Greetings Fellow Swimmers,
As the Oregon Masters Swimming open water season comes to a close for 2017, it’s time to get really excited about 2018. OMS will host three U. S. Masters Swimming Open Water National Championships during 2018 – which has been dubbed the “Oregon Swimcation.” Swimmers can participate in the 2018 Portland Bridge Swim serving as the 9+ mile USMS Open Water National Championship on July 8th. Then on July 12th, swimmers can compete in the 2-mile USMS Open Water National Championship at Foster Lake, or the Foster Lake Cable Swims. And completing the Oregon Swimcation, swimmers can compete in the 10K USMS Open Water National Championship swim at Applegate Lake on July 14th.
Race directors Marisa Frieder, Bob Bruce, and Matt Miller, respectively, along with an army of experienced volunteers, will be working hard to make sure we have a fun, safe, and amazing week of Open Water swimming. If you haven’t tried the Oregon Open Water Series, this might be the year to start. If Open Water swimming isn’t your thing, maybe you would like to help by volunteering. The Portland Bridge Swim will be increasing the maximum number of participants from 80 to 100 swimmers in 2018. Extra safety boats will be needed to keep participants safe while competitors swim through downtown Portland. All three swims will need extra safety kayakers, so if you are an experienced kayaker and want to be part of this amazing week, let the race directors know you are willing to volunteer.
Thank you to our Open Water Race Directors: Marisa Frieder, Bob Bruce, and Matt Miller. Oregon Masters is very fortunate to have such a great group of race directors, safety directors, kayak and boat support, and the volunteers on land who make race day so exciting.
Congratulations to Matt Miller. Matt is our newest Open Water Race Director for the Applegate Lake Swims. Matt and his Rogue Valley Masters teammates have done an exceptional job in taking over the swim and preparing for next year’s 10K National Championship. Matt was also this year’s Oregon Club Coach at Summer Nationals. Congratulations to everyone who swam at Nationals in Minneapolis, MN. The Oregon Club placed 4th in the Regional Club division with only 20 swimmers. Way to go Oregon!
Swimmingly,
Tim Waud/OMS Chair