Adventures website for more information.

Open Water Lessons

2009-08-31T17:46:00.002-07:00

By Terry Laughlin

This article is excerpted from Terry Laughlin’s new book, Outside the Box: A Program for Improvement, Satisfaction, and Success in Open Water.

Masters swimmers know the pool. Not just as a place to swim; we also know its lessons, routines and “rules” for success. And our comfortable familiarity with the pool is usually matched by unfamiliarity with open water. This means two things: (1) most of us find open water swimming at least unpredictable, and at times uncomfortable; and (2) instinct and habit lead many of us to apply pool solutions to open water problems. And because the ways we usually measure performance in the pool don’t apply in open water, it’s hard to tell if the solution we chose was the right one.

I’m atypical in that open water swimming has always felt more natural to me than pool swimming. I never swam in a pool until age 12; my developmental swimming experiences were in LI Sound or at Jones Beach. I swam my first open water race 36 years ago and experienced more mojo than in any of the 100+ pool races I’d swum previously. Finally, since 2001 I’ve swum about a thousand hours in open water, most of it in two breathtaking venues – Lakes Awosting and Minnewaska in the Shawangunk Mountains of New York. Those experiences have taught me that the rules for success in open water are different, and, in most cases, are counterintuitive. In this article, I’ll share my top three.

Lesson 1: Mindfulness First

Each time I teach an open water workshop or camp, my opening words are: “The most important thing you will learn here is how to focus.” It’s not that mindfulness is unimportant in the pool; in fact the most valuable habit I develop in pool practices is clear and constant focus. But the primary difference, and source of distraction, most of us experience in open water is the absence of the familiar structure provided by pool swimming, where:

You have lines and lanes
You swim a fixed distance and predictable duration
A glance at the pace clock tells you your pace
You follow familiar, long-practiced routines
You enjoy relatively unimpeded visibility

In open water, lacking all of that, the typical swimmer is “out to sea.” In a practice, that may lead to swimming with no clear objective other than to swim some course or duration. In a race, the start can feel like aquatic rugby, the occasional lack of “personal space” can be distracting, and you may see little but a wall of green when you try to get your bearings.

As I tell my students, the solution is: “When you can’t control your environment, learn to exert control over what and how you think about it.” The most purposeful thinking you can do is “focal points” or “stroke thoughts.” One of my favorites is: Extend your arm “through a long sleeve” without bubbles. That will help ensure a longer stroke with less turbulence. Just as important, giving it undistracted attention will help block out the myriad distracting unproductive thoughts that may occur. In a practice or race, your job is to visualize and monitor that action on every stroke (for thousands of strokes) while blocking out nearly every other thought. This kind of focus doesn’t come easily or naturally. You need to practice it in the pool as well as in open water. And, you need to practice it long enough to develop mental stamina, which can be just as hard-won as physical stamina.

Lesson 2: Rethink Endurance

Three major differences in the energy requirements of open water vs. pool races are:

Much greater distances. The longest race in a pool is 1650 yards or 1500 meters, which is the distance at which racing in open water begins and goes up to 10,000 meters (the approximate equivalent of running a marathon), 25,000 meters or 20+ miles.

Unpredictable duration. For over 10 years I’ve swum an ocean mile on Labor Day weekend in Long Beach, New York. My times have ranged from 19 to 36 minutes. I think I swam just as well in my “slowest” race as in my fastest.

Nothing but swimming. When swimming a pool mile, I’ll typically swim 18 or 19 yards, then stop swimming for 6 or 7 yards (turn and push off) then resume swimming again, etc. In other words I need to swim only about three-quarters of the total distance. In an open water mile, I’ll usually take about 1700 (but it might be 3000) strokes without a single interruption.

Instinct tells us we need to train considerably more for distance events, like the 1650, than for sprints, like the 50 or 100. But if you’re already training for pool distance races, where do you find the time and energy to increase your training for the greater energy demands described above? The answer is: you don’t. Instead you find ways to make the same conditioning go farther. One way to do so is by defining endurance more broadly.

The conventional way to think of endurance is metabolic – the capacity of the body to provide energy to the muscles. But that’s just the first of the “3 M’s” of endurance:

Metabolic Endurance: described above.

Motor Endurance: your capacity to perform a precise movement (efficient stroking) endlessly without breakdown, so your efficiency is immune to fatigue, rough water, or distraction.

Mental Endurance: your ability to choose and maintain a focus or specific thought, without distraction, for hours on end. Mental endurance is essential to program your neuromuscular system so thoroughly and consistently that it knows only one way to perform a movement. And in a race, it’s essential to staying “on task” every stroke, for thousands of strokes, regardless of what’s going on around you.

In 2002 and 2006, I swam the 28.5-mile Manhattan Island Marathon. Though this distance was 1000 percent greater than any race I’d swum previously, I increased my usual 15,000 yards per week of training by only 10 percent, while other entrants did two to four times as much yardage. Further, all my additional training was designed solely to improve stroke economy and deepen its neural imprint. (As Gennadi Touretski replied when asked why the world’s fastest sprinter, Alexander Popov, sometimes swam 20,000 meters per day: “More opportunities to practice correct technique.”) During the race, as I took 25,000 strokes of relatively unvarying efficiency (one third fewer than the 37,000 average for other participants) every stroke was guided by a conscious “stroke thought” of which I alternated three or four as conditions changed. Motor and mental endurance played a much larger role than metabolic endurance in my successful completion of those swims.

Lesson 3: “Swimming Fast” Is Not the Goal

Our brains instinctively translate the phrase “Swim faster” as “Stroke faster” or “Swim this lap (repeat, set) harder.” But neither of those thoughts is sustainable in open water. When you shift from exerting yourself for maybe 20 strokes at a time to perhaps 2000 strokes without a break, velocity has almost nothing to do with how fast you swim. Instead the key factor becomes pace-holding ability. If you replace the phrase “Swim faster” with the phrase “Hold a better pace,” this change in language will lead to a change in thinking – and you’ll probably swim better in open water almost immediately.

Here’s why: After swimming in countless open water races, I know that 70 percent of the typical field (true as well in triathlons) will swim the first 100 to 200 meters at a brisk pace and will swim the rest of the race at a much slower pace. Their problem isn’t that they lack speed; it’s that they can’t sustain their initial pace.

In 2006, I swam the USMS 2-mile Cable Swim in 47 minutes, breaking Bill Braswell’s 55-59 age group record of 47:12. My time averaged out to 1:28 per 100 meters, which few would describe as a fast pace. But it was a record pace because no swimmer my age had previously been able to sustain a 1:28 pace for 32 unrested and uninterrupted 100s.

The following year I swam the same distance in 46:20, an average of 1:26 per 100 (losing the race and record to Bruce Gianniny who swam it in 46:10.) How did I improve my pace-holding ability by two seconds per 100 from one year to the next? Because I’m acutely familiar with the experience of swimming 3000 or more continuous strokes, and because I was a year older I knew that swimming harder wasn’t in the cards.

Instead, I focused on making a 1:28 pace feel steadily easier until a faster pace became almost inevitable. In a repeat set, that often translates to repeating the same time with incrementally less effort, rather than trying to swim faster. This has not only proven to be a more interesting puzzle than trying-harder-to-swim-faster, but by doing so regularly, I often swim even a bit faster while dialing back my effort. I call that Voodoo Speed and value it far more highly than Trying-Harder Speed.

Suit Controvesy in WaPo

2009-08-27T19:02:00.002-07:00

The Great Swimsuit Debate has become so large that an article the Washington Post has an article on it. This particular article discusses how the new suits impact Masters Swimming and the rule changes that affect USMS. Notable people quoted in the article are Executive Director Rob Butcher, Kathy Casey, and Tracy Grilli.

Rowdy Gaines also discusses the issue in his blog and brings up some very well thought-out points. For now, the debate continues as FINA works towards a resolution. Expect more decisions and controversy in the months ahead.

The 2009 U.S. Masters Long Course National Championship Wrap-Up

2009-08-26T20:36:00.002-07:00

By Ashley Gangloff

This year will go down as the year of the technical suit. FINA spent countless hours deciding on the fate of the technical suit, Rowdy Gaines commentated on elite athletes’ choice of suit in Rome, and Michael Phelps continued to win wearing the “old” suit. Though the rest seemed to be obsessed with new technologies, Masters swimming (though there was definitely some “suit talk”) continued to do what it does best: encourage all athletes of all ages and abilities to enjoy their time in the water and improve themselves (for some of us this means a faster time on the scoreboard, a higher place on the podium, a lower number on the scale or merely the sensation of “feeling good” as you crawl out of the pool).

The 2009 U.S. Masters Swimming Long Course National Championship held August 6 through August 10 at the famous IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis, Ind., was a big success. Records fell, stories were told, sponsors were active, volunteers were hard-working, encouraging and cheerful, coaches were proud and swimmers were successful while having fun.

Participation

Participation is the name of the game when it comes to U.S. Masters Swimming events and the 2009 U.S. Masters Swimming National Championship was no different. With almost 1,200 participants, the pool deck was hopping with excitement and buzzing as old friends and new chatted about life, family, training and, of course, competition. “Did you see that race? It was amazing!” and “She swam so well, did you know that she is just now getting back after her illness,” and “Wasn’t that relay fun?! I’ve never swum on a relay before.” Each of the 1,145 participants had a unique background, a different story to tell and was motivated by his or her own reasons, but each of the 1,145 participants came together under one roof, in one pool. Swimming is fun and feels good. Competition, though sometimes scary, serves as a fantastic form of measurement of improvement or just as a great way to cap off summer with friends and teammates. Whether a participant swam to break a record or swam to challenge herself in a new stroke, all of the participants in the 2009 U.S. Masters Swimming Long Course National Championship deserve a high-five for their accomplishments. So, from U.S. Masters Swimming, “Congratulations on your swims. We’re proud of you!”

Participation By the Numbers:

1145 (total participants)
680 (male participants)
465 (female participants)
37 (different states represented)
7 (different countries represented: USA, Russia, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Canada and Dominican Republic)

Competition

Competition, as always, was hot at the 2009 U.S. Masters Swimming Long Course National Championship. Records fell left and right and sometimes more than once in a single heat. 116 National individual and relay records and 55 world records were broken during the five day event in Indianapolis. Click here for a complete listing of record-breaking swims raced in Indianapolis earlier this month.

Click here for a complete listing of all event results.

Sponsorship

U.S. Masters Swimming welcomed seven of its Gold Level sponsors to the 2009 U.S. Masters Swimming Long Course National Championship: Nike, blueseventy, FINIS, Kiefer, TYR, Speedo and Kast-A-Way. Like old friends, U.S. Masters Swimming’s partners have come to know and love all of the U.S. Masters Swimming members. It was not uncommon to venture to the North Concourse and see Patti Kast fitting a member in a Speedo suit while asking about his or her granddaughter’s graduation party, or to hear Megan from blueseventy say, “It is so good to see you again, your last suit was a 28, right?” The U.S. Masters Swimming sponsors and vendors are not only business partners, but have also become part of the family. In Indianapolis, seven different vendors were ready, willing, and happy to help zip up your suit, open the case to your new set of goggles to get you to your next race on time, and explain the difference between lycra and polyester suits. U.S. Masters Swimming values its partners and looks forward to their participation in future events.

The 2009 U.S. Masters Swimming Long Course National Championship upheld the prestige of its predecessors. Next year, U.S. Masters Swimming will celebrate its fortieth anniversary at the 2010 U.S. Masters Swimming Short Course National Championship scheduled in May, to be held in Atlanta, Georgia. Click here for more information about U.S. Masters Swimming national events and to learn more about the much-anticipated fortieth anniversary National Championship.

Single Arm, Extended Arm

2009-08-25T19:26:00.001-07:00

Another good butterfly drill from GoSwim:

Try it out next time you are focusing on fly or IM.

Swing into Fall

2009-08-24T21:17:00.004-07:00

Swing into Fall with Arizona Masters Swimming. You are cordially invited to come out and watch an Arizona Diamondback game in the comfort of the Miller Lite Diamond Club with all your friends...

Location: Chase Field
Date: Sunday, September 13, 2009
Time: 1:10 PM
Game: ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS vs MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Location: Miller Lite Diamond Club

The Miller Lite Diamond Club is located in Right Field, above the bleacher seating (Sections 100-105).

To access the Diamond Club, walk on the main concourse level to right field where you will seea set of stairs leading up to the club. If you are unsure of being in the right place, simply look above the seating area and find the over-sized Miller Lite bottle that is positioned directly above the Diamond Club. There will be an attendant at the entrance stairs to check your ticket before you can enter the club.

We have reserved tickets and they are going to sell out fast - so please sign up ASAP if you are interested!

For everyone at Arizona Masters to order their tickets for your September 13th game in the Diamond Club they must:

Go to: www.dbacks.com/groups
Login ID: swimming
Password: baseball

Come out, watch a game in comfort with your friends and family…and meet some new people as well! See you at the game.

An Almost-30-Something Plea to U.S. Masters Swimming

2009-08-23T06:30:00.002-07:00

by Heather Howland

I joined Masters almost five years ago. I had been a swimmer in high school. I moved on to running after high school and all during college. I ran a marathon and was training for a second one in the summer of 2004. During my running training, I began having chronic back pain. Wanting to still train, I decided to swim as a way to continue working out. I thought swimming would be good for my back and maybe I might be able to do triathlon, or possibly even swim a meet from time to time.

It is now five years later. I have yet to enter a triathlon, but I have swum in countless swim meets. I have competed in two Masters national championships. I am planning on attending a third this summer. And most importantly, swimming has given me a social network with lots of new friends.

I clearly remember my first practice with my current team. Honestly, I thought I'd swim with them for a while and then, eventually, switch teams or lose interest. My first practice was, let's just say, unconvincing. When I arrived, everyone in the pool was at least 10 to 20 (or more) years older than I was. It didn't seem like they were thrilled to be welcoming a young buck like myself into their practice. Nonetheless, I went back to the pool the next day, sore and ready to keep working. I am not sure what changed, but each time I went back to the pool for practice I found myself talking to more of the other swimmers. I started developed relationships and making friends, and that initial feeling that this was a temporary team dissipated.

For a couple of years I was the youngest swimmer in the group - the only one in the 18-24 age group. I felt as though I'd always be the outcast, the freshman, and then, without fail, slowly but surely more 20-somethings began joining the group. Now we are gradually becoming 30-somethings (I follow them into the 30-34 age group next year, YIKES!), but we still have a kinship to the 20-somethings and welcome them with open arms. We have had many 22- and 23-year-old "kids" join us for a practice or two, some for a few months and some even for an entire season. We now have a very solid core group of younger swimmers that seems to be stable. Our secret to keeping this group going and growing: Friendship. We seek out friendships among our fellow swimmers. We get to know one another both in the pool and out. We make a point to encourage and support one another without regard to age group. We all have days when swimming is the last thing on our minds. We just do not feel like going to the pool. One hundred percent effort seems like an unlikely expectation. But if you create an atmosphere where friendships can develop, meaning laughter and all-inclusive fun, well then you have a key ingredient to creating a successful Masters program. In the water we are all just people who swim. The minute you dive in, whether you are 20-something, 30-something or 80-something, you are able to appreciate your time at the pool and the interaction with your friends.

Growing up, we were offered stability by our age-group or college teams. You become a family of swimmers and you feel a connection with the other members of this family; you share lane space, you are roommates in the dorm and you connect as people. As Masters swimmers we have jobs, families and other commitments that keep us from sometimes establishing these similar typse of bonds. These "life factors" are the perfect reason to not just carve out an hour from your day to swim, but to embrace your teammates, your fellow swimmers and your coach. These people, though they may not be members of the same volunteer organizations, their children might not attend the same preschool and you may not have even been born yet at the time when your teammates' "remember-when stories" took place, share a common bond with you: Masters swimming.

The period after college is often stressful, confusing and, without a doubt, busy. Shortly after graduation, I remember missing college: I was uncertain about what I wanted, who I wanted to be and where I wanted to go. I missed my friends. I missed my college life. It is hard to promote Masters swimming to young people who may be struggling to make ends meet. If your team is mostly 40+ year olds, they probably see Masters swimming as a group of people their parents' age. It is hard to promote Masters swimming to "kids" who are caught somewhere between college life and the real world. But Masters was able to provide a bridge from that life I'd just left to the one I was just coming into. My teammates gave me a place to call home. I had friends, a stable schedule and an opportunity to work hard even when other "life factors" seemed uncertain. Masters swimming has given me the chance to make new friends (of all ages - even with swimmers who are my parents' age). I believe that Masters swimming is marketable to every age group. We need to shout from the rooftops that "Masters swimming is not stressful! There are no expectations! It is a place to make friends! You can stay in shape! And when nothing else seems stable, you are always welcome at the pool!"

