Motivation

I am not a believer in numerology, but a confluence of related numbers caught my attention a while ago. Here is what I noticed. My next birthday would be my 84th. I started swimming in ’48. Over the years I have done 41 swims from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco. […]

Just One More Alcatraz Swim

19 Sep, 2018 in Aqua Master Online / Events / Human Interest / Long Distance / Motivation / Open Water by Joe Oakes

What motivates you to stay active, fit, and healthy? This article is a follow-up to the January, 2018, coaches’ article about goal setting. which can be found here: http://swimoregon.org/what-are-your-goals-for-2018/ I hope that you are enjoying making progress toward any SMART goals you have set for yourself (SMART is defined in […]

Find Your Motivation – A Follow-up to SMART Goals

22 Aug, 2018 in Aqua Master Online / Coach's Chair / Coaching / Motivation by Matt Miller

Ralph Mohr — It’s an old adage: “Don’t Quit.” Easier said than done! However, an 80-year-old Ironman triathlete, John Holman, follows that notion. His story can be found here: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2018/05/05/80-year-old-man-competing-ironman-dont-quit/583765002/ We have several older swimmers who fit that same notion, led, of course, by Willard Lamb and Dave Radcliff. They still get on […]

Swim Bits – Don’t Quit

21 Jun, 2018 in Aqua Master Online / Human Interest / Long Distance / Motivation / Motivation / Open Water / Swim Bits by Ralph Mohr

Willard "Wink" Lamb — Selected by Swimmers World Magazine in March, 2018 Swimming World Magazine has been recognizing the Top 12 World Masters Swimmers of the Year for the last 14 years. For their 2017 list, Willard Lamb was one of the 12 swimmers chosen. Wink got back into swimming in 2005, after decades […]

World Masters Swimmer of the Year (2017) Willard “Wink” Lamb

19 Apr, 2018 in Aqua Master Online / Featured / Human Interest / Motivation / Special by Aqua Master Editor

Off the Block — by Claire Forrest Claire Forrest is a recent graduate of Grinnell College with a degree in English. She is currently based in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a freelance writer. The only competitive swimmer in her family, Claire went to her first swim meet at the age of eleven on a whim […]

Ten sensations swimmers feel

21 Feb, 2018 in Aqua Master Online / Human Interest / Motivation / Special by Aqua Master Editor

Ralph Mohr — In Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, Mr. Micawber has a simple solution for happiness. ”Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen [pounds] nineteen [shillings] and six [pence], result: happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result: misery.” We who swim think the same way. When I […]

“The Micawber Effect”

18 Dec, 2017 in Aqua Master Online / Human Interest / Motivation / Swim Bits by Ralph Mohr

Vicki Keith — Vicki Keith was described as an unlikely athlete, not apt to succeed in any sport. In school she was last to be picked for teams. No matter how this made her feel, she refused to accept the negative comments made about her abilities. Today, she is one of the most […]

Vicki Keith—Marathon butterfly swimmer

15 Aug, 2017 in Aqua Master Online / Human Interest / Long Distance / Motivation / Open Water by Aqua Master Editor

This April, I taught an Adult Learn-to-Swim class at the Oregon City Municipal Swimming Pool. The class met for a half hour on Monday and Wednesday evenings for four weeks. We had a total of eight classes and I had four adults participate in the class. My first class had […]

Adult Learn-To-Swim — Oregon City 2017

15 Jun, 2017 in Aqua Master Online / Clinics / Coaching / Education / Events / Human Interest / Motivation / New Swimmer / Training by Tim Waud

Mark Frost celebration lightened — A message from FaceBook popped up on my computer screen that really got my attention. It was Mark Frost’s celebration of swimming 1 MILLION yards in 2016 (that is 568.18 miles), with the USMS program called “Go The Distance”. The Columbia Gorge Masters team swam the “12 Days of Christmas” […]

One Million Yards?

23 Jan, 2017 in Aqua Master Online / Featured / Human Interest / Long Distance / Motivation / Training by Aqua Master Editor