Florida Maverick Masters -- 14

Florida Maverick Masters

October, 2000 We offer swimmers the opportunity to participate in a lifelong fitness and/or competitive swimming program. We provide a positive atmosphere for individual levels of achievement and the freedom to express ideas.

Objectives

In November, 1996, several swimmers met with the idea of forming a Masters team that would provide a positive atmosphere for individual levels of achievement and the freedom to express ideas. We offer swimmers the opportunity to participate in a lifelong fitness and/or competitive swimming program. The fitness swimmers are encouraged to participate in the motivational Swim-to-Key West Challenge. The over-50 crowd has many Senior Games competitions throughout Florida and other states. Swimmers so desiring, also compete in USMS meets at the local, National and World level. Other yearly plans include fellowship events, award recognition (for Top Ten and All American swims), age group team records, newsletters, workouts for those interested, open water swims for a long distance challenges, and Postal Swims. This past year, the Mavericks contributed to the Masters program by sending three members to the National Convention; hosting the 3000/6000 Postal National Championships sponsoring the Key West Challenge; writing articles for the LMSC newsletter; trading our newsletter with Wisconsin, Delaware Valley, Arizona, Washington and Australia. Our coach replies to questions in the "Coaches Committee Quarterly" and writes training workouts for any Masters swimmer, requesting them. When we formed this new team, we didn't realize the many serendipities and support that would be generated, in three short years. Swimmers that didn't think that they were good enough to be on a Masters team, let alone compete, have developed confidence in themselves. We have swimmers recovering from strokes, illnesses, accidents and surgeries who are excited and motivated about discovering new and different ways to train and compete. We have world record holders, Top Ten swimmers, average, novice and fitness swimmers. It doesn't matter what your age or ability level, we are all in the same fraternity--we love swimming! Good physical and mental health, fitness through swimming, having fun with friends that are open-minded and non-judgmental, are worthwhile objectives. This is what Masters swimming is all about.

Origin Of Maverick

From the "Origin of Words:" Samuel Maverick owned a cattle ranch on an island in Texas. All the ranchers in Texas branded their cattle to distinguish them from the other ranches. Since Samuel owned all the cattle on the island, he refused to brand them--a Maverick became known as an unbranded calf. Webster defines maverick as "Being independent in thought and action or exhibiting such independence." The Mavericks were born. Other Mavericks include the Western TV series and movie, "Maverick;" Olympic supplier of Maverick beef, sold at Publix; the most notorious big-wave break in the world, Mavericks, offshore, near San Francisco; and our first Christmas card from a Maverick, "We dance to the beat of a different drummer."

Workouts

Although we are based at the North Shore Pool in St. Petersburg, we do not have a coach on deck. Our swimmers workout at whatever pool is readily available to them. Some have a coach, but most are independent and do their own workout. Whatever works best for you. If you would you like suggestions on workouts, training for meets, tapering, open water swimming or stroke improvement, contact Coach Paul Hutinger, by e-mail: phut@usms.org or phone: 727-521-1172. Tell him how many yards you swim, how often, your 50 and 100 yd. times, and what you are interested in working on. There is no charge for his services.

Membership

We have 50 members, ranging in age from 31 to 90.

Team Achievements

LCM NATIONAL CHAMPS, MEN--1997 & 1998 Small Team; 1999 Medium Team LCM COMBINED--1997 Small Team 2nd place & NATIONAL CHAMPS, 1999 LCM 2000--Small Team--Men 5th (would have been 14th overall); Women 8th (would have been 17th overall); Combined 5th (would have been 14th overall) 1999--Hosted 3000/6000 Yards National Championships 1999--3000 Yards Postal National Championship--2nd; 5 National relay records 1998 & 1999--Maverick Lane Lines--among top 8 semi-finalists in National newsletter contest 2000--SCY Team Records broken--41 women's, 38 men's & 3 relay. 1999--SCM Team Records broken--44 women's, 31 men's & 14 relay. 1999--LCM Team Records broken--44 women's, 38 men's & 7 relay. 2000--Postal Team Records broken--9 women's, 4 men's & 8 relay. 1999--26 USMS Top Ten swimmers, including 9 All Americans and 9 Relay All Americans 1999 Coach's awards given at banquet--Most Outstanding--Regan Kenner; Most Improved--Don Smith; Fitness--Neila Eliason.

