Congratulations to all those who helped run the national meet in Tempe. Apart from all the great swims I got to see, the most impressive part of the meet was the excellent announcing during the competition--in two pools at once. I have been to some very well run, and well-announced meets (Rick Osterburg's work at the recent New England Championships comes to mind), but I have never heard such well-informed and articulate announcers at any swim meet, ever. Not only did the two (?) announcers know the swimmers, their backgrounds, and their abilities, when they "called" the race you could feel the excitement, even if you were outside the pool area. It made you want to get a look at the "great race." We all know that sometimes swim meets can drag on and get pretty dull as we wait for our turn to compete or for the race one of our friends is swimming. This meet was different. The way those guys called the races I felt like I'd arrived at the "Mecca" of swimming...and maybe I had.
So, my thanks to all the work that went in to preparing for the meet and for the excitement you announcers brought to every race. I am sorry to say that I don't know your names...perhaps someone who does know could send them in.
Tom Boak did some announcing early in the meet too.
All the announcers were superb. Our team had some younger swimmers who were at their first nationals, and they commented too how great the announcers were, and how much they added to the atmosphere.
They were great! Everybody in Arizona was great. Hats off to Mark Gill and all the Arizona Masters!
The two main announcers for the meet were Duncan Scott and Phil Whitten.
Duncan is the announcer for Arizona State swim meets and does an amazing job. His race analysis and knowledge of the swimmers is incredible. He will also be the announcer at the Santa Clara Invitational this year. If you ever get a chance to hear Duncan call a PAC-10 meet it is something that should not be missed.
Phil Whitten is an Arizona Masters swimmer who also happens to be the Editor-in-Chief of Swim, Swimming World and Swim Technique. We are lucky to have someone with his talents training in the area. I have never met anyone with Phil's ability to pull obscure swimming facts up at will. He is a walking treasure trove of masters swimming knowledge.
Tom Boak also filled in as an announcer for a few events. Tom was a great help and a wonderful volunteer. In addition to helping us with the meet, Tom also got to call the race where his wife, Carolyn Boak, broke a national record.
Rich Ripley was the announcer for each morning's warm-ups. He is a member of the organizing committee for the meet and husband of triple Olympic gold medallist, Melissa Belote-Ripley.
Glad you enjoyed their work. I felt that they added a tremendous amount to the meet and we were lucky to have their help.
Mark Gill
Meet Director (retired)
I loved the announcers too; the background information on the swimmers was fun to hear. I did notice a lot of local Arizona swimming knowledge!
I do have a warning for anyone who does this announcing, though. I did see one heat at the meet where the announcer was announcing the race in one pool (odd) and the race was starting in the other pool. The announcer managed to say "Lane 4" just as the swimmers had come to their marks and the swimmer in lane 4 stood up just as the horn went off, thinking that the starter was speaking to her. She did not swim the race, and I'm sure she was very displeased. So be careful if you are the announcer. It is a lot of balls to juggle.
Swim fast,
Greg
