Inspiration was the theme at the 2018 U.S. Masters Swimming (USMS) Spring National Championships held on May 10-13 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The four-day meet took place at the iconic Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Natatorium, and it turned out to be the largest gathering of Masters level swimmers in the event’s 50-year history.
A total of 2,378 entrants were registered as ages ranged from 18 to 98 years, with each swimmer having an individual cap of five events.
U.S. Masters Swimming holds two national championship pool meets each year. The Spring Championships are held in April or May and are contested in a short course venue. The Summer Championships are typically held in July or August, and swimmers compete in a long course venue.
Of the many awe-inspiring highlights were the records set by a 95-year-old man named Willard Lamb.
The Oregon native established a new men’s 95-99 age group record in the 1-mile event, finishing in a time of 30 minutes and 38.15 seconds. The next day, Lamb followed that up by crushing the 100-yard backstroke with his time of 1:54.81, taking out the old 95-99 age group record of 2:45.86 by more than 50 seconds!
Another who never ceases to amaze was Kailua-Kona’s Karlyn Pipes.
The 56-year-old was recently voted one of the top 12 World Masters Swimmers of the Year for 2017, and over the four-day meet, Pipes completely dominated her 55-59 age group by outright winning all five events she entered: 100- and 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestroke, 100-yard butterfly, and the 100-yard medley. Pipes also came very close to breaking her own national records.
“Attending the U.S. Masters National Championships was an amazing experience I will never forget,” Pipes said. “There were almost 2400 athletes in attendance from 18 to 98, and they came in all shapes and sizes.”
The aquatic queen added that her favorite memory was watching Lamb swim 1:37 in the 100-yard Freestyle, smashing the previous record by over 15 seconds.
“Watching him swim you would swear he was a man of 30,” Pipes said. “That’s the beauty of Masters swimming. In the water you are ageless!”
Other highlights included the Kona Aquatics Masters swim team. It was the first time the local swim club based in Kailua-Kona took a team to nationals, with this year having ten members meeting qualifying standards in various events.
Among them were Brenda Avery, Patti Kimball, Jeff Devins, Rob Murray, Sierra Avery, Barbara Taylor, Merry Finch, Stan Lee, Matt Dixon and Steve Borowski.
“Prior to this year, we never sent anyone primarily because of costs involved,” Borowski said. “This year we had 10 people that went and we had a lot of great swims. It was a real breakthrough for Brenda Avery and JD swam well. And overall, our team placed 62nd out of 212, so that was pretty cool.”
For Avery, her debut at the USMS National Championships would be an experience she will never forget.
“It was absolutely fun,” said the 53-year-old Kailua-Kona resident. “I wasn’t expecting it to be fun because of being so nervous, and I don’t particularly like racing. But I think the best part was sitting on the bleachers with my teammates and watching all the other swimmers.”
Avery credits Borowski’s coaching and mentorship toward helping her improve her swim times and technique.
“Having Steve as a coach has just been epic,” she said. “From fixing my stroke to calming me down, he helped me to mentally be ready to swim when my event came. He said, ‘It’s just you and your lane, don’t look at the other swimmers. Just do the best you can.’ He gave me warm ups to do, and I trust him 100 percent, so I felt really supported.”
Like Pipes, 62-year-old Murray felt awestruck to watch Lamb set the men’s 95-99 age group record in the mile on the very first day.
“He’s an inspiration and he set the mood for the next four days,” Murray said. “He was in the first heat in the very first event and it was amazing to watch him. Personally, I felt that I did very well. I did 24:48 in the mile, a personal best, but where I really killed it was in the 500. I took 32-seconds off my time. The best I did before that was a 7:45, and I was able to do a 7:13 this time.”
With the UANA Pan American Masters Summer National Championships (long course) slated for July 28 to August 4 in Orlando, Florida, Pipes, Avery and Murray plan on continuing their journey in the world of elite Masters swimming.
“I would love to go and do long course yet, being how nervous I get before swim races, I can’t believe I’m saying that,” Avery said with a laugh. “But it’s been such a great experience and next time, there’s less walls.”
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U.S. Masters Swimming Spring National Championships (short course yards) May 10-13, IUPUI Natatorium – Indianapolis, Indiana
Karlyn Pipes, 55-59 age group
100 Y Back 1:02.98 1stplace
100 Y Fly 1:01.82 1stplace
100 Y Free 56.75 1stplace
100 Y IM 1:03.25 1stplace
200 Y Back 2:19.45 1stplace
Brenda Avery, 50-54 age group
1650 Y Free 19:56.59 5thplace
400 Y IM 5:19.04 3rd place
200 Y Free 2:15.24 11th place
500 Y Free 5:52.49 6th place
200 Y Fly 2:37.25 4th place
Jeff Devins, 65-69 age group
200 Y Free 2:16.26 12th place
50 Y Breast 33.46 4th place
100 Y Free 58.78 10th place
100 Y Breast 1:14.87 4th place
50 Y Free 26.12 8th place
Patti Kimball, 60-64 age group
200 Y Free 2:36.38 10th place
100 Y Free 1:06.61 8th place
100 Y IM 1:20.37 8th place
50 Y Fly 35.77 12th place
50 Y Free 29.82 7th place
Rob Murray, 60-64 age group
1650 Y Free 24:48.71 14thplace
200 Y Free 2:40.78 24th place
500 Y Free 7:13.36 25th place
Sierra Avery, 20-24 age group
100 Y Back 1:05.32 11th place
100 Y Fly 1:05.59 15th place
50 Y Back 30.06 13th place
100 Y IM 1:06.86 14th place
50 Y Fly 27.67 10th place
Barbara Taylor, 60-64 age group
100 Y Fly 1:25.44 7th place
200 Y Fly 3:18.95 4th place
50 Y Fly 35.06 9th place
50 Y Free 31.04 11th place
Merry Finch, 60-64 age group
1000 Y Free 13:49.07 5th place
50 Y Breast 42.09 14th place
500 Y Free 6:35.10 6th place
200 Y Breast 3:20.94 9th place
100 Y Breast 1:31.36 8th place
Stan Lee, 60-64 age group
50 Y Breast 38.28 27th place
100 Y IM 1:16.29 28th place
50 Y Free 28.24 23rd place
Matt Dixon, 55-59 age group
1650 Y Free 18:30.85 2nd place
200 Y Free 1:58.25 6th place
100 Y Back 1:01.33 9th place
500 Y Free 5:22.08 3rd place
200 Y IM 2:15.68 6th place
