Gooooo, Jen!!!

One of my former Masters coaches, Jennifer (Jen) Beckberger, who swam for ASU and now swims for the Canada national women's team, is looking to compete in the 2012 Olympics in London. She recently competed in the Pam Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico (10/15 and 10/16), and her team came home with the Bronze for the Women's 4x100 Freestyle relay. She narrowly held off a gal from Venezuela by the smallest of margins (she won by .18 seconds). I'm so proud of her. Here's the link to the video (her swim starts at 6 minutes 30 seconds into the video -- she's the relay anchor in lane 3).
She was such a good coach to our Masters team and I am so happy she is going on to really great things. Here are a couple of pictures I snagged from CBC Sports:

Jen is to the far left in the next three photos.

Jen leaning in for the medal podium shot.

Feel for Lumps -- Save Your Bumps

Anyone offended with this slogan in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month should be ashamed of themselves. But, that isn't exactly what happened at Gilbert High School this week. Here's an excerpt from the story that can be accessed in full here:
Gilbert High School has banned a cheerleading squad trying to raise money for breast-cancer research from wearing their pink shirts because the administration contends they carry an objectionable slogan.

The shirts, which say "Gilbert cheer" on the front and "Feel for lumps, save your bumps" on the back, were bought for the 56 freshman, junior varsity and varsity cheerleaders for $470, said Gayleen Skowronek, the cheer booster-club president.

The girls planned to wear the shirt at Friday's football game and the next home football game as they cheered and then walk around to collect money from the crowd.

Here's a picture of the banned shirt. Would the school principal be happy if the word "bumps" was changed to "breasts"? Unbelievable! Isn't this a violation of Free Speech? Mr. Santa Cruz should be ashamed of himself.

Langley's Country Market

When arriving at the Gilbert Riparian Preserve this morning, my daughter and I noticed a "Pumpkin Patch" sign across the street. A country market opened up a year ago, and we decided to check it out. What a find! They have lots of natural locally grown and made products, such as honey, olive oils, soaps, any more. Behind the store they have a small tree farm, a picnic area, and a covered ramada that served as their pumpkin patch.

The store clerk was so friendly and told us we could go out and see the livestock and just hang out if we felt like it. I snapped a few pictures with my cell phone -- what a great little place, so close to home. If you haven't had a chance to check them out, you should.

Around the World in 60 seconds

Meet #5 - Mesa Aquatics SCM East Valley Invite

I participated in my fifth swim meet of the year this past weekend, swimming the 50 Free, 50 Breast, and the 100 Breast. I managed to swim two personal bests despite having a couple of "equipment malfunctions" (i.e., goggles either filling with water or slipping down on my face) during both of my Breaststroke swims. My 50 Free went perfectly and I swam my fastest 50 of the year.

The highlight of the meet was being able to meet up with James Adams, who came all the way from Washington state to participate in a "smack-down" challenge with another Arizona swimmer. He posted some great times and took first in his age group in all of his events. In addition, he broke an Inland record to boot. Great swimming, James! Here's a photo I took with my cell phone that shows the start of his last event, the 400 Free. Everyone is lined up so well, I honestly can't make out where he is.



Here's a YouTube link to his 200 Free: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csynf1_hKgg&feature=colike

The weather was a bit warmer than expected, and just before the start of the meet, it looked like we were going to get rained on. A big dark cloud appeared, but once the temperature started to rise, it dissipated. It did provide some nice shade while I counted laps for James in his 800 FR.



In all, another great meet hosted by Mesa Aquatics. My next meet is the Ron Johnson Invitational, which is being held at my home pool at ASU. It will be fun, no doubt!

Arrrrgh, Matey! It be Talk Like a Pirate Day!

http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

Ahoy! Check out what the Island Cats are doing for this here special day:

http://www.island-cats.com/?p=15262

Arizona Jewel

I spent the most wonderful day with three of my swim friends at Fossil Creek. What an absolutely beautiful place, and so close to home.

Now that I've seen the creek, I want to go back and do the Fossil Springs trail, which takes you to the source of the beautiful blue-green water that flows in the creek. The four-mile hike, with a 1600 foot elevation drop, takes you to five springs, called Fossil Springs, that pour out more than a million gallons an hour of 72-degree water from a limestone ledge. I can't wait to see it!! Next time. :) Until then, enjoy the creek photos.
This is the first place we stopped and took a cool dip.

You can see how clear and beautiful the water is, not to mention my three gorgeous friends. :)

The big falls on the creek. Besides swimming, I was able to stand under the waterfall.

It was soooo loud.

Kate, Kelly, and Felissa. They're the best!