To get and keep 20-something swimmers who turn into 30-something swimmers, we need to keep Masters swimming fun. We can also keep it competitive. And we need to welcome swimmers of every age into this family that we call Masters swimming.

Mesa Masters Commercial on TV!

2009-08-22T11:23:00.002-07:00

One of our newest teams, Mesa Masters, created a video that is being shown on TV. Take a look at it by clicking here. Good work, it looks like MAC is back!

Butterfly - Dolphin Kick, Arms Up!

2009-08-21T18:41:00.002-07:00

We are going to feature stroke drills from GoSwim and Glenn Mills in future posts. Here is a useful butterfly drill that you can incorporate into your workout.

Try it and see what difference it makes.

Twitter

2009-08-20T21:27:00.002-07:00

AZ LMSC is now on Twitter! This will allow you to see what is going on in the world of masters swimming. You can hear us tweet by going to the website via your computer, phone, or other device that can connect to it. So bookmark that site and check it regularly for updates.

Fitter and Faster Tour

2009-08-19T16:28:00.002-07:00

The Swim Champions' Fitter and Faster Tour is coming to Arizona! There will be a masters clinic at the Oro Valley Municipal Pool on September 19th at 4:30pm. This event will feature Lacey Nymeyer, Matt Grevers, Megan Jendrick, and Adam Ritter. You can register by going here. It should be a great event...see you there!

Big Shoulders

2009-08-18T17:57:00.002-07:00

If you feel up to the challenge of swimming in Lake Michigan under the skyline of Chicago, go here to find out more information. The Big Shoulders swim is one of the largest open water events in the US with both 2.5 and 5K options. This event is USMS sanctioned and you can download the entry form here or register online. Good luck to all those who swim in this event!

Former ASU swim coach Johnson dies at 78

2009-08-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

by Jeff Metcalfe - Aug. 9, 2009 04:16 PM
The Arizona Republic

Long-time Arizona State swim coach Ron Johnson died Friday night in Scottsdale at age 78.

Johnson coached the ASU men's swim team for 18 years (1976-93) and also was co-coach with Mona Plummer of ASU women's teams that won 1977 and '78 AIAW national titles in the pre-NCAA days.

Johnson's ASU men's teams earned six top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships including a school best sixth in 1982 and seventh in 1983 and '84. He was 1983 Pac-10 Coach of the Year. Andy Astbury and Mike Orn were NCAA champions for ASU in the early 1980s. Andrew Jameson won a bronze medal in the 100 butterfly at the 1988 Olympics.

Johnson was director of the Mexican national swim team from 1967-73 including at two Olympics and recruited many international swimmers to ASU. More than 25 of his ASU swimmers were Olympic finalists including 14 medal winners. He founded the Mesa Aquatics Club.

Johnson was inducted into the Masters Swimming Hall of Fame in 2007 because of a masters swim career that included more than 50 world records. He survived multiple heart attacks including one during a Masters meet in March 2007.

Johnson swam for the University of Iowa and on the 1955 U.S. Pan American Games team. He was author of a recent book Romancing the Water.

Newbies 101: My First Travel Meet

2009-07-05T07:45:00.000-07:00

by Ashley Gangloff

Of roughly 50,000 U.S. Masters Swimming members, only about 25 percent choose to compete in a U.S. Masters Swimming sanctioned competition. What does this mean? "Newbies" make up the majority of the USMS population. Newbies sometimes view competition as scary, intimidating or just "not something I'm into," but this doesn't mean that competition is out of the question.

I am a self-declared fitness swimmer. I swim one to two times per week. If I actually resist hitting the snooze button at 5 a.m., I will swim with my local Masters program. If my fingertip is drawn to the snooze button with magnetic force (as it usually is), I swim at 8 p.m. after the age-group team has finished its program. I swim when I want, as far as I want and as I want. Fins, kickboards, freestyle, doggie-paddle or whatever other method strikes my fancy. I am a fitness swimmer, but I attended the U.S. Masters Swimming Short Course National Championship in Clovis, CAk. Did I compete? Heck yeah, I competed ... and I loved every minute of it. This is what I learned competing in my first national championship:

You do not need to meet a time standard in order to enter the event; thank goodness, because the national championship was the first time I had even swam the 100 freestyle. I had no seed time and no idea how to even swim the event. I estimated a seed time based on what I thought I could swim. I stood on the block telling myself, "Down and back. Down and back. You can do this." And, I did.

You do not need a fancy-shmancy, high-tech suit. Yes, there were a lot of "racing" suits, but there were plenty of frilly, flowery and brightly colored practice suits that painted the pool deck. Did the woman in a five-year old bright pink U-back bathing suit have just as much fun as those competitors wearing TYR, blueseventy or Speedo high-tech suits? Absolutely.

There is no need to feel intimidated. No one knows your history. You may swim a best time, you may be swimming for the first time or you may add seconds, or even minutes, to your estimated seed time. No one cares and everyone is quick to congratulate you on your participation.

You can find a teammate in anyone at the meet. When I was in the locker room gearing up for day one (I was entered in the 200 freestyle), I ran into a sweet woman who immediately struck up a conversation with me. She asked what I was swimming. I said, "Well, I am registered for the 200 freestyle, but honestly I am a little scared and I'm not sure if I want to swim it." She proceeded to say, "Well, there is no reason to be afraid. I am swimming the 400 IM and I am 86 years old." "Fine. I'll swim it," I thought to myself. And after my race my newfound friend found me to ask how my event went. She cared. As did other new friends who didn't know me before. They didn't know about my swimming history, or exactly how nervous I was, but they supported me, cheered for me and gave me congratulatory hugs and high-fives after each of my races. Even though I had traveled by myself, I was surrounded by friends.

Don't be afraid to team up. Find other swimmers from your team and ask to be on a relay. At first, I didn't want the pressure of participating on a relay during which three other people would be counting on my success for an overall victory, but once I was at the meet and saw 70-year-olds teaming up with 20-year-olds and swimmers of all abilities and levels of experience joining forces to compete as a relay, I was hooked. It was exciting and created an atmosphere of inclusiveness. The camaraderie, the fun and the excitement of a relay cannot be replaced and I recommend it to all. And, I have learned that swimming on a relay actually calmed my nerves. I almost forgot what was going on around me. I could just hear my teammates behind me yelling, "You can do it!"

Be proud. Yesterday, as I walked to my gate at the airport preparing for my long trip home, I saw numerous familiar faces. I saw Masters swimmers wearing the meet T-shirt and other U.S. Masters Swimming logo gear. I saw people introducing themselves and recalling the meet. I saw people coming together based on their commonality and shared passion for the sport. Some talked about their successes, others crinkled their noses to share about their defeats and some even wore their earned medals around their neck for the trip home. Each person I saw, and talked to, was proud to be a part of the organization and the event that had concluded hours earlier. Even newbies must stand tall with their chins up and declare to the world, "I am proud to be a swimmer."

My first travel meet was a huge success. Did I swim well? Yes. Did I make new friends? Yes. Was I nervous? Yes. Will I be nervous for my next meet? Probably, but my experience at the U.S. Masters Swimming Short Course National Championship helped me to realize that a few nerves are okay and that it is the environment, the people and the thrill of the race that matters. Times on the scoreboard and the final results are nothing compared to the feeling of overcoming fears, making new friends and realizing a newfound passion.

So, newbies far and wide, come in a little closer. I have a secret I'd like to share. I am a fitness swimmer, and will always consider myself a fitness swimmer; however, I am already counting down the days to next year's Short Course National Championship, which will be held in Atlanta. I will be there. I will enter new events and challenge myself; I have no doubt that I will walk away from that meet as energized, excited and motivated to keep me going back to the pool as I am today. Shhhhh.... Don't tell the other fitness swimmers, but "I love to race!"

SPMA Open Water Swimming Events

2009-07-04T10:38:00.002-07:00

If you are an open water swimmer and are looking for events to participate in this summer, check out Southern Pacific Masters open water events. They have a series of swims in the Pacific Ocean throughout the summer that you can be a part of. Check out these events on their website and decide which ones you want to swim in. Best of luck and enjoy some California dreamin' this summer.

LCM State Meet

2009-07-03T08:43:00.002-07:00

Ford Aquatics in Tucson is hosting this year's Long Course State Championship meet at the Hillenbrand Aquatics Center. The entry form is available to download, you can also enter online through Active.com.

Coach Stites and his crew always put on a great meet so sign-up today!

In-press-ive

2009-07-01T20:48:00.001-07:00

Swimming and swimmers are getting a lot of press these days here in Arizona. The two largest fitness publications in the state recently featured swimming-related topics in their June issues.

SWEAT Magazine features Jeff Commings on page 20 of their "Oh Man" issue. Many of us know Jeff for his amazing accomplishments in the pool as well as his role in Swimming World. He is a great ambassador for the sport and certainly deserves recognition. If you have not already done so, check out the issue (online or in print) to find out more.

By the way, Arizona Open Water series organizer David Benjes is also listed on page 20. Way to go guys!

Fitness Plus also has some good swimming content. Arizona Masters Swimming has an ad on page 6, which is the first print ad we have had in a long time. There is also an article on page 15 about swimming training and the importance of coaching. Their June issue is also available online so give it a look.

In addition to that, both publications list events from our calendar so be sure you pick one or both of these up next time you see them.

Fast Times in the Cool Pines

2009-06-30T21:42:00.002-07:00

Need an excuse to get out of the heat? Come to Flagstaff and enjoy the cool mountain air in a couple of weeks...along with some swimming. Northern Arizona Masters is hosting Fast Times in the Cool Pines this summer at the Wall Aquatic Center. This facility at about 7000' elevation and indoors, quite a change for most desert dwellers! Many top Olympic athletes from all over the world have trained here, see if you are up to the challenge.

This is a great event and attracts swimmers from all over the state. The folks at Northern Arizona Masters are great hosts too and will show you a good time while you are in Flagstaff. Special thanks to Liz Hobbs for putting this event together. So come on up to swim some fast times in the cool pines!

2000M Postal

2009-06-29T21:42:00.004-07:00

We have another postal swim going on right now that is geared for all you triathletes and distance swimmers. The name of the event is the Bonded Logic 2000M Half Iron Postal Swim. The premise is simple, swim 2000M in a long course (meters) pool, have a witness write down your times, enter the event online, and watch for the results after the event is over. You have between now and September 30th to be a part of this event.

Why is this such a good event? 2000M is a half Ironman distance event, which many triathlons offer. If you participate in this event, you will get experience swimming that distance in controlled conditions. That will help you get physically and mentally ready for your next race. For swimmers, this event is longer than the standard distance pool events. This should be a great challenge for distance specialists who want to take on something new.

Everything is online for this event, simply go to www.2kpostal.com and enter. If you are not a member of US Masters Swimming, you can purchase a One Event Membership for $10, otherwise the meet entry fee is only $8. Medals will be awarded for 1-3 place and everybody can buy an event t-shirt if they want to.

So make your plans to swim this event today. Looking forward to seeing your results. Good luck everybody!

Sam Perry in the (Texas) News

2009-06-25T20:11:00.002-07:00

Former Arizona LMSC Chairman Sam Perry is in the news in his hometown newspaper. He went back to compete in the Citibank West Texas Invitational in Midland, TX. No doubt he showed the kids that adults can still hold their own in the pool.

Fitness Logs Available for Members

2009-06-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

U.S. Masters Swimming has released a new online service that is available exclusively for our members. Members may now track their swimming and other fitness activities via our new online Fitness Logs (FLOGs) tool. With this exciting new online service, you can log a wide variety of fitness activities such as swim workouts, running, weights and yoga on your flog calendar and track your weekly, monthly and annual totals online.

Members who are participating in the popular "Go The Distance" fitness event will also enjoy the convenience of having the data from their flog automatically included in the monthly event reports

How to Set Up Your FLOG

1) Your login to the My USMS area is controlled by an account that you can create from our Discussion Forums. If you do not already have a Discussion Forums account, you'll first need to create one. This account is how we identify you in any usms.org service that requires a login. It's free for anyone to create, but you'll need to create it yourself (it's not automatic with your USMS membership).

2) Once you have set up your Discussion Forums account, go to the My USMS area and log in using that account information. If this is your first visit to My USMS, you will also need to enter your current membership information in order to link your login account to your membership.

3) From the main My USMS page, follow the link to My Fitness Log. If this is your first visit to your FLOG, you'll be prompted to set up some details about how you'd like to view your flog and whether you'd like to allow others to view your flog. Don't worry - you can always come back to this page later via the Preferences link on the left if you change your mind about some settings.

4) That's It! You are now ready to flog! You should now see your monthly or weekly calendar (depending on your preferences). To add an entry, click on the day number in any calendar day shown. You'll be asked to provide the type of flog entry you want to log and then will be brought to a form where you can enter the details for that type of entry. You may enter any level of detail you want to provide in the details box. For instance, you may wish to enter your entire workout details or how you felt in this workout for a swim workout that you are flogging. Of course, if you're not interested in logging all that detail, you can just leave the details block empty.

5) It's that easy! All entries that you have flogged will appear on your calendar. You can always edit an existing entry by clicking on it in your calendar view, and you can use the calendar navigation links to view prior weeks or months activities.

6) The ability to view other member's flog entries is coming soon. Your entries will only be viewable to others if you have opted to allow this in your preferences.

If you are currently participating in the Go The Distance fitness event or have participated at any time in the past 3 years of the event, your monthly totals for your swim distance up through May of 2009 are already entered in your flog. They are entered as a single flog entry on the 1st of each month. Feel free to update that data if you like by deleting the single large entry and entering your details for each day of the month instead if you are so inclined. If you have a lot of detailed daily workout data from the past available in spreadsheet format and would like to get that data into your flog, contact webmaster Jim Matysek to see if we can work that out for you.

If you are not yet participating in the Go The Distance event, why not join the fun? Just follow the Events link on the left side of any flog page and click to join the event. You can withdraw from the event at any time also if you choose to do so.

Et Tu, Brute!

2009-06-22T10:18:00.004-07:00

16 "Brutes" completed 3 of the most grueling events in pool swimming yesterday at the umpteenth annual Brute Squad meet at the beautiful long course pool in Oro Valley north west of Tucson.

It was an apt beginning to the longest day of the year. The meet began on time at 8 a.m. with the 200 Fly. As we dragged our soggy carcasses out of the water after the last event just before Noon, meet director Judy Gillies presented each of us with the coveted towel award.

Notable among the Brutes this year was Edie Gruender, age 81, who continues to inspire us all, including her daughter, Mitzi, age 53, who is following in her mother's footsteps as a perennial Brute. Then there was Simon Goldstein, 72, who completed the 1500 M event all Fly...one full hour of butterfly! He told me for practice he does it once a week at the JCC pool in Tucson. Of course, distance King Patrick Brundage, 42, of Sun Devil Masters was the man to beat in all three events. The guy is unbeatable. (He also snuck in the 50 Back and 50 Breast, for good measure.)

I'm a first-time Brute, myself, and quite proud of it, too. I had never before competed in a 200 Fly or a 400 IM. I figured it would be great training. I was right. One thing I learned is that practicing butterfly really does pay off. This is where having a coach comes in handy. Who in their right mind would do large amounts of butterfly on their own? Well, besides Simon Goldstein, that is.

I guess "right mind" and Brute Squad really don't go hand in hand. Why would anyone do this? The only appropriate answer is Why not? If you're looking for a new way to challenge yourself, I recommend you do this event next year. If I can do it, so can you. So, go ahead, be a Brute! I dare you.

Results Posted

2009-06-07T12:14:00.005-07:00

DCB just posted race results. Congratulations to the following event winners: Andrew Peters, age 21, of Claremont, CA, won the 4000 wetsuit division in a time of 51:11; Kurt Dickson, age 41, won the 4000 non-wetsuit division in a time of 51:57; Laura Smith, age 43, led the 2000 wetsuit division in a time of 27:20; and Tom Hickcox, age 56, won the 2000 non wetsuit division in 27:20. A total of 220 swimmers competed. Fantastic!

Pleasant Swim June 6

2009-06-07T11:09:00.006-07:00

A great crowd turned out for Event #2 of the Arizona Open Water Series yesterday and I was so happy to be there. I didn't get the final count, but I'm going to guess we had very close to 200 swimmers, mostly Masters, making it the largest Masters event in our state to date this year. There were an additional 180 triathletes there doing the Tribal sprint triathlon, so it was a very good overall showing at Lake Pleasant northwest of Phoenix.

