TWIM’s very own Carl Haynie and Dan Underbrink joined 16 other Washington State Seniors in Albuquerque June 16-19 for the 2019 National Senior Games. Included in our delegation were Rick Howell and Tammy Wilson who teamed up with Dan and his wife, Mary, on the last day in both the 200 mixed medley and 200 mixed free relays.
And, boy, did these five ever make a splash!
Carl, in his first National Senior Games appearance, and Tammy, in her fourth such appearance, absolutely set the pool afire, each swimming the meet maximum six individual events, and each churning out five individual Gold medal performances!
In his fifth National Senior Games appearance, Dan reached the podium not once but twice, landing Bronze medals in the two mixed relays! Like Carl, Dan also entered six individual events. He snagged ribbons in both the 400 IM (6th) and 500 free (7th).
Rick won the Gold in both the 50 and 100 breaststroke, Silver in the 200 fly, and Bronze in both relays.
While Rick is pretty entrenched with Oregon Masters, we hope to convince Tammy to join PSM and TWIM someday soon!
What are the National Senior Games (NSGs)?
The NSGs are full Olympics-style Games, featuring 20-25 different sports. They are held every two years in odd-numbered years. “Seniors” are defined as athletes aged 50 and older. Qualification for the NSGs occurs at each of the State Senior Games held in even-numbered years. To qualify in an event, the athlete must finish in the top four at their State Games in those years – or meet the NSG cut-off time for their age group.
There are a couple of unique rules for Swimming at the State and National Senior Games events.
The first has to do with competition age. The course for Senior Games meets is always Short Course Yards (SCY). In the Senior Games, a swimmer’s age for competition purposes, is the age the swimmer will be at the end of the year (like meter meets in USMS).
The second unique rule has to do with event qualifications for the NSGs. Swimmers are allowed six individual events at NSGs, and two of these may be “bonus” events. A bonus event is a shorter distance of any event that a swimmer has qualified in. Thus, a swimmer qualifying in the 400 IM has the option to swim the 100 IM and/or the 200 IM as bonus events. Likewise, a swimmer qualifying in the 500 Freestyle, would have all the other Freestyle events (50, 100, and 200) available as bonus events. Some careful meet planning in State Senior Game qualification years can open a variety of options to swimmers when it is time to sign up for the NSG competition.
Albuquerque
What a totally beautiful destination for four days of swim competition! Albuquerque had shirt-sleeve cool mornings and evenings, and hot afternoons. The high desert climate was pleasant, and the terrain was scenic; allowing for interesting side trips, such as The Turquoise Trail, the Sandia Peak Tram, and the Petroglyphs National Monument. The elevation proved to be a challenge for many swimmers. Albuquerque sits at just over a mile high, so the atmosphere is a little less oxygen rich.
Preparation for the Games
Upon arrival in town, athletes reported to the Athlete Village, in the Albuquerque Convention Center, to pick up the all-important Athlete Credential, required for entry into any Games venue. The Athlete Village featured 25-30 vendor booths, a presentation stage, and much more. The Convention Center was also the venue for the Badminton and Volleyball competitions. Over 13,700 senior athletes from all over the country had to check in for competition in 20 different sports.
There was a Swimming warm-up session available almost all day on June 15, the day before competition began. This is where many sea-level swimmers got their first indication of the difficulties of swimming at altitude, with no acclimation time.
Carl had travelled down to the area a week earlier, spending his time in the Santa Fe area (even higher, at 7,000+ feet). He also swam one workout with a Santa Fe Masters group during his acclimation week. Dan and others arrived the evening before or the day of warm-ups and were definitely feeling the altitude challenge.
TWIM Performances
There were four days of swim competition. On Days 1 through 3, the 70-and-older groups swam in the mornings while the 50-64 groups got to sleep in and swim in the afternoon! The fourth day featured the 500 yard free for all ages followed by just two relay events, the 200 mixed medley relay and 200 mixed free relay.
The pool at the West Mesa Aquatic Center provided an excellent venue; the water was deep and there were ten competition lanes. There were wide gutter lanes on either side, so excess wave rebound off the walls was minimal. There were eight additional warm-up lanes available to all swimmers during the meet.
With over 850 swimmers, the officials had a tough job on their hands, trying to keep events on schedule. They did a splendid job and the meet was very well run.
Day one of the competition had Carl breaking out with Gold medal finishes in the 50 Breaststroke and 100 Backstroke (Men, 55-59 AG). What a great start! Dan got into the ribbons with a sixth-place finish in the 400 IM (Men, 60-64 AG).
