Dixie Zone Newsletter

April-June 2003

Zone Representative: June Krauser

ISHOF Liaison Mid-Year Report | What Swimming Means to Me | 2nd Annual Animal Swim

Maverick of the Month | Notes | Ask the Ref: A Meet without Officials

7th Annual St. Croix Coral Reef Swim | 2nd Annual Bonaire EcoSwim | Upcoming Events


Mid-Year Report

Name of Position: ISHOF LIAISON, Liaison: JUNE KRAUSER

Fort Lauderdale FL/USA. The International Swimming Hall of Fame held the Inaugural Induction of the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame on Saturday, the eleventh of January 2003 with a Welcome Reception and dinner at the ISHOF. The 2003 International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame Honorees included:

*Ransom Arthur USA Contributor *G Harold 'Gus' Langner USA Swimmer
Jayne Bruner USA Swimmer Kelley Lemmon USA Swimmer
Barbara Dunbar USA Swimmer Maxine Merlino USA Swimmer
*Patty Robinson Fulton USA Diving Ardeth Mueller USA Swimmer
Tim Garton USA Swimmer Gail Roper USA Swimmer
Peg Hogan USA Synchro *Ray Taft USA Swimmer
Graham Johnston USA Swimmer Clara Lamore Walker USA Swimmer
June Krauser USA Swimmer *deceased    

There was a welcome reception and then a dinner and ceremony. About 125 people attended and there were seven of the above present. Each received a nice plaque and a unique medal representing the five disciplines was hung around the neck of each recipient. Speeches were kept to a minimum and it was a lovely evening. Many ISHOF Board members attended, as did USMS President Jim Miller and his wife Nancy. Next year's list of honorees were announced as follows:

Jane Asher USA Swimmer Yoshiko Osaki JPN Swimmer
Aldo Da-Rosa USA Swimmer Frank Piemme USA Swimmer
Mike Garabaldi USA Water Polo Laura Val USA Swimmer
Paul Hutinger USA Swimmer Louise Wing USA Synchro
Vi Hartman Cady Krahn USA Diving

Plans are still underway for the International Swimming Hall of Fame's new facilities. ISHOF has teamed up with six Olympic Sports -- USA Badminton, USA Diving, USA Table Tennis, U.S. Team Handball, USA Volleyball and U.S. Water Polo -- to develop plans for a new state-of-the-art ISHOF facility. One of the final obstacles ISHOF faces before construction can begin is approval from Broward County. Note: check article on page 45 of March/April 2003 of SPLASH.

The International Swimming Hall of Fame Honors Recognition will be held on May 9-10, 2003. The ISHOF International Congress Meeting will be on Friday at 10 AM, a cocktail and welcome reception will be at 5 PM, and an Awards Banquet and Ceremony will start at 6 PM. On Saturday the ISHOF Board of Directors Meeting will start at 9 AM, the Honoree Welcome Reception will be at 5:30 PM with the Honoree Induction Ceremony starting at 7 PM.

What Swimming Means to Me

by Sue Moucha

Masters swimming has given me the opportunity to stay fit. Having had years of physical therapy growing up, I refuse to let all those years go to waste. Swimming is the ideal situation for me.

Being a very goal oriented person, swimming has enabled me to set goals, see the benchmarks along the way (daily practice sessions), and fulfill my goals (swim meet events). Swimming has given me a concrete purpose for all my training sessions, and swimming has enabled me to say, "I have a Gold Medal and own a World Record" (World Disabled Swimming Champion-ships, New Zealand, 1998--4x50Free Relay). Also, I am a four-time Paralympian with five swimming medals.

One must set a goal, always remain focused on the goal, constantly work towards the goal, and never give up until the goal is obtained.

Swimming has afforded me the opportunity to compete against disabled athletes, and the confidence to take the next step-- compete against able-bodied athletes. I enjoy challenging my potential constantly. Swimming did not come easy to me. I had to change my attitude and start small. I would concentrate on being out in the fresh air. The accessibility to year-round swimming with coaching allows me to constantly work at my stroke efficiency. I am having fun!

Being a very serious minded person, swimming has been the means for me to succeed over the years. To be content with what I have accomplished but not complacent. Swimming has enabled me to move forward in life.

(Sue Moucha won the Overcoming Adversity Award at the FL LMSC Awards Banquet in February.)

2nd Annual Animal Swim

submitted by Bill Korey

The Second Annual Animal Swim, held November 24, 2002, was an overwhelming success. It was a beautiful day for the 2-mile ocean swim race, organized by Florida Gold Coast Swimming and Captain Speed Swimming as a benefit for the Wildlife Care Center in Fort Lauderdale.

The Wildlife Care Center (www.wildcare.org) rescues, rehabilitates and releases or places over 13,000 injured or orphaned animals per year. They are a fantastic organization that survives on donations. 86 swimmers from all over the country (as far as California) entered the race and 75 completed the 2-mile race.