The setting and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. We lit out of Tucson at 4:45 a.m. to arrive lakeside at 7:20 for the 8:00 start. It was overcast and about 80 degrees out. As we made our final approach to the lake, we passed the last of the cyclists riding at us, and the first of the runners heading our same direction back toward the lake. It was fun to watch the fastest triathletes cross the finish line as we were checking in for the swim.

We got in to warm up about 15 minutes before the start of the 4K. The water was PERFECT. Someone said about 77 degrees. Not even the slightest chill to it. It was clear and clean and calm...the kind of water that makes you want to swim forever.

Why anyone would wear a wetsuit in those conditions is beyond me, but once again I'd say the field was divided about evenly between wetsuits and skins, 4K and 2K.

The course was counterclockwise around 5 bright yellow buoys, twice for the 4K, with in-water start and finish. I had no body contact the whole time, except once around a buoy when an arm dropped onto me. It was just a nice, long swim. The wetsuit division, which left 5 minutes before us, allowed me to engage my passing gear off and on the whole way, which made for a rather nice work out. There were no currents and the water remained pretty flat until the last 20 minutes or so, when the wind created a small amount of chop for the final stretch.

Afterward, we were offered bananas and muffins and lots of great raffle prizes were awarded, including wetsuits, beach cruisers, and other stuff. The event was well run and the venue was superb. I've done races in different parts of this lake before and I preferred this one by far. The boat ramp made entry and exit very easy.

Thanks to everyone who came out and enjoyed this event. And for those of you who missed it...you have three more opportunities in 2009, thanks to the folks at DCB Extreme Adventures. The series continues on September 19 back at Saguaro Lake. Give it a try! For more information, visit www.dcbadventures.com.

Video from Short Course Nationals

2009-05-27T21:00:00.001-07:00

If you missed Short Course Nationals in Clovis, CA earlier in May, here is a link for some video footage.

Lots of good stuff here, take a look and check it out!

FINA-approved suits

2009-05-19T19:13:00.002-07:00

FINA just published a list of approved swimsuits that conform to it's updated regulations regarding swimwear worn in competition.

If its not on the list, its not legal.

There will be more on this shortly on how this ruling affects US Masters Swimming. Stay tuned...

Results from USMS SCY Nationals

2009-05-14T21:37:00.002-07:00

The results are in from last week's USMS Short Course Nationals in Clovis, CA. In the Regional Team category, Arizona finished 4th behind Colorado, Pacific Northwest, and Oregon. Great job Arizona swimmers!

Swimmers in SWEAT

2009-05-12T19:37:00.002-07:00

This month's issue of SWEAT Magazine features multiple swimmers.

First, on Page 12, there is a feature on dryland training for swimmers. In it, trainer JR Rosania, swim coach Jonny Tunstall, and triathlon coach Anne Wilson all discuss the merits of dry-land training for swimmers. Great article by some of our notable members.

Then there is the swimsuit section on Page 14. Maureen Rankin from BEST Swim Club is one of the featured models. She, along with the others, models functional and fashionable swimwear that can be worn at workouts. Great job Maureen!

Pick up your copy today or check it out online.

Why We Swim...

2009-05-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

Why do you swim?

Simple. Plain. Easy. Right?

Most of us know why we swim, but when asked to communicate these reasons, many of us struggle. To some, the question begged an answer larger than "to stay fit" or "because I do triathlons." Why do you swim? Some responses were short, sweet and to the point, others were nothing less than labors of love. Whether your response was four words or 400, your motivation will continue to affect the way that we think and act. We read every response and moved by the thoughtfulness of some, U.S. Masters Swimming wants to share some of its favorite responses.

"I swim because I feel more connected to who I am and awake for the day."
Jenny Holzaepfel

"I swim because in this technological age, the pool is one spot where the phone doesn't ring, email ding, nor children SING my name at the top of their lungs!! It is one of the last bastions of quiet in a crazy, hectic world ... (the longer the distance, the better!)."
Trish Brown

"Hi, my name is Christine and I am a swimaholic. I tell myself it is a good addiction. However, my hair is wrecked, my skin is dry, I get too much sun, I'm tired by 4:00 in the afternoon, and I itch. I smell like chlorine when I sweat and my shoulders hurt if I lay on my side at night. I look forward to my workout before I get there and I think about how great it was when I am done. It is my time. I swim because I can and I will keep swimming until I can't. I do it because I love it."

"I swim because it's the ‘sanity' in my stressful life. When I am in the water I am in the present moment. Swimming is the thing I love doing the best in my life. I am safe and at peace in the water.

"I swim because it challenges my mind, body and spirit, at age 49. I'm amazingly at my second athletic prime, first being around 30, but at 49!

"I also swim because it is something I can do to actively help nonprofits raise money for their cause, such as the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition.

"I swim as long as I am able to. Hopefully, well into my elderly years! Thank you."

Sally Wiesman

"WHY I SWIM: To stay alive for my kids. I got married very late, have three young children and would love to see them all graduate at least from high school. My youngest is Sedona (14 months) and I will be 60 on May 5. Yipes!"
Craig Bitler

"You ask why I swim? It began when a friend invited me. I went because I have always loved the water. It continued because it calms me and helps me to sleep at night. It's my meditation time just for me and I love it!! I love the opportunity to improve with the help of coaches. One serendipity is that I have lost three sizes due to the swimming."
D. Edwards

"When you dive into the pool and the water washes over you it washes away everything else that is going on in your life. That first rush invigorates your body, mind and soul. The water offers you the quiet solitude that keeps you sane. Masters is the place where you make friends with people you would otherwise have never met. You become a network of support for each other. You will form bonds that go way beyond the pool. Your coach will push you to go farther and faster than you ever thought you could, simply because he believes in you."

Why do I swim? I swim because I love the water. I was a diver and loved the adrenaline rush associated with falling, flipping and twisting with a grand finale of slicing through the cool water. It's funny, when you are standing on top of a platform, no matter how many times the announcer says, "Please remain quiet for the competitors," the pool and its surrounding area is composed of a million little sounds and noises, but the minute you enter the water there is an immediate quiet that has the power to separate you from the rest of the world. When I finished my diving career, I never thought I'd experience that feeling again. I was terrified that I'd lose the memory. Well, I did experience the power of the water again and it happened in my first Masters meet. I stood on the block and I could hear everything from the ticking of the clock to the person on the pool deck opening a granola bar wrapper. There was noise all around me, but as soon as the beep went off, I dove in and it was quiet, still. I do like staying in shape, but my love of swimming is the initial plunge into the water. I continue to swim because I long for that feeling of the loud chaos of life mixed with nerves quickly quieted by the cool calmness of the water. Sometimes I find it at practice, other times it takes a race. Swimming, to me, is like living in a memory. Whether it is my memories from diving or being 7 years old at the old country club, I love to dive into the water and "be" wherever and whenever I choose. Swimming takes me out of noisy reality and places me in my most favorite places and times.

So, this seemingly straightforward question is no longer as simple as originally intended. It has forced us all to think, feel and remember why we continue to dive into the cold water, often at times of the day when the earliest of birds are still asleep in their nests, and endure the long workouts and damaged hair. Your responses have reminded us that there is not one single reason that we all swim. We each have our own motivation, reasons and purpose for doing what we do.

Why do you swim?

Email us at press@usms.org and tell us why you swim.

Good luck to AZ swimmers at SCY Nationals!

2009-05-06T20:51:00.002-07:00

Thirty four swimmers from Arizona will be at USMS Short Course Nationals in Clovis (Fresno) California. Here is the team roster:

Hop Bailey	M	61
Monica M Bailey	W	48
Patrick W Brundage	M	42
Brigid J Bunch	W	45
Kelly C Busche	W	24
Gynt Clifford	W	70
Susan E Dawson-Cook	W	46
Kelsey A Dickson	W	19
Kurt F Dickson	M	41
Danielle Fazio	W	28
Jack R Fritz	M	76
Jill D Fritz	W	68
Judy L Gillies	W	61
F H Ted Haartz	M	81
Shannon M Hildinger	W	24
Liz Hobbs	W	47
Paul D Hopkins	M	48
Teri L Lerew	W	43
John M Lesko	M	30
Mary L Listug	W	77
Becki P Major	W	45
Joanne Menard	W	61
Sandy H Mitchel	W	49
Jose Ponce	M	26
Dave E Rollins	M	24
Scott D Shake	M	51
Lou Silverstein	M	82
Jim S Stites	M	51
Lynn K Stone	W	38
Dylan S Taylor	M	22
Gordon S Taylor	M	57
Daniel Vargas	M	48
Joel M Wainwright	M	35
Dianne L Wygal-Springer	W	43

Good luck to all of our swimmers!

166 Swimmers Get Wet at Saguaro Lake

2009-05-04T13:06:00.009-07:00

DCB Adventures pulled off the first of five open water events planned for the 2009 Arizona Open Water series at Saguaro Lake on May 2. 166 swimmers turned out for an even showing in the 2K and 4K events. It was a beautiful Arizona spring day, slightly overcast but warm.

I carpooled a crew from Tucson. The drive to the lake took about 2 hours, not including the backtracking we had to do to obtain the required Tonto parking pass. Future event goers: Don't make this mistake! The sparkling lake was in our sight when we learned we had to turn around, drive ten miles back from whence we came and buy the $6 pass. We weren't the only ones. (Knew I shouldn't have neglected to read that detail on the entry form.) Fortunately, we had time to spare, barely.

At 9:30, we parked amidst numerous boat trailers and speed walked to the shore and site of the race start. Check in went smoothly. We were marked and given nice tote bags full of goo and stuff. There was plenty of shade and picnic tables to store our gear as we stripped down to our suits and lathered on the sunscreen. Someone from Swimmotion was offering open water swimming advice over a bullhorn.

I was a little nervous about the water temperature, ever since a park ranger had told me over the phone that it was 30 degrees lower than the air temperature, so I immediately strode up to a Speedo-clad swimmer and asked if she knew what the temp was. She said she'd been in the week before and it had been 68 and bearable. It had since warmed up to 70--perfect for a long swim by my standards. I stuck my toe thermometer in just to be sure. (I'd brought a wet suit just in case.) It felt very refreshing indeed.

I decided to wear two caps as a token of respect for my brain. There's nothing worse than cold pounding into your brain by way of the ears. As it turned out, it was a non issue. I jumped in five minutes before the race and was comfortable in my skin within 10 seconds. I warmed up for a few hundred yards and settled in with the other swimmers, treading water between the green buoys for the start.

The 4K wet suit division had already departed. There were only a dozen or so of us swimming in skin and we listened as the starter, David Benjes, bobbing in the water with us, explained the course. It was straightforward enough, with triangular buoys big and visible. A police boat was patrolling the course to keep curious boaters away, and a few kayakers were positioned to keep swimmers on course. Suddenly we were off.

I forgot to look at my watch. But I wasn't thinking about that. I was trying to set a pace I could sustain the whole way, feeling a bit tight through the shoulders and arms. I attributed it to the cold, and lack of a long warm up. I regretted this instantly. As my biceps started to loosen up, my toes began to cramp. Nothing I haven't experienced before, and much worse, in La Jolla. I flexed my ankles til it went away. At least nobody was kicking me in the head.

Soon I was passing people in wetsuits. We swam through a few places with a noticeable current and wind chop, which stopped some people in their tracks, I noticed. They were doing breastroke. Looking around. Big waste of time. You can't make it up. So, like Dory, I just kept swimming, sighting with my eyes whenever I needed to, rarely having to lift my head out of the water. I was in my stride now, no heavy breathing, just swimming long.

Somewhere around 1000 meters I felt pain in my chest. Is that my heart? I asked myself. Nah, I told myself. Just a muscle. The heart's a muscle, myself told me. Nah. Just a chest muscle. I raised my eyes to see if a kayak was near, just in case. Stranger things have happend. There wasn't a kayak that I could see. So I just kept swimming and the pain went away. Just a muscle complaining in the cold.

Next complaint came from my left wrist. A cramp in my wrist! Never had that sensation before. My hands were both stiff. I tried opening and shutting my fists a few times, without breaking stride, and shaking my left hand around on recovery. After a while, this too passed.

Just before completing the first round of the course, my shoulders were beginning to tire and I remember thinking to myself, this is a hell of a lot easier than swimming the Grand Canyon like those two guys once did back in the 60s. That water was freezing, and they were in it for weeks. They had wetsuits, but they also were latched on to drypacks containing warm clothes, camping gear, food and water. That was really something. I was simply swimming in a lake.

Close to shore, the water got warmer and my mind relaxed at the thought that there was nothing in this lake to fear. Except fear itself. Just then, I spotted off my right shoulder a bright green and pink object. Flotsam. (Or is it Jetsam?) A super soaker tossed off someone's boat, I presumed. Off my left shoulder, something tan floating. A stick? A snake? "They only come out when the water level rises and they're displaced from their desert homes, and they're pissed" a friend had told me. She was swimming somewhere just behind me (my friend, not the snake). Just then, my right hand encountered a huge clump of green algae. I screamed underwater and quickened my pace. Mind games forever. I laughed at myself and enjoyed the adrenalin rush.

The second lap was uneventful. Just long. Surely longer than 4K. Perhaps they'd mismeasured the course, I thought to myself. I passed more wetsuits. I was getting near the finish. Maybe 500 meters to go. I picked up my pace. Started hearing voices. Cheering from the shore. The green buoys of the finish line, and the dock. I showed them my race number printed on my hand. I stopped. My knees ached. A few breastroke kicks to shore and the worst part of the race...climbing out onto the slippery rocks and up a steep hill with wobbly legs. "I hope there are no snakes in here," I said. "Thanks," said the woman in front of me.

That was it. It was over. I have no idea how I did. I forgot to look at my watch and results aren't posted. But I do know that the woman who won, Amanda Barnes, clocked in at 43 minutes plus. My mind can't even fathom it. That's so incredibly fast. Watch for official race results at www.dcbadventures.com. See you at the next event, Lake Pleasant, June 6. It'll be at least 5 degrees warmer. Leave your wetsuits at home. And tell all your friends.

Elmbrook Masters' 100x100's: Recipe for Success

2009-04-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

What?! You want me to do what?! Yes, 100x100 is a daunting task; however, there is a group in Wisconsin that welcomes this killer set with open arms.

Elmbrook Masters of Wisconsin Masters Swimming began their traditional 100x100 challenge set in 2004. Bradley Hext, Tim Young, Laren Tiltmann and Mark Kaczmarek were the "Master" minds behind this, what some might call crazy, workout. With a little inspiration from another team, the Naperville Waves, our guys decided we should give it a try. "There's not a whole lot that's exciting and new in Wisconsin during those winter months, and I think that the team just needed something new to rev its engines before the push to Nationals in Indy that year," said Trina Schaetz, an Elmbrook Masters swimmer.

100x100's? Really?
Though it seems as though the set might lack creativity, Elmbrook Masters works hard to make this challenge set fun and innovative. Trina describes the atmosphere before the annual swim:

[The pool deck] is really "buzzing." One by one, old friends and current teammates come through the door with their gear for the morning. Everyone smiles when they see another friendly face come in. Each is greeted with shouts of "hello!" It's just plain happiness from the people already there that another friend decided to stop by. I know that everyone feels welcome and the excitement of seeing friends show up for a set like this really builds.

After people arrive, they start setting out their gear and goodies that they brought to share. Before you know it, our tables are FULL of PowerBars, cookies, water bottles, sports drinks and all sorts of comforting treats to get us through. It's like the party builds before our eyes.

Then there's the stretching out and the gathering behind the lanes. The clock is started and people know that we are going to get started in 5 minutes exactly. Before you know it, the psych-up music is pumping out of the radio, and music just really gets a person going. Then it's like New Year's, everyone shouts out as the last 10 seconds count down, "10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1," and the leaders dive right in.

100x100's may seem long, but Elmbrook Masters breaks the set up into 10 sets of 10x100's. Each mini-set is unique. "It's great to have 10 sets of 10," said Trina. She continued, "That just makes it better already-doesn't it? 100 just sounds too big to bite off." So, what do Elmbrook Masters' mini-sets of 10x100's look like?

1-10: Warm up, stretch out and loosen up freestyle or mix, your choice.
• Pull half is an option during warm-up.

11-20: 50 kick/50 swim free with fins. Again, loosen up your legs.
(Challenge!! Underwater first 25.)

