Hello SOMA peoples,
I hope your summer is off to a good start. Many of us have taken to the lakes and rivers to swim in the open water, which is a great break from the standard pool workouts we do most of the year.
Oregon Masters Swimming open water season has already kicked off with the “Beautiful Lake Juniper Buoy Swim” that was held on June 16th in conjunction with the Bend LCM meet on June 15th. Several of us from SOMA made the trip up to Bend to swim and have some fun. And just last weekend was the Foster Lake Cable swims near Sweet Home, Oregon. Four of us from SOMA swam and did great! If you’d like to check up on your teammates, results from both weekends and all three events can be found on the Oregon Masters Swimming website here:
https://swimoregon.org/results/
If you haven’t yet made it to an event this year, there are plenty more open water events to come, along with the OMS Association LCM Champs at the end of August (23-25) held in Gresham at Mt. Hood Community College. I hope that you all plan to attend so we can swim together as a team again! Last year we took 2nd overall and I believe we will have everyone who swam last year coming back for more this year so plan to join us!!
Coming up very soon is one of our local events, the Applegate Lake Swims hosted by Rogue Valley Masters. This year the 1500m swim on Sunday is the OMS Association Open Water Champs, so SOMA should do quite well if we show up. Let’s plan on doing so and taking home our first SOMA open water banner! Registration closes for Applegate Lake Swims on July 7th at midnight, so sign up soon! Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend this year due to a conflict with a meeting, so everyone needs to be sure to show up and represent in my absence!
If you don’t plan on swimming at Applegate Lake on Saturday, RVM is looking for volunteers to kayak for safety. Lunch is included and it is a great way to spectate the race. If you can help out, please get in contact with the event director, Todd Lantry, at lantryt@gmail.com.
UPCOMING EVENTS
July 13-14 – Applegate Lake Swim, registration closes July 7th at midnight:
https://www.clubassistant.com/club/meet_information.cfm?c=1352&smid=12397
July 26-28 – Elk Lake Swims, registration closes on July 21st at midnight:
https://www.clubassistant.com/club/meet_information.cfm?c=1756&smid=11568
August 17 – Eel Lake Swims (one of our events so be sure to be there!!!):
https://www.clubassistant.com/club/meet_information.cfm?c=2441&smid=11818
August 23-25 – OMS Association LCM Champs (Gil Young meet):
https://www.clubassistant.com/club/meet_information.cfm?c=1352&smid=12397
September 7 – Lake of the Woods Swims (another one of our events — registration to open soon):
https://www.clubassistant.com/club/meet_information.cfm?c=2441&smid=11819
Full list of upcoming events in Oregon is here:
https://swimoregon.org/events/
OTHER TIDBITS AND INFORMATION
I recalled a few more tidbits from the OMS Association Champs weekend in April that I wanted to share with you.
1) The Medford Mail Tribune did a little writeup on our OMS Association Champs team:
https://mailtribune.com/sports/community-sports/ghiglieri-sets-three-oregon-masters-swimming-records
2) Barry Fasbender was awarded the “Most Outstanding Swimmer 49 & Over” in 2018! Congratulations, Barry!
3) I was awarded “Most Splashes” and 2nd place “Most Outstanding Swimmer 49 & Under.” I was also very honored to receive the “Gil Youg Spirit Award” this year.
A list of awards that OMS presents each year, along with their descriptions, can be found here:
https://swimoregon.org/awards/
A list of past recipients of each award is here:
https://swimoregon.org/oms-award-recipients/#oldbarn
If you can think of anyone who is deserving of an award, keep them in mind for a nomination next year! A call for nominations is typically sent out several times over the winter and early spring.
That’s all for now! See you all near water sometime soon