History of Masters Swimming, by Ransom Arthur, M.D.
HISTORY OF MASTERS SWIMMING by Ransom J. Arthur, M.D.
The Masters meet has a short history. I had been trying to interest people in Swimming and in the Amateur Athletic Union in such a program for the last ten years without any success, even though the track and field athletes had placed a trail for us to follow. However, during John Spannuth 's term as President of the American Swimming Coaches Association (1968-69) he gave me encouragement to write about such a program and to try to get it inaugurated in the autumn of 1969. He offered the use of the Amarillo Aquatic Club facility in Amarillo, TX for the first meet to be held in May 1970. We also had the encouragement of Bruce Hopping, Chairman and Founder of the Kalos Kagathos Foundation of Laguna Beach, CA. There were many, many obstacles to overcome, and for a variety of reasons the entry forms did not go out until about two months before the meet. It was a rousing success for an inaugural event.
Since May 1940 the program has expanded enormously, and innumerable meets have been held across the country. Even though the first meet was AAU sanctioned and every contestant was required to hold an AAU card, we were not yet officially accepted by the AAU.
In October 1971, the Masters Swimming program became an official part of the Amateur Athletic Union. There are regional meets as well as national long and short course championships. A central Masters mailing list is another source to keep everyone informed of any swimming activities.
In order to keep abreast of the meets a new publication, SWIM-MASTER, was initiated with June Krauser of Ft. Lauderdale, FL as Editor, which is the best source of information for Masters programs, meets, etc. and is available through subscription only.
Dr. Arthur's Swimming History
Dr. Arthur was taught to swim at age four by Johnny Weissmuller, and has always had an abiding love of the ocean and of aquatics. He swam competitively in his first meet in 1937. His college swimming career at University of California, Berkeley, was interrupted by service in World War II. However, he swam part of one season directly after the war at University of California, until leaving for Harvard Medical School. For the past 18 years he swam competitively for the Navy, competing in both armed forces and AAU meets. His past swimming achievements in the Navy were: a first place medal as a member of the all-Navy medley relay team in 1964; winner of the Pacific Coast All-Navy 200 meter breastroke on three occasions: and champion in the Eleventh Naval District 200 meter breastroke on five occasions. He has coached Navy teams for the past 15 years and his teams have won the following championships: Twelfth Naval District Champions - 1963: Naval Training Center, Eleventh Naval District Champions - 1963, 1964, 1966 and 1967: Pacific Coast Navy Champions, Eleventh Naval District Team - 1964 through 1970: Pacific Coast Team All- Navy Champions - 1964, 1966-1973.
For a number of years he attempted to interest officials in what later became the Masters program. His efforts met with no success until John Spannuth, who was President of the American Swim Coaches Association, took an active interest in the proposal and together they launched the first Masters Championships in Amarillo, Texas in May 1970.
Dr. Arthur has retained the warm affection for the ocean, and continues, when able, to swim every day in the Pacific in addition to swimming in the pool.
