TWIM puts Superstition to the Test at National Senior Games

It all started on Friday the 13^th…

Triskaidekaphobia is a ten dollar word (maybe a thirteen dollar word?) which Scott trotted out in a recent blog post. About 735 senior athletes definitely had reason to wonder if fear of the number thirteen was a real or valid reaction to all that happened in Plantation, Florida, at the 2022 National Senior Games. It seemed that Friday the 13^th issues continued on for three full days!

Never fear though; your TWIM representatives at this worthy event were not a superstitious lot, and with so many swimming colleagues from all over this great nation, we pushed through all of the adversity with grace and aplomb, and ultimately triumphed in the sport we all love so well! Swimming is, after all, Our Way of Life! So, let us move on with this great tale of noble competition and triumph over all sorts of adversity and superstition!

It was a stalwart trio of TWIM Conquerors who made their way to sunny (sometimes) Florida along with at least six other Washington swimmers. Your TWIM Heroes at this event were Team Treasurer, Carl Haynie; Power Swimmer, Candace Jacobs; and Team President, Dan Underbrink.

This meet was a strange tale of right and wrong. So very many things went wrong, but (as I am sure many of you have noticed) life has a certain balance; so, while many things went wrong, there were an equal number of things which went so very right.

The entire competition was scheduled to run for four days, with the “senior-est” seniors (those 70 years of age and above) in the morning sessions, and the “youngster” seniors (ages 50-69) in the afternoons. Even though the meet format was short-course yards (SCY) the age rules for National (and State) Senior Games use one’s age at year-end to determine “meet age”. So, while I am a mere 65, I was swimming as age 66, in the afternoon sessions with Carl. The age cut-off pushed Candace into the morning session, where she was perhaps one of the youngest “70-year-olds” ever seen at one of these.

Thursday, May 12, was the pre-meet warm-up day, where swimmers could come and get familiar with the swim facility, get in the water and swim, try out the starting blocks, and assess the walls. The pool was competition cool – perhaps around 80 degrees. The weather was hot! Various Washingtonians trickled into the facility at different times of the afternoon or evening to take their measure of the venue. We all left with visions of fast starts and faster swims over the next four days. The pool was all set up for the meet and session one was scheduled to start with warm-ups at 8am and competition at 9am the next day, Friday, May 13, 2022.

We had our first inkling of trouble when Carl and I received a text from Washington breaststroker Rick Howell, who said, “On a lark, I showed up early and they haven’t started the morning session yet.” This was sent around 11-11:30, so already a 3+ hour delay! Here is what happened:

Overnight, someone at the facility had left the chemicals on all night and chlorine levels in the competition pool were too high to allow swimmers in the water! Luckily, there was a secondary pool just a few feet away, so the meet was transferred over there. This involved installing diving blocks and transferring the electronic timing system over to the new pool. Also, all of the chairs, tables, speakers shelter tents, and more had to be moved.

An additional problem was that the new pool only supported eight competition lanes, whereas the original pool was set up for ten. This meant that the entire morning session had to be re-seeded, causing still more delays. They finally got started swimming sometime after 11:30am, but during the afternoon, they also had a couple of lightning delays. The “noon” group started showing up at around 4pm to find the morning session still in full swing. At this point, the chlorine levels had returned to something swimmable in the original pool. A halt was called to the morning session with the 400 IM event not swum.

All of the meet equipment was then moved back to the 10-lane pool and the 50-69 competition got going at around 5:30pm. The afternoon session was called to a halt just before 8pm, which was the pool’s hard closing time. The Men’s 50 Freestyle and all of Friday afternoon’s 100 Backstroke and 400 IM events were not swum.

The plan for Saturday was that the morning session would start with Friday’s 400 IM and then continue with their scheduled day’s events; and that was what occurred, but the result was that the afternoon session started about an hour late, with about 70 minutes of the previous day’s events leading the line-up. Several lightning safety breaks were called during the afternoon and evening, so consequently, the session ended again with several events not swum.