Day two had Carl with two more Gold medals in the 200 Backstroke and 100 IM. Carl’s Backstroke led the second-place finisher by almost 15 seconds! Dan had a thirteenth-place finish in the 100 Breaststroke and a ninth place in the 200 Backstroke.
On day three, Carl struck Gold one more time in the 50 Backstroke before capturing Silver in the 200 Breaststroke. Dan had ninth place finishes in both the 200 IM and 200 Breaststroke.
Day four had Carl at the airport, trying to get all those medals through the TSA X-ray machines, while Dan represented TWIM in the 500 Free, and got into the ribbons again with a seventh-place finish.
Following four hours (yikes!) of 500 Free competition, Dan joined Mary Underbrink, Rick Howell, and Tammy Wilson for a Mixed 200 Medley Relay and a Mixed 200 Free Relay. This high-powered Washington Team fetched Bronze Medals in both events!
The Washington Delegation
The following swimmers represented Washington State at the NSGs this year. PNA members are in BOLD:
Patricia Burnett (65-69): 50 br, 50 bkBob Firth (70-74): 50 brHazel Gregory (75-79): 50 bkCARL HAYNIE (55-59): 50 br (1st), 100 bk (1st), 200 bk (1st), 100 IM (1st), 50 bk (1st), 200 br (2nd)Janice Hoffart (50-54): 200 fr, 100 bk (8th), 50 fr, 50 bkRick Howell (60-64): 50 br (1st), 100 br (1st), 200 fl (2nd), 50 fly, m. relay (3rd), f. relay (3rd)ANDREA HUNT (70-74): 100 bk (2nd), 200 bk (1st), 100 IM (5th), 50 bk (6th), 500 fr (5th)Mary MacClellan (75-79): 100 IM (6th), 50 fr (7th), 50 bk (5th), 50 fly (5th)Becky Passarella (60-64): 200 bk (8th), 100 IM, 100 fr (7th)STEVE PETERSON (70-74): 50 br (4th), 100 br (4th), 50 fr, 200 IM (3rd), 100 fr (8th), 200 br (3rd)Carrie Richardson (60-64): 50 br, 100 br, 50 frSTEVEN SCHWARTZ (55-59): 50 br, 100 bk (7th), 100 br, 50 fr (8th), 50 bk, 50 flScott Thompson (65-69): 100 fl (6th), 100 bk (8th), 100 IM (7th), 200 fl (2nd), 200 IM (2nd), 50 fl (5th)DAN UNDERBRINK (60-64): 400 IM (6th), 100 br, 200 bk, 200 IM, 200 br, 500 fr (7th), m. relay (3rd), f. relay (3rd)MARY UNDERBRINK (60-64): 200 fr, 100 IM, 50 fr, 100 fr, m. relay (3rd), f. relay (3rd)FRANK WARNER (70-74): 200 fr (5th), 100 bk (6th), 200 bk (4th), 50 bk (4th)Tammy Wilson (60-64): 50 br (1st), 100 br (1st), 100 IM (1st), 200 IM (1st), 50 fl (3rd), 200 br (1st), m. relay (3rd), f. relay (3rd)Susanne Zimsen (75-79): 50 br (5th), 100 bk (5th), 100 br (6th), 50 fr (3rd), 50 bk (6th)
PNA Alumni now living elsewhere were also in attendance. Among them were Bernard Suave and Bob Davis.
Athlete SWAG and Competition Awards
Upon check-in, each athlete received their credential and a great string bag, full of restaurant and attractions coupons, as well as product samples (a whole roll of muscle-aid Kinesiology Tape for each athlete!).
The medals were top-notch, heavy-metal awards. Albuquerque is the hot-air balloon capital of the world, and the medals captured some of the local flavor by being in the shape of hot-air balloons and featuring an Olympics-type torch consisting of Red and Green Chile Peppers for flames! Very imaginative and beautiful!
Ribbons at NSGs have typically been very nice red-white-blue ribbons with gold lettering. This was not the case in Albuquerque. The ribbons are purple with a cascade of Red and Green Chile Peppers as a background – beautiful and fun!
In Conclusion
For those under 50: Doesn’t this sound like a great future endeavor to work toward?
For those 50-and-older athletes: you would be hard-pressed to find a more enjoyable swim meet than the one at National Senior Games. If you are interested in this event, be sure to pay attention to the nuances of the qualification rules. You will be better able to set up your meet for success when you qualify at the Washington State Senior Games in 2020.
And it would be great to have a big TWIM contingent at the 2021 NSGs in Fort Lauderdale!
One thought on “Mile-high Medaling by TWIM at National Senior Games”
Nice work everyone. Looking forward to joining when I’m 50!