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Pacific Update
Week of September 5, 2022
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Hello!
In this issue, you will find information on upcoming swimming events and stories that will interest the swimming community.
Get in the water a few more times this year. The Keller Cove Swim for Kids' Sake will be held on September 17. On Saturday, September 24, after you accomplish The Swim Across America, take time for a hearty meal, then head over to the Olympic Club for an informative Backstroke Swim Clinic with Olympian Ryan Murphy.
Save the Date: November 13! We are starting to plan for our Pacific Masters Annual Meeting and Celebration. This is always a fun event, celebrating our sport and honoring our dedicated, hard-working, members with the Annual Awards presentation. Stay tuned for details.
The next issue of the Update will appear on September 19, 2022. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, September 14, 2022.
Stay fit,
The Pacific Masters Swimming Committee
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Upcoming 2022 Events
Mark these on your calendar!
Check out our schedule page for more updates about upcoming swims.
SEPTEMBER
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September 11--Whiskeytown Open Water Swims, RAD, Whiskeytown National Park, Redding, CA CANCELLED
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September 17--Keller Cove Swim for Kids' Sake. RPM, Miller/Knox Regional Park, Richmond, CA
- September 24 -- Backstroke Clinic with Ryan Murphy
- September 24--Swim Across America-San Francisco, Little Marina Green to Aquatic Park
OCTOBER
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October 2--Sacramento Masters SCM Sprint Pentathlon CANCELLED
- October 7-9--Pacific Masters Kerry O'Brien Short Course Meters Championships, WCM, Clarke Swim Center, Walnut Creek
- October 15 -- Women in Coaching Leadership Summit
NOVEMBER
- November 13 -- Pacific Masters Annual Meeting and Celebration
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Special Notice
As Chair of Pacific Masters Swimming,
I want to apologize for the swimsuit disqualifications at the August 13 Donner Lake swim. I understand that this caused confusion and made for a less than ideal experience of swimming our beautiful lake. The rules and rationale for Pool and Open Water Category I Competitions are slightly different, and that was the cause for the beach-issued disqualifications.
I am also the Chair for the USMS Long Distance Committee; I have purview over the Open Water Rules. This Committee thanks you for the comments and questions about the disqualifications, as those have provided the LDC an immediate incentive to clarify swimsuit rules, enhance pre-event and briefing communications, and improve our race event experiences for the future.
The disqualifications for "ties" on female swimsuits in Category I Competition have been reversed and the affected swimmers have been contacted. Please note, Pacific Masters Swimming takes full responsibility for this error, and we thank the Donner Lake Swim Committee for continuing to host this popular and excellent event. We also thank all Pacific Masters members who support our events--we know that in Pacific Masters, we are truly fortunate to enjoy such a great slate of Open Water experiences.
Phyllis Quinn
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2022 Keller Cove Swim for Kids' Sake
September 17
Red Tide Update: During the last two weeks of August, the East Bay shoreline, including Keller Beach, was heavily impacted by the red tide algae bloom in San Francisco Bay. Although cautionary warnings are still posted, the bloom began dissipating locally around September 1st, and bay water conditions at Keller Beach are now back to normal!
For those interested, photos of bay water conditions will be posted on the Richmond Swims website over the next two weeks leading up to the Keller Cove swim event on September 17th.
The Keller Cove Swim for Kids' Sake is offering ½-mile, 1-mile or 2-mile distances, with awards and OW points for all swims. 1-mile and 2-mile swims are run concurrently. This year you can also choose to do two swims: ½ + 1-mile or ½ + 2-mile.
Expected water temperature is 62 to 66 degrees. Start and finish is on a sandy beach with sweeping views of San Francisco, the Golden Gate, Angel Island, Mt. Tam, and more! Lively race “Announcer Guy”! Hot shower on the beach! Finish the 2022 OW season with a flourish!
