Class of 2014 Inductees to the International Swimming Hall of Fame were announced. They include Grant Hackett (AUS), Agnes Kovacs (HUN) and Tom Malchow (USA); Diver Peng Bo (CHN); Synchronized Swimmers Penny and Vicky Vilagos (CAN); Water Polo Players Carlo Silipo (ITA) and Karen Kuipers (NED); Coaches Charlotte Davis (USA) and Jozsef Nagy (HUN, USA, CAN, SPN); Open Water Swimmers Jon Erikson (USA) and Sandra Bucha (USA); Bruce S. Hopping (USA), Norman Sarsfield (GBR) and Chuck Weilgus (USA) will be recognized as Contributors.
For those who will be traveling to southeastern Florida, please go see ISHOF. They will be leaving Ft Lauderdale by Fall. A new home has not yet been announced
USMS One Hour Postal . The time when you can swim the Hour Swim was extended an extra ten days because of the extreme weather conditions experienced during the month of January throughout the country. The USMS Long Distance Committee has extended from January 31st to February 10th the date by which all swims must be completed for the 2014 USMS 1-Hour Postal National Championship.
Entries will still be due by February 10, 2014. For those swimmers whose birthday occurs between February 1st and February 10th, their age will be their age of record as of January 31, 2014. For everyone else, it will still be as of the day they swam, and results will be compiled accordingly. This extension shall apply to all swimmers regardless of their LMSC.
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I saw Coach Stu Kahn of Davis Aquatic Masters give a lecture on the freestyle at the PacMasters annual meeting. He reviewed tapes of great swimmers swimming the crawl and then pointed out what they were doing and how that improved their stroke. Stu will be one of the lead coaches at the Albany Coaches Clinic on 15 February and for our members at the north end of the state, Stu will be the primary coach at the Crescent City Clinic. If you are interested in learning more about the freestyle, you can learn a lot from Coach Stu.
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I was out of the water for a couple of weeks with the grunge (I don't know if it was the flu or not). It felt so good to get back into the water, at least for the first 20 laps. After about 20 laps, I fell behind my lane mates. It did take a few days to get back in the groove. I did find out that many of my team mates have been out of the water because of the flu, but it sure felt good to be back in the water.
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As we get back into the short course yards season, remember to read the USMS swimming stoke rules. If you are swimming the IM, when you touch at the end of the backstroke leg, you must be on your back (you are NOT making a backstroke turn).
For those who have gotten lazy in their turns, remember both hands must touch the wall simultaneously. A one hand touch gets you a ticket.
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Congratulations to the Olympic Club who totally filled up the heats for The Olympic Club 1500. Ninety-six swimmers entered the meet and there were more who tried to register. For those who want to test their distance skills (and get a time for nationals) there is The City Mile (see below).
Fun Fitness and Competition
-michael
Michael W Moore