The Oregon Club had a strong performance in the 2019 USMS One-Hour Postal National Championships, held in January and February in your local pool. Our overall participation was down slightly from previous years, but there were many fine swims. Alas, the ever-anticipated Club results were not available at press deadline for this article.
Oregon Participation summary:
- 94 Oregon swimmers entered the event.
- 48 women & 46 men swam and entered, relatively equal numbers which really helps for mixed relays.
- 15 Oregon clubs/local teams were represented, fairly typical for this postal event. Well done, teams, but we’re still missing participation from a few of you, and we’re still missing fully representative participation from many of you. Coaches, please notice that ALL of Oregon’s perennially most successful teams are represented!
Congratulations to…
- Our NINE individual National Champions (USMS Long Distance All-American). Our most ever! Sue Calnek-Morris, Bonnie Spear, Jeff Nason, Matt Miller (Jeff & Matt tied for first place in their age group), Hardy Lussier, Dan Kirkland, Barry Fasbender, Dave Radcliff, and Willard Lamb.
- Our TWENTY-THREE other individual swimmers who made the top ten (and thus received medals).
- Our ONE individual who broke the National Record (Oregon Record too)—Dave Radcliff, Men’s 85-89, 3805 yards.
- Our ELEVEN relay team National Champions (USMS Long Distance Relay All-Americans). Also our most ever;
- Our TEN other relay teams who made the top six (and thus received medals);
- Our TWO relay teams that broke the USMS One-Hour Relay Record (Oregon Record too):
- Men’s 45+ team of Scot Sullivan, Kurt Grote, and Hardy Lussier, going 15,800 yards.
- Mixed 75+ team of Judy Ziemer, Sue Calnek-Morris, Ralph Mohr, and Dave Radcliff, going 13,750 yards.
- Our THREE swimmers—Sue Calnek-Morris, Bonnie Spear, and Dan Kirkland—who broke Oregon individual records;
- Our FOUR relay teams that broke the Oregon relay records:
- Women’s 55+ team of Arlene Delmage, Val Jenkins, and Colette Crabbe, going 13,255 yards.
- Women’s 75+ team of Jeanne Magmer, Judy Ziemer, and Sue Calnek-Morris, going 8,535 yards.
- Men’s 65+ team of Michael Stephenson, Bob Bruce, and Dan Kirkland, going 13,235 yards.
- Mixed 65+ team of Rebecca Kay, Jeanna Summers, Bob Bruce, and Dan Kirkland, going 16,405 yards.
- Our TWO swimmers, Stacey Kiefer (4640 yards) and Hardy Lussier (5370 yards), who topped the Oregon women’s and men’s categories respectively, Stacey for the first time and Hardy for the eighth year in a row. To make this achievement look even better, both of them swam their hour at Bend’s 3661 feet of elevation;
- Our TWENTY-THREE swimmers whose performances qualified or moved them up on the Oregon All-Time Top Twelve list for the One-Hour Swim. This list is hard to make;
- Everyone who participated!
There’s a bonus—94 Oregon-registered swimmers have now completed the first of the three legs of the Oregon Postal Participation Award. These swimmers just have to swim & enter two more swims—the 5 or 10-km postal and/or the 3000or 6000-yard postal—later this year to snag this award. You’ve seen the patches—now you can earn your own. Put these swims on your calendar! Of course, the truly compulsive swimmers—like me—plan to complete all four remaining postal swims this year to earn the national participation award. And, of course, there’s the GO PRO Challenge…
Where do we go from here? Keep on swimming—the essence of the postal events is to do them. Next up are the 5 & 10-km postal national championships, to be done between May 15 and September 15 in a long course pool.
Look for the full 2019 Oregon LMSC for the One Hour Swim results in this Aqua Master.
Good luck and good swimming!