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Backstroke Clinic with Ryan Murphy
Saturday, September 24
The Olympic Club (524 Post St, San Francisco) is sponsoring a Masters' Backstroke Swim Clinic with Olympian Ryan Murphy. Ryan is a four-time Olympic Gold Medalist, the former world-record holder in the Men’s 100-meter backstroke, and the 2022 World Champion in the 200-meter backstroke. The clinic will focus on the backstroke.
1:30-2:00 PM... Meet and Greet
2:00-2:15 PM... Change
2:15-3:30...In-water for Clinic
There is a 40-person limit for this clinic, so don't delay! Cost is $125 per swimmer (The Olympic Club Members receive a $25 discount.) Make your check payable to The Olympic Club.
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Swim Across America - San Francisco
Saturday, September 24
Swim Across America is "Making Waves to Fight Cancer."
In our lifetime, one in two men and one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer. Pacific Masters is joining the Swim Across America community so that, together, we can change that.
Form a team, swim individually, or volunteer for the 1.5-mile, current assisted, swim starting at Little Marina Green and finishing at Aquatic Park.
If you are not able to swim, please support our fellow Pacific Masters swimmers in the Fight Against Cancer by making a donation. Find participating members and their funding page on Swim Across America.
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2022 Pacific Masters Kerry O'Brien Short Course Meters Championships
Clarke Swim Center, Walnut Creek
October 7-9
2022 is drawing to a close with the fast-approaching Annual Kerry O'Brien Short Course Meters Championships just around the corner. Hosted by Walnut Creek Masters at the Heather Farms pool complex, this low-key, well-run meet is always fun to attend.
Come, compete, and celebrate the near-normal schedule of events and Championships that we have enjoyed this year. Information
Registration is now open and will close for individuals September 28, 2022, 11:59 PM.
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Pacific Masters Swimming Event 2023 Schedule Development
An invitation to host a pool or open water event in 2023
Pacific Masters Swimming would like to extend the opportunity for your organization to consider hosting and request dates for pool meet and open water events in the 2023 calendar year. The sooner events can be set and published on the schedule the more time swimmers have to plan for attending your event.
Host bids for the Pacific Masters LCM and SCM championship meets are still being finalized and have the highest priority. When requesting dates, please avoid the following time periods:
- April 14 - 16, 2023: SCY Champs, Morgan Hill CA
- April 27 - 30 2023: USMS Spring Nationals, Irvine CA
- July 7 - 23, 2023: "reserved" for LCM Champs
- August 2 - 6 2023: USMS Summer Nationals, Sarasota FL
- The second weekend in October 2023: SCM Champs have traditionally been held on this weekend
If your club is interested in scheduling a single or multi-day event, please use the appropriate link to submit the brief information we need to follow up and begin organizing the event(s): Pool, Open Water.
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Help Pacific Masters Grow
Win a Pacific Masters Towel!
Have you earned your own Pacific Masters logo microfiber towel yet?
If you bring a new member to join your club and Pacific Masters, you may enter the monthly drawing for one of these prestigious towels, complete with the Pacific Masters logo, to show off at our up-coming events. It tells other swimmers that you helped grow Masters Swimming.
Just get a new member or bring back a swimmer who has not been a Pacific Masters swimmer in the past four years (2018-2021) and have them join Pacific Masters. Then enter their name, your name, and the club's name at New Member Towel Drawing.
There will be a drawing for towels on the last day of the month, from April through October. If you bring in a new swimmer anytime from March 1st, 2022, to the end of October 2022, you are eligible for the drawing.
Good luck and thank you for spreading the word about the benefits of swimming while helping to grow Pacific Masters!
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Pacific Masters Monthly Meeting
Wednesday, September 21, Doors Open at 6:45, Meeting at 7 PM
Join us Wednesday, September 21, for our monthly meeting via the Zoom platform. If this is your first time Zooming, we suggest you sign on a little early to ask questions and address technical issues. Even if you are familiar with Zoom, sign on early to say "hi" to your fellow swimmers.
