PacificMastersLogoN     Pacific Update

 
 

Winter Solstice 2013

 Serving Northern California and Northwestern Nevada

In this Update
Karen Hurley- 1970-2013
Club List
New Registration Year
John Crane - Scientist and Swimmer
MEMO Kick for Time
2014 Pacific Swim Clinic
Jon Steiner Memorial Mile
USMS Level 1 and 2 Coaches Certification
Flower Power Meet
Olympic Club 1500
Fog City Quadrathon
USF Valentine's Affair
Winter Splash
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Greetings!

 

On behalf of our Chairman Peter Guadagni, registrar Nancy Ridout, the Executive Committee and PacMasters Committee, we wish you a    

 

 Merry Christmas

 Happy New Year 

 

*****

Last month, I attended a technical conference in Los Angeles. I grabbed my light jacket I purchased at a USMS Championship Meet years ago. The jacket had the meet's logo which had an embroidered "US Masters Swimming." 

 

In talking with other Mac System Administrators about the sessions, three different admins, asked me about Masters swimming - all had swum as age groupers. None of them really know much about Masters.  I told each about Masters swimming, the benefits of swimming and that most Masters swimmers do not compete. I was able to point each to where more information could be found and followed up with an email.

 

Each of us is an ambassador of Masters swimming and should be prepared to speak about our great sport. For more information, we can point people to either Pacificmasters.org or usms.org.

 

*****

Interesting articles from the web
Nine year old Josh Zuchowski's frequently finishes second to  ten year old Reese Branzell. When Josh found out that Reese had been hospitalized for two weeks with a bacterial infection in his hip, Josh decided that he would win the high point trophy at the upcoming meet to present to Reese, but could Josh win his five envents to claim high point . . . [ more ]

 

*****

For those swimmers who plan their own workouts, Elaine Howley, Associate Editor of USMS has a list of Holiday-themed workouts to elevate your spirits during the season.

*****

Scott Bay, USMS Coaches Chair, wrote an article on the USMS website about Building the Perfect Prerace Warm-Up and Chris Ritter has Three Reason Why Swimmers Should Strength Train.

 

*****

In the "Ask Well" blog of the New York Times there was a response to the question "What are the health benefits of swimming vs. other aerobic exercises?"

 

******

 

Glenda Carroll wrote an article about John Crane, laser scientist and swimmer that is a Pacific Masters Xtra.

 

Merry Christmas!!

 

Fun Fitness and Competition

 

-michael

Michael W Moore 

Thoughts and Prayers
Karen Hurley, 1970-2013
Temescal Coach

Karin Hurley was the much loved head coach for Temescal Masters for 13 years and died Friday 12/13/13 after a year-long fight with cancer. Karin was an Olympic Trials swimmer in 1988 at the Austin, Texas long-course finals after winning many other prior events as a junior.  Later, in her 20's, while a coach at Temescal Masters, she entered several Alcatraz swims with the team and won her age group in 1999's Shark Fest and in 2000 in the South End Rowing Club Escape although she had not regularly practice for either swim. 

 

Karin leaves behind her husband Gerard Hurley and their kidRhys (12), Aine (9) and Ronan (6). The team and larger community have established a donation site at http://www.gofundme.com/5ranbo to help assist with the funeral expenses and for ongoing support of the children with daycare and other needs

Pacific Masters
List of 2014 Registered Clubs

A list of 2014 registered clubs is on the website. Thank you to all the club representatives who completed the information. It would be very helpful if the club rep and members of a club checked out the information and if there are any corrections, please forward them to our registrar.  

New Registration Year

It is time to register for Pacific Masters 2014, the registration year is from 1 November 2013 to 31 December 2014. Everyone's 2013 registration expires on 31 December 2013. 

 

This year, you can ask for your own permanent swimmer ID. The ID must be five characters long and cannot have certain alpha characters. There is a one-time $50.00 charge, but the money goes to a good cause and you can create an ID that is much easier to remember.

 

If you register early, there may be some USMS sponsor discounts available to you. Thank you to the over 2,000 swimmers who have already registered and the 121 clubs who have registered.

