Article 1367

One of the swimmers mentioned on page 32 of the Nov-Dec'99 issue of Swim Magazine caught my eye. He was a fellow Santa Barbara swimmer who was at one time affiliated with our local Masters Team: Winston W Kratz . Since his widow and daughter are both listed in the Santa Barbara telephone book currently, I telephoned the latter yesterday and chatted with her on the phone today.

She told me General Kratz died in May of 1987, shortly after celebrating his 80th birthday May 14 of that year. I asked if he still swam at that time, and she recalled a touching memory that delighted her, and me. It seems that she took him to his regular pool (Santa Barbara's Coral Casino) five weeks before his death to do a swim workout.

Grace Altus , Ojai-Santa Barbara Masters Swimmer, age 75. 11/9/99