On Saturday, March 6, 2010, a team with the MOVY Masters Swim Club broke the national record in the 400 LCM Mixed Free relay with a time of 4:01.36. The swimmers were Christie Fuchs, 24; Tony Diers, 29; Joy Stover, 34 and Tony Stewart, 36. The old record, 4:01.94, was set in July 1991 by Southern California Aquatics Masters.

“With the large number of relay records broken at Indianapolis at USMS LCM Nationals, I was surprised to see a 1991 record still on the USMS books,” says Bill Sherman, Records and Top 10 Chair for MOVY. Only six relay USMS records remain standing from the 1990s, the oldest is 04-14-1991 for SCY W25+ 800 Free relay.

It’s not easy to transition back to civilian life after a long career in the military. But for U.S. Masters swimmer James Biles, swimming has become the perfect vehicle to help him adjust after 20 years as a Lieutenant Commander with the U.S. Navy.

Biles, 49, began swimming when he was twelve. Growing up in St. Croix, he traveled all over the Caribbean to compete. He earned a swimming scholarship to college and after graduation, joined the Navy to become a pilot like his father. Poor eyesight kept him away from the planes and he became a diver specializing in salvage and mine counter-measures instead. “It was great; I should have gone into diving from the start,” he says.