21-30: 100 IM‘s. (Can't do fly? Mix in some free; try to get at least one 25 of a stroke other than free per repeat.)
• 2 X (50 fly/50 back; 100 back; 50 back/50 breast; 100 breast; 50 breast/50 free)

31-40: All free, descend 1-5 to 90 percent; breathe every third stroke on the 1st 25 and every 5th stroke on the 3rd 25.
(Challenge!! breathe every 3rd stroke on the 1st 50, every 5th stroke on the 2nd 50).

41-50: Stroke swim for 1-5: Swim reverse IM order with fins (dolphin kick for breast swim) for 6-10
(Challenge!! No fins on 6-10.)

51-60: 25 kick (no board)/50 pull with pull buoy only/25 swim (all free for 1-5, mix stroke or free for 6-10).
(Challenge!! Do 2x100's fly, 3x100 back, 3x100 breast (using dolphin kick to pull breaststroke, and 2x100 free.)

61-70: Stroke drills/swim - 25 left arm only, 25 right arm only, 25 kick, 25 swim (swim last 50 if you are short on rest) for 1-5; swim stroke 6-10 (only use fins if necessary on this set).

71-80: 50 kick/50 swim free with or without fins
(Challenge!! 2 each stroke; dolphin kick on back for breast kick, dolphin kick with breast arms for breast swim; last 2 = choice or weakest stroke challenge.)
81-90: Stroke count free - 1-5 descend per 100; 6-10 descend per 25 (REMEMBER, descending your stroke count, not increasing speed.)

91-100: WARM DOWN with fins (mix strokes and double-arm pulls or just kick).

What else makes this program and this challenge set special? Elmbrook Masters has found the perfect recipe for a challenging workout, a supportive team and fun in the water. Here are the ingredients:

3-4 helpings of pump-up music
Krista VanEnkenvoort is the team's resident DJ and carefully crafts a special three- to four-hour-long playlist specifically for the event. A good playlist will get your adrenaline boiling and your enthusiasm rocking.

A generous helping of refreshments and snacks
Each Elmbrook Masters swimmer is invited to bring snacks and/or drinks to share with the group. Nutrition bars, sports drinks, some junk food and homemade goodies will add flavor and life to this workout.

A dash of old friends
Often former Elmbrook Masters will come to visit and participate in the annual event. A warm smile from an old teammate will spice up your pool deck.

A large serving of support
Elmbrook Masters support one another throughout the entire challenge. High fives, pats on the back and "way to go's" can take any workout from dull to delicious.

And, to round out this winning recipe for a successful 100x100 challenge set ...

A heaping portion of a post-challenge celebration
Curt Paulsen of Elmbrook Masters invites the group to his home for a "refueling" party after the challenge. Fun, food and friends is the healthiest combination after a set like 100x100's.

Do you think you could master this 100x100's recipe for success? Trina provides a little advice to any Masters program eager to give it a try:

You simply need some contagious enthusiasm and some ideas for making the workout more bearable. You don't have to have a big party, but the potluck of treats on deck, the creative workout and the music make everyone's attitude perk up. We have two refueling breaks during the set: one at 4,000 and one at 7,000. It's fun to get out for 10 minutes, take some ibuprofen and catch up with someone you haven't seen yet that morning.

Just keep running it and it will become a TRADITION. Traditions have some crazy kind of magic that tie us all together -- don't they?

For other interesting recipes to create new, exciting and challenging workouts, just look around you. There are over 1,000 Masters programs across the United States; each one is unique. Share ideas with other swimmers and coaches and don't be afraid to try something new.

Optimism and Swimming

2009-04-29T21:28:00.001-07:00

by Charlie Dragon
March 9, 2009

"If I could pass only one thing on to my kids it would be to be optimistic about everything in life"

-- Michael Jordan

When Michael Jordan tells me optimism is the most important thing he can teach his children, I listen. We can view swimming just as something we do to stay fit, no more significant than grocery shopping or going to the bank. Or we can look at this activity as an opportunity to improve ourselves, learn the important facts of life, and experience some of the greatness that comes through athletic performance. This article is about getting our thinking into a state which will aid us in reaching those goals. The best way to do that is to follow Jordan's advice: learn to be optimistic.

The power of optimism is becoming clear as psychologists have done studies of salesmen, military recruits, athletes and people suffering from depression. Optimists tend to do better than pessimists in work, sports and life by often more than 2 to 1. Optimism may be more important than any other mental skill. Michael Jordan certainly thinks so.

Optimism tends to come naturally to some people, while for others pessimism seems ingrained in their nature. There are tests you can take to determine your level of optimism or pessimism, but you can figure out your own tendency by paying attention to what you say to yourself after something bad happens. Optimism is not about waking up smiling everyday, or thinking everything is for the best. Optimism is about internal reaction to disappointment and adversity.

Do you blame yourself every time something goes wrong in your life? Do you think bad things will always keep happening and good things never will? Do you believe you lack qualities which other people have? If you tend to answer ‘yes' you may lean pessimistic. When something goes wrong, do you point to specific things as the causes? Do you think bad events are temporary and bound to change? Do you believe you are good at many things? If you tend to answer ‘yes' to those questions you may lean optimistic. So the first step is to pay attention to how you think and feel when you meet adversity on any level. It could be major adversity or just the little problems you deal with all day long. What matters is what you say to yourself when things go wrong. Optimists and pessimists will both feel upset right after a bad event. The difference is that pessimists continue to beat themselves up about it while the optimists determine specific, temporary causes for the problem and then move on.

And that's the key to optimism, how you react to what is often called "failure," or, more accurately, not achieving what you set out to do. Whether it is a slow swim in practice, or in the final meet of the year, it's how you react to that event which affects the outcome of your next challenge. Back to Jordan:

"Michael Jordan was not a very gifted basketball player. That may seem an outrageous (even stupid) thing to say, but it is true - at least by many objective measures. Grab your record book and follow along. Jordan ranked ninth in field goals made, eighteenth in total points, sixth in field goal attempts per forty-eight minutes. Jordan does not rank first in any major NBA statistic. Even in his prime, Jordan was not the fastest or most accurate shooter; he certainly was not a rebounder or brilliant at defense . . . Michael Jordan does hold one record: He has missed more shots than any other player in basketball history. And, as Jordan knows full well, it is because of that statistic that he is the greatest . . . Jordan never reacted to his mistakes as if they were a problem. He would make a foolish play, and as soon as it was over, there he was with the ball again, his tongue hanging out, winking at somebody, looking to make a move toward the basket." - Overachievement - The New Model of Exceptional Performance by John Eliot

Amazing isn't it? Most missed shots, blows my mind. Imagine if after each time he missed a shot Jordan got upset, embarrassed, mad at himself, thought he was a bad player, and felt like sitting down on the bench. Next time a practice doesn't go well, or you swim a slow time, or lose a close race, remember how Jordan reacted to a missed shot (which he did more than anybody); he wanted the ball and he wanted to shoot again. Another example like this is Brett Favre. He has the record for most interceptions, yet he is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

Here are three keys to the optimism/pessimism divide, and I'll do my best to not be too confusing (these ideas all come from Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman, a book which I highly recommend). Pessimists explain bad events to themselves as being permanent ("I always swim slowly at big meets"), pervasive or general ("Nothing ever works out for me"), and personal ("I'm just not any good").

So the first key contrast between optimists and pessimists is permanence. Pessimists believe a problem is static, either never going away or always coming back. The optimists feel the opposite, that a problem is temporary, that it will eventually pass.

The second key is that the pessimist believes that a problem is pervasive or general, one more example of a broader issue: "The cause of my slow race was that I choke in any kind of competition." In contrast, the optimist believes a problem is local, or due to specific issues related to the circumstance in question. A bad race would be due to not enough sleep last night, hard workouts all week, stress of some sort, a bad turn, a technique flaw, etc.

The third key is pessimists believe the cause of a problem relates to a personal failing: "I'm just not any good at this sort of thing." In contrast, the optimist typically attributes non-personal reasons for a problem. To the optimist, the slow race would be due to external, not internal factors.

The common theme running through these three keys to the optimism/pessimism divide is that the pessimist feels helpless to change the problem. By definition, helplessness is one of the strongest disempowering emotions we can feel, and it is very difficult to improve in any pursuit when you feel helpless to make advancement. The optimist is so much more successful in sports and in life because he feels the power to fix the problem.

Not surprisingly perhaps, the same 3 key differences between optimists and pessimists are in found how they interpret good events; it's simply reversed. Pessimists are dismissive of their achievements. They attribute success to temporary, specific, non-personal reasons ("I did a best time because I just got lucky with my heat and lane, and didn't die at the end like I usually do"). This way of thinking puts the power to achieve positive results out of their hands, as though it's up to fortune. The optimist reacts to good events as permanent, pervasive and personal ("I did a best time because I always race well at big meets. I'm a good swimmer").

Learning to be optimistic may be hard for some of you, but I can't think of another skill that will help you find success and happiness in life and swimming more than optimism. Look for temporary, specific, non-personal causes to your problems, and then find solutions. Do not be dismissive of your achievements; believe they are indicators of permanent, pervasive, personal qualities.

Swimming is a great tool for understanding how our thinking changes when we are challenged, be it going to a Masters practice for the first time and feeling out of place, or standing on the blocks at Nationals. We love sports, both as participants and spectators, often because, for an instant, they strip away the noise of life and put us face to face with ourselves. A true victory is a victory over oneself. Move optimistically toward your goals.

About Charlie Dragon
Charlie is currently an assistant coach with SwimMAC Carolina in Charlotte N.C. He has a Master's Degree in Philosophy from the City University of New York Graduate Center. Charlie has had 4 articles published in both the American Swim Coaches Association Newsletter and American Swimming Magazine. He is also an invited speaker at the 2009 American Swim Coaches Association World Clinic.

Taper Time: Adjusting Your Dryland Training

2009-04-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

by Rich Abrahams
March 9, 2009

We are fast approaching that time of year when many Masters swimmers will be competing in their main focus meets, whether that is state championships, zones or perhaps even short course nationals. Most experienced competitors know that this time of year means that they get to enter the "taper" phase of training and adjust their workouts to achieve peak performance.

It is not only very important at this time to adjust what we do in the water, but it is equally as important to adjust what we are doing in our dryland cross-training. For me, the number one rule for dryland at this time of year is do nothing new, nothing you are not already doing and nothing you are not accustomed to. As you swim less and begin feeling rested, it is tempting to use all of your extra energy in creative ways. Don't. To quote a leading sage of Masters swimming, Ande Rasmussen, "Don't do stupid stuff. If anything begins with ‘Hey, watch this!" it's probably a very bad idea."

What you can do to begin resting your body is to lower the resistance and number of repetitions in your exercises, but, at the same time, slightly accelerate the motion to keep the nervous system stimulated. This is not the time to reach your failure point, but the time to end your dryland session feeling powerful and energized. This is also the one time where it does make sense to adjust your routines to become more swimming specific, i.e. focusing on those exercises that more closely mimic swimming motions.

When do you stop dryland altogether before the big meet? This is very individualized, but most coaches agree men generally need more rest than women, especially men who are more heavily muscled. Personally, I do nothing too strenuous for at least three weeks before my main focus meet and my last light lift is about 10 days out. However, I know some very successful swimmers that like to lift fairly heavily very close to the meet. Remember, you're in this for the long haul and each season is a learning experience. Record what you're doing, see how well you swim and how good you feel and adjust accordingly for next season.

The Greatest Performance Enhancement Supplement… Sleep

2009-04-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

by Dr. Jim Miller
March 9, 2009

Overrated? Never! Underachieved? Almost always! Sleep is the third component to recovery and performance. This follows hydration and nutrition that were featured in the first two medical shorts. Sleep is also restorative. Not only does it refresh your intellectual function, but it also allows the muscles to recharge, uninterrupted, for the next performance challenge. Sleep enhances reaction times, endurance performance, and power performance. Not too shabby when all you have to do is lay there.

There is a catch, as you would guess. You have to have quality sleep and you have to have enough of it. It is a complete myth when someone tells you that they are fully recharged after 4-5 hours of sleep. The human brain goes through sleep cycles that include several stages of sleep, including REM (dream state) and deep sleep, as well as other intermediate stages. All of them are important to improve your daytime athletic and intellectual performance.

Individuals differ as to how many cycles they ideally need and how long a full cycle takes, but each person can tell you, if they are honest. I usually ask the Masters athlete when they would wake up without an alarm at the beach without any interruptions of any kind. The answer may be alarming (pun intended). In general, it is around 8 hours, but there are some that may be as low as 7 or as high as 10. As we age, the effectiveness of our sleep cycles tends to diminish. So it may be expected that, as adults, we may need more restorative sleep.

Address the issues that awaken you with your practitioner. Common interruptions include bathroom stops and medication dosing. It is well know that Melatonin is a common mediator of sleep in the brain and that this diminishes as we age. Many find that the use of over-the-counter Melatonin assists sleep patterns with aging. You have to give Melatonin at least 4-6 months to see if it will help you and you need to clear its use with your practitioner, to avoid a medication interaction.

Sleep problems quickly become obvious. If you are swimming multiple practices per week and going to work and you are one of those 9 hour sleep creatures, where does that fit in? The answer is planned time management. What happens if you become sleep deprived, which is really easy to do on a demanding home and work schedule? Well, let's start with poor athletic performance, poor recovery, sub-par work performance, grumpy athlete with a short temper...........and that is just for starters! Now we have the question, which I posed last time. Is it over training or under-fueling or sleep deprivation? Can lack of appropriate hydration, nutrition and/or sleep result in pushing an athlete to an over-trained and unfulfilled state? You know the answer now. YES!

Balancing Act: Dara Torres on Motherhood, Swimming and a Book Tour

2009-04-24T16:55:00.000-07:00

by Ashley Gangloff: A U.S. Masters Swimming Exclusive Interview with Dara Torres
April 14, 2009

Most Masters swimmers know what it's like to do the parenthood balancing act. You know how to run errands, you stop by the grocery store on the way home from work, you carpool the kids and you make it to the bank by 5:00 all while planning dinner, crossing tasks off your "to-do" list and hoping to get in a measly 30-minutes of swimming. Dara Torres is no different. Actually she is one of you.

Most of you know Dara as the superstar 41-year old Olympic hero. Yes, she is that, but she is also a full time parent like many of you. Dara, a longtime Masters swimming advocate and U.S. Masters Swimming member, set aside time to chat with us about motherhood, swimming and her upcoming book tour.

Dara Torres on Motherhood
We know the swimming part of Dara's story: swimming superstar; swam in five different Olympic Games over three decades, and won more Olympic medals than she has fingers. Her story is sprinkled with well-publicized hardships such as her fathers passing and an eating disorder, but it is the average, everyday things that make her one of you. At the age of 38 and retired from competitive swimming for seven years, she desperately wanted to be a mother. Dara learned that she was pregnant with her first child and a new chapter in her life began. Her pregnancy wasn't easy. "At seven weeks pregnant I was completely nauseas and needed to do something. I went back to the pool, not for competition, but hoping that it would make me feel better," shared Dara. She hadn't swam so much as one length of the pool in the past seven years. Dara's return to the water was never intended to lead to elite level competition. "Pregnancy was the only thing that was going to get me back into the water. I like to stay fit and knew that if I were pregnant I would have no choice but to be conservative in the water. You know, just do it for fitness." It may have started as morning sickness relief and a great way to stay fit, but well into her pregnancy, Dara's competitive juices started to flow again. In Dara's book, "Age is Just a Number" she recalls a story about racing fellow Masters swimmer Randy Nutt while pregnant.

Dara had her daughter, Tessa, and was back in the water (actually in a Masters meet) within three weeks. "I couldn't help myself," she said laughingly. "I love my time swimming with the Masters while pregnant and I also love to race." Tessa, now 3, also knows how to swim. "She's definitely a water baby," said Dara. She went on to describe the Mommy and Me swimming classes that she started taking with Tessa when Tessa was just 3 months old. "My daughter knows what I do. She'll pull my goggles out of my bag and wear them around the house," shared Dara. Dara's focus has changed since the birth of her daughter. "Swimming is important, but since Tessa, I have a whole new perspective about what's important. She is my world."

Dara Torres on Swimming
"Swimming is the best form of exercise for adults. It's healthy for the body, it's good for the mind and it has a terrific social component," said Dara. When Dara dove in at seven weeks pregnant, her goal was not to stroll into the Olympic games and claim even more medals. It was to simply feel better. But something happened while in the water. She let her mind go and her competitive nature began to take over. "I've always been competitive," said Dara. She continued, "I love to swim. but I love to race even more." Dara, who was more than twice as old as some of her competitors in Beijing, knows that just swimming is no longer enough to prepare her for a race. She works with massage therapists and stretchers as well as coaches and other support staff to get her into race-ready shape.

