Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

Former Member — Thu, 01 Jan 2004 15:05:28 GMT

Bill, That's a great picture of you in BEST LIFE. Don't worry too much about the problem you described in point number "5" of your post. Remember, no one ever made it to the top without eating a little "you know what", along the way. Have a Happy New Year and keep training hard. Jack

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

Former Member — Fri, 19 Dec 2003 15:56:36 GMT

That's good that you got to know and see your daughter and she is a fine young lady.

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

Former Member — Fri, 19 Dec 2003 10:22:56 GMT

Cynthia, There is a happy ending to the story though!!!My daughter is now 16 and lives about 5 miles from me.They came back to Britain after 7 years in the wilds of Greece.Now I am the happiest guy in the world.I get to see my daughter as much as she wants to see me and I get to swim as much as I want.What more can a man want in life??:)

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

mattson — Fri, 19 Dec 2003 01:34:07 GMT

During age group swimming, I remember a girl, maybe 10 years old, who died of heart problems. There was no way of knowing she had this condition, until after the fact. The doctor believed that swimming probably added a year or two to her life (by strengthening her heart).

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

Former Member — Thu, 18 Dec 2003 16:01:23 GMT

Well, Swimming never saved my life and as a teenage I wasn't always fond of it. It did help me with weight control and I'n still able to swim fair for my age. I can't believe someone would take their daughter away from them and go to another country.

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

Former Member — Thu, 18 Dec 2003 15:38:02 GMT

Jim, I did find your story when I got to NJ and purchased the magazine.Man,that was awesome stuff that you wrote.I too have often felt that swimming "saved" my life,after my wife left with my 1 year old daughter and I couldn't trace them for a few years when they took off to Greece.I know for sure that if I hadn't re-discovered swimming then ,who knows what could have happened.Like you,I always feel that my problems have been washed away when I am in the pool.I always feel like a new man when I get out after a session.Sorry about the cliche.You are a truly gifted writer. Mark

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

Former Member — Wed, 17 Dec 2003 13:16:08 GMT

Great story, Jim! On a different subject, many people have asked me about the picture. In the photo, waves are crashing around me and there's a fish hanging out of my mouth. To answer the questions: 1) Was it a real fish? Yes, it was a real fish (snapper). 2) Was it alive? No. 3) Was it found on the beach? No, it was purchased by the stylist at a gourmet seafood market. 4) Was the photo taken at Cannon Beach, Oregon? No. Snapper is not found on the coast of Oregon. The picture was taken in San Diego. I don't think you can find snapper there, either. Oh well. So much for reality! 5) How did it taste? I got fish poop in my mouth. Nuff said? Happy Holidays! Swimmer Bill

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

Former Member — Tue, 16 Dec 2003 16:59:06 GMT

Ian, Thanks for the Canadian Nationals info. It sounds like it will be another great meet. You will probably draw a lot of US swimmers especially those from the West Coast. By the way, you forgot to mention some of the other great swimmers in the 50-54 age group at Montreal, particularly Bruce Robertson who won a silver medal at the Munich Olympics behind Mark Spitz. And, if the printed results of last weeks Zone meet at Rutgers are right, Paul Trevisan just regained his 100 free record. Apparently he led off a relay with a 54.61 SCM split. We will have to get Thornton to write about Paul's training for SWIM. Jack

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

Former Member — Sun, 14 Dec 2003 15:50:41 GMT

As someone who also has returned to competitive swimming after a quarter of a century, I wonder how typical Paul's experience is, specifically his ability to match (?) his collegiate times after training for five or six years. Is he an anomaly? I'd be interested to know how he trains.

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

Former Member — Sun, 14 Dec 2003 06:59:53 GMT

Jack, Next year's Can. Nats will be in the (North) West, in Edmonton, Alberta, May 21-24. They will be long course in the same pool that will be used in the World Masters Games in 2005. They seem to rotate the Can. Nationals between SCM and LCM (more or less) - something the USMS should perhaps consider. You were right about the 'intense competition' in your 50-54 age group! e.g. Larry Krauser breaking Trevisan's 100m world record. Ian.

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

Former Member — Sat, 13 Dec 2003 16:00:20 GMT

Well, what's it with you middle age men that are able to swim times from college. Us women have more problems doing those old times. Maybe, its easier in freestyle. Anyway, I swim freestyle at about the same speed I swam breaststroke as a kid and breaststroke about 13 seconds slower in the 100 meter. Maybe, its because women even lose more upper body strength than men do as they age, and the best 45 plus woman to do those old times is L Val who has been working out since her early 30's.

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

Former Member — Sat, 13 Dec 2003 10:51:16 GMT

Ian, Yes, I did compete in the Canadian Nationals for 1776 last year. I thought that Carol Thomas and her staff were fantastic. I would recommend the Canadian Nationals to any American Masters Swimmer. The meet was well run, people were terrific and the competition was intense. I was wondering if you knew where and when they would be held next year? In regard to your other question, Paul Trevisan is my teamate at 1776. He's a great guy. An article about him was published in THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. I believe the title of the article was something like "He Conquered Pain". It ran around January 20,2003 and it's worth reading. Jack

