Ralph Mohr

Ralph Mohr — It’s a little known fact that Mark Spitz was considered to be a world class long distance freestyler as well as a butterflier. In the summer of 1966 the AAU Long Course National Championships were held at Lincoln, NE. I happened to be free that August, having resigned as coach […]

How I Came to Appreciate Mark Spitz – Part 3: ...

19 Aug, 2019 in Aqua Master Online / Swim Bits by Ralph Mohr

Ralph Mohr — Mano a Mano with John Ferris In 1964, I became coach of Shasta High School and the Redding Swim Club in Redding, California. It was a fun place to coach. We started the high school season on January 3 one year, and we had a snow ball fight on the […]

Swim Bits – How I Came to Appreciate Mark Spitz ...

18 Jul, 2019 in Aqua Master Online / Human Interest / Memories / Swim Bits by Ralph Mohr

Ralph Mohr — In 1962, I came home during spring vacation, after a successful stint as a walk-on for the UO Swim Team in my junior year. I wanted to keep swimming after the college season so I went back to my old swim team, Pleasant Hill Swim Club, in northern California for […]

Swim Bits – How I Came to Appreciate Mark Spitz, ...

19 Jun, 2019 in Aqua Master Online / Swim Bits by Ralph Mohr

Ralph Mohr — Summer is coming, so get your sunblock out. Note that I said “sun-block,” not “sun-screen.” What’s the difference? Sun-blocks have physical barriers between your skin and the ultra-violet rays of the sun. Sunscreens depend mostly on chemicals to protect your skin from UV, and the chemicals have to permeate your […]

Swim Bits – Sunblock vs. Sunscreen

16 Apr, 2019 in Aqua Master Online / Swim Bits by Ralph Mohr

Ralph Mohr — In 1974 Oregon Masters Swimming had its first State Championship. As far as I know there are three swimmers from that meet who are still involved in OMS: Ron Nakata, Alice Zabudsky, and myself. Karl VonTagen was also there, but I have not seen him at a meet for a […]

Swim Bits – March 2019

18 Feb, 2019 in Aqua Master Online / Events / Planning / Swim Bits by Ralph Mohr

Ralph Mohr — Late last summer the Carr Fire burned completely around Whiskeytown Reservoir near Redding, California. The 2018 Whiskeytown open water meet was cancelled. The Whiskeytown races will be held again this year, according to the coach of the Redding Swim Team. I would like to propose that Oregon Masters swimmers make […]

Swim Bits – February 2019

21 Jan, 2019 in Aqua Master Online / Events / Planning / Swim Bits by Ralph Mohr

Ralph Mohr — “Dumbo” was a 1941 Disney animated movie that featured a baby elephant with very large ears. In the film Dumbo is picked on because of his ears, but with them he can do something no elephant could ever do – fly. Dumbo needs confidence, though. His only friend, Timothy Q. […]

Swim Bits – The Dumbo Effect

19 Dec, 2018 in Aqua Master Online / Human Interest / Motivation / Swim Bits by Ralph Mohr

It was 7:30 in the morning at 4949’ altitude, and 23 Masters swimmers immersed themselves in the 67 degree water of Lake of the Woods between Medford and Klamath Falls. The smoky air of Friday had dispersed, and all waited for starter and race director Matt Miller to say, “Go.” […]

Lake of the Woods Open Water Swims – Saturday, Sept. ...

19 Sep, 2018 in Aqua Master Online / Events / Featured / Long Distance / Meet Summary / Open Water / Results by Ralph Mohr

Ralph Mohr — Endure, by Alex Hutchinson, is a book about how the mind can affect athletic performance. He focuses mainly on runners, a much larger group than swimmers, but much of what he says relates to what we do in the water. Hutchinson’s basic premise is that discomfort and pain in workouts […]

Swim Bits – Practicing Boredom and Discomfort

19 Sep, 2018 in Aqua Master Online / Swim Bits by Ralph Mohr