In March the OMS treasurer, Kermit Yensen, attended a USMS leadership conference in Phoenix, AZ representing OMS. The objectives included Opportunity to learn and exchange ideas Equip leaders to cultivate, motivate, recruit and recognize volunteers Provide info and tools to improve governance and programs Educate leaders on how they fit […]
Monthly Archives: April 2015
Jayna Tomac Age: 43 Local City: Coos Bay Local Team: COMA, Bend Occupation: Speech-Language Pathologist Jayna grew up in Redmond, WA, where she began swimming competitively for Bellevue Eastside Swim Team when she was 6. During her very first swim meet, she jumped in the pool instead of using the […]
Swimmer Spotlight
In a previous article, I wrote about the complexities of finding relay teams at swim meets. I know, it shouldn’t be that hard because all you need are four men or four women, or a mixed team of two men and two women, and you have a relay team. At […]
Why Oregon has so many record-breaking relays
On the same Sunday as the OMS Championships a friend of mine was running the Corvallis Half Marathon. Karen Matson also happens to be a USMS member and is the only person I know who has run a full marathon and swum a 10K in the same year. You’ll find […]
Swim Bits
Oregon Masters has about 2% of the swimmers in USMS, and we hold about 5.5% of the National relay records. In trying to find some patterns in the data, I decided to slice the data in a number of different ways, to see where Oregon relays are strongest. When you […]
Oregon Relay Records are Outstanding!
What equipment do I need? Not much! The beauty of swimming is that the water provides all the resistance you need to work every part of your body. No machine can match it. Swimsuits Bulky suits weigh you down and make it harder to swim efficiently, so the best choice […]
Masters Swimming 101
The Oregon Club had a jump in participation and a strong performance in the 2014 USMS One-Hour Postal National Championships, held in January in your local pool. Our overall participation was short of our record, but there were many good swims. The Oregon Club was runner-up in the Large Club […]
Long Distance Swimming

THE PROBLEM The secret to swimming fast under BIG meet pressure is simple to understand and yet so much harder to do: You have to learn to stay physically loose and mentally composed behind the blocks before your races. If you allow yourself to get too nervous pre-race, your muscles […]
Avoid the Biggest Mental Mistake Swimmers Make
It’s that time of year again and time for my tips for swimming and training long course and open water. Let’s look at some tips and basics that you need to think about when approaching the summer season. Always think about technique and try to reduce resistance in your stroke. […]