There were two very good reasons TWIMmers converged to the small town of Snohomish (on a Sunday, no less) during the waning days of 2019; and they were as opposite as any reasons could be. The first reason was, of course, this bunch just loves to swim and compete under the TWIM banner. The second was because, in 1859, on San Juan Island, an American farmer shot a pig stealing potatoes out of his garden. It’s true and there will be more at the end of this article but first for the good stuff.
As everyone was sure to note, winter has come early this year. And there are many among us, myself included, that rather prefer that the cold weather comes at least after this meet. But we did not get our way this year which made the 78 degree water just a little more chilly. Nothing gets you going quicker though than cooler water and I myself sort of prefer it because all the aches and pains become an afterthought when you jump in.
The facility is a special one, however, which makes the event – combined with the great people that run the show – a must swim. In fact, let me just get this out of the way now: Dave Baer, the meet Referee, Dick Chapman, the official Clerk of the Course and Rob Serviss, the Meet Director are obviously veterans at running these things. And they have a very nice pool of talented people to draw from to ensure a smooth execution of all aspects of the meet. Deb Soper, Chris Jenkins, Conne Finch and John Aki are four of those people (judges) as were the IT people, Jack Bronchley, Gail Brenchley and Alena Tran; and then all the timers and the kind people that keep the pool open for us. So, once again, many thanks to them from the TWIM family for their dedication.
The meet started in grand fashion with the TWIM quartet of Carl Haynie, Vince Carmosino, Holly Lickwala, and Jenny Salmi annihilating their competition in the Mixed 200 Medley relay; heck, they nearly beat the LWM relay that had 40 years on them! Made all the more impressive was the high proportion of disqualifications in this event. A quarter of all the entrants were sent packing for one reason or another and it seemed there were more stroke and turn judges than swimmers for a second there. I’m probably exaggerating a bit but it did appear they wanted to send a “no shenanigans” message right off the bat. If so, the message was heeded because there were only 3 other DQs the entire meet.
Well, anyway, the swagger was “on”. The tone was set. What followed was a thing of beauty.
Coach Tammy Koppelberger turned around and threw down a scorching 2:14.26 in the 200 freestyle marking up as the fastest gal in the meet. . .by over 11 and a quarter seconds! Not her best time either; she did say she has shrugged off the effects of the cold that dogged her the last meet. I must admit, it looked that way.
Hubby Jason K. grabbed a first in his age group also while coming in 2 seconds off his best. He obviously had the same virus.
Dan Underbrink brought home a first, too, while Brent Barnes just missed his best time while swimming to a second place.
Carl was back in the water for event 3, the 50 Back, and rolled to a sizzling :28.82. To illustrate just how “sizzling” it was, he not only beat his seed time but also was the fastest of the meet, ahead of three 18-24 year olds that didn’t see that coming, I’m sure. Well, I see on my sheet that their seed times weren’t as fast as Carl’s so they probably did see it coming. . .but I’m sure they didn’t like it.
Also in the 50 Back was (and may I introduce, if you missed her at TWIMfest this summer) Jenny Salmi, a new swimmer for our family. I met her before the meet, was too busy warming up to check out her credentials before she swam, so I have to admit I didn’t know what to expect. But let me tell ya, “haven’t been swimming for 10 years?”, no problem! This gal can flat out swim. She won the 50 back with a very fast :37.52.
Credentials verified!
Next up was the 200 IM, pound for pound the toughest event in this meet. Coincidentally we sent out two pretty tough competitors. Tom Walker, the revered one, can’t even say the word “compete” without smiling with glee. He backs down from nothing and in fact his 200 Fly (the toughest event in any meet, tied with the 400 IM) time from a few years back, when he wasn’t quite as long in the tooth, still resides in the All Time top twelve; it might be just hanging on, but it perseveres. He grabbed a second place.
And the other TWIM warrior? Think tough and you have Dan Underbrink. For kicks, the day before this meet, when I was resting and saving up energy, he was running a half marathon! I still don’t understand how that’s possible. Oh, and by the way, he got third in this event. Understandably, a bit off his best time but seriously!? A half marathon?
