One of the best parts about our team is that you never know who you’ll be swimming next to on any given day, and what their swimming journey may have been.
Our team has a wonderful mix of swimming abilities, interests, and aspirations. If you are newer to TAM, you may not be aware of how much TAM swimmers have contributed to the competitive side of U.S. Master’s over the years. One of TAM’s first members is Nancy Ridout, who was an accomplished competitive swimmer growing up and was attracted to Masters as a way to reengage with her love of the sport and the chance to race again. “The vision at the beginning was to afford adults the opportunity to compete,” explains Nancy. She and other TAM swimmers were (and remain) a strong presence at USMS-sponsored meets.
Since its beginning, TAM has been actively engaged in supporting the USMS vision for creating opportunities to compete. For many years, TAM hosted Pacific Masters long course meters (LCM) championships at Indian Valley College in Novato and one of the earliest and most successful open water swims at Lake Sonoma). We also perennially took sizeable teams to Nationals Championships around the country.
Whether you attend meets or take advantage of the sprints at the end of most workouts, Masters swimming is a chance to see how fast you can swim. There are few things in our adult lives that are so simple to measure, and so unique to our own goals and pursuits.
Summer Short Course Champs Highlights
Last month, 7 TAM members traveled to Sacramento for the Pacific Masters Swimming SCY Championships placing 8th out of 58 in the small team category. Throw in medium, large and extra-large clubs and we were 15th out of 73.
Highlights were Nancy’s return to racing after rehabbing from shoulder surgery and Mimi’s intrepid tackling of the 400 IM, and the awarding of the Swimmers of the Year. Each year, based on a point system, Pacific Masters designates the Swimmer of the Year in each age group. They also select the overall outstanding women’s and men’s Swimmers of the Year. A few years ago, the women’s award was named for TAM’s Laura Val as recognition for her amazing career and as a multiple time recipient. This year the men’s award was named in honor of Rich for his many times ranking as the top overall winner. Alan Bernard was at the top of the men’s 70-74 age group.
Sidenote: Without question, TAM has the most world and national records of any USMS club. Laura alone accounts for over 450 individual world records. Rich follows with just shy of 100. Add USMS national records and we are well over 4 figures. Our relays have also added to our world record count. World records are only established in meter courses and are based on aggregate cumulative times, which means very young and very old can combine within 40-year age increments (120-159, 160-159, etc.) to form their teams. Our deep bench has meant lots of combinations. Ken, Martha, Nancy, Alan, Linda, Judy, and others have all participated in world record relay performances. Last year, Rich and 3 friends from his past, joined TAM to break all 10 available records in the men’s 320-359 age group.
Next Up: Summer Long Course Champs
Swimming at meets is a perk of Master’s swimming. This summer is a perfect opportunity to try it. The Pacific LCM Championships are being held once again in our backyard August 2-4th at Indian Valley Aquatic Center in Novato. Being a short drive away means you can come for an event or two and not take up whole days by the pool. We’d love to see you there. Or consider joining Anne Claman in the Eight Bridges Virtual Swim. The summer also has a few remaining open water swims which are always an adventure, and the USMS long course meters championships will take place in Mission Viejo in Southern California the end of August.
Interesting links to learn more.
You can see all events on the Pacific Masters Swimming event calendar. https://www.pacificmasters.org/page.cfm?pagetitle=Calendar
Read Pacific Masters Swimming’s history.https://www.clubassistant.com/c/6403675/file/PacificMastersHistory.pdf
View the results from the recent Pacific Masters Swimming SCY Championship in Sacramento https://data.pacificmasters.org/comp/24/2024_Pacific_Masters_SCY_Championships_-_Results__no_Splits.pdf
Swimmers of the Year – see how your times compare to your peers https://www.pacificmasters.org/page.cfm?pagetitle=Outstanding+Swimmer+Awards
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