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

jim thornton — Sat, 13 Dec 2003 08:43:43 GMT

Ian and Jack, I actually wrote about Paul in my article, but he was trimmed out of the final cut for space purposes (plus the fact that he didn't make it to the Rutgers meet.) Anyhow, I will paste in the Paul Trevisan excerpt below. I'm not sure exactly how much he works out, but it's pretty intense quality, from what I understand. ....Consider the nearly mythic case of Paul Trevisan, a 51-year-old suburban Philadelphian who made All-American as a high school sprinter. After a distinguished college swimming career--Trevisan was one of the nation's top sprinters during the Spitz era--he found himself heartily sick of training and gave up laps for links. Flash forward a quarter century to 1997. While practicing his back swing on a local golf course, Paul heard a sickening crack in his spine and had to literally crawl to his car. Two days and one MRI later, his doctor informed him he had two herniated disks in his lower back. For the next year, Paul avoided the knife, attempting instead to quash his considerable pain with pills, cortisone injections, epidurals, and a smorgasbord of conventional and alternative therapies--all to no avail. His gait resembled that of an old man; he couldn't even bend over to tie his shoes. His weight ballooned from 200 to 240, and his energy level plummeted. Nearing 50, Paul found himself snowballing fast down the back slope of life's Continental Divide. It was at this point that his teenage daughter recommended he get back into the pool. His first forays into the water were hardly auspicious. "I couldn't even swim," he recalls, describing a back so painful and inflexible it was impossible to get horizontal. "I would walk some, then stand. I was just getting wet." Nevertheless, he refused to give up, and after a year of daily 5:30 a.m. "workouts" he found both his energy and flexibility slowly coming back. A few of his fellow lap swimmers, impressed by his dedication, told him about an upcoming local masters meet. He entered this on a lark, and to his amazement, won both the 50 and 100 freestyle in his age group. The lure and thrill of competition would prove a fountain of youth for Paul, and since then, he's never looked back. Shortly after entering the 50-54 year old age group, he began setting world and national records in the freestyle sprints, accomplishments he hopes to better in the future. "What started out as 'just trying to get healthy' has turned into a commitment to find out has fast I can swim," Paul recently told me. "I set goals each year, and this season I have set some aggressive ones. For instance, in the 50 yard free, I plan to do a 21.5, and a 47.5 in the 100. Is this sick or what? But it's a lot of fun, and I am so glad I was able to work my way through the difficult years." Note: swimming has even allowed him to get back to golf painfree. Paul's now shooting in the mid-70s, playing better than before his injury. "But I play golf purely for entertainment," he says. "Unlike swimming, I don't plan to let it become a competitive situation." For Senior Tour members, that's got to be a good news.

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

Former Member — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 13:03:29 GMT

Jim, Just to let you (& anyone north of the border) that I managed to pick up a copy of Best Life with your article at a magazine shop in Montreal. Interesting! If Jack Martin is the 1776 Jack Martin, he was in Montreal for the Canadian Nationals in May (along with Dan Rogacki, Larry Krauser & other US swimmers). I missed him. Had I known he was one of your nemeses, I would have searched him out. Look forward to an article from you (in 'Swim' even?) on Paul Trevisan. I like to know how & how much these fast guys train. It always makes me feel better about what I do with my relaxed training. Ian.

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

Former Member — Sun, 07 Dec 2003 06:02:48 GMT

Great article. By the way, the water at your pool looks awfully clean for a YMCA. And the ad for Ogoplex that followed was very. . . educational.

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

jim thornton — Sat, 06 Dec 2003 11:02:12 GMT

Thanks, Jack. I wanted to correct an error I made in an earlier post. Bill Volckening is not the editor of SWIM, but I think he is the USMS editor --or something along these lines. Phil Whitten is the Editor-in-Chief and arguably the most knowledgable writer in the world on competitive swimming. In my article, I mention a study Phil did while at Harvard on masters swimming and the aging process. Speaking about overcoming adversity, check out Phil's editor's note in one of the recent SWIM magazines. Very moving and inspirational.

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

Former Member — Fri, 05 Dec 2003 16:28:55 GMT

Jim, I think that in New Jersey you can find BEST LIFE in Borders book stores, CVS drug stores and WaWa convenience stores. It is a well written and thought provoking article. Although on one level it's about Masters Swimming and the competition and competitors at the Nationals at Rutgers, it's also about facing adversity and the choices people make in dealing with it. It will be interesting to see how it is received. Jack

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

Former Member — Fri, 05 Dec 2003 12:48:21 GMT

Jim, I'm coming to New Jersey next week from London,what places will I be able to get this great magazine. Thanks, Mark

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

jim thornton — Fri, 05 Dec 2003 09:09:24 GMT

Hi, Mark. The magazine is only sold on newsstands. It may even be at the newsstand at the airport where your plane lands. Or try the local newsstands in whatever NJ town you wind up at. If you don't have any luck--i.e., it's sold out or something, let me know and I will ask my editor if there's any other way to obtain a copy. Thanks for looking!

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

Former Member — Thu, 04 Dec 2003 12:37:58 GMT

So, for those of us who don't end up getting the magazine... Reprints later on? How do we get out hands on the article? Maybe once the dust settles nd that issue is out of print?

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

jim thornton — Thu, 04 Dec 2003 07:00:10 GMT

Thanks, Dennis. Those guys I profiled--Jack Martin, Bill Volckening, and Arthur Wein--are all super fellows and really an inspiration. One the guys I wrote up (but there wasn't room for him in the story, especially since he wasn't at Rutgers) was Paul Trevisan. Don't know if you know him or know of him, but talk about your legendary Lazarus type guy. From so screwed up from a bad back he could hardly walk, to a world record holder who, at 50ish, swim times most college kids would envy.. Anyhow, thanks for the kind words.

RE: Masters swim article in Best Life magazine

Dennis Tesch — Thu, 04 Dec 2003 06:29:07 GMT

JIm, Thought the article was great. It is nice to see a little swimming exposure in health and lifestyle related magazines. I think the article might appeal to the average rec. swimmer who is thinking about joining a master group. Nice job! Dennis