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 Long Course Zone Championship
188 swimmers entered nearly 750 events and 35 relays at the University of Maryland on the weekend of August 21-22 at the Colonies Zone Championship Meet. The 1500 freestyle was offered up for the first time in the meet, so everyone entering set a zone meet record. Peter Galan, Jerry Frentsos, Chris Stevenson, and a Virginia Masters relay also broke or established records.
One swimmer swam exactly his seed time - Luis Sanchez Torrente (NCYM) 50 free 27.03. Two other swimmers who were just .01 off - Todd Goins WARR 100 breast 1:10.50/.49 and Alexandra Wessel (UNAT) 100 back 1:15.00/.01; plus, Hannah Caldas (NCMS) was our most accurate seeder, coming within a tenth of her seed time on 3 of 5 swims.
The overall combined high point winners were won by the following teams:
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Large Team Division Winners: Virginia Masters Swim Team (17+ swimmers) |
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Medium Team Division Winners: Colonials 1776 (6-16 swimmers) |
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Small Team Division Winners: Pennypack Aquatic and Fitness Club (5 or fewer swimmers) |
Upcoming Zone Championships
The Zone Championship meets are decided upon at the USMS convention's zone meeting in Dallas, September 15-18. If your group is interested in bidding as a host for one of the championship meets or open water swims, complete the bid form found from the Administration page, and submit before the convention.
Nominations For Colonies Zone Services Award
Each year the Colonies Zone presents a Dorothy Donnelly Award for service to Masters swimming. We would like to receive at least one nomination from each of the LMSCs within the Zone. We are sure that there are plenty of folks in each of the LMSCs who are deserving of such an award, so please consider a nomination submission of someone from your LMSC. Nominations are due by August 15.
Nomination Form
Colonies Zone SCY Championship Recap
The 2010 SCY Zone Championships held April 23-25 at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, saw 548 swimmers entered, representing 66 teams. This was the largest turnout in the 8 years Patriot Masters has hosted the meet at George Mason.
The youngest competitors were 18 year olds Marck Jaeger, Sam Neuhaus and Casey Worral. The oldest (all in their 80's) were Calvin Barnes, Richard Briesemeister and Nickolas Demas. Hans Reichelt came from the farthest away, and almost didn't make it as the volcanic ash over Europe barely cleared in time for his flight from Germany the day before the meet. In all, swimmers from Virginia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maine, Vermont, Ohio, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Minnesota, Tennessee, Massachusetts, California, Florida and Illinois participated in this three-day meet.
The following individuals set potential new USMS national records at the meet:
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Kristin Gary of Red Tide - 2:04.43 in the 200 backstroke |
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Jim Dragon of Garden State Masters - 25.93 in the 50 fly |
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Kristin Gary, Susan Wager, David Lippin and Nicholas Werner of Red Tide - 3:24.32 in the Mixed 400 Free Relay |
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Kristin Gary, Nicholas Werner, Tal Shpaizer and David Lippin of Red Tide - 3:45.13 in the Mixed 400 Medley Relay |
The overall mens & womens high point trophies were won by the following teams:
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VIRGINIA MASTERS SWIM TEAM - Large Team Division |
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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AQUATICS CLUB - Medium Team Division |
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GARDEN STATE MASTERS - Small Team Division |
The Patriot Masters want to thank all of their officials for providing another well-run meet. And special thanks go to the George Mason University Men's and Women's swimming & diving teams for cheerfully helping with timing, registration and awards. CONGRATULATIONS to everyone!
-Cheryl Ward, Meet Director
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 Masters Swimming in the World Transplant Games
The World Transplant Games were held this year on the Gold Coast of Australia, August 22-29. This is an international sporting competition akin to the Olympics, except that all athletes have received a life-saving organ transplant. A recipient of two kidney transplants and a bone marrow transplant, and a Masters swimmer at YMCA North Shore in Boston, Jen Searl competed in three swimming and five track events, and served as a swim captain for Team USA.
Jen was originally going to swim three individual events: 50m breaststroke, 100m backstroke, and 50m butterfly, in addition to breaststroke in a relay. The fly was later dropped to make room for an additional track event. Her preparation included training for about a year under coach John Strom, purchase of a tech suit for the first time, and learning how to wear her swim cap correctly. She had been wearing her cap sideways in past competitions.
Swimming against a world record holder in her two individual events, she finished with a medal in both events, despite a shaky beginning in the breast. But her highlight came in her final race, the 200 medley relay. Jen was named swim captain of the American team, and with her coach, put together the relays teams. Prior to the year's World Games, the U.S. women's relay team had never medaled in a relay. The Americans were definitely the underdogs, with Australia and Great Britain expected to battle for the gold. Results exceeded expectations. The U.S ended up breaking the world record, however, so did the Australian team - by 0.4 seconds better than the U.S. An unbelievable silver medal performance surprised everyone else.
