by Dan Underbrink
The weekend of February 25-26 was a great one for TWIM competitors! We had Steve Fogg, traveling to Idaho, to the Kroc Center, in Coeur d’ Alene, for a two day meet, the Kroc Masters February Flurry. In the same weekend, on Sunday, five TWIM swimmers (Joseph Shelly, Kerry Ness, Dan Underbrink, and new TWIM members Steve Schwartz and Guilherme Tesser) were all competing at the Viking Invitational, in Bellingham!
Any team having swimmers at two competitions, simultaneously, may seem like a special and rare thing, but the fact is, that TWIM does this all the time! This coming weekend will see TWIM competitors at the Spring Ahead Meet in Oregon City, and at the March Madness Meet in Anacortes!
Here are Steve Fogg’s notes from the February Flurry:
Another great meet at the Salvation Army KROC Center in Coeur d’Alene. The words to describe the atmosphere and the meet, JOY, HAPPINESS, FELLOWSHIP. As I sat on deck before the start of the first event, I was impressed at how swimmers were greeting each other. They were so happy to be there and to see other competitors who had been missing for years (COVID). There were Inland NW swimmers, Big Sky Montana was represented by several clubs, TAM from California, Oregon, and PSM (5 swimmers).
Saturday morning started off with a Breakfast Social at the Corey residence. Even though it was a brisk 8 degrees, there was good attendance.
The Kroc Center pool by Myrtha is fast. The meters format is all deep water. The pool is 25 meters by 25 yards so it can host both formats. As with most meets, we had a variety of competitors, all of whom had enthusiastic support from the deck. Mike Hamm’s distinctive whistle was easily heard throughout the facility. On Saturday we saw three new World Records set, two by Richard Burns (TAM) in the 200 Back and the 200 IM, and Laura Val (TAM) set the 50 Fly WR.
After the day I enjoyed some special time with Mike H., Richard Burns, Laura Val, and Sally from the KROC Team. Needless to say, we talked swimming. It was like a tennis match between Mike and Richard.
Day two (Sunday) brought more good swimming. The snow started around 7:30 AM and continued through the meet, with no significant accumulation. I was impressed with the four other PSM’ers who swam all of the mixed relays. I didn’t get to really talk with them. Richard Burns set another WR in the 100 Back, I’m not sure about his 50 Back time.
My goal for the meet, since I age up this year, was to improve on the PSM 75-79 age group record times. Success!!
| Event | Old PSM Record | Steve’s Time |
| 400 I.M. | 7:48.09 | 7:42.54 |
| 100 Fly | 2:04.62 | 1:48.70 |
| 200 I.M. | 3:36.73 | 3:36.69 (phew!!) |
| 200 Fly | 4:49.31 | 3:52.07 |
| 100 Back | 1:44.42 | 1:32.80 |
| 50 Back | 47.79 | 41.81 |
In the not-too-distant future there will be faster swimmers, but I am pleased that I set a goal that I could attain and am happy with the results.
Big congrats to Steve on that very impressive Idaho showing!
While Steve was setting all those great times in his events on Sunday, the TWIM Squad of Five were making their way to Arne Hanna Pool in Bellingham. The Viking Invitational Meet was hosted by our friends from nearby Western Washington University.
Several of the squad had traveled to the Bellingham area on Saturday, so their morning commute was short. It had snowed Saturday night in Western Washington, and there were still snow flurries in places for those who drove up on Sunday, but the driving conditions were not too bad for most of the trip.
Joseph Shelly, swimming in the 25-29 age group, posted three first place finishes in 50 Backstroke, 50 Breaststroke, and 50 Butterfly, and a second place finish in the 50 Freestyle. Joseph is fast and fun to watch in competition!
Our newest TWIM swimmer, Guilherme Tesser, swam in the 40-44 age group. Another super-fast sprinter, Guilherme nailed a first place finish in the 50 Freestyle and the 50 Butterfly, as well as a second place in the 50 Breaststroke. This was Guilherme’s first competition in 9 years, and his first competition as a USMS and a TWIM swimmer! Guilherme hails from Brazil.
Kerry Ness is a swimming stalwart in PNA and transitioned to TWIM (where the competitive action is!) about two years ago. Kerry competed in the 50-54 age group and scored a first place in the 100 Breaststroke. He also had second place finishes in the 50 Backstroke, the 50 Breaststroke, and the 500 Freestyle. We are glad to have you swimming under the TWIM banner, Kerry!
Steve Schwartz is a seasoned swimmer, who is new to TWIM this year. You may have met Steve at Washington State Senior Games last summer, and he has been in several National Senior Games as well. This was his first meet swimming with TWIM! Steve swims in the 55-59 age group and was looking good with first place finishes in the 100- and 500-yard Freestyle events. He also posted a second place finish in the 200 Breaststroke.
Rounding out the TWIM Squad, was me, your blog-writer, Dan Underbrink. I swan in the 65-69 age group and I posted first place finishes in the 500 Freestyle, the 100 and 200 Backstroke, and the 100 and 200 Breaststroke.
This was a fun meet, which moved along quickly, and was very-well run by our WWU hosts. We were out of the pool by about 12:30 PM and enjoyed sunny weather on the drive home!