John Crane
Swimmer and Scientist 

If you talk with John Crane, a swimmer

John Crane
John Crane

with Tri-Valley Masters, about his work, you might think you're talking to one of the characters from "The Big Bang Theory," a television comedy that features geeky astrophysicists and engineers.  (John is not geeky).  If you shadow him for a few hours, you're sure you've been transported to a movie set for a Star Wars film. (John is not a movie director.)

            Who is John?  He's is a laser physicist and works at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF) in Livermore, Ca.  NIF is home to the world's largest and most energetic laser system and actually was a film set for "Star Trek:  Into Darkness." [ More ]

 

 

MEMO Kick For Time 
MEMO is having a 400 Kick for Time Postal event. It  started on December 1 and conclude 11:59PM New Year's Eve. MEMO wants to encourage everyone to have as much fun as MEMO does with their kick sets. [ Register ]
2014 Pacific Swim
Coaches Clinic 
The Nor Cal Swim Shop is hosting their annual coaches clinic on January 2-5 at the Marriott Hotel in Napa. Full clinic information and registration can be found at NorCalClinic. In addition to interesting, contemporary presentations by national and regional coaches, certification courses are offered for all Red Cross required classes. If you are a PacMasters coach, please contact the Coaches Chair coaches@pacificmasters.org  for scholarship information.
Jon Steiner
Memorial Mile 
Tamalpias Masters is sponsoring the Jon Steiner Memorial Mile. This event is unusual as there is no set entry fee - You pay what you want with 50% of the proceeds donated to the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation. 
 
The event is named after the events founder Jon Steiner, who died of lung cancer six years ago. Swimmers can swim the event in a yards, 50 meter pool or 25 meter pool.
 
Swimmers can swim the event anytime between 1 January and 28 February with entries postmarked by 12 March 2014.
USMS Level 1 and 2
Coaches  Certification
Pacific Masters is hosting  Level 1 & 2 classes in San Mateo (at the San Mateo Athletic Club) on Saturday, January 18, 2014. Registration information can be found at Course RegistrationScholarships for course tuition are available for Pacific Masters coaches  (coaches must also be USMS registered). Contact the Coaches Chair coaches@pacificmasters.org� for scholarship details.

Santa Rosa Flower Power Meet 
The first pool meet of 2014 is the Santa Rosa Flower Power Meet. The second year meet is being held at Santa Rosa Junior College and features the Flower Power 50 Free Challenge - an event that tries to find the fastest 50 Free Swimmer (with a slight handicap for the swimmer's age group). The meet date is Saturday 11 January 2014 with pre-entry closing at 11:59 pm on Thursday 9 January. [ Registration ]
The Olympic Club 1500 
The Olympic Club 1500 is the first of two distance only meets on the schedule. On Saturday 25 January 2014 the 1500 will be held in the very fast Olympic Club pool where many world records have been set. This is the first meters meet of the season and is only a little over three weeks after everyone ages up on 1 Jan. [ Registration ] 
The Fog City Quadrathon 
The Fog City Quadrathon is on Sunday 26 January 2014. The Quadrathon is four distances of the freestyle - the 500, 100, 200 and 50. If swimmers register by Wednesday 22 January 2014 the fee for the event it $20. After that date it is $35. (note that the meet has an entry time of 11 a.m., which is earlier that it has been in the past. [Meet info  Registration ]
The USF Valentine's Affair 
The 22nd USF Valentine's Affair is the second year of all the sprint events (All the 50's and 100's) that will take place on Sunday, 9 February 2014. You must register on-line for this event (on-line registration closes at 11:59PM Friday, 7 February). Note that for the first time, the USF Valentines Affair will be on a Sunday and NOT a Saturday. [ Meet info  Registration ]
Winter Splash 
Glenda Carroll and Suzanne Heim-Bowen are putting together an evening of swimming arts on Sunday 12 January 2014 at the Walnut Creek Library, Oakview Room, 1644 N Broadway, Walnut Creek.
 
The award winning documentary about Walnut Creeks Suzanne Heim-Bowen will be shown and Glenda Carroll will read from her fast paced thriller set in open water swimming - Dead in the Water. Donations Benefit Walnut Creek Masters and TriValley Masters. More info contact Glenda Carroll