If you think Dara's reprise in Beijing was a great ending to a perfect story, think again. Dara is still stretching, lifting and swimming to get ready for this summer's World Championship Trials. "I don't usually share my personal goals," she said, and continued, " but I can promise you that I will keep swimming as long as I am still improving." And improving she is and continues she does.

Dara Torres on Her Book Tour
When you think this superhero-seeming woman can't possibly juggle one more thing, she adds a book tour to her "to-do" list. Dara, whose story is famous around the world, has teamed up with Elizabeth Weil to write a book that recalls various elements of her history including her experience with U.S. Masters Swimming, her training up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and her life since the Olympic Games. She writes about life as a balancing act: personal struggles, athletic ups and downs and her own personal achievements and defeats. The book tour for "Age is Just a Number" begins this month and will send Dara across the country from talk show to talk show. "I guess at this point I am used to it. Just like anything else you put your head down and just go," she said when asked about yet another thing to fill her already-busy calendar. "I have learned to juggle a million things and I don't see it slowing down any time soon." Click here to learn more about Dara's book, "Age is Just a Number".

In her own words, Dara's life "Is like juggling." Though most of you have a macaroni necklace, a video camera strap or some other I'm-a-parent-symbol around your neck rather than two silver medals from last summer's Olympics, you and Dara share many commonalities. All of you, Dara included, make an effort to find time for yourself. All of you, Dara included, know that when you dive into the water that the water doesn't know how old you are and even if it did, it wouldn't care. And, all of you, Dara included, understand that age is just a number and whether your goal is to swim a 500 yard free without stopping, to complete your first open water competition or to blow away the rest of the field at the 2009 World Championships you can accomplish your dreams at any age. All of you are busy. All of you have families, responsibilities and a long list of "to-do's" but swimming "just feels good," and it is the common bond that brings together Olympic icons, fitness swimmers, triathletes, moms, dads, stay-at-home parents and professionals alike.

Keeping Athletes Engaged at Every Level

2009-04-23T20:36:00.000-07:00

by Ashley Gangloff
February 24, 2009

Coach David Marsh, Olympic Coach and former collegiate coach with 12 NCAA titles under his belt, shares his secrets about how to run a successful practice and cater to athletes of every skill level. David now works closely with SwimMAC Masters in Charlotte, NC and his wife, Kristin, is also a Masters coach. He explained that it is possible to help each and every swimmer accomplish his or her goals. Whether a goal is to swim from one end of the pool to the other without stopping or to swim from one end of the pool to the other in under 30 seconds Masters coaches can design a workout to fit the needs of a broad range of athletes. The following elements are keys to success for any coach of any athlete.

Prepare
"First you have to decide what the primary focus of the workout is going to be," said David. "You can divide the group based on skill level or goals, however, do not divide into more than four different groups. Each group can have a slightly different workout based on skill level and goals," continued David. "As a coach, try to be ‘present' for the main purpose of each group's workout. If one workout is designed to end on 4 x 50 all out at the end of the set, be there for these swims, call out times, and provide feedback."

Get Organized
David emphasized the importance of proper lane organization when asked what to do with 50 athletes ranging in skill level. "Arrange athletes in lanes based on their goals," David said. He also provided a tip, "Print out a picture that represents the various goals of your athletes, maybe use a picture of a fitness swimmer, a U.S. Masters Swimming logo, and a picture of a triathlete. Paste each picture on a card to place at the end of each lane. This way when your swimmers arrive for practice, rather than referring to one lane as a ‘slow lane' or a ‘fast lane', swimmers can place themselves in the lane that is most appropriate for his or her own goals."

Recruit Volunteer Assistants
By having numerous "coaches" on deck, swimmers at each level and in every lane will receive feedback, an important element in gaining confidence and improving. "An assistant coach doesn't need technical knowledge to be helpful," said David. "A coach's child, a high school swimmer, or even other Masters swimmers can volunteer to take times, explain the meaning of terminology, or read the workout off of the white board for the athletes in the water," David explained. "Masters swimmers tend to crave feedback. Give it to them. You may need help to do so, but make it a priority to provide times, explanations, and feedback. "

Bring a Bag of Toys
Bring a bag of toys to create a fun atmosphere and an atmosphere in which beginning swimmers will want to return and evolve as a swimmer. "Fins are fun," said David. "If newer swimmers are getting lapped or feeling overwhelmed because they are swimming next to more experiences athletes, let them use fins. By compensating elements that are not yet strengths, a swimmer will feel more confident and a coach may be able to continue to assign the same workout to a variety of skill levels," he explained. David went on to describe other "toys" to use in a workout. "Throw a tennis ball into the workout to work on head alignment or challenge new swimmers with a snorkel, have your athletes swim with a stretch cord either for resistance or excelled speed," shared David. "It is a Masters coach's responsibility to make the environment fun and inviting."

Provide a Picture
"Allow for the more experienced swimmers to get out and coach the beginners. This will not only allow new swimmers to benefit from their peers' experiences, but will also give the opportunity for the more elite athletes a chance to see commonly made mistakes. Teaching is the best way to learn," according to David. "Do the same with the less experienced athletes. Have the beginner swimmers or triathletes get out and watch the competitive swimmers train. Point out various technique elements such as streamline positions or flip turns. Your beginner swimmers will enjoy and be motivated by watching their peers."

Walk and Talk
"Simple: walk up and down the pool deck and talk to your athletes, no matter what skill level they are at, what lane they are in, or what their goals may be," said David. "Masters swimmers choose to be at practice so it is important to respect their desire for coaching and feedback. Actively coach each athlete no matter what lane, skill level, competitiveness or goals."

Warming Up for Open Water Races

2009-04-22T21:04:00.002-07:00

With open water season coming up, here is some good advice on warming up prior to the swim. The information comes courtesy of Jerry Rodrigues, one of the top open water swimmers out there. Give these some thought as you get ready for the Arizona Open Water Series and the other events that are coming up.

U.S. Masters Swimming Partners Working Together

2009-04-20T21:00:00.001-07:00

In 2009 U.S. Masters Swimming expanded its partner portfolio to bring more value to the membership. InfoArmor, U.S. Masters Swimming's newest addition, has teamed up with Kiefer and Kast-A-Way, staples in the swimming industry, to offer a fantastic promotion that will increase your well-being, both in and out of the water. The first 200 U.S. Masters Swimming members to register for InfoArmor services will receive a $25 gift certificate to Kiefer or Kast-A-Way!

"We are thrilled to provide this promotion to the members and we are making strides in activating various sponsors within our team," said Executive Director Rob Butcher. "This promotion is the first of its kind for U.S. Masters Swimming where we've been able to bring together partners and reward incentives of value to the members."

Though InfoArmor is just getting its feet wet (pun intended), the InfoArmor team understands U.S. Masters Swimming and the priorities of its members. "InfoArmor is committed to reducing the high costs (time and money) of identity theft. We know the last thing anyone wants to do with their free time is deal with the hassles of a stolen identity. In the case of U.S. Masters Swimming, that means helping members do what they love, swimming," said a representative from InfoArmor.

"InfoArmor delivers unparalleled identity theft protection to consumers. With nine million Americans being victimized last year alone, the company is committed to offering best-in-class identity protection," according to Jacqueline Thompson of InfoArmor. As we evolve into a community that uses the Internet for everything from purchasing airline tickets to registering for swim meets, U.S. Masters Swimming trusts InfoArmor to keep its members safe.

When presented with the partnership idea, both Kiefer and Kast-A-Way were quick to sign up and serve their U.S. Masters Swimming friends even better. "Kiefer takes pride in serving U.S. Masters Swimming members, providing aquatic supplies from technical suits to training gear and pool accessories to dry land equipment. Our company was founded and is still run by Masters swimmers who are actively involved and compete in the sport. Swimming is not just our job, it's our passion," shared Robin Kiefer.

So, how do you take advantage of this offer?
Simply visit swim.infoarmor.com and register for InfoArmor services at the exclusive U.S. Masters Swimming discounted price of $8.95/month. Upon completion of your order, download, complete and send your gift certificate redemption form to U.S. Masters Swimming and receive your $25 gift certificate. We urge you to read the rules, policies and procedures associated with the promotion, which are included on your redemption form.

What does this mean for U.S. Masters Swimming?
U.S. Masters Swimming will continue to seek out and entertain partnership opportunities that fit our culture, our members and our mission. And we will brainstorm, problem solve and create activation strategies that benefit you and the organization. Partners such as InfoArmor, Kiefer and Kast-A-Way will serve as models for future partnerships because, well, they just get it. Speaking like a true partner, Robin Kiefer said, "We hope that our efforts at Kiefer will result not only in individual membership gratification, but also in overall membership growth in U.S. Masters Swimming."

Thank you to InfoArmor, Kiefer and Kast-A-Way for your continued support of U.S. Masters Swimming.

A Day in the Life of the U.S. Masters Swimming Secretary

2009-04-15T18:02:00.000-07:00

2009 is an election year for U.S. Masters Swimming. Board officers are term limited. This year, at the annual September convention, several positions are up for new leadership. Though it will be sad to see its officers step away from their positions, the torch or to use a swimming analogy - the next leg of the relay - will be passed on.

Meg Smath, current U.S. Masters Swimming Secretary, is nearing the end of her two-year term. As her term is winding down, Meg took time to share her experiences while within office, projects that she has enjoyed and a slightly embarrassing moment that brought her out of her chair whooping and hollering. The U.S. Masters Swimming Executive Committee is serious business, but the fun, the friendships and the laughs never stop. Ashley Gangloff, U.S. Masters Swimming Marketing Coordinator, interviewed Meg.

Ashley: Had you ever held an office prior to U.S. Masters Secretary?
Meg: You could say I have specialized in the office of secretary. I was secretary of the Kentucky LMSC for so many years; I'm not even sure how long. At least 10 [years], I think. I have also been secretary of the Kentucky Society of Professional Geologists and the Central Kentucky Shetland Sheepdog Club. I've also been president of my local team, Wildcat Masters (a workout group of Swim Kentucky Masters) for more than 16 years. The reason I know it's at least 16 years is that's how old my son is, and I know I was already president of the team when he was born!

Ashley: Why did you run for USMS Secretary?
Meg: The short answer is because my predecessor, Sally Dillon, asked me to. I had not actually considered running for the office before she brought it up. I considered myself on of those "worker bees" and did not think of myself as "officer material." But, Sally put the idea in my head that I was, in fact, qualified, and that I could do a good job.

Ashley: Whom do you work most closely with as U.S. Masters Swimming Secretary?
Meg: In general I work most closely with the president, but I also work with the other officers and members of the Board of Directors when I'm assigned a task force or other special project. I also work with the convention coordinator in drawing up convention plans. I've also had the opportunity to work with the executive director, Rob Butcher.

Ashley: What is a recurring task for which the U.S. Masters Swimming Secretary is responsible?
Meg: The biggie would be keeping minutes of all our meetings. The Executive Committee has conference calls every first and third Tuesday, and the Board of Directors about once a quarter. We also have a midyear meeting in February each year. And lots of Board and EC meetings at convention, too.

Ashley: What has been your favorite "project"?
Meg: I was on a task force having to do with the SWIMMER Magazine. I got to work with some people I hadn't worked with before and I was really pleased with the way our different talents meshed and we were able to accomplish our goal on schedule.

Ashley: What skills do you possess that helped you the most as U.S. Masters Swimming Secretary?
Meg: I make my living as an editor, and that's helped me communicate with the membership. It also helps to be reasonably computer-literate. I couldn't take a computer apart and put it back together again, but I know my way around Microsoft Word pretty well, and that really helps.

Ashley: What skills do you wish you had that would have been helpful in your role as U.S. Masters Swimming Secretary?
Meg: I wish I had better time-management skills. I try to get things done as quickly as possible (so I don't forget what I was doing), but sometimes life really gets in the way.

Ashley: How many hours a week/month do you spend fulfilling your responsibilities as U.S. Masters Swimming Secretary?
Meg: I would say I spend, on average, a couple of hours a week working on minutes, making revisions, keeping track of votes. That ramps up during busy times, like before and after convention.

Ashley: What is your best memory of being U.S. Masters Swimming Secretary?
Meg: That would have to be during the 2008 Board of Directors midyear meeting in Dallas when I got a text alert that the Vanderbilt basketball team had just won a big game on a last-second shot. I was in the middle of reading back a very serious motion, but I was so elated that I leaped out of my chair with a primal scream of joy, and was immediately hugged and high-fived by Tracy Grilli, who was sitting next to me. You should have seen the looks on the faces of the other people around the table. They were shocked! But they are wonderful people, and they just GET me! They knew I would get back to business after my happy dance was over. And I could not have been with a greater bunch of people to celebrate with. We were all united by a passion for U.S. Masters Swimming that is just as all encompassing as my joy over that victory was.

Ashley: What are you going to miss most about this position once your term has come to an end?
Meg: I will miss spending so much time with the EC and the Board. It will be nice to have a little bit more free time again, but I will miss just being a part of such a great group of people.

Ashley: What advice to you give to our next U.S. Masters Swimming Secretary?
Meg: Stay on top of things! Keep organized and don't let things get away from you. I would also paraphrase Walt Disney, who said, "I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing-that it was all started by a mouse." I would say the one thing we should not lose sight of is that it's all about the water!

Meg's term will end at the 2009 U.S. Masters Swimming annual convention. If you are interested in running or would like to nominate someone for the position of U.S. Masters Swimming Secretary, please click here to read about the qualification, candidate criteria and nomination and election process. All nominations are due by April 20, 2009.

Record Pace!

2009-04-12T21:23:00.001-07:00

A lot of records have fallen recently in the swimming world. There will be another one coming up soon. This summer Arizona Masters Swimming will exceed 1000 members, which will be a record! The current record is 990 members, which was set in 2003 when Arizona hosted the USMS Short Course National Championships.

Right now we are just under 800 members, which is just a few dozen less that what we had last year. Despite tough economic times masters swimming is growing steadily, both here and across the country. We are a part of this success so thanks to all of our members for making this happen!

It’s Not The Time You Did; It’s The Time You Had!

2009-04-11T06:33:00.001-07:00

by Ali Hall
April 1, 2009

Monday morning workout, outdoors, a beautiful day swimming in Northern California. My super fast lane mate is not her cheerful, energetic self. Halfway through the workout, she says "go ahead, I'm out of here, I'm not feeling it today." I'm stunned, she never leaves early, never has a draggy attitude. "I'm hating everything after the meet Saturday, everything."

What to do? It's something we've all experienced, eagerness about a meet and then discouragement that persists, even sours our desire to keep on...How do we stay connected to the thing we love to do, to weather these disappointments?

With over 150 Alcatraz crossings to her credit, long-time member of the South-End Rowing Club and San Francisco sports psychologist Brenda Austin advises athletes to reflect on their experiences and preparation. Some inquiries might include:

--were your goals realistic and achievable?

--what went well?

--what was the rest of your day like?

--were you having fun? (We perform best when we're having fun!)

--were you rested? well nourished?

--have you been practicing any relaxation techniques?

--do you use visualization and relaxation on a regular basis?

--what was your self-talk leading up to and during the event?

--do you give yourself permission to have an "off" day, one that doesn't live up to your expectations?

--what are some areas you'd like to work on? how will you do it before the next meet?

Inspirational coach Nancy Brown of Maryland Masters, herself a many-time world and national champion, asks athletes to remember what matters. "Always focus on the primary reason you are swimming - for fitness!!!!!! Life in general has bad days and good days for everyone. Sometimes our body functions beyond expectations, sometimes it hardly functions at all. No one knows when this will happen. Swimming in a lot of competitions, you have a better chance of hitting one of those high expectation performances. So when you do hit a bad performance day, remember tomorrow could be a high performance day. Regardless whether it is a high performance day or low performance day, at least you swam and got an aerobic workout!"

Those of us with travel and other demands may find ourselves catching pool time on our own and that's great for independence and autonomy. Yet we may be missing out on some deeply important things. It's hard to overestimate the value of being part of team and having an active coach on deck.

Nancy is the kind of coach that makes it enjoyable and worthwhile to be on a team. She urges her swimmers to cheer each other on, to keep it positive in workouts, to enjoy their experiences. She gives each swimmer a tip or two every workout, to integrate improvements, to get the most out the time in the water. And, she gives prizes to every one of her swimmers at big meets and the end of the season parties, recognizing personal bests as well honoring the most nervous swimmer and the one that fell apart the most in a race. Who wouldn't have a good time in the kind of environment she cultivates!

