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Pacific Update
Week of August 2nd, 2021
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Hello!
In this issue, you will find information on upcoming swimming events. Registration is still open for the Del Valle Open Water swim. Get excited and register for DAM's End-of-Summer Splash--our first pool meet! Hear from USMS President, Peter Guadagni, at this month's Community Talk and Social Hour! Last but not least, we have highlights from our swimmers who competed at the USMS Short Course Championship a couple of weeks ago.
The next issue of the Update will appear on August 16, 2021. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, August 11, 2021.
Stay fit,
The Pacific Masters Swimming Committee
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Magnetize Your Club's Website to Bring in New Swimmers
August 4, 7:00 PM
Potential swimmers spend LESS THAN A MINUTE on your team's web page. Could this be the reason why your website attracts few new members?
Let's touch base on Wednesday, August 4, at 7:00 PM to hear how you can immediately improve your website. Learn from the best: Dan Wegner was literally educated in rocket science but discovered his success and passion in website design. There will be time for questions at the end of the session. Register here.
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Everything You Wanted to Know About US Masters Swimming
August 12, 7:00 pm
Peter Guadagni, our current US Masters Swimming President and national champion, will join us for the August Community Talk and Social Hour for a Q&A to discuss the current state of US Masters Swimming and address any submitted questions. Register for the event and submit questions here.
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2021 Donner Lake Swim
Saturday, August 14
Registration is still open for the August 14th Donner Lake Swim. The deadline for online registration is this Saturday, August 7th. Hurry! There are VERY few spots left. Here is your chance if you've always wanted to do the Donner Lake swim. Register here
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DAM End-of-Summer Splash
Sunday, August 22
Come join us at Charles Brooks Swim Center in Woodland, CA on Sunday, August 22 for our return to in-person pool meets with this SCY meet! There will be relays, 50s, and 100s! Plus the 200 IM and 200 free!
Locker rooms with showers will be available, but swimmers will need to bring their own food. The event will follow the current COVID-19 protection orders and guidance issued by the State of California Health and Human Services Agency. R egistration will be capped to meet a 4-hour timeline (approximately 160 swimmers).
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400 Fastest Pull for Sebastopol: August ePostal Pandemic Challenge
August 1-31
Sebastopol Masters LOVES to pull! Make sure to enter the Sebastopol Masters 400 Pull For Time to show us how much you love to pull, too! You can even enter both categories: with paddles/without paddles. The Top 3 fastest times in each category will be awarded a custom medal to commemorate their achievement. This year, the 400 Fastest Pull for Sebastopol is part of the Pacific ePostal Pandemic Challenge. Information on the series can be found here.
CHALLENGE SERIES POINTS: 7,5,4,3,2,1 for 1st through 6th place respectively in each age group for each event. This means that up to 14 Challenge points are at stake! There will be an online event to announce the top 3 fastest pullers in each category along with all the winners. More information here.
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2021 Del Valle Open Water Festival
Saturday, September 11
Del Valle is back with both the 2.5k and the 5k, scheduled for Saturday, September 11. Please note the 2.5k is the USMS Middle-Distance Open Water National Championship. This year swimmers can swim either the 2.5k or 5k, but NOT both. This event has a cap of 300 swimmers. Register soon; the spots are starting to fill up. Click here to register and for more details.
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17th Annual Alan Liu Memorial SCM Meet
Sunday, September 12
Mountain View Masters is very excited to bring back the Alan Liu Memorial SCM Meet on September 12th! If you’re up for a challenge, enter the Animal Pentathlon - 400 IM, 200 breast, 200 fly, 200 back, and 400 free – some of Coach Alan’s favorite events. If that sounds too painful, we’ll also have our usual lineup of individual events and relays. This year’s registration is limited to 120 entrants, and we will not accept any mail-in or on-deck entries. Registration opens on August 12th and closes on September 8th. Click here for more Information.
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USMS: 5K/10K ePostal National Championships
May 15 - September 15
Go looooong with a 5K or 10K swim this summer in a long course pool of your choice. This event, hosted by Swim Kentucky Masters, runs through Sept. 15.
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Adult Learn-To-Swim Mentors Available
If you are interested, the ALTS Programming Committee at USMS is offering mentors to help start or grow ALTS programs in the Pacific Masters region.
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Pacific Masters Monthly Meeting
August 18, Doors Open at 6:45, Meeting at 7:00 PM
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Join us in a couple of weeks for the monthly meeting beginning promptly at 7:00 PM 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. All members are encouraged to participate. Our monthly meeting reminder email will provide the Zoom link. If you are not on that list and would like to attend, please contact Chris Ottati, Administrator, for details.
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Pacific Masters at USMS 2021 Short Course Championships Highlights
By Dianna Bautista
Almost two weeks ago, a handful of Pacific Masters swimmers competed at the USMS 2021 Short Course Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina. Between July 21 to 25, around 800 Masters swimmers raced with each day's session ending at 4:00 PM. At least 10 of those swimmers were from a Pacific Masters swim team.
Some notable accomplishments included broken Pacific records and three swimmers coming back as national champions.
