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5 Tips to Help You Transition From the Swimming Pool to Open Water Swimming

Posted by tracyb under Open Water Swims

Say goodbye to a clear, temperate, chlorinated U.S. Masters swimming pool, and say hello to a murky green lake with fish and algae and fresh country air. I’m no expert on open water swimming. However, I’d like to share 5 tips that my friends and I found helpful in our transition out of the pool and into a lake. 1. Swim with Friends Swimming with friends isn’t necessary, but is a very good idea. Friends offer encouragement and feedback. Of course, it is certainly safer to swim with friends than to swim alone.

US Masters Swimmers learning to swim in the open water 2. Have Kayak Support Do you ...

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Are College Swim Programs Becoming Extinct?

Posted by tracyb under Swimming News

Over the past year, collegiate institutions have cut or suspended over 300 programs due to Athletic Departments’ inability to financially and/or administratively support their swim teams.  These cuts represent the significant loss of opportunity for thousands of student athletes who consistently achieve the highest levels of academia and athletics throughout their school as well as the entire United States.

Over the past several months a few organizations have emerged to support the well-being of college swimming, and one of the newest efforts originates from Swim Blogs United.

TheSwimmersCircle.com founder and co-owner, Andy Scherer and Braden Keith, have collaborated with several swimming blogs to form Swim Blogs ...

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Ahoy Maties!

Johnny Depp a U.S. Masters Swimmer? No such luck. What I did find at a recent Marin Pirates swim practice was dedicated, enthusiastic, passionate and accessible Head Coach Cokie Lepinski and an extremely demonstrative and nice Assistant Coach Susie Powell. Both women are certified ASCA and USA Swimming coaches. Cokie is a fierce competitor who holds US Masters National Records in the women's 50-54 age group 100- and 200-yard breaststroke and the 100 meters (short course meters) breaststroke. Susie competes in open water swims and pool competitions and owns several Top 10 rankings with US Masters Swimming. She is a member of a World Record setting relay team. (And yet they associate with a slacker like me!)...

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US Masters Spring Nationals Swim Meet

Watching the videos on the US Masters Swimming YouTube Channel - I'm greatly relieved I didn't sign up to compete US Masters Spring Nationals swim meet in Georgia. From looking at these videos, I'd say everyone who swims at these USMS meets is a bad a$$. Having been to numerous meets, both as a competitor and a photographer, I can tell you though, that there are a variety of shapes and sizes and abilities at these events.

Here's a recap from yesterday's events - including some footage of Cokie Lepinski, who celebrated her birthday yesterday by winning the 100 breast stroke and setting a national record. Cokie is the coach of the Marin Pirates Masters Swimmers.

 

 

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2010 USMS Spring Nationals Taking Place Now!

Good luck to my friends and fellow U.S. Masters Swimmers at the 2010 USMS Spring Nationals being held at Georgia Tech Aquatic Center this week.  You can follow news and results here: US Masters Swimmers org:  http://www.usms.org/ Real time results: http://www.usms.org/comp/scnats10/realtime/ For updates in Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/US-Masters-Swimming/106935322660790 For updates via Twitter:   @MastersSwimming @cokiel @smsRob I expect we’ll see some great blog posts from RobAquatics too!

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USMS Short Course Championships – Atlanta, Georgia May 20-23

The U.S. Masters Swimming Short Course Championships are just around the corner. The event is being held at the Georgia Tech Campus recreation center in Atlanta. DATES
 Competition: Thursday, May 20 - Sunday, May 23, 2010.
 Pool available for warm-ups Wednesday, May 19 from 3 - 8 p.m.

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Nothing About Nothing

Posted by tracyb under Swimming News

You know, the thing about having a blog is that readers (assuming you have them) more or less expect you to post regularly. Stop posting: you lose your readers. It’s been a struggle lately to come up with anything to blog about. This space is meant to be about my experiences with U.S. Masters Swimming, more specifically about my participation with Tuolumne County Aquatics Masters. If you’ve seen any of my more recent posts, you’ll know I had shoulder surgery, and I’ve been out of the pool since the second week of March. Not a lot of swimming going on around here. It’s a true schlep to get to the pool, so it’s not like I’m going to make ...

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Who Knew Swimming Could Be So Entertaining?

Posted by tracyb under Swimming News

Have you seen...

 

I discovered this hilarious swimming blog while perusing the17thman’s site this morning.  

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2010 Pacific Masters Short Course Yards Championships

While camped out at home recovering from shoulder surgery and performing the simplest of arm movements (and feeling incredibly sorry for myself), more than 900 adult swimmers from all over Northern California and the West Coast participated in the 2010 Pacific Masters Short Course yards championship swim meet this past weekend. In the largest local meet on the West Coast, held at the Dolores Bengston Aquatic Center in Pleasanton, California, 19 records were broken: 12 individual and 7 relays. There were competitors in every age group from ages 18-94. For complete details and results, visit the Pacific Masters Swimming website. Congratulations to all swimmers, and a very special shout out to my buddy Cokie Lepinski ...

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Last Call for 2010 USMS Short Course National Championships Entries

Any U.S. Masters Swimmers interested in competing in the USMS Short Course National Championships must enter before 11:59 PM today. The meet will be held from May 20-23 at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Click here to enter online.

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