The weather was spectacular and the ocean temperature was a balmy 78 degrees. With the help of our sponsors (Penn Eagle Aviation, Whole Foods Market, Southport Gym, Holy Cross Hospital, Corporate Flight Solutions, Downtown Bicycles, Offerdahl's Eat Fresh, St. Bart's Coffee Company, The Victor, The International Swimming Hall of Fame, Dr. Julian Leichter, DMD, Jon Olsen and Remax Partners, Tom Drum Inc., ProDive, and Ocean Potion) the swim raised over $5,000 for the Wildlife Care Center.

Special thanks also go to BEST (Broward Endurance Sports Team) for once again lending us the timing equipment and also the Ft. Lauderdale Beach Patrol for all their help with the swim. I would also like to thank Barry and Nancy Connell, Andrea and Scott Woodburn, Kim and Mike Farrell, Michelle Schraer, Scott Arnold, Mark Potter, Dick Brewer, and all of the many volunteers who made the swim such a success.

Maverick of the Month

Florida LMSC

Patricia Tullman, 65, was born in Woonsocket, RI. She earned her B.Ed. from Rhode Island College and MA from Rowan University. Tullman commenced her teaching career in RI and continued in Izmir, Turkey, the following year. While there, she met her husband, Norman, from New York City. They were married in Izmir in 1961 and their three children were born while they lived in Europe. They resided in Germany for several years and Tullman also taught in Hawaii and Italy.

As an 8-year old, Tullman took swimming lessons at the YMCA. In her 30's she resumed recreational swimming, mainly in lakes and the ocean. Her introduction to competitive swimming was in RI as an age group swim team mom. She attended her first Masters meet in Wilmington, DE, when she was 40. It was at this meet she met Jean Troy. Tullman joined Troy's Delaware Masters, now know as 1776 Colonials. While competing at Nationals in Ft. Lauderdale in 1997, she met several Mavericks, including the Hutingers. Since she was planning to move to their area, they included her on the mailing list. In 1999 she moved south, joined the Mavericks (reuniting with former teammate Troy) and is "glad she joined the Mavericks."

After 25 years of competition and Top Ten Achievements, 2002 was her best performance year. At the worlds she won the 200 free and placed 3rd in the 100 fly. At LCM Nationals, she won both events, with the help of a new skin suit. At the Orlando SCM meet in October, she was on a USMS record relay.

She believes her greatest achievements are her three children, who have matured to be successful, helpful and caring people. Pat lives in the River Hills area of Valrico and is working on being a gold medal grandma to five.

Her swim goals include swimming into her 90's, "till I can't swim no mo."

Notes

John Zeigler (55-59, GMKW) won 18 medals, 13 of them gold, at the International Law Enforcement Games

Charlotte SCY -- January 25-26 -- Winnie Prall and John Zeigler (GMKW) took high point in their respective age groups. Matt Bailey (SAM) had the meet's fastest 1650.

Remember to check www.dixiezone.org for upcoming meets, open water events, and results.

Ask the Ref: A Meet without Officials

note: parts of this column were reprinted from the Gulf Masters Newsletter

It started innocently enough. The meet director had been too busy to get the meet properly organized. It looked like there would be enough officials, at least the minimum required. But then the meet referee got called out of town and the starter called in sick. The meet director probably could have found some more officials, but he decided not to bother anyone. No one from the LMSC board was attending the meet, so maybe no one would notice if there weren't any officials. The meet director felt that he knew how to start races and that most swimmers probably wouldn't notice that there weren't any other officials.

The first race was the 50 free. The guy in lane four of the second heat got a rolling start. The meet director thought to himself, "I'd hate to ruin everyone else's race by calling the heat back. Besides, there's no one to confirm the false start." It was only when the results were being printed that he found out that the guy set an LMSC record by .01 seconds.

Next was the 200 I.M. There was one 77-year old woman swimming. No one there to tell her that her one-handed touch on the breaststroke was illegal or that she couldn't push off on her stomach on the backstroke. She didn't find out until she had spent a lot of money to travel to a National meet where she was disqualified. She would have preferred to have been DQ'd at the local meet instead and then had time to work on correcting her stroke.

And so the meet went on. Most of the swimmers didn't notice the lack of officials, or care, since no one was getting disqualified. The swimmer who noticed the dolphin kicks on the turn of the swimmer in the adjacent lane during the 200 breast was a little irritated, but he didn't complain. The swimmer who was beat when his competition used a one-handed touch on the breaststroke didn't even know that the swimmer had an illegal touch.

