Feeling a bit guilty, Thomas Walker and Carl Haynie fled the states this past weekend to Victoria, BC, to take advantage of a rare opportunity to swim a Long Course Meters (LCM) meet in the dead of winter.
We say ‘guilty’ as they knew they were skipping out on the popular TACM SCM Masters Meet in Anacortes the same day where fellow TWIMmers were competing (details coming soon). But, hey, someone needs to keep “International” in our team’s name relevant, right?
Also, in meter meets your ‘meet age’ is based on your age on Dec 31st. So if you’re turning 60 in August like Carl, you effectively ‘age up’ to the next age group a good half year early in this meet!
Do we let them off the hook now?
The venue was the impressive indoor 50 meter pool at Saanich Commonwealth Place north of town, and their gracious hosts were the Victoria Masters Swim Club.
Over 140 competitors registered for the meet from all over Canada. Except for one Russian, Carl and Tom were the only non-Canadians that were rarin’ to go on Sunday. Our dynamic duo each swam 3 events.
Carl started things off with the 200 meter Backstroke bordered on one side by 33-year-old Gabrio Mannucci who was off like a rocket (he finished in 2:18.81!) and on the other by 57-year-old Peter Van Dyke who nearly caught Carl at the final touch.
Carl was thankful for the competition, and set a new Zone Record in the 60-64 AG with a time of 2:36.53. He would later go on to set a 2nd Zone Record in the 100 Back (1:10.95) before wrapping up with a fun 50 Breaststroke sprint. Way to go, Carl!!
Tom’s 3 events were heavy on the breaststroke beginning with the 100, peaking with the 200, and finishing up with a 50 Breast where he finished first in his heat.
When you look “Thomas Walker” up in the USMS database, you may think your eyes are deceiving you when you see “634 swims” beside his name. What?! And that’s only since they started keeping records on the ‘puters! His 200 Breast time of 5:41.56 was his 2nd fastest all time in the 70-74 age group. Nice swimming, Tom!!
The duo left very satisfied while remarking how special it was to swim at such a beautiful facility and how nice it was to hear the National anthem sung just for them! They even made it back to the hotel bar in time for the Super Bowl!
Guilty as charged, I say.
One thought on “Victorious in Victoria”
Great swimming Carl and Tom, way to represent the USA! That is certainly a beautiful facility. Brent