Our monthly meeting reminder email will provide the Zoom link. If you are not on that list and would like to attend, please send an email to [email protected] for details. All members are encouraged to participate.
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US Masters Swimmers Shine at 2022 Southwest Zone Championships
Mission Viejo, California, August 9-12
A "barrage of Masters' records - World and USMS - were set" at the Southwest Zone Championships. The record-setting meet saw 22 Long Course records set from Aug. 9-12. There were eight FINA age-group world records, 12 U.S. Masters (USMS) records, one Paralympic world record and one Paralympic American record broken during the four-day competition.
Pacific Masters extends our hearty congratulations to Laura Val, David Heron, Karlyn Pipes, Gabrielle Rose, Jonathan Pierce, Jeff Commings, Anne Williams, Pavel Romanov, and Jeff Farrell. You made us proud!
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Volunteers Needed
Please work with our Clubs & Coaches Committee - we need your help!
Our committee has a few ongoing projects that need someone like you. The kinds of projects we need help with are:
- Outreach to USA-Swim clubs to determine if they have a Masters swim program
- Evaluating club websites
- Editing stories about coaches and leaders
- Writing 100-word interviews, by interviewing others
- Tracking down photographs
- Administrative Assistant - best job of all!
Coach Carol Nip, Committee Chair, who has been shouldering all these responsibilities, is desperate for your camaraderie, friendship, and help with her mission in serving our Clubs and Coaches.
If any of these tasks seem interesting to you, contact [email protected] before she drowns!
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Women in Coaching and Leadership Summit
Saturday, October 15
In honor of the 50th anniversary of Title IX, Pacific Masters Swimming invites coaches and club leaders to our first-ever Women in Coaching and Leadership event. Everyone is welcome; men included!
Our keynote speaker is Debbie Meyer, three-time Olympic champion and a former world record-holder in four events. Meyer won the 200-, 400-, and 800-meter freestyle races in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico. We will also hear from Marcia & Miriam Benjamin, a mother-daughter team of coaches, Chris Ottati on Working with your Board of Directors, and have a Q&A session with Mary Kahn, Donita Flecker, Dana Kirk and Carol Nip.
Location: Fremont Hills Country Club, 12889 Viscaino Place, Los Altos Hills, CA, 94022
Schedule: 7:30am: Swim workout
8:30am - 9:00am: Check-in
9:00am: Event begins
Cost: $50.00 Lunch and snacks will be served. Space is limited to 40 entrants. Registration
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The Watermen: The Birth of American Swimming and One Young Man's Fight to Capture Olympic Gold
by Michael Loynd
Stuart Kahn, Davis Aquatic Masters, recommends this as "the single best book on swimming I have read."
If you're interested in the history of the Olympics, the origins of modern freestyle, and the impact a skinny teenager can have on the sports world, and your knowledge of swimming goes back no further than Weismuller and Kahanamoku, then you won't want to put down the story of Charlie Daniels.
In Michael Loynd's, The Watermen, you'll find the feel-good underdog story of the first American swimmer to win Olympic gold, set against the turbulent rebirth of the modern games, that "brings to life an inspiring figure and illuminates an overlooked chapter in America's sports history." (The Wall Street Journal). Find it here.
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Becoming a Legend: A Gathering of Champions
Documentary: Mark Spitz takes us along on his historic '68 Olympic journey
Relive his trials and triumphs as Mark Spitz narrates his own Olympic story in this hour-long, fascinating documentary. From devastating defeats in Mexico City in 1964, to iconic successes in Munich in 1968, we empathize with the play-by-play strategies and emotions, as he recalls the events fifty years later.
In a most humble way, Mark tells us about the determination and unwavering focus that was required of him to win seven Olympic Gold Medals, setting new World records with each swim. This is an intimate look into the making of an Olympian. Enjoy Becoming a Legend: A Gathering of Champions.
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