For beloved coach Scott Williams of Burlingame Masters, a speedy swimmer and effective motivator for his athletes, it's simple. He'll tell you "it's not the time you did, it's the time you had."

And he's so right.

Happy Swimming!

Divas in SWEAT Magazine!

2009-04-10T19:55:00.002-07:00

If you picked up the latest issue of SWEAT magazine and turned to page 15, you would have seen a profile on one of our swimmers. Christie Altman (Tempe) is featured in the article that profiles Arizona women athletes from around the state and from different sports. Her picture is on page 16 along with Joanne Menard and Barbi Crisp. The three of them set a new national record in the USMS 3000 Yard Postal last year! So if you have not picked up a copy, do so!

Lifetime-Improvement Swimming

2009-04-05T17:48:00.000-07:00

by Terry Laughlin
March 23, 2009

Among Total Immersion coaches, the word Kaizen - Japanese for "continuous improvement"--has become a mantra for a sense of optimism and aspiration about improving as we age that we hope to inspire in every swimmer we teach. This mantra is well suited for any Masters coach, because guiding mature swimmers through the aging process is a special opportunity. You might say we have a key to the fountain of youth, the ability to help athletes perform better as they age, a lesson I've learned both coaching and swimming.

I tried out for my Catholic grammar school swim team in 8th grade but didn't make the cut. As a high school swimmer, by 12th grade I still hadn't qualified for the NYC Catholic High School championships. However I was excited to swim in the novice meet, mostly with 9th graders. As a college senior, I qualified only for consolation finals in our conference championships (though the competition was Brooklyn, Lehman, and Hunter, not Texas, Auburn or Arizona.) Yet, since turning 55, I've won USMS Long Distance National Championships, broken national age group records and been the top-ranked open water swimmer among 55-59 year olds. What accounts for my evolution from utterly undistinguished during my first decade of swimming to what might be termed "elite" in middle age?

In part, one could credit the "10,000 Hour Rule," described in Malcolm Gladwell's latest book, Outliers. As Gladwell explains, "experts"--in fields ranging from music, to chess, to computer programming--are made, not born, through a massive investment in time, averaging about 10,000 hours in most cases. At some point in my 50s, after practicing some 300 hours per year for 35 years I finally passed 10,000 hours myself.

But, as Gladwell writes, simply putting in time isn't enough. Rote repetition-i.e. unvarying sets of 10 x 100--simply ingrains the skills and habits you already possess. To improve continuously-and eventually achieve mastery-you must embrace what's called Deliberate Practice--exacting tasks, designed to move you steadily and incrementally beyond your current level of comfort and competence.

Relatively few swimmers experience continuous improvement. Those who are new to swimming, or haven't trained in years, usually improve their times for the first year or two, then stagnate. Many experience what one rueful swimmer called "terminal mediocrity," swimming for years without improving. And yet, I believe a powerful case can be made that virtually every swimmer has the potential to improve year after year, specifically because swimming offers learning opportunities unmatched by any other sport.

During the past 20 years--a period contemporaneous with my participation in Masters--I've taught tens of thousands of past-their-prime athletes, most of whom were "adult-onset" swimmers. This posed challenges I'd never faced in 16 years coaching younger, more accomplished athletes on club and college teams, forcing me beyond my own comfort zone. It also informed my own practice in ways that produced continuous improvement.

The two key lessons of these experiences are: (1) Humans in water-with rare exceptions (Michael Phelps and similarly "gifted" swimmers)--are like fish out of water; and (2) Most of what we "know" about swimming actually makes improvement less likely; the techniques and intentions that made the greatest positive difference have all been counter-intuitive. The thoughts that have guided my swimming in my 40s and 50s are utterly different from what I focused on in my teens and 20s . . . and continue to evolve each year.

I received confirmation of these insights from an article in Popular Mechanics, which revealed what a group of physicists and engineers learned while designing a swim foil for the Navy Seals. After comparing the efficiency of humans with dolphins, these researchers calculated that humans typically convert only 3% of "horsepower" into forward motion, while dolphins convert 80%. For comparison, elite swimmers are about 9% efficient (that's right, even Michael Phelps wastes over 90%). But even this relatively low efficiency is "superhuman" -- over 300% greater than recreational swimmers. The critical insights we should take from this are: (1) The most valuable outcome of the thousands of hours elite swimmers spend training each year is greater efficiency, not greater fitness; and (2) For the rest of us, the opportunity to gain endurance by saving energy is far greater than what you can gain by getting fitter.

If you've spent much time working with novices (or been one yourself), it's fairly easy to relate to the efficiency problem highlighted by those research findings. The reason is that water is an utterly uncooperative medium for skilled movement. We spend 99% of our lives in an environment in which we have solid ground under our feet for support and stability, achieve balance vertically, and most overcome the resistance of "thin" air as we move. And we can breathe that air at will.

In water, we're utterly unstable, we "hang from" our balance, which is horizontal, rather than vertical; we're constantly at the mercy of a contest between gravity and buoyancy; every movement is resisted by a medium that's a thousand times denser than air, and we have virtually no traction for propulsion. Finally, breathing is suddenly an exacting skill. Compared to moving on land, swimming is like cycling uphill on an icy slope, while forced to breathe hurriedly and intermittently.

As coaches of aging athletes, we should view all those conditions as opportunities, not problems. Here's why: On land, where energy efficiency is far greater (and where elite athletes are only 20% to 25% more efficient than recreational athletes-as compared to a 300% differential between elite and recreational swimmers) performance is most heavily influenced by aerobic and muscular power, both of which decline inexorably with age, making it exceptionally difficult to avoid declines in performance.

In the water, with energy efficiency so low to start with, and skill challenges so considerable, the potential to learn new skills and improve efficiency is nearly limitless. With a real commitment to improving every year-indeed every practice-Masters swimmers and their coaches can look forward to the inspiring, yet realistic, possibility of swimming better and better with age. To do this we need only improve efficiency by a slightly greater margin than what we lose to aging. The qualities that make this possible-patience, self-awareness, relaxation-should all improve with age, particularly through Deliberate Practice.

Two things are needed to start on a Kaizen path: (1) Expect to improve; and (2) Know how to improve. Above I've provided arguments to create that expectation among your swimmers. In a series of articles, I'll examine all the fundamentals of swimming performance in a way that can provide the know-how for improving your swimmers. Here are some of the topics I'll cover in upcoming articles:
Endurance: Why we should replace the conventional definition -- "the capacity to do work" with a broadened definition - "the ability to maintain an effective combination of Stroke Length and Stroke Rate for a duration of your choosing."
Three Kinds of Endurance: What are the relative contributions of Metabolic, Motor and Mental Endurance?
Aerobic Training: Why it's more valuable as an aid to recovery than for increasing fitness.
Speed: Why reducing drag is more important than increasing propulsive force, and why sustainability matters more than velocity.
The "Math" of Speed: Why the only absolutely dependable way to swim faster is by programming your nervous system for particular combinations of Stroke Length and Stroke Rate.
Strength and Power: Why the underappreciated spinal (or midline) stabilizers are the most important muscles in swimming.

Terry Laughlin is the founder and Head Coach of Total Immersion Swimming. His latest book is Extraordinary Swimming for Every Body.

Article in USMS Swimmer Magazine

2009-04-03T20:26:00.003-07:00

Arizona swimmer and writer Susan Dawson-Cook has an article in the current issue of USMS Swimmer magazine. It is on page 18 and talks about Aimee Arnoldussen, who is a masters swimmer from Madison, WI. Read the article, it is a fascinating one about a young woman who is conducting important research and swimming. Good job Susan in writing this article!

A Day in the Life of the U.S. Masters Swimming President

2009-04-02T08:53:00.000-07:00

More than one president in this country is making waves, however this man is the only President to have 52 top ten swimming finishes under his belt. Rob Copeland will be completing his second two-year term this fall and shares with us what it takes to be U.S. Masters Swimming President, what he's learned as U.S. Masters Swimming President and what advice he has for the next U.S. Masters Swimming President.

Ashley Gangloff, U.S. Masters Swimming Marketing Coordinator, interviewed Rob.

Ashley: Have you ever held an office before U.S. Masters Swimming President?

Rob: The presidency is the first nationally elected office that I have held; however I have served for many years in various positions at the local level. And, I have served at the national level as chairman of the Long Distance Committee, the Legislation Committee and a Zone Representative.

Ashley: Why did you run for U.S. Masters Swimming President?

Rob: The decision to run for president was sparked by Jim Miller, my predecessor. Before talking with Jim, I was planning to run for vice president. Jim helped to convince me that I could better serve Masters Swimming by running for president. Also, I had spent a great deal of time working with Betsy Durrant and her governance task force to define the current structure of officers and our board. I felt the best way to make sure we successfully implemented the structure was as president.

Ashley: Who do you work most closely with as U.S. Masters Swimming President?

Rob: Prior to Rob Butcher joining U.S. Masters Swimming, I would say that I worked most closely with the other officers and Tracy Grilli. Now with Rob on-board, I would say I am working most closely with him,

Ashley: What is a recurring job/task for which the U.S. Masters Swimming President is responsible?

Rob: The president is responsible for the volunteer side of Masters. The president is the chair of the executive committee, board of directors and house of delegates, in addition the president is ultimately responsible for the national committees. The president also serves as Masters Swimming's representative to the other aquatic governing bodies.

Ashley: What has been your favorite "project" as U.S. Masters Swimming President?

Rob: We have seen tremendous success of a number of very significant projects during my tenure as president, with the real credit of these going to our volunteer leaders. Projects such as the hiring of our first and second Executive Directos, the hosting of the largest FINA world championship, the initiation of our club development program, online registration, and the establishment of a permanent national headquarter. Of these and the myriad other projects, I would say my favorite project was the hiring of Rob Butcher, not because of the process, but because of the results.

Ashley: What skills do you possess that have helped you the most as U.S. Masters Swimming President?

Rob: The most important skill I possess that has helped me as president is listening. I am a huge fan of personal leadership authors like Stephen Covey, Ken Blanchard, Marcus Buckingham, James Autry and others. Covey's 5th habit, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." Listening to and understanding the needs of our members, staff, volunteers, corporate partners and the swimming community are critical for me to successfully serve.

Ashley: How many hours a week/month do you spend fulfilling your responsibilities as U.S. Masters Swimming President?

Rob: I would break this down as before hiring Rob [Butcher] and now. Before we hired Rob [Butcher], I would typically spend 20 to 40 hours per week on Masters work; now that number is more like 10 hours per week.

Ashley: What is your best memory of being U.S. Masters Swimming President?

Rob: I believe my best memories from my tenure as president will be of the amazing people I have had the opportunity to work with. We are blessed with phenomenally talented and passionate volunteers and leaders.

Ashley: What are you gong to miss the most about this position?

Rob: I'm not sure. It's not like I plan on swimming off into the sunset. I hope to be actively involved as long as the organization will put up with me. For me, the most important things have always been about how I can best serve U.S. Masters Swimming, it has never been about a title.

Ashley: What advice do you give our next U.S. Masters Swimming President?

Rob: Be approachable, be responsive, be honest and open, be thick-skinned, be forgiving of others and yourself, be visionary, be a leader. And, in the immortal words of Winston Churchill, "Never! Never! Never! Never give up!"

If you are interested in running or would like to nominate someone for the position of U.S. Masters Swimming President, please click here to read about the qualifications, candidate criteria and nomination and election process. All nominations are due by April 20, 2009.

Arizona Open Water Series Update

2009-04-01T12:33:00.009-07:00

Pool swimmers, it’s time to rebel and revel: The lakes in and around Phoenix are warming up and online registration is now open for the 2009 Arizona Open Water Series at www.dcbadventures.com.

The series will offer five Open Water swim competitions, with choice of 2K and 4K distances (1.2 or 2.4 miles). The swims will be held on May 2 at Saguaro Lake, June 6 at Lake Pleasant, September 19 at Saguaro Lake, October 17 at Lake Pleasant and November 15 at Tempe Town Lake, all near Phoenix.

All events are officially sanctioned by USA-Swimming and US Masters Swimming and are open to both registered Age Group and Masters swimmers.

DCB Extreme Adventures has put together a generous series for us in 2009, one we hope will grow and thrive. So whether you're a Masters swimmer, an Age Group swimmer, a Triathlete or just someone who likes to get out there, come on out and show your support.

Our beautiful state offers some of the best recreational lakes in the country and we look forward to hosting swimmers from all over the U.S. who are looking to extend their open water swimming season from Spring to late Fall.

Arizona is well known for its magnificent desert landscapes, but few people outside the area know about the many scenic lakes within a 40 mile drive of Phoenix. We aim to change that.

Phoenix area lakes offer vast, clear surface water created by the rivers feeding the Phoenix area. Each of the Phoenix lakes offers an abundance of lake fun including boating, sailing, and fishing, water skiing, swimming and camping enjoyment. Some lakes offer RV parks for traveler convenience. Some lakes offer picturesque mountainous scenery, large stands of Saguaro Cactus with beautiful desert views with spectacular wildflowers during the spring.

Lake Pleasant

A short scenic drive 45 minutes from downtown Phoenix is the second largest of the Phoenix area lakes offering over 10,000 acres of fresh, clear blue water. Located in the vast Lake Pleasant Regional Park just north of Sun City and West Phoenix, Lake Pleasant is filled by the Agua Fria River flowing from the north cool country of Northern Arizona. Lake Pleasant provides marina facilities, large boat ramps, campgrounds and RV parks.

Saguaro Lake

Picturesque Saguaro Lake is about 40 miles northeast of Phoenix and the Scottsdale area. Saguaro Lake offers special views, canyon walls and excellent boating fun. The Saguaro Lake Marina offers boat mooring, boat rentals, a restaurant and picnic facilities. Saguaro Lake is a sister lake of Canyon, Apache and Roosevelt Lake which are all created along the Salt River which becomes a dry river bed as it flows through Phoenix.

Tempe Town Lake

Set adjacent to Tempe's Mill Avenue District, Arizona State University and the 2,000 acre Papago Park, Tempe Town Lake is a regional and national destination, welcoming millions each year. Recognized as a top attraction in Arizona, visitors and local families spend their time enjoying nature, recreational activities, and cultural events. The two-mile lake was constructed out of a dry riverbed of the Rio Salado and opened in 1999. Today, it is home to more than 2000 rowers and 100 annual events, including the Ford Ironman.

I've registered, have you?

Newbies

2009-03-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

Masters. What does this term mean? In the PGA the Masters is the most prestigious golf tournament, held for the best players in the world. The winner of this infamous tournament is awarded a green jacket, coveted by all. The winner wears this green jacket with pride as he thanks his family, trainers and sponsors in a once-in-a-lifetime press conference. Grown men shed tears over this jacket. This green jacket has come to represent The Masters; however, this is not the Masters to which I am referring. The Masters to which I am referring includes grown men and women, of every age, shape, size and athletic ability wearing swimsuits, enjoying one another's company, laughing, splashing and, oh yeah, swimming. These Masters enjoy a beer with their teammates, they place friendly bets about breaking records, and these Masters are not afraid to try a new event just for the heck of it. These Masters are driven by the sheer joy of exercise, fitness, the water, the fun they have with their teammates, competition or just learning a skill that they've never tried before.

The green jacket may only be for the elite, but Masters swimming was designed for all. Often U.S. Masters Swimming welcomes "newbies." What is a newbie? A newbie is an adult man or woman who has never swum, never dived or never competed. U.S. Masters Swimming prides itself on its newbies and offers a virtual high-five to those brave enough to slip into a swimsuit for the first time in, well let's just say a long time, brave enough to venture outside of their comfort zones and brave enough to go where very few adult men and women have gone: a swim meet. Mary Grider, 51, a self-declared newbie, recently entered and successfully swam in her first meet. In her own words, Mary's experience is described below.

I've been to the mountaintop and I return with news for the, er... emerging adult Masters swimmer who has yet to compete in their first swim meet, and who might be reluctant to do so because, oh, I dunno, because you don't want to be seen coming in dead last and coughing up water: It's not that bad. I went to my first swim meet yesterday, a month following a no-show at what was supposed to have been my first meet, and I'm here to tell you I've seen the light. My concerns that rooted me in fear a month ago after I read the heat sheet the day before the event were so far off base, it's a bit embarrassing when I think back on it. When it comes to the world of Masters swim meets, I learned that the biggest rounds of applause were reserved for those who struggled as they painstakingly swam up and down their lanes, and for those with stories of triumph to tell, or for those who were currently undergoing therapy for devastating illnesses that would cause most people to stay home. Masters swim programs encompass folks of all shapes and abilities, where everybody - from world record holders - to AARP-aged newbies like me - has a place. One of the nicest things I witnessed was when a gentleman approached an elderly lady who recently overcame her fear of the water and learned how to swim, telling her what a wonderful job she did. That's the kind of crowd you'll be dealing with.

