On Saturday, September 25, 2021, the Last Splash of Summer was held again at beautiful Angle Lake, in SeaTac, WA.
The weather was beautiful as well, considering that on Wednesday and Thursday it was raining and cool.
For this event, the TWIM team was represented by none other than the Team President, Dan Underbrink, and Val Thompson. Both of whom brought their significant others. Dan was accompanied by his wife, Mary Underbrink and Val was accompanied by her husband, me, Vic Pace.
This year, the Last Splash of Summer included the 1 Mile Wetsuit, 1 Mile No-Wetsuit, Julie Montiel Fun Swim (1 Mile – Fins, snorkels, masks and safety buoys are allowed. Hand paddles are NOT allowed. Wetsuits are of course allowed!), 2 Mile Wetsuit, 2 Mile No-Wetsuit and 500 Yards for 9 – 12-year-olds.
With the different events taking place today, 101 swimmers registered, but only 89 swam. This year the times were being taken by hand and the 1-mile and 2-mile wetsuit, no wetsuit, and the Julie Montiel Fun swimmers, all started at the same time, which took place at 10 a.m. The 500 yd 9 to 12-years old swim started shortly after the last swimmer exited from the 1- and 2-mile swim.
It seemed a bit crazy at first seeing the different colored caps at the ready line waiting for the start horn to blow. And then, they were off.
This was the first year that The Last Gasp of Summer, was changed to, The Last Splash of Summer, since it began in 2011. This was traditionally the Men and Women of Steel annual picnic that Blue Wave Aquatics held to celebrate another successful year of swimming. I could not find a reason for the name change though.
Due to the shortage of workers and distribution centers from the pandemic, (fact check-no one verified this statement), awards were only presented to the fastest 1st and 2nd place finishers of the Men and Women 1-mile, 2-mile non-wetsuit, wetsuit, 500 yd swim. This year they did not give awards or medals for age groups. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of the awards, which were pretty awesome 16 oz. ceramic Coffee mugs with The Last Splash logo on the mugs. First place mugs were black and the second place were blue.
Here’s the finish pictures of our great swimmers from today.
Interesting facts for the day;
- Val finally got a new suit that fits her properly. She loves it too.
- Mary, who is far-sighted, usually wears her contacts when swimming to help correct her vision, this year she did not wear them, and was amazed at how clear the buoys were at a distance.
Mike Murphy was part of the water safety personnel.