"I ended up adding two silvers and two bronzes from my track events, giving me a total of four bronze and three silver medals. However, as proud as I am of the medals, it's the people I met and bonded with that make the experience so memorable," reports Jen. She cites swimmers like Kim, Jim, and Paul - all kidney recipients- smashing world records. Brian, a total immersion instructor and heart transplant recipient, took four medals. Holly, a liver recipient, earning a bronze in the fly and being crucial to our freestyle relay team.
"All of these amazing athletes not only wouldn't be swimming or competing, but would not be alive if it wasn't for organ donation. Please visit www.neob.org and register to be an organ donor. And if you know someone who needs a kidney, get tested. You'll be lighter - maybe you'll swim faster."
- NEM News, New England Masters |
November/December 2009
SCM Zone Championship Recap
2009 SCM Zone Champs were held Saturday & Sunday, December 5-6 at the Flushing Meadows Corona Park Aquatic Complex in Queens, New York. Built last year, the FMCP Aquatic Center is a $66.3 million 110,000 square foot multi-sport venue featuring state-of-the-art technology and accommodations, and is situated in the heart of a 1,255-acre park.
Almost 350 swimmers from upstate New York and metropolitan areas, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maine, Vermont, Ohio, Virginia, Florida and California participated in this Championship meet, totaling more than 1,450 individual entries and 75 relay teams over the two-day, three-session meet. Participants donned their full-body, high-tech suits for a last shot attempt at record-breaking swims and top ten USMS rankings.
The following individuals set potential new USMS national records at the meet:
| | Jim Dragon M65 of GSM flew to a :29.18 time in the 50scm Fly |
| | Fall Willeboordse, Jane Kelsey, Sue Wager & Kristin Gary of REDT combined for a 1:49.41 time in the Women's 160-199 age group 200scm Freestyle Relay |
| | Jeremy Fain, Kristin Gary, Sue Wager & Amir Rozwadowski of REDT set
a 3:51.74 time in the Mixed 120-159 age group 400scm Freestyle Relay |
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| The hotly contested high point combined team awards were won by the following |
| | RED TIDE of NYC - Large Team (31+ swimmers) Category |
| | WESTCHESTER MASTERS - Medium Team (16-30 swimmers) Category |
| | COLONIALS 1776 - Small Team (1-15 swimmers) Category |
Check out the meet photo album.
CONGRATULATIONS to everyone!
-Lisa Baumann
 Talbot County YMCA v. Sweden
TCY in Maryland accepted a challenge from the Skuru IK masters team in Sweden. We met this team at the 2006 FINA Worlds in Stanford, and we thought it would be fun to do a dual meet. Each swimmer did 50's of each stroke and the 100 IM in our respective pools, and we entered results into the computer and scored the events as it were a dual meet. TCY crushed Sweden in the first challenge. In the 2nd round, the Swedes challenged us to 100's of each stroke and the 200 IM. This time they won - and they smoked us!
We're reluctant to go a 3rd round - I guess that would be 200's of each stroke and the 400 IM (?) Ugghh.
We're hoping some of our team will travel and see our counterparts at the 2010 Worlds. Their idea of round 3 is the open water swim in Goteborg at Worlds. We'll see.
-Kristina Henry
Masters Marketing Materials Available
 U.S. Masters Swimming has made marketing in our local communities easier with the development of marketing materials. Materials available for free include stickers, caps, and brochures. Although Masters Swimming has offered these to coaches in the past, please note that all club organizations are free to request and use the marketing materials.
To spread the word that Masters Swimming is available and accessible in your community by using the marketing materials, send an email to Kyle Deery or call 941-556-6274. Clubs are asked to pay only for the shipping costs.
Strait Swim For Africa
On August 26th, one month shy of his 50th birthday, Westchester Masters swimmer Jon Lenchner swam
across the Strait of Gibraltar from the southern tip of Spain to the northern tip of Morocco. Lenchner
completed what turned out to be a 22 km (13.6 mile) swim, in rough conditions, in 4 hours 44 minutes,
together with German swimmer Philipp Tiedt. Lenchner is the 18th American to have completed the
crossing.
Last year Lenchner finished 33rd in the USMS National 25 km (15.5 mile) Open Water Championships in Noblesville, Indiana. The Noblesville swim was done in a lake under calm conditions. Gibraltar, on the other hand, is one of the windiest places in the world, and swimmers contend with large swells, strong currents and cold water temperatures. As part of this year's "Swim for Africa," as they have dubbed it, Lenchner, Tiedt and a third former work colleague, Moroccan Youssef Drissi, are raising money through the Dispatch Foundation for the impoverished children of Africa. For more about the swim and their work to raise money for impoverished African youth see swimforafrica.wordpress.com.
- Chlorine Chronicles
Aerobic Exercise Improves Nervous System Control
Offering yet more reason to get regular exercise, a new study shows that running and other aerobic activities improve nervous-system control of the heart in young men. The study, of 149 healthy young adults, found that 12 weeks of aerobic exercise improved the autonomic nervous system's regulation of the heart -- at least in men.
In general, the training lowered men's resting heart rate and improved their results on a measure of heart-rate variability -- heart's ability to speed up or slow down in response to demands. The benefit was not seen in women, however, the researchers report in the American Journal of Public Health.
Read more >
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