Sunday morning’s session was relatively problem-free, and the afternoon session started pretty much on time, but with several of Saturday’s leftover events needing to be swum before the Sunday afternoon scheduled events could start. There were a couple of half-hour safety breaks for lightning, but then, at about 5pm, with just the 200 Breaststroke left to swim, we had another lightning break. This one was for a series of thunderstorms and lasted for well over an hour.

There were somewhere around 60 to 65 swimmers entered in the 200 Breaststroke, and it had to be swum Sunday evening, if at all possible. We were nearing the end of the meet, and many were flying home either that evening, or early the next morning. Also, if the 200 Breaststroke was pushed to Monday morning, it would mean that many 500 Freestyle competitors (there were 181 of them!) would be unable to swim due to their flight times!

The meet officials could see about a one-hour clearing ahead in the weather. There was only one way to get the Breaststroke accomplished and that was to re-seed the scheduled heats. They took roll call of who was there and quickly set up the heats. They announced the first swimmers, who got to their assigned blocks and began swimming their race. During the first heat, the second heat swimmers were announced. During the second heat, the third heat swimmers were announced, and so on. We finished Sunday’s swimming at about 7:15pm.

The Monday morning session was all age groups, swimming the 500 Freestyle, and this proceeded without any difficulties. Likewise, for the Monday afternoon session, which consisted of two relay events with a half-hour break in between.

The meet officials and the volunteers made heroic efforts to bring this event to a successful conclusion. They were patient, endlessly resourceful, and put in probably twice as many hours as initially planned. We all appreciated their tireless efforts on our behalf. Most swimmers, too, just rolled along with what was happening, and almost everyone there maintained a positive attitude and had a good time. Here are the details about your TWIM teammates who attended this extravaganza:

Candace Jacobs swam in the morning sessions on Saturday and Sunday. She was faster than her seed times in all five of her events! She swam the 100 IM (5th), 50 Free (2^nd), 50 Back (2^nd), 100 Free (3^rd), and 50 Fly (3^rd). What a powerhouse!

Because of the way Candace’s events fell, her swim schedule was not affected by the weather woes. She says it was wonderful, swimming in the sunshine! She found the enthusiasm and friendliness of her fellow competitors to be remarkable, and she thought it was inspiring to see 90+ years old folks successfully competing in their events.

Carl Haynie also bettered his seed times in all events! He enjoyed his 100 IM the best, as the competition was fierce, and he did not expect to win (but he did!). He also enjoyed swimming in the relays which were pretty fun (more on that below).

Carl swam in the 100 Back (1^st), 200 Back (1^st), 100 IM (1^st), 50 Back (3^rd), and 200 IM (1^st). Thanks to his wife Terry who spotted it first, he added another first but for a different hobby. A Burrowing Owl that had taken up residence near the pool was a first for his Florida list!

Dan Underbrink rounded out the TWIM Squad, bettering his seed times in four of six events.

Dan swam in the 100 Back (5^th), 400 IM (4^th), 100 Breast (10^th), 200 Back (5^th), 200 Breast (4^th), and 500 Free (7^th). “I was happy with both Breaststroke races and with my 500 Freestyle. I really enjoy this meet, for its opportunities to connect with like-minded swimmers from all over the country. The competition is intense and the comradery with other swimmers is not to be missed!”

Dan and Carl also swam in two relays with Texas friends Debbie Pederson and De Shann Schinkel. We got 4^th place in both relay events, amid tough competition!

Other Washington swimmers seen at this event were: Barbara Young, Frank Warner, Steven Schwartz, Rick Howell, Mary Underbrink, and Janice Pellissier. Mary credits what she learned at TWIM’s Freestyle Clinic for time improvements in all three of her Freestyle events!

So, despite pool difficulties and frequent safety breaks, due to lightning threats, everyone at these games seemed to have a great time. We were in southern Florida in the rainy season, though that was not the original plan. This National Senior Games was delayed twice, due to the pandemic and concerns over Covid.

I think every swimmer there will recommend, on their post meet survey, to try to keep future meets out of areas with frequent lightning threats, and to never start a swim meet on Friday the 13^th! Many new friends from all over the country left, saying, “See you in Pittsburgh next year!” That’s where the Games are in 2023. I’m hoping more TWIM Champions will sign up and join the fun!

— Dan Underbrink