Leading the way was Nancy Stretch of The Olympic Club. Nancy swam in six events, winning five of them for her age group. Stretch is the national champion in the 400 IM, 200 IM, 100 IM, 100 fly, and 200 breast for the women’s 80-84 age group. As Laureen Welting of The Olympic Club told us “Nancy is an inspiration to all!”
The other champions were Walnut Creek Masters swimmer and former USMS president, Peter Guadagni, and Sierra Nevada Masters swimmer, Joseph Walker.
Guadagni placed first in the 400 IM for the men’s 65-69 age group and also swam in the 200 breast and 200 fly, where he placed third in both events. Like Guadagni, Walker also won the 400 IM for his age group, men’s 75-79. This was an event Walker hadn’t ever swum in practice. His total race yardage for the meet was nearly 4000 yards. In addition to the 400 IM, Walker competed in the 200, 500, 1000, and 1650 free as well as the 200 IM.
The Olympic Club’s Phyllis Quinn also swam for distance, totaling 3,850 yards from the combination of the 500, 1000, and 1650 free events plus the 400 IM and 100 and 200 fly. Quinn’s swim was just a week after winning the Trans Tahoe Relay with her team!
Finally, four Pacific and two National records were broken.
Heidi George broke Pacific and National records in the 500 and 1650 free for the women’s 45-49 age group. Her times were 5:03.45 for the 500 free and 17:05.13 for the 1650 free. Brian Jones broke Pacific records in the 100 back and 200 back for the men’s 55-59 age group, with times of 56.56 and 2:03.17 respectively.
Congratulations to all our swimmers!
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Screenshot from the USMS event live stream. Nancy Stretch is competing in the 100 IM and racing in lane 6.
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Olympics Medal Count
Highlights from the Olympics Pool Competition
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That was an exciting week of pool competition! The open water events are still to come; however, so far the 2020 Olympics has featured thrilling finishes, dominant performances, and world records. The US won 30 medals while Australia showed its strength in several events to earn 20 medals. Below are some highlights from last week’s swimming:
Thrilling finishes: The games kicked off with Chase Kalisz and Jay Litherland winning gold and silver in the men’s 400 m IM. A surprising upset occurred in the men’s 400 m free when Tunisian teenager Ahmed Hafnaoui won gold from lane eight. Days later, the women’s 100 m breast saw teenager Lydia Jacoby win in 1:04.95 by surging to the front in the last 15 meters of the race.
The women’s 400 m free was the first of many battles between Katie Ledecky and Australian Ariarne Titmus. After being neck and neck with Ledecky at the final wall, Titmus used her momentum to move ahead in the final 25 meters. In a similar fashion, Titmus took the gold in the 200 m free, beating Hong Kong’s Sibohán Bernadette Haughey who led the race coming into the final 20 meters. Haughey’s silver made her the first Hong Kong athlete to win a swimming medal.
In the distance events, Bobby Finke won gold in both the men’s 1500 m and 800 m free. Both races were highlighted by strong finishing rallies in the last 50.
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Dominance: British breaststroker Adam Peaty defended his title in the men’s 100 m breast. As part of the men’s 4x100 m medley relay, Peaty went a 56.53—the fastest breaststroke relay split of all time.
Ledecky won her third straight gold in the 800 m free and her first gold in the inaugural women's 1500 m free. With these wins, Ledecky's total medal count is six individual Olympic gold medals, making her the first female swimmer to achieve this feat.
Caeleb Dressel (pictured above) joined the elite club of male Olympians who won five-plus gold medals at a single games. His medal tally included three individual golds in the 50 m free, 100 m free, and 100 m fly plus two relay golds in the men’s 4x100 m free and medley. In the process, he broke two world records, set two Olympic records, and swam the fastest butterfly split of all time with a 49.03.
The Aussies placed in six of the seven relays with the women placing in all three of their relays. They just out-touched the US team in the women's 4x100 m medley relay. Swimmers on the Aussie relays included Kaylee McKeown, who won the women’s 100 m and 200 m back, and Emma McKeon, whose Olympics ended with seven medals—four gold in the 50 m free, 100 m free, 4x100 m free relay, and 4x100 m medley relay, plus three bronze in the 100 m fly, 4x100 m mixed medley relay, and 4x200 m free relay. McKeon's all-time Olympic medal total is now 11, making her the most decorated Australian Olympian. This dethrones legends Ian Thorpe and Leisel Jones.
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Down with the records: 24 Olympic records, 6 world records, and several European, Asian, and National records were broken during the games. Here are the new world records:
- The Australian women broke the world record for the 4x100 m free relay win a time of 3:29.69
- South African swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker smashed the women’s 200 m breast record with a time of 2:18.95
- The Chinese women crushed the world record for the 4x200 m free relay with a time of 7:40.33. The USA and Australia teams placed second and third, with all three teams going under the previous world record
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Dressel lowered the 100 fly world record to 49.45. In his race, he just out-touched Hungarian Kristóf Milák, the winner of the 200 m fly, who was coming on strong in the last few meters
- The British 4x100 mixed medley relay team set a new world record in this inaugural event, coming in at 3:37.58
- The USA men, featuring Dressel, ended the meet by breaking the world record for the 4x100 m medley relay. The team clocked in at 3:26.78 anchored by Zach Apple's 46.95 freestyle leg
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