Ralph Mohr

Ralph Mohr — SLC, Revenge, and Murray Rose After Mark Spitz’ less than sterling performance at the Mexico City Olympics, he enrolled at the University of Indiana under Doc Councilman. There was a lot of talk about how he would adjust to Doc’s style of coaching and how Doc would handle him. Some […]

How I Came to Appreciate Mark Spitz – Part 4

17 Sep, 2019 in Aqua Master Online / Human Interest / Memories / Swim Bits by Ralph Mohr

Back to Front, Left to Right: Oregon Swimmers Ed Ramsey, Bob Bruce, Ralph Mohr, Matt Miller, Jayette Pettit, Suzy Jajewski, and Jeanna Summers at Whiskeytown Lake — Eight stalwart Oregon Masters swimmers went to Whiskeytown Lake, Sept 8, to swim amidst desolation and ashes. Last year the Whiskeytown races were not held due to the disastrous Carr Fire near Redding. From the starting line at Brandy Creek, swimmers could see fire-swept hills in the distance and charred […]

The Whiskeytown Gang!

17 Sep, 2019 in Aqua Master Online / Events / Meet Summary by 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