Potpourri
Former University of Oregon swimmer, Mike Hastings, died at the end of February. Hastings held the 200 fly record for the Ducks and swam with Masters swimmers, Ron Nakata, Dave Boyd and Ralph Mohr, among others.
Hastings started his coaching career in 1962 as the second coach of the Redding Swim Club, his old team. He then went on to Sacramento and founded California Capital Aquatics in 1983. Among Hastings’ swimmers in his 31 years of coaching were Debbie Meyer, John Naber, Joe and Dave Bottom and Summer Sanders. He was Sanders’ longtime coach, and he was inducted in the American Swim Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2013
The new Mars rover, whose landing is planned for 2021, was officially named recently as “Perseverance.” In Latin, perseverance is “constans.” “Constans,” combined with “patientia,” are two major qualities of Masters swimmers. From now on when you look up in the night sky for Mars, think “constans” and persevere in the water.
One of the programs that Oregon Public Broadcasting offers during their pledge weeks is “Oregon Revealed: The Water Around Us.” If you go to about 16 minutes into the program, you will see a certain Masters swimmer rowing his wooden boat serenely on Eel Lake. This shot is followed by a bevy of Masters swimmers starting an Eel Lake open water swim some years ago. It’s fun to try and figure out: who is that body, or is that me?
The program is also a great survey of Oregon lakes and rivers we can swim in this coming summer. There are 202 lakes in Oregon listed on-line at the Atlas of Oregon Lakes, (https://aol.research.pdx.edu/). I’ve swum in 42 of them. I hope to add some more this summer. You can do the same. No coronavirus in a lake.