World Championships-Munich-7 Gold Medals

7000 competitors descended upon Munich, July 29-Aug 8 to enjoy the competition and camaraderie of the 8th FINA World Masters Championships. 5000 swimmers competing in pool events, made for long days. No matter what place a swimmer earned, it was exciting to remember that in 1972, Mark Spitz earned seven gold medals in this same pool. Another 2000 swimmers competed in diving, water polo, 5K open water and synchronized swimming. Paul Hutinger won four gold medals; Robert MacDonald, three. The Maverick events were scattered throughout the seven days, and it wasn't practical to hang around and cheer. In between events, our days were filled by resting up for the next event or touring Munich and visiting the many unique museums, castles and countryside or shopping or sampling new foods in many restaurants or attending the evening socials. Their subway system provided a fast, cheap and efficient way to travel to the pool and downtown. The Hutingers, MacDonalds, Doris Prokopi, Frank Starr, Patricia Tullman, and Rosie Vijil stayed at the Forum Hotel, so we did visit during the nine day meet--breakfast, the lobby, socials, in the subway, or dinner.

Lcm Championships-Baltimore

Eleven Mavericks traveled to Baltimore, to compete in the largest ever LCM Nationals--1400 entries. This made for long days, short nights and relays swum in the dark, For two nights, we had to forego our usual Maverick dinners, and grab a quick bite. Wendy's was a popular hangout. Sun night was a real treat--relays in the sunshine and six of us had a real dinner at Bennigan's (including one Death by Chocolate, and spoons for all). The 320+ Mixed Medley Relay, with Kenner, McCullough, Troy and Malbrough set a US record, 3:44.07, breaking the previous record by 12 seconds. Three other relays placed 1st; two, 2nd; and one, 7th. In the small team division: Men-5th out of 109 teams; Women-8th out of 88 teams; Combined-5th out of 134 teams. (We considered these moral victories, as all teams placing higher, had many more swimmers than in previous years in small teams.)

Joining

If you have questions about our team or are interested in joining, contact: Margie, Registrar or Coach Paul Hutinger --727-521-1172 or e-mail: phut@usms.org Hutingers--Bimonthly Newsletter (will add to non-member mailing list for $5) Robert MacDonald --President--941-597-2416 Doris Prokopi--Head Maverick--813-996-4184

Below are listed all of the USMS All-Americans who are listed in the All-Americans Ever database who are identified with this team. Go to Information Needed to help us identify people who are missing because we don't know their LMSC or Club. All-Americans who have passed away should be identified at the bottom of this list under "Remembering....". Registration status is according to the latest USMS Registration file available to the Records & Tabulation Committee.

FMM has 66 registered swimmers, 45 Top Ten swimmers, and 23 All-Americans currently registered. To compare this with other clubs, go to Club Rankings .

More FMM swimmers:
Jean M Allen (aln40an W 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993
Patricia M Bond (bod3855 W 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993
James B Christie (cht67ki M 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993
Frances E Cichanski (chk17r5 W 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993
Mary B Fulmer (fum19z6 W 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993
Bunny Havlicek (vck17dc W 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993
Margaret T Homans (hms32d9 W 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993
Ruth A Hoskinson (hsk29dq W 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993
Margie Hutinger (hug40la W 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993
Dorothy Johnson (jhs2699 W 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993
Amar G Lathi (thi36br M 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993
Elmer L Luke (luk26mm M 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993 -- Photo.
Doris M Mc Ewan (mcw247z W 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993
James T Pitts (pts30ix M 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993
Doris C Prokopi (pok35aj W 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993
Mary Jane Schafer (chf226q W 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993
Charles H Schlegel (chg30bc M 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993 -- Story
Rosie R Vijil (vij34un W 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993
Matt W Watkins (wtk7334 M 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993
Robert M Williams (wms27ej M 14 FMM ) -- Top Ten Since 1993