1979
HISTORY OF MASTER SWIMMING
by
Hamilton Anderson
NATIONAL MASTERS HISTORIAN
1979 a year to remember
Interest in Master Swimming surged this year, resulting from Phillip Whitten's article in Parade & "Staying Fit by Swimming" in Circle Magazine. F.H. "Ted" Haartz was flooded by inquiries, that he & his wife answered & referred to area Master Chairman.
The majority of annual Master meets are continuing to be held, plus numerous new Master meets held by inspired Meet Directors interested in promoting Master Swimming. New meets appearing in SWIM MASTER calendar, to name a few are, PA, Jacksonville, Florida, Willoughy & Cleveland, Ohio, Gladonburg, Conn., Calif, Portland Or., Metaire, La, Omaha in Lincoln, Nebr., Corpus Christi, Dallas & Lubbock, Texas, NJ, Fayetteville, NC,VA, & WA.
The Postal Hawaiian Relays, the ONE HOUR SWIM held by Dale Petranech , the two & ten Mile Rough Water Swims are increasing in popularity. A Pentathlon in NC & DE & a Biathlon in NJ were added to the calendar. Master Diving, under Chairman Ed Craren, continues to grow both Nationally & in many areas. This year Jim "Doc" Counsilman became the oldest man to complete the English Channel 21 Mile swim.
Mission Viejo drew 1020 contestants. The meet was well run, but because of the number of contestants, was long & tiring. The social banquet dinner was enjoyed, but all agreed that had it been held in a larger room, announcements could have been more easily heard.
The relays are now so popular, that swimmers are swimming in the dark. A solution might be to limit each team to only one relay team in each age group. The stress on older swimmers & the long hours for the officials should be considered. Volunteer timers is probably a Meet Directors headache. In some local meets a cash donation is given to club groups to help their program for their long & tiring time.
Beer was sold at the concession stand during the meet in Dearborn. MI. This was a first & no doubt the last time this beverage was sold during a meet.
The L.C. Masters Meet held in Dearborn, MI the home of Greenfield Village, attracted about 500 contestants. The Meet Directors, Jack Dunworth & Paul Bartashuk, ran a well organized meet. The Medalioned marble awards through ninth place were greatly appreciated. The beautiful Hotel had a convenient monorail running from the hotel to the Fairlane Shopping Center, who helped sponsor the Meet. The banquet was held in a spacious room. The results were published in the correct age & event order.
MASTER SWIMMING will celebrate it's tenth Anniversary May 1980. Ransom Arthur; Hamilton & Mildred Anderson have completed their tenth year of participation not missing any of the National Meets. The National Meets now offer five Freestyle events(any stroke) & two Backstroke events, & for those qualified, two Breastroke, two Butterfly, & two Individual Medley Events, thus offering Master swimmers adequate events to swim.
The local meets have, besides the five freestyle events, three each of Backstroke, Breastroke, Butterfly & Individual Medley events, making a full program, plus the relays.
Many Enlightening articles are written, & clinics are offered to help Master swimmers. SWIM MASTER gives the most complete coverage, but there are other publications for Master Swimming. LANE 4 has been an appropriate publication.