Next event featured the classic matchup of age versus beauty; it was Billie Jean King v. Bobby Riggs all over again. Ok, that’s not the best example of beauty but you get the picture. Holly L. and Scott N. went head to head in the 50 free. In this corner, Holly, sugar and spice and everything nice and in that corner, the 65 year old guy still looking for a little respect. Holly in lane 5 and Scott right next to her probably looking to draft off of her. Four one-hundredths of a second separated their seed times (:27.99 v. :28.03). When the dust had settled, Holly had held serve; by five one-hundredths of a second (:27.69 v. :27.74). In fact, in the heat, 5 swimmers finished within three-quarters of a second in a blanket finish with #6 only another second back. Probably not quite the stuff of legend, but a heck of a lot of fun!
Also in the 50 free husband and wifey duo-Koppelberger both garnered blue ribbons for their efforts while new recruit Jenny S. flashed some heat of her own with a very fine :30.94 to sneak away with a third.
In the 100 butterfly, our resident high caliber competitor Carl H., never afraid to get out of his comfort zone, crushed his seed time by nearly 5 seconds while churning to a first in this demanding event.
Event 7, the 50 breaststroke, featured 5 entries from the family. Tom Walker got third while Dan and Scott brought home a couple firsts. Brent Barnes, with each meet demonstrating more and more aptitude for this stroke, beat his seed time AGAIN! This time by over a half second! That was good for a second place. Lastly, Vince, up at the top of the board with the youngsters, showed that it hasn’t even thought about leaving him with a blistering :29.36!
Event 8 showed another TWIM gal at the top of the heap when Holly crowded the younger guys with a very nice 100 free in 1:00.66. Tammy was not far behind, literally, in both their actual heat and the finish time (they were right next to each other). Tammy wrestled a first in her division while posting a nifty 1:01.82. Jason K. nabbed a nice second for the team for his nice effort.
The mixed 200 free relay was next so both Tammy and Jason had to jump right back up with very little warm down but, as it turned out, piece o’ cake! With Jenny and Scott they posted a time one-tenth of a second off their seed time (good guess Coach K!) Their effort was good enough for first while beating the second place relay by a wide margin. In fact, their time beat relays 40 and 80 years younger!
The 100 back was up next with Carl (1st) and Dan (1st) shining brightly. Neither seemed thrilled with their times but it was late in the meet and both had the 500 free to save energy for.
Only one swimmer swam the 50 Fly and that was Scott N. He posted a :32.20, besting his seed time by over 2 seconds while capturing a first.
In the 100 breast Dan and Tom came in 3rd and 2nd respectively, each, I imagine trying to keep a little left in the tank for their final events.
In the penultimate event of the meet, the 100 IM, Jenny snatched third, Tom slid into home with a nice second while Scott cruised to a first.
Then came the 500 free. Mercifully.
Tammy K., Carl and Dan swam in it and while Tammy and Carl romped to firsts, Tammy also was the fastest gal at this distance. Dan nailed down a second place while posting a time ten seconds under his seed time. . .in his sixth event of the meet. . .after running a half marathon the day before! If he was a race horse he’d be Secretariat! Actually Carl would be Secretariat and. . .well, never mind.
That concluded the festivities for the day. . .now, as Paul Harvey used to say, the rest of the story. So, the Oregon Treaty was signed in 1843, during the Polk administration. It clarified the basic separation of the territories that belong to the U.S. and Canada (Britain). Only it was vague when it came to the San Juan Islands. The Brits thought the demarcation line of possession went to the east of the San Juans (they owned them) and the Yanks thought it went to the west. This led to homesteaders from the U.S. co-habitating rather closely to Britishers. Then, in 1859, a British sheepherder’s hog (you’d think a sheep, sure) wandered for a third time (he gave the wayward pig two free passes) onto the farm of a U.S. farmer; he spotted it in his garden, rooting up potatoes, again. So he shot it dead. What ensued nearly led to war. How did this affect where our meet was? Well, it so happened that the road connecting Fort Steilacoom to the south with Fort Bellingham to the north was being planned then. The exact point where a ferry was to go in, to allow crossing of the Snohomish River, had to be established. With hostilities seemingly imminent, it was decided that the ferry had to be moved further inland, out of the range of British war vessels’ cannons in the Sound. So the location of the town, where it now sits, was decided upon. As it turned out, tensions were subsequently quieted but the die had been cast, and that is the way it was. So, instead of having this meet a few miles downriver. . .OK, so it probably would’ve still been called Snohomish but its the location that I was referring to.
’Til we MEET again!
One thought on “TWIM, Snohomish, and the Stuff of Legend”
Love the prose I really felt like I was living the meet through your pen. Way to go and long live TWIM!