Hello SOMA nation,
Greetings from sunny and mild Guadalajara, Mexico! Leah and I are on a long-overdue vacation down south in the land of tequila and Mariachi. It is beautiful down here and we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves so far.
I hope everyone is having a good winter and is getting motivated and excited to swim in the Oregon Association Championship meet on May 17-19 in Tualatin Hills. I know I am! We’ve been gaining some new members lately who plan to attend, so we should again be able to vie for the large-team title this year. Due to a few conflicts with the date, we will be missing some of our regulars from the Medford area where I swim, so we need everyone else to show up and represent SOMA. It will be a blast!!
ONE-HOUR SWIM DEADLINE APPROACHING
Congratulations to all of you who have done your one-hour swim already. Here’s a list of SOMA swimmers I know of who have done it:
Uwe Britsch (63) = 4125
Barry Fasbender (82) = 3030
Leah Harris (34) = 3910
Jim Josberger (47) = 4735
Willard Lamb (97!) = 2850
Matt Miller (42) = 5260
Jeff Piette (63) = 4445
Lisa Ross (52) = 4090
Dan Kirkland (71) = 4710
Tanya Baxter and Jayna Tomac in Coos Bay will do theirs tomorrow (Saturday the 23).
Big congratulations to Barry Fasbender who is still recovering from shoulder surgery and can only very recently swim with both arms. He was able to do his one-hour swim yesterday and, at the age of 82, get over 3000 yards. Wow!
If you haven’t done yours already, you have until the end of this month (next Thursday) to get it done! Be sure to get it done and register before the deadline.
Oregon always vies for the large team title in this event and relays are key to our Oregon success. The more people who do it, the more relays Oregon can put together. Everyone in Oregon swims as one team for this event and our OMS Long Distance Chair will assemble relays (men’s, women’s, mixed) for Oregon. Relays are determined by the youngest swimmer on the relay and are broken into 10-year age groups (18+, 25+, 35+, 45+, etc.). Men’s and women’s relays require 3 people and mixed relays are 4 people (2 men, 2 women). Some of the older age groups in Oregon have some very fast swimmers in them. 76-year old Ralph Mohr in Coos Bay did his one-hour swim with me in late January. There are several other 75+ swimmers around the state who will also likely swim. We have a few on our SOMA roster too who should swim it (I’m looking at you, Frank Philipps!).
My good friend and mentor Dave Radcliff, who is 85 this year, swam his one-hour swim already. And everyone knows our very own SOMA Willard Lamb (97). Dave and Willard’s combined total yardage for a Men’s 85+ relay is 6655 yds, with just the two of them! The men’s 85+ relay record is 6510 yds. But the rule requires a three-person relay for entry, so we all should all be looking really hard to convince another 85+ guy to swim. If you know of any 85-year old or older swimmers, get them to do at least 5 yards, sign up for the event, and they will be on a national-record setting relay!
OK, see you all poolside again soon. Swim on and stay strong SOMA nation!