The last race of the meet was the 200 backstroke. There was a 40-year old and an 80-year old who were attending their first meet. They were sure about the rules for turns, but they noticed that people were turning on their stomachs before they got to the wall. One of them said he heard you could do anything that you wanted once you passed the flags. So during the race they both turned at the flags and took three strokes on their stomachs. Another swimmer in the 40-44 age group noticed and complained to the meet director. The meet director told him, "Don't worry. It's only a small meet." The swimmer was even more irate when he saw the results and found out that the 40-year old beat him by .2 seconds. The 80-year old even got into the National Top Ten.

I hope that this scenario, or anything remotely like it, never occurs, However, it does stress the need for competent, well-trained officials. Many swimmers aren't aware of the role officials play in keeping the competition fair and the meet running smoothly. Not all of the action occurs in the water. There are a lot of activities occurring behind the scenes and a lot of adjustments being made as the swim meet progresses to keep everything running smoothly and fairly.

When you joined USMS, no one handed you a rule book. Many swimmers have never competed before and aren't sure of the rules governing this sport. A lot of times in workout the coach stresses technique to make you swim faster, but often times doesn't cover the legality surrounding the way you swim or the way you turn.

Over the next few months I'll cover the rules governing the various strokes, starts and turns. I'll also give you a little peak into the running of a swim meet, the various procedures swimmers are expected to follow, and some of the stuff going on in the background during the meet (i.e. who decides who swims in what lanes -- why am I always in lane 1?).

This column will also accept questions from swimmers about rules, or meet procedures. Just send your questions to the newsletter editor.

Next month: Meet protocols, getting to the blocks on time, and what are all those whistles about?

7th Annual St. Croix Coral Reef Swim

from www.randynutt.com

Sunday, October 27, 2002

The 78th Annual St. Croix Coral Reef Swim took place from Buck Island Reef National Monument to The Buccaneer Resort's Mermaid Beach with 152 swimmers participating, including 123 solo swimmers, 17 fin swimmers, and 12 relay swimmers.

Swimmers from the United States, Japan, and Canada competed again this year, and 200 competed from the United States Virgin Islands. The unique event began once again this year at 7 a.m. with the bowing of a conch shell, signaling the participants to begin swimming the 5-mile open water course from Buck Island.

A new course record for this event was set by Alex Kostich, 31, from Los Angeles, California. Kostich, winning the race for the fourth year in a row, finished the 5-mile race amid high winds and heavy waters in 1:36.12.

Second overall solo swimmer was James Barber, age 42, from Zionsville IN (1:38.40). Third overall solo was Morgan locke, 16, from St. Croix (1:40.42) beating his 2001 course time by more than 7 minutes. Alan Bell, 52, from Redmond, Washington, was 4th (1:42.28) and another St. Croix swimmer, Kevin Hensley, 17, finished 5th (1:44.45).

The top woman finishing the race was Melissa Marchinkowski, 28, of Atlanta, Georgia, who placed 8th overall (1:47.11). Second was Betty Mills, 38, from Atlanta GA (1:48.37) and third place solo finished was Laureen Welting, 36, of San Francisco CA (1:49.20).

The youngest swimmer in the race was BRanden Whitehurst, 12, of St. Croix (37th overall -- 2:03.44). And the oldest swimmer was former Olympian Graham Johnston of Houston, Texas, 71, 46th overall in 2:08.42.

Next year's swim is scheduled for Sunday, October 26, 2003. For more information on this and other races organized by Randy Nutt, log on to www.randynutt.com.

2nd Annual Bonaire Eco Swim

from www.randynutt.com

December 7, 2002

It was a beautiful day with light winds when 31 enthusiastic swimmers entered the crystal clear waters of Bonaire. The conditions turned to white capped waves and moderate wind as they churned across the channel while navigating the 5K course in the second Annual Bonaire EcoSwim.

The winner of the event was Vincent Van Rutten from Curacao who finished with a large lead in a time of 1:11.21. The 15-year old ace also won last year's event. Exhausted from the waves and wind, Van Rutten commented, "It's like the perfect storm."

Behind Van Rutten was Juli Gelatly, in 1:15.21. She came out of the water talking about the sea turtles and fish that she watched while she bounced over the spectacular coral reefs. Gelatly was also the winner of the 1-mile swim that she used as a warm up before the 5K race. In third palce, Carol Carr (1:15.57) and fourth place went to Tim Kennedy (1:22.06). The fifth place swimmer barely made it to the race because of a severe winter storm in Philadelphia the day before the race.

A few swimmers were pulled from the water because they swam so farr off course due to the strong currents and waves. One swimmer later said, "I think I went to Aruba and back!"

As the last of the swimmers exited the water, the skies opened up to a drenching sun shower, which was indeed the perfect storm.

For more information on next year's EcoSwim, contact race organizer Randy Nutt (info@randynutt.com).

Upcoming events

Dixie Zone Long Course Championships, June 28-29, Greenville SC. Information | Entry