Pacific Masters Update, Week of July 11, 2016

In this issue you will find information on upcoming pool events, open water swims, clinics, as well as other information of interest to the local adult swimming community. Don't miss our featured article on Open Water Points, as well as a special From the Editor.

Stay fit,

The Pacific Masters Swimming Committee

Pacific Masters Swimming July Meeting

July 20

Pacific Masters Swimming will hold its monthly meeting on July 20 at 7:30 pm, with dinner preceding at 7 pm. It will be held at the Club Room of the Heather Farms Community Center, 301 N. San Carlos Drive, Walnut Creek. For further information, please contact Charlene O'Brien.

Pacific Masters Long Course Championships

July 22-24

San Mateo Masters is hosting this year's Pacific Masters Long Course Championships at College of San Mateo & San Mateo Athletic Club, 1700 W Hillsdale Blvd., Building 5. The competition pool is a beautiful 50-meter, 8-lane pool. The warm-up pool is 6 lanes and 25 yards. Come enjoy this beautiful facility while competing and socializing with Pacific Masters members. Relay-only swimmers must enter online (no charge). Registration closes on July 15 at 11:59 pm. Information and Registration.

Santa Cruz Open Water Weekend

July 30-31

The Saturday 1-mile ocean swim goes around the Santa Cruz pier. The Sunday 2-mile ocean swim goes around the same pier, loops around the other side, and comes back. The water is usually 58-61 degrees! Both are fun and very popular swims even if you're numb. Information and Registration.

End of Summer Splash

August 6

The End of Summer Splash will be held at the Charles Brooks Swim Center in Woodland on Saturday, August 6. There will be an interesting assortment of swim events to choose from including men's, women's, and mixed 400 Medley and 400 Free relays. The relays and some of the other events are held so infrequently that just competing almost guarantees a Top Ten USMS ranking. Information and Registration.

2016 USMS Summer National Championships

August 17-21

This year's Long Course Nationals Championships will be held in Gresham, Oregon at the Mt. Hood Aquatic Center. Competition will be held in an outdoor 8-lane, 50-meter pool, and an indoor 25-yard pool will be available for warm-up and warm-down during the meet. Consider making it the centerpiece of a classic California summer family vacation, with stops in Ashland, Crater Lake, the coast, and Willamette Valley wineries! Registration closes on July 18 at midnight. Information and Registration.

USMS Masters Coach Certification

August 27

USMS is hosting a USMS Masters Coach Certification for Levels 1 & 2 in San Jose on August 28, 2016. All coaches who attend this certification class can participate in the swim clinic in Mountain View on Sunday as a coach on-deck at no charge. Registration and Information.

USMS Stroke Development Clinic

August 28

The Pacific LMSC is sponsoring a USMS stroke development and improvement clinic for swimmers of all abilities. All four strokes will be evaluated and corrected with the use of drills and coach instruction. The event will be held from 7 am to 9 am at Eagle Park Pool in Mountain View, California. Information and Registration.

Whiskeytown Open Water Swim

September 11

The Whiskeytown Open Water Swim, hosted by Redding Swim Team, offers a 1-mile and 2-mile swim. You may swim one or both events. Beautiful Whiskeytown Lake is located just west of Redding, Ca. Start and finish are at Brandy Creek Beach and the swim is out and back around an island. Information and Registration.

13th Annual Alan Liu Memorial SCM Meet

September 18

This meet will be held at Eagle Park Pool, an 8-lane x 25-meter outdoor pool in Mountain View. Swimmers may enter up to five individual events and one of each type of relay. Online entries and entries submitted by surface mail must be received by Wednesday, September 14. Hosted by Mountain View Masters. Information and Registration.

Open Water Points

If you're an open water swimmer, you probably know that Pacific Masters hosts a season-long Open Water Points competition, where the top 3 point getters for every gender and age group receive bragging rights AND a prize at the end of the season. You should also know that you can view your current points standing here. On that page, you can click on a link to your 2016 Individual Points and also a link to Team Points. Did you know that if you click on a swimmer's name on the Individual Points page, you can view all their events, places, and times? Similarly, click on a team's name on the Team Points page and you can see all the swimmers who swam for that team. If the swimmer's name is a link, you can click on it and see the swimmer's details on the Individual Points page. Why would you care? We'll explain in a later issue of the Pacific Masters Update.

2017 Pacific Masters Championships Bidding

Event host bids for the Short Course Yards, Long Course Meters, and Short Course Meters Championship Meets are now open for submittal. If your team is interested in hosting one of these Championship Meets, please send an email to Steve Cutting as soon as possible. For additional guidelines, click here.

2018 USMS Long Distance Championship Bids Sought

The 2018 USMS Long Distance Championships bid process (OW and ePostals) is still open. The USMS Long Distance Committee is especially interested in attracting events from the western region of the U.S. The bid sheet can be found here.

From the Editor

Remembering Chris Hommonay

The Update wishes to express its sympathy to Club Hot Tub on the recent loss of their longtime member Chris Hommonay. Here is their moving tribute to him:

Beloved Club Hot Tub teammate Chris Homonnay passed away on Friday, June 24th doing what he loved best. Swimming 4000 yards Friday morning in a regular 6 AM workout, Chris gladly agreed to a second workout at the San Ramon city pool at the invitation of a close friend. Finishing the last set, he suddenly collapsed. Despite the lifeguards' valiant efforts, Chris did not recover.

Chris was a mainstay at Club Hot Tub (Club Sport in Pleasanton). He was always first in the pool, often getting in 2000 yards before the official start of the workout. Chris had a beautiful breaststroke and was a formidable IMer. Chris swam at Princeton in the 80s and once went 2:10 for the 200 IM long course. He was a long time coach at San Ramon Valley Aquatics under Rich Thornton and loved to talk about swimming: what times Lochte had just swum at an Arena event, or about Maxime Rooney's latest record at North Coast sectionals.

Chris was very well read and could put current events in historical and global perspective. We all benefitted from his witty barbs about politicians across the spectrum.

We normally put the best face on our comrades in death but Chris was the real deal: soft-spoken, kind, always upbeat, and encouraging. In short, Chris was the teammate that everyone loved and respected.

We'll miss you, Chris.

Disclaimer: Receipt of this correspondence is not an indication that your membership in USMS or Pacific Masters Swimming is current. To check if your membership is current, please follow [this link ].