Let me tell you a little bit about some personal experiences I had from this first meet. First, I signed up for easy stuff - 50 free, 50 back, 100 free and 100 back. In addition, our coach, perhaps fearing I'd have another "I'm not worthy!" meltdown and stay home, placed me in two relays. We had to wait for a bit before getting the go-ahead to begin our warm-ups and, luckily, my teammates and I had our own lane. Warm-ups didn't go so well. As much as our coach tried to assure me that both the "T" at the bottom of the pool and the flags strung above it were identical in their placement to our pool back home, I couldn't judge my flip turns well at all. During warm-ups I must have flubbed over 50 percent of my turns. Oh, but I was spot-on with one of my flips. Oh, yessiree. I was practicing my backstroke, rolled to my belly, flipped, nailed it! And the moment I pushed off the wall (blinded, of course, because, well, you're on your back... ) I crashed smack dab into my coach, who was swimming behind me. She was unbelievably gracious about it. Thank you, Nadine! And there were no concussions.

As luck would have it, one of my events was the very first one of the afternoon - the women's 200 yard medley relay, and I swam backstroke, so I was the first to get into the water. Great, I thought. This is the first event so everybody here is going to be watching, and I'm not exactly a gifted swimmer. The horn went off and I tore off the block like an alligator was swimming after me. I came flying into the first wall and using the flags, rolled to my belly, flipped, got it!! And I kept frantically repeating to myself things like: Keep those arms moving, Come on....just one more length!... faster!!.... My hand hit the wall (not my head!, Ooo, another triumph) and my teammate then immediately dove off the block. Quickly somebody said, "Mary! Get out of the water!" Oh, yeah.. oops, sorry. One feature of this pool that I'm delighted I don't have to deal with on a daily basis is that you couldn't touch the bottom and there was no ledge for you to place the ball of your foot to get some lift-off as you hoisted yourself out of the water. I'd practiced lifting myself out during warm-ups and managed to get a knee up on the deck, albeit ungracefully, bruising my shin in the process. Well, I hoisted myself up and just hung there for a moment before mustering the strength to finish the task. (Ok, fine, somebody rushed over to ask if they could help me and the embarrassment must have been the extra push I needed.) Where did the strength in my arms go? I felt like I'd just swum the English Channel! And my heart rate...Let's not even go there. Oh dear, this was only the first event, and it was only 50 yards. I'm sunk.

Well, I wasn't sunk. That may have been my first event, but that was the only event that I allowed myself to think those thoughts.

By the time I stepped up onto the block for my second event, my nervousness earlier in the day was replaced with a sense of excitement that comes with knowing that I was about ready to do my best in the next race. By that time, you see, I'd been watching events closely for almost an hour and was now, finally, becoming aware of what my coach had been trying to get me to understand - that in Masters swimming, you don't have to be perfect. Imagine my surprise, for example, when during one of the men's races a gentleman did a really nice flip turn, but was so far away from the wall his feet didn't make contact. His buddies were sitting near me when he walked over after the race and, in very ho-hum fashion, shrugged off the miss with a "I'll do better next time" attitude. He wasn't putting on an act of indifference, it's just the culture of the event; and with that, the veil was lifted and my eyes were opened. I could have hugged him.

So, to those of you reading this who've said that you would never enter any athletic event where you'd come in last, or swim in a Masters meet because you weren't talented enough, you have nothing to fear. By swimming in a Masters event you'll experience the camaraderie of being on a team, yet when you get right down to it, the focus is on your personal performance, not with how well you fared against the others in your race. You'll cheer on your teammates, as they will for you. And then, of course, I highly recommend you go out as a team afterwards and eat. It's really a perfect ending to a day you won't soon forget.

U.S. Masters Swimming salutes Mary on her accomplishment, her courage and her willingness to serve as an inspiration to all newbies across the country. Good luck, Mary, in your future swims.

Arizona SCY State Championship Results

2009-03-30T19:42:00.002-07:00

BEST Swim Club hosted the 2009 Arizona Short Course Yards State Championship this weekend. What a meet it was, over 180 masters swimmers from across the country participated and swam well. New teams were also participating for the first time as well as the usual suspects...

For the results, go to this page to download them. In another few days they will also be available as a PDF on the main website.

Good swimming everybody and best of luck to those going to YMCA Nationals and USMS Masters Nationals! Special thanks the crew at BEST for putting on another great event.

Swimming Against the Tide

2009-03-29T22:06:00.000-07:00

Lisa Freed of New England Masters started swimming as an age-grouper and hasn't stopped since. Lisa remembers "swimming to the first rope and back" at her local beach club as a child. Lisa swam through high school and college. While attending Union College, a former all-boys college, she joined the swim team. At that time, the swim team was predominantly male with only a few girls. There was no women's swim team coach and no women's swim team recognition. "I guess we were just persistent," Lisa responded when asked how she and the other young women on the team convinced the school to separate the men and women, create an official women's swim team and hire a coach. This was an early sign that Lisa would continue using diligence and determination throughout her life.

Shortly after earning an undergraduate degree, Lisa returned to graduate school. While at Harvard, she used the pool for recreational fitness swimming. She met others swimming for fun and fitness and eventually joined the local Masters program. "Still, 20 years later, that group of people that I swam with is my greatest friends. I was young, much younger than some of the swimmers, but they sort of adopted me into their group." Lisa considers herself a competitive swimmer and though it is sometimes "scary," she competes in various types of Masters swimming competitions and events.

One event that has grown very close to Lisa's heart is the Breast Cancer Coalition Against the Tide open water swim. Lisa and her now ex-husband David (whom she met swimming) always looked for events in which to participate that also served as charity or awareness events. When Lisa came across Against the Tide, she knew that her connection to the event ran much deeper than her love of swimming because Lisa is the only woman in her family to have not been diagnosed with breast cancer. Lisa's mother, who battled breast cancer multiple times, serves as Lisa's motivation for the swim.

Though her first experience with the event was 11 years ago as a participant, Lisa's involvement has evolved. "A few years ago BCC discussed different ways to attract more Masters swimmers. Well, the only way to attract more Masters swimmers is to understand who Masters swimmers really are. This is where I came in," said Lisa. "They just started asking my advice." Soon thereafter Lisa began volunteering more of her time and efforts toward fundraising. "Yes, I do try to fundraise for the event, but growing the event, sharing the experience and getting more bodies in the water is really my goal."

Lisa, one of BCC's most successful fundraisers, says that this event is really "family friendly. Breast cancer is so prevalent in my family and in the community that I really wanted my son to have a good understanding of the disease and what he can do to help." Lisa's son has attended the event every year and last year was honored by BCC for his commitment. "At 11 he already has an idea of what the cause is all about," shared Lisa.

Lisa's efforts are great and expand far beyond swimming and into raising awareness and fundraising for the disease. Cape Cod has a greater occurrence of breast cancer than other parts of the United States, and Lisa is determined to help BCC understand why. BCC works closely with Silent Spring Institute to understand environmental causes of breast cancer. "It is kind of full circle. We are swimming in open water, nature, to raise money to help us understand the toll our daily activities take on our environment," said Lisa. "The pond we swim in is incredibly clean, clear and warm. It is perfect for a first-timer and a great way to start the swim season," exclaimed Lisa.

Lisa, who briefly participated in triathlons and other fitness activities, always returned to the water. "I can zone out, compete, focus or think, depending on my mood. No matter what, I leave feeling good. I love swimming in general, but I especially love this event because it is not just about me, but it is about my family, friends and the other women that are swimming for the same cause."

Breast Cancer Coalition Against the Tide is scheduled for June 20, 2009, and August 15, 2009. For more information visit www.bcc.org/swim

Swimwear Rule 102.14

2009-03-28T21:08:00.001-07:00

NOTICE TO ALL U. S. MASTERS SWIMMING MEMBERS

In light of new swimsuit testing and approval being conducted by FINA according to its recent "Dubai Charter", the following is U.S. Masters Swimming's official interpretation of Swimwear rule 102.14:

#1. NEW U.S.M.S. SWIMWEAR INTERPRETATION

FINA approval or rejection of new swimwear introduced after September 30, 2007, will be accepted by U.S. Masters Swimming for U.S.M.S. sanctioned and recognized competition.

The following interpretation regarding the use of two suits during competition is effective immediately. This interpretation conforms to the recent interpretations issued by FINA (03/15/09) and USA Swimming (03/18/09).

#2. NEW U.S.M.S. SWIMWEAR INTERPRETATION

For purposes of Article 102.14 of U.S. Masters Swimming Rules of Competition, Swimwear, the use of more than one suit at a time during any U.S.M.S. sanctioned or recognized competition is prohibited.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS:

1. Question: Can I wear a regular racing suit that is not a body suit?

Answer: Yes, suits introduced prior to September 30, 2007, are legal for U.S.M.S. competition.

2. Question: Can I wear my LZR at nationals in May?

Answer: At this point questions about suits (those introduced after September 30, 2007) for nationals cannot be answered because the new list of FINA-approved suits has not been published nor is there a set date for publication of that list by FINA. Until FINA publishes the new list of approved suits, the current status of approved or rejected suits is in effect; therefore, your LZR is currently approved for competition until the new FINA list is published. However, should U.S.M.S. officially receive information that any of currently marketed suits introduced after September 30, 2007, have been rejected by FINA, those suits will no longer be considered legal.

3. Question: Why can't questions about suits for nationals be answered now?

Answer: According to the Dubai Charter (published by FINA 03/15/09), manufacturers must resubmit their suits for approval by March 31, 2009. The suits will be retested under a new system for buoyancy (no more than 1 Newton), material (no thicker than 1 mm), and construction (no trapping of air), just to mention a few criteria. At the point of publication by FINA of newly approved suits, the questions about legal suits for nationals can be answered.

4. Question: How will this impact Masters competitors?

Answer: That LZR, TYR, or Blueseventy suit you bought after September 30, 2007, is legal at this moment, but it could be illegal after the new FINA-approved swimsuit list is published. Regardless of the new list, that old Fastskin that you have will be legal since it was introduced prior to September 30, 2007.

5. Question: My coach is forcing me to swim the 1650 Free as a training swim. Can I wear a drag suit over my jammers?

Answer: No. Although wearing an extra drag suit may not be perceived as having an advantage, the interpretation is that only one swimsuit is permitted.

6. Question: Does "one suit for competition" mean I can only wear one suit for the whole meet?

Answer: No. You can change suits during the meet, but you can only wear one suit at a time. This restriction applies only to the actual races (competition). You can wear more than one suit during warm-up and warm-down. This restriction applies to all types, makes, and models of swim suits, but it is not intended to apply to athletic supporters or modesty type wear (a single pair of "briefs" or "bikini bottoms or top" or a sports bra worn to ensure modesty and privacy).

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Kathy Casey, Chair,
U.S. Masters Swimming Rules Committee
rules@usms.org

Unlikely Coaches Create a Solution

2009-03-27T07:19:00.000-07:00

When Academy Masters Swim Team struggled to find a coach, it looked to the local high school for some assistance. No, it wasn't the high school coach that came to the rescue; it was the high school swimmers that prevailed as this team's heroes. "Academy Masters Swim Team (AMST) officially received its not-for-profit designation letter in February of 2007. That first year we hired professional coaches but we operated at a deficit. In the spring of 2008 we hired two high school swim team students to be on deck and run workouts. Last year, we had a small surplus," said Cindy Morse, AMST member.

AMST is in a small community located on the Big Island of Hawaii and has roughly 20 to 30 Masters swimmers.

An unlikely solution to a common problem among Masters teams is not only helping the Masters program to stay afloat financially, but it is providing hands-on experience for future USMS Coaches of the Year. When AMST initially saw its financial losses, it began writing numerous grant applications, which only created exhausted volunteers and headaches. When the grants fell through, the Masters swimmers "turned to the lifeguards that were already on deck for the Masters workouts," recalled Cindy. She continued, "The students already had jobs as lifeguards at the high school pool facility," and they soon transitioned into the role of coach.

"The biggest challenge that we face in a small community is finding experienced adult coaches who are willing to work for limited pay so early in the morning," Cindy shared as she explained her experience. When AMST knew that it had to find a way to meet the needs of its swimmers while maintaining a sound financial plan, AMST approached the high school swimmers. Cindy shared, "We started on a trial basis with a couple of them coming in together to coach. This gave them some support and helped them to run two sides of the pool. After a few weeks, the boys split up the week, alternating Monday/Wednesday/Friday and Tuesday/Thursday. This schedule seemed to work best for them, as it allowed them to make more money for each work day and also afforded them some much needed sleep."

AMST has experienced sustained membership since implementing their creative solution to their coaching problem. Cindy and AMST also see the value in providing coaching experience to young coaches. "Offering a venue to promote more coaches will certainly benefit the swimming community at large. I think it gives the students valuable experience ... sometimes teaching is a great way to learn," exclaimed Cindy.

Other programs often pull in unlikely coaches to assist in the operation of a workout. Olympic coach David Marsh shared similar insight into recruiting volunteer assistant coaches. "An assistant coach doesn't need technical knowledge to be helpful. A coach's child, a high school swimmer or even other Masters swimmers can volunteer to take times, explain the meaning of terminology or read the workout off of the white board for the athletes in the water."

AMST's success since installing their high school coaching program is not only seen in the financials, but also on the pool deck. "It helps boost their confidence and the extra income is nice, too," Cindy said, referring to the benefits of the program for the high school students. The Masters swimmers also benefit from the program; the enthusiasm and enjoyment these young coaches bring to the pool deck is sure to heighten the level of fun at the pool.

Click here to read more about David Marsh's advice to Masters Coaches.

Creating an Event from Scratch

2009-03-25T21:27:00.001-07:00

I recently wrote an article for USMS about how to create a new event. You can go to the link here or keep reading...

Several years ago, I got involved with my Local Masters Swimming Committee (LMSC) because I saw opportunities to help make our organization better. There are so many ways to contribute one’s time to clubs, LMSCs and U.S. Masters Swimming at the national level. I am now the chairman of my LMSC and recently began turning my attention toward adding competitions for our members. I would not declare myself an expert at organizing events; however, I decided that creating these competitions for our swimmers was worth venturing outside of my comfort zone; after all, my job is to serve our members …

The Challenge

My objective was to create new events for our swimmers. My LMSC already had an open water swimming series in the works and was in discussion with teams regarding hosting meets in the future. With so much activity already occurring, I thought that a relatively short postal swim (500 yard freestyle) would be a good event to add to the calendar that would not exhaust our coaches, swimmers or volunteers. So, with no experience as a meet director, I decided to create a new event, The Phoenix 500 Postal.

The Process

Step #1
My first step was to talk to other people who had organized postal swims in the past. I wanted to get their perspective of running a similar event. I wanted to model their success and I wanted to understand their mistakes to be sure I would not make the same ones. I reached out to these seasoned meet directors and immediately realized how much effort was involved. With hundreds of paper entry forms, checks and other information pouring in over the course of only a few months, the task of hosting a postal event immediately seemed daunting.

There had to be a better way.

After extreme brainstorming and researching various meet management and logistics options, I decided to create an event that used technology and providers to do the majority of the work. The event would also use U.S. Masters Swimming partners and sponsors whenever possible, along with local resources that had worked with our LMSC before. I wanted this event to serve as a model for future events in my local area.

Step #2
Establishing event details was my second order of business. I collected all of the required verbiage, distances, rules, names, links and other data regarding U.S. Masters Swimming and postal swim procedure. These details would serve as the majority of my meet information and registration form. But before I could complete these documents, I had to copy required sections of our sanctions form and write the other parts. I looked at other postal events and meet registration forms to get an idea of what should be included. After a couple of hours, I thought I had what I needed to move forward.

Step #3
The third step in creating this new event was getting a sanction. This was an easy process; the one-page form is online and only takes a few minutes to complete. I emailed our sanctions chair to let her know that this form and the event details were coming her way soon. I wanted her to review everything to ensure it complied with U.S. Masters Swimming requirements and was error-free. She responded within two days with a sanction number and listed the event on the U.S. Masters Swimming web page. The ball was definitely rolling and we were well on our way to hosting our first ever 500-yard postal event.

