Kindred Spirits -- Debaru and Elaine-iaK!

While perusing the United States Masters Swimming (USMS) discussion forums in April of 2010, I came across a post by a gal, named Elaine, who mentioned she had grown up in Lakewood, CA. Well, I grew up in Long Beach, which completely surrounds Lakewood, so I wondered if we had ever crossed paths while growing up. The only way to find out was to send her a private message introducing myself and a bit of my Long Beach history and ask. Here is her original response:

Well, what started as a couple of questions has turned into a very special friendship. After that first private message, we began communicating frequently via email and through the forum, and I have Elaine (and another forumite, Michael) to thank for encouraging me to get back into competitive pool swimming.

Elaine and I met in person for the first time at the USMS Spring National championship swim meet in April of 2011, which was held in Mesa, AZ. Click here to read my post on that event. One of my best memories of that meeting is of Elaine and Michael screaming at me from the opposite end of the pool during the Butterfly portion of my Individual Medley (IM) race. I know it helped me to swim faster!

Me and Elaine enjoying a post-meet brew at Four Peaks in Tempe

The next time we met was in January 2012 for Elaine's 50th birthday party in California. She was kind enough to invite me and how could I say no! What an honor! Elaine's sister, Gail, hosted an absolutely fabulous birthday dinner, where I got to meet her entire family. During my visit, she and I were hoping to swim at the famous Belmont Plaza Pool, but due to a mechanical issue, the pool had been drained, so instead, we swam in the small outdoor workout pool. During that visit, Elaine and I talked about swimming so much, I think her poor husband's head was going to explode.

 Belmont Plaza Pool -- empty, but still beautiful!

Post-workout at the Martin Luther King Pool in Long Beach

Bruce and Elaine -- Long Beach (Belmont Pier in the background)

Cheers! Enjoying another great meal and good brew at the Belmont Brewing Company

Meeting number three took place in June of 2012, with me visiting Elaine and Bruce in their home state of Georgia. As part of my visit, Elaine and I competed in a swim meet, which was held at the University of Georgia. Click here for all the wonderful details (I took lots of great photos during that trip).

Elaine between races at the University of Georgia

All smiles at the University of Georgia pool

Our latest meeting recently took place in August of this year at the USMS Summer Nationals in Mission Viejo, CA, which I posted about a week ago. What I didn't include in that post, were pictures of Elaine. I ended up taking only one of her, where she modeled the "I Heart Breaststroke" t-shirt I gave her. Fortunately, her husband Bruce took a couple of really great photos of the two of us.

Just after we ran into each other in Mission Viejo

Hanging out between races

Unfortunately, I was only able to spend a small amount of time with Elaine and Bruce in between races, but we were able to get away for lunch at our beloved Togo's sandwich shop. Love that #24 (Turkey and Avocado)!! We sat outside in the perfect southern California weather and just chatted for about 3 hours. It was pure heaven!!

I'm not sure when I will get to see Elaine next, actually, tomorrow wouldn't be soon enough, but thanks to U.S. Masters swimming, I know I have a friend for life. She and I are definitely what I would call "kindred spirits".

Oh, and if you're wondering -- Debaru?? Elaine-iaK?? You'll just have to check out the USMS forums to find out.

Love ya, Elaine!!

2013 USMS Summer Nationals -- What a Trip!

Each year, United States Masters Swimming (USMS) holds two national championship swim meets. The first is the Spring Nationals, which is a Short Course Yards meet. The second, is Summer Nationals, which is a Long Course Meters meet. Each meet is hosted by a different club in varying parts of the country. This year, the Summer Nationals was hosted by the Mission Viejo Nadadores swim club, one of the oldest and well respected swim clubs in all of California, if not the nation. Having been born and raised in southern California, I was well aware of this club and their awesome facility, the Marguerite Aquatic Center.

The upper photo shows the general layout of the competition pool. The lower photo shows the conditions during the meet, which were absolutely perfect.

My trip to Summer Nationals this year was "hands down" one of the best experiences in my entire life. This was my second USMS nationals swim meet, and this time I brought home a medal! Thanks to three of the Sun Devil Masters swim divas (Katy, Jonelle, and Christie), our 200 meter medley relay came in Third!

The medal win came on the first of four days of competition. I was secretly hoping to bring home at least a 10th place medal, but to actually win a Bronze was beyond my wildest dreams.

Besides winning medals, one of the best parts of swimming is the people! Our team this year was comprised of 35 wonderful swimmers from all over Arizona, including one Olympian, Clark Burckle, who competed in last summer's Olympics. Watching him swim his individual events, and his contributions to the relays was worth the trip alone. However, there were many, many, fun and exciting moments that took place over the four-day event that I will never forget.

What a team!!

Marc, Katy, Taylor, Aung Sann, Terry, Jonelle, and Christie, modeling the team t-shirt.

During the competition, points are awarded for 1st to 10th place, which are tallied at the end of the meet. Arizona Masters won first in the Men's, Women's, and the Regional Team categories -- a clean sweep!

In between all of the racing, we hung out together in our group of three shade tents.

I swim with a really fun bunch of people as evidenced by the following photos.

 Swimmers come in all sizes.

Swimmers come from all walks of life. Here, we have a Technical Writer (me), a recent college grad, a lawyer, a family member of an auto racing equipment business, and an M.D.

 Here we again have a lawyer, two software engineers, a nurse practitioner, a lab scientist, me, and an architect. I think I hang out with a pretty impressive crowd.

Some of the gals hanging out between races.

Rachel, Shoshanna, and Alicia having some fun with their Championship Patches and Medals.

Arizona Masters Swimming TATTOOS!!! (yes, they are temporary)

 Brother and sister, Greg and Katy, photobombing the girls.

Alicia showing off her swimmer muscles. This was her first meet in 6 years and not only did she go home with several medals, she got to swim on the relay with Clark, our Olympic swimmer.

Alicia and Clark Burckle just before the start of their relay.

Clark last swam for the University of Arizona before competing in the 2012 Olympics, where he came in 6th in the 200 meter Breaststroke. While competing in this meet, he walked away with the Masters world record in the same event. Way to go, Clark! He helped us big time when it came to racking up points for the team, especially in the freestyle and medley relays.

Shoshanna waiting to swim the Butterfly leg after Clark's Breaststroke leg in the mixed medley relay.

This post would not be complete without recognizing a bit of history in the making. Think about it, in about 70 years, our youngest relay team will be the same age as the swimmers in the photo above!! These people are what Masters swimming is all about. Don't they look amazing?!! I had the pleasure of watching them swim this relay and throw down a new world record. I hope to be trying to achieve the same thing by the time I'm in my 90's!!

USMS Summer Nationals - Women's Medley Relay - Third Place

Arizona Masters pulled off a "hat trick" by sweeping the meet, winning the Men's, Women's, and Regional (overall) titles!
Thanks to Katy, Jonelle and the lightning quick Christie, I picked up my first swimming medal in the 200 meter Women's Medley Relay (I swam the Breaststroke leg). Here's a link to the video.
http://coverage.takeitlive.tv/keyword/13tl45tv-e12#!i=2697097770&k=NCcDKzP