Fast Pool, Fast Times Last Sunday

Father Tom, Vince, Carl, Brad, Betsey, Zena, COB Tom (left to right)

Snohomish Aquatic Masters put on a fantastic meet for 100 Masters swimmers last Sunday in their new 10-lane, state-of-the-art venue. The Snohomish Aquatic Center was built in 2014, and this was the first ever Masters meet held there.

So, how did TWIMmers perform, you ask? Superbly, of course!

Thirteen first-place finishes were logged by TWIM — or 20 if you count Zena Courtney’s contribution (5 events & 2 relays!). Sporting a Blue Wave Aquatics cap, she says she was swimming for her home team. But, if you ask me, it was just a Halloween costume.

Fast times ensued all morning long. Vince Carmosino churned up the water with great finishes in the 50 free and 50 breast. His breaststroke race was just .08 seconds off his PNA record time. Nice!

Father Tom Fritschen continued his trend of great performances in both the 200 and 100 free. Case in point: he bettered his 200 free by 6 seconds!

Carl Haynie logged a best time in his 200 IM and won the 100 backstroke. The deep water definitely helped all of us. Factoid: the shallowest depth in this pool is 7 feet!

Brad Jones crushed both his 100 fly and 50 fly events, out-touching everyone at the wall. It wasn’t even close on the 100. Awesome job!

Betsey Kassen snagged first in all 3 of her events looking great in the 50 back, 100 free, and 500 free. They don’t call her “The Machine” for nothing!

And Thomas W. Walker was in great form again, capturing firsts in his age group and bettering his seed times in both the 50 and 100 breast. Way to go, COB!

What a great meet .. and a quick one, too .. lasting just the morning.  Thank you host team, meet officials, and organizers for delivering such a fun event.

Go TWIM!

— ch