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5th Annual Pacific Masters Celebration
November 8, 2015
The annual Pacific Masters Swimming (PMS) event consists of several activities, starting with a coached workout and bagels, followed by a technical talk, a luncheon accompanied by a keynote speaker, the business portion and awards. This year our coach Hermine was honored with the Peggy Lucchesi Award.
The workout is held at the Soda Aquatic Pool on the Campolindo High School campus. Swimmers group together in lanes by "comfort zone," meaning the swimmers in each lane are around the same speed. Guest coaches manage a few lanes each, dispersing the workout in easy to digest sections. The workout varies slightly for each comfort zone, but the workouts all follow the same basic format.
After swimming, bagels and coffee are provided right outside the front door. Then there is a short car trip to St. Mary's College for the remaining events. Olympian Matt Grevers gave the technical talk in addition to being the keynote speaker. Matt brought a very heavy Olympic Gold Medal to share. Matt stands 6' 8" tall and is always smiling. He talked about swimming from the core, and paying attention to your fingertips - knowing where they are pointed - so they don't lose their catch. He demonstrated his awesome backstroke turn and the secret to why it's so fast. His keynote speech was about his swim life, from sharks-n-minnows to the Olympics. Grevers shared his passion for pursuing records, his disappointment at not winning a hot-tub and his gratitude for his parents, coaches and teammates. His parting words were "smiling makes everything better."
The business component of the meeting rolled out some quick facts: Pacific Masters is the largest local Master Swim organization with over 12,000 members in 148 clubs. PMS comprises 20% of all master swimmers in the U.S., and is still growing. Budgets were approved, new officers elected including our own John Morales as VP for Pool Meets. The new Chair/President will be John King, as Peter Guadagni steps down after four years. There was also slide show regarding the relocation of the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame (IMSHOF) to the future George Haines Swim complex, which will be built in Santa Clara. This year, Nancy Ridout was inducted into the IMSHOF for her contributions that have been a crucial part of Master Swimming's growth and success.
Our coach Hermine Terhorst was presented with the Peggy Lucchesi Award for the "joy" she brings to Masters Swimming. The award is presented to the coach/swimmer whose very presence in the program brings joy and happiness to the rest of us, in the spirit of Peggy Lucchesi. A complete list of PMS awards can be found here, along with members of Pacific Masters that won United States Masters Swimming awards.