Step #4
Step four required my creative self to surface. Though I had the event details, the distance and the sanction number, I was missing one very important piece of the puzzle: a name for the event. The idea of racing continued to flood my thoughts as I brainstormed about the theme of this event. I thought of events like the Indy 500, Daytona 500 and other popular races, which led to the branding of our new event: The Phoenix 500 Postal. Once I had settled on a name, I purchased the domain name www.phoenix500postal.com from Uzipa so I could direct traffic to that site.

My vision of this event was a well-branded and “professional” look and feel, so I was determined to present it in that manner. I had prior experience with a marketing professional and reached out to him to help me with the branding of The Phoenix 500 Postal. Within a couple of days he had a series of designs from which I could choose our logo. We worked together to make some revisions, and a few days later the final design emerged. The design was not only going to brand our website, but it was going to be used on the medals, T-shirts and other places where we planned to identify the event. This marketing professional became so intrigued by what I was doing that he even started swimming with one of the local clubs!

Step #5
Event registration was the fifth component of creating The Phoenix 500 Postal. I called Club Assistant because I knew that they were highly recommended by U.S. Masters Swimming and had just read their article in the U.S. Masters Swimming coach’s newsletter, News from the Deck. We worked together to create an online entry form for the event so that swimmers could sign up for the event online. Club Assistant also helped us by setting up a merchant services account so we could accept debit/credit cards. After a few weeks of testing and tweaking, we had the event online and ready to accept entries.

Step #6
My sixth step is an ongoing commitment and is what I call the “make it or break it step to creating an event”: promotion. The event needed to be promoted for people to know about it. I listed the event on the U.S. Masters Swimming website as well as on the U.S. Masters Swimming discussion forums, on a local triathlon site, on our LMSC website, on our blog and on Facebook. I also sent emails to all of the members of our LMSC. I told anyone and everyone that would listen about the event and encouraged everyone to participate. I even convinced Club Assistant staff members to swim in the event!

Step #7
Step seven is simple: Make it special. Because Hasty Awards is a U.S. Masters Swimming corporate sponsor, I contacted them regarding medals for this event. They will create branded awards for us by using Mylar inserts and will mail the medals out to the awardees after the event has concluded. This process will eliminate one of the many manual tasks most meet directors have to deal with while also making the event special for participants.

So, within seven simple steps I was able to create an event that I am sure people will enjoy and add to their annual calendar, and the best part of this experience was … all of it was paid for by sponsors. One of my Masters swimming teammates owns Bonded Logic, a local business that makes all-natural cotton insulation. I asked if his company would be interested in being the presenting sponsor for this event, and he said he was thrilled about the opportunity: “YES!” he replied quickly. His brother, another local business owner, also eager to become involved, agreed to become the title sponsor for the next postal swim we will host later this year! So all of the upfront costs for this event have been paid for; any revenue that comes in from these events will be profit for the LMSC.

The Result

The Phoenix 500 Postal is up and running; you can enter online at www.phoenix500postal.com. Everything is running smoothly, and as we promote this event, more and more swimmers continue to sign up. From now until the end of short course season, there will be little to do other than encourage people to participate. Entries are starting to flow in and administration has been a breeze so far. I would already consider it a successful event.

Lessons Learned

What have I learned by creating The Phoenix 500 Postal?

Lesson 1: Everything takes longer than expected.
No matter how well you prepare, a new event involves many elements you cannot control. Your estimated schedule will slip by several weeks at least as you attempt to put all the pieces together. Relax, this is normal and you will be fine. Learn from this and use this knowledge to make everything run better next time.

Lesson 2: Make things simple for everybody involved.
Walk through the event in someone else’s shoes. What will it look like from a participant’s perspective? Is registration easy? Are event details complete? Spell everything out clearly and make it simple to participate. Anticipate questions and have answers or systems in place to address them.

Lesson 3: Add value for the participants.
Why would somebody spend time and money on your event? What value does it give them? If your event is fun, interesting, relevant, etc., you will draw more participants. Nice awards, apparel and goodies help, but ultimately your event should be an experience that is compelling to be part of because it is operated well and enjoyable from a swimming perspective.

The Takeaway

We all have the opportunity to contribute to U.S. Masters Swimming and add value to our membership. Whether it is a postal swim, meet, open water swim, clinic, social or other event, use your skills and talents to make it the best you can. It will be a learning experience that will yield positive results and provide valuable experience that you can apply elsewhere in your life. Good luck with your efforts, and hope to see your swimmers be a part of the inaugural Phoenix 500 Postal!

SPMA Regionals

2009-03-24T10:34:00.001-07:00

If you are going to Clovis for SCY Nationals and want to get one more meet in, consider the SPMA Regionals at Mission Viejo. This is a top-notch facility that has hosted USMS Nationals and a host of other meets over the years. You can enter online here, also feel free to go to their website to get more information.

A 20-something's Plea to U.S. Masters Swimming

2009-03-23T12:11:00.001-07:00

The Division I NCAA Championship meet is one of the finest displays of teamwork, dedication, guts and glory. Hundreds of 18- to 22-year-olds come together with their coaches, athletic trainers, massage therapists, athletic departments and other support staff to put it on the line, leave it in the pool and give it all they've got. Last week I had the opportunity to witness the 2009 Women's Division I NCAA Championship meet. I saw fast swims, shattered records, high fives and smiles. On day three of the marathon-of-a-meet, I saw tears. The senior girls shed tears, the parents of senior girls shed tears and even the coaches of the senior girls shed tears because each of them knew that a chapter in the life of that athlete had ended moments earlier. "I had a good swimming career," I overheard one girl manage to squeeze out between sniffles with whom I assume to be her mother in the women's locker room after the meet. As I choked back tears myself, I was quick to say, "In my world, one's swimming journey has barely started at the age of 22."

I attended six sessions of the NCAA Championship meet and I saw hundreds of swims and the only thought that ran through my head was, "How are we going to show these women that this is just the beginning? It doesn't have to end here."

Senioritis. This emotional state occurs in seniors ready to move on, seniors who are sick of homework, studying and, yes, even swimming. They are ready to ditch their strict diets and intense practices and they are convinced that life will be easier, more rewarding and fun if they can just get themselves through the final semester of college and out into the "real world." As a 27-year-old who had these same ideas five years ago, I can understand their angst and sense of urgency. However, today as I long to find time to work out, I miss my teammates and crave an athletic department to hold me accountable. I shake my head and want to yell to all of these seniors, all of the girls that I watched swim their alleged "last meet" last week, "DON'T STOP SWIMMING! Don't give up on the fire to beat the person in the lane next to you. Don't hang your suit up quite yet. There is a place for you."

There may be no way to cure the symptoms of this more-dangerous-than-we-think state called senioritis. However, each Masters swimmer out there has the power to minimize the pain. Many of us know collegiate swimmers. We swim at or near college campuses. And each of us has the responsibility to share our experiences with these athletes. Very few of the women who competed in the meet last week scored any points for their team. Some of the women competing in the meet swam in a single event, and even more college swimmers sat at home watching the meet via live streaming on the Internet because they had not qualified. My heart broke for these swimmers, but my most intense feeling was not sadness but a sense of urgency on our part as members of the largest Masters aquatic organization in the world. I was almost panicky as I thought of time passing in the lives of these athletes who think that their swimming career is over. We, as U.S. Masters Swimming, talk about building our membership base. We work hard to add benefits and value for you. We secure corporate partnerships and continue to deliver news and information. Now is the time that each of us, members of the staff, members of the Board of Directors, coaches, volunteers and Masters swimmers, must make a commitment to the next generation of Masters swimmers. So, raise your right hand and repeat after me (yes, I know you are at work, sitting at home or maybe even at a coffee shop and that this act may draw attention, but the good it will do for the swimming community will far surpass your momentary embarrassment): "I will reach out to a 20-something swimmer. I will share my experiences that I've accumulated within U.S. Masters Swimming. I will make sure that that 20-something understands that there is no pressure, that there are no strict diets, weigh-ins or test sets that determine your placement on the team. I will invite him or her to my workout. I will help to grow U.S. Masters Swimming one 20-something at a time."

This week, the Men's Division I NCAA Championship meet will be held in College Station, Tex., at Texas A&M University. Like the women last week, many men will declare this their final meet. Let's not allow this declaration. Reach out to your children, your children's friends, your former college coaches, athletic departments or the college swimmers you pass by on the way to the pool deck and remind them that this is not the end of their swimming journey, but merely the beginning.

Courtesy US Masters Swimming. Click link here for original article.

GMM with AVD

2009-03-22T07:11:00.002-07:00

Catch this extended segment of Gold Medal Mel with local radio personality (and former Olympic swimmer) Amy Van Dyken.

Hmmmm, maybe she can be convinced to swim again...for fun and fitness.

Keeping Athletes Engaged at Every Level

2009-03-20T07:28:00.000-07:00

by Ashley Gangloff

Sun Devil Invite Results

2009-03-19T07:22:00.003-07:00

The results from last Sunday's Sun Devil Invitational are now available on the website. There was some fast swimming on a beautiful and sunny spring day. If this was any indication, we are going to see more excellent swimming during the last weekend in March at BEST. Thanks for the Sun Devil Masters for hosting this meet and for all of the competitors and volunteers who made it possible.

Swimming Sisters

2009-03-18T07:35:00.000-07:00

Sisters Rebekah, Ruth and Elisabeth, ages 54, 47 and 45, respectively, have been swimming together for years and continue to support and push one another to set and accomplish goals in the water. Swimming runs in the family of these sisters, who have seven other siblings. Frank K. Elliot, Rebekah, Ruth and Elisabeth's father, was an All-American swimmer and world record holder in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1940 and encouraged all 10 of his children to swim. Rebekah, the eldest of the sisters, learned to swim at the age of 6 and at 14 passed the legacy on to her sister Elisabeth by teaching her how to swim; Elisabeth was 5 years old. Because of the age difference between the sisters, as well as the rest of the siblings, no two siblings were ever fiercely competitive with one another, however the Elliott swimmers made up the better part of the age group swimming program. We held our own in our respective age groups," shares Rebekah.

Rebekah, who claims "I don't swim against them, I swim behind them," shares that there is not too much sibling rivalry among the sisters. Each sister has her strengths and her weaknesses. The sisters, who have motivated one another for more than 40 years, continue to do so through regular phone calls and emails. The sisters try to plan a trip or a competition together once a year. "Swimming has been a way, and excuse, for sisters to reunite," said Ruth.

Last year, Rebekah, Ruth and Elisabeth swam in Bermuda's 2008 Round the Sound 2K open water competition. Elisabeth says, "None of us had done much open water swimming in the past. What better place than Bermuda?! The race seemed less daunting for us beginners knowing that we were in paradise." The race included various events such as a 2K, a 4K and an 8K swim; all three sisters agreed on the 2K distance. Rebekah recalls the start of the race: "They took off like torpedoes, while I kept my tortoise-like pace." Ruth and Elisabeth decided to use one another throughout the race for support and a little bit of teamwork. ""Ruth and I decided that we would stick close together throughout the race - we weren't focused on competing as much as enjoying the swim. We got separated at the beginning, but after about five minutes we reunited. Initially, we thought we'd take turns drafting off each other, but at some point my stroke started feeling very comfortable and I kept thinking about a comment that Rebekah made before the race. [She said] ‘One of you two can win this - you should go for it,'" shares Elisabeth. Elisabeth and Ruth finished first and second in the Masters event and Ruth finished 13th. "Knowing she was right behind me motivated me to swim harder," shares Elisabeth.

Rebekah, who started her swimming career on the Laurelwood Swim Team when she was 7 years old, now swims for "the camaraderie and exhilaration of it all," she says. Rebekah just started competing in Masters pool competitions in 2009. She has competed in two meets and already is looking forward to a third Masters pool meet in March, as well as another open water event in Asheville in September.

All three sisters are registered members of Asheville Masters Swimming, but still remember when their mother "had all of us children in diapers in the baby pool before we could walk," according to Ruth. Ruth is a U.S. Masters Swimming coach and coaches two or three mornings per week. On mornings she is not coaching, she is swimming. "It has been so much fun to start planning for our next adventure away from the everyday pressures of work and family."

Elisabeth, who says, "If I don't get a chance to swim enough [during the week] I feel terrible, both mentally and physically," juggles a husband, two school-age children and a full time job. She also has her sights set on more competitions in 2009. "We are hoping to reunite at the Albatross Open in Maryland in March. We've discussed returning to Bermuda and I am pushing for a trip to the Long Course Nationals in Puerto Rico next year," exclaims Elisabeth.

Though these three swimming sisters compete, and are darn good at it, there is a fourth swimming sister, Nancy, who swims for fitness. Last time I checked, four people were enough for a relay...

Top 100 Open Water Swims

2009-03-17T08:30:00.001-07:00

Have you ever wondered what the Top 100 Open Water Swims (in the world) are? The people at 10kswimmer did and they compiled their list. Check it out, you will see a couple of familiar events listed there...

Peaks Athletic Club

2009-03-15T08:05:00.002-07:00

There is a new masters team in Fountain Hills! Peaks Athletic Club now has a masters program at their facility, which is right down the street from the fountain. They train Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 6pm, offering small group workouts with lots of personalized attention. If you are ever in Fountain Hills or north Scottsdale, stop by and check them out.

A Masters Swimmer’s Return to College Swimming

2009-03-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

In 1977 Suzanne Heim-Bowen was a founding member of the women's swimming team at California Polytechnic State University, San Obispo, Cal. (Cal Poly), but only competed for two seasons during her college career. With remaining eligibility, Suzanne enrolled in classes and joined the swim team at Diablo Valley College, a two-year community college, in early 2009 at the age of 50. Suzanne maintains her full-time job as a school psychologist, attends a full schedule of college courses, and manages to swim with not one, but three, teams in her local area!

"My husband is one of the water polo coaches at Diablo Valley College and was approached by the captain of the swim team," said Suzanne. She continued, "The captain knew that I was a distance swimmer and asked my husband if I had eligibility left." The Diablo Valley College swim team needed a miler to assist them in their quest for a conference title this season and hopes of landing a top three place in the state. Suzanne, a renowned distance and open water swimmer, was a perfect solution. "When my husband told me about the conversation he had had at the pool, how could I say no?" exclaimed Suzanne.

Suzanne, whose college swimming experience never seemed complete, was thrilled to get the opportunity to be a part of the team and the team was even more enthused to have such an experienced swimmer in their lanes. "They have really accepted me," shared Suzanne, who joked, "They call me the team mom. I guess I should be happy that they are not calling me the team grandma." Because of Suzanne's demanding schedule, which begins with college classes at 6:30 a.m. and moves into work, practice and then more classes, she continues to swim with her local Masters program, Walnut Creek Masters, during the week and swims with her college team on the weekends and over holidays. Suzanne's first college meet will be in two weeks. The Diablo Valley College swim team's season lasts roughly 13 weeks in total.

The level of enthusiasm among the college swimmers provides Suzanne with a great environment in which to train hard and have fun. "The team does cheers, high-fives one another, and provides support during tough sets," said Suzanne. "I am doing pretty well against the college swimmers [in distance sets], but don't ask me to sprint against any of them ... they are amazing," replied Suzanne when asked how she was holding up compared to her teammates.

Diablo Valley College, like many community colleges, welcomes athletes of various skill levels. "There really is a place for everyone," Suzanne explained. Suzanne is not only getting support from her teammates, but has provided insight and encouragement to them as well. "One girl discussed her plans to move on to a four-year college in the future; however, she said that she would not continue swimming. I reminded her that even though she will not compete on the college team at a four-year college, that there is always a place for her within U.S. Masters Swimming. I shared my Masters experiences with her and encouraged her to stay in the water. I am thrilled to get the opportunity to raise awareness about Masters swimming," said Suzanne. Suzanne continued by explaining the level of respect among various USA Swimming teams, U.S. Masters Swimming teams and college teams in her local area. "It is like an evolution of swimming," continued Suzanne. "When an athlete is finished with one team he or she can move on to the next. There is always a next step for anyone who is interested in continuing their swimming career." Suzanne is an incredible advocate for U.S. Masters Swimming and continues to inspire young athletes everywhere to continue to have fun in the water.

Suzanne, though juggling a busy schedule, will be attending multiple U.S. Masters Swimming events this year. She intends to compete at the 2009 U.S. Masters Swimming Short Course Nationals as well as various open water events throughout the year.

USMS 1-Mile Open Water Championship

2009-03-12T21:55:00.001-07:00

You can swim the USMS 1-Mile Open Water Championship the day after Short Course Nationals ends! Clovis Swim Club is hosting this event at Millerton Lake just outside of Fresno, which makes it convenient for all you distance people going to Nationals. Go to the event page here to learn more. Good luck!