The logo on the sleeve of the meet tee shirt summed things up: Be the Fish. Two hundred thirty-four swimmers took that advice to heart and dove into the water 1,092 times over the course of April 18-20, 2018, in the Association Meet at Osborn Aquatic Center in Corvallis. The fun and camaraderie that accompanied this meet were inestimable. Some swimmers used this meet as a warm-up for the national meet that was held in May, while others wrapped up a productive short-course season, and everybody came out to celebrate being participants and fans of a life-long sport.
The following is a list of swimmers who dominated their age groups with the most first-place finishes.
On the women’s side were:
18-24 —Erin Cavender and Malia Schuck, five wins each
25-29—Kendra Chernoff, six wins
30-34—Alexis Higlett, four wins
35-39—Tessa Reeves and Sara Shepard, four wins each
40-44—Sonja Skinner and Serena Johnson, four wins each
45-49—Kelly Dean, four wins
50-54—Jill Asch, five wins
55-59—Merrie Watts, five wins
60-64—Colette Crabbe, six wins
65-69—Janet Gettling, five wins
70-74—Margaret Toppel, five wins, and
75-79—Joy Ward, three wins
For the men:
18-24—Max Bley-Male, six wins
25-29—Mitchell Wise, six wins
30-34—James Johnson, six wins
35-39—Matthew Marceau, George Dingeldein and Alexis Bidout, four wins each
40-44—Jeff Nason, five wins
45-49—Mike Self, six wins
50-54—Scot Sulllivan, six wins
55-59—Brent Washburne and David Hathaway, four wins
60-64—Robert Voll, four wins
65-69—Allen Larsen, six wins
70-74—Jon Stout, six wins
75-79—Frank Philipps, four wins
80-84—George Thayer, four wins and
95-99—Willard Lamb, six wins
The first three places for different size teams were:
Large teams: (1) Oregon Reign, 861 points (2) Southern Oregon Masters, 747 points (3) Central Oregon Masters, 289 points
Medium teams: (1) Multnomah Athletic Club, 765 points (2) Oregon City Tankers, 437 points (3) Corvallis Aquatic Team, 400 points
Small teams: (1) Stafford Hills, 201 points (2) Columbia Gorge Masters, 141 points (3) Team Club Sport Oregon, 100 points.
All the teams rooted for one another in true swimming sportsmanlike fashion. At the end of the week, we were all tired in a very good way. A huge Thanks goes to the Corvallis Aquatic Team members and all other volunteers and officials who worked so hard to make this a rewarding weekend of fun. And now we know what Be the Fish means—Just Keep Swimming.
Bend Pentathlon
Only a month after the Association Meet, Oregon Masters were ready for more action—this time in long course distances. On May 19, 2018, COMA hosted a Long Course Meters Pentathlon of various rigor. Some swimmers opted for the Brute Distances, swimming the 50, 100, 200, 400 and 800 M Free events in one day. Just as brutish were the Long Distance events consisting of 200 meters of each stroke topped off by a 400 M Individual Medley. The Medium and Short Distance events required the energy capable of finishing 100s of each stroke plus a 200 IM and 50s of each stroke plus a 200 IM, respectively. All this was accomplished with the oxygen available at the Juniper Swim Center’s 3,500+ feet elevation!
These events were swum one at a time, and a competitor’s final time was the cumulative result of all their events. In the Brute division, a very competitive Womens 60-64 age-group field saw Jeanna Summers win in 25:28.75. Michael Stadnisky finished first in the Mens 35-39 class with a time of 21:49.12, Mark Lane took the Mens 60-64 division in 32:13.04 and Michael Carew placed first all-around in the Mens 65-69 age group with a 28:44.67. For the Pentathlon Long Division races, versatile Colette Crabbe won her 60-64 age group in 18:18.84 and Matt Miller took his, Mens 40-44, in 17:35.27. The Pentathlon Medium Distance had Stacey Kiefer ( W 40-44) finish in 8:39.36. For the Pentathlon Short, lactic-acid oriented sprint distances, Christina Fox (W55-59) won in 6:57.70 and Jan Voeller (M55-59) finished in 5:59.35.
This meet was a great way to get in lots of different events in preparation for the summer Long Course season ahead of the Gil Young/Zone LCM Championship Meet now scheduled for late July. The new date for the Gil Young/Zone LCM Championship meet is July 20-22. Congratulations, everyone!