Regional Update
Members of South Bay (SOBA) Masters swim team earned a 5^thplace finish in The Southern Pacific Master Association Swimming Championship held at the La Mirada Slash Aquatic Center on May 13, 14, and 15^th. Opened in 2007, Splash is one of the biggest and prettiest facilities I have ever seen and even includes an aquatic theme park!

Representing SOBA were Kat Ahlers, Joanie Choy, Jay Hoeschler, Bob Eberwine. Tea Austen, Dave Neilan, Beverly Baird, Christine Seltzer, Allison Edwards, Tom Krenzke, Shannon Davey, Brian Dunne, Mike Tan, Nathan Stalker, Ellen Lohneiss, Marty Risley, Gretchen Peterson, Steve Hyde, and Pat Wickens.

Meet Heroes
Joanie, in her first ever swim meet, was the total yardage champ earning 3^rdplace finishes in the 1650, 1000, 500, and 200 frees and then adding a 5^thplace in the 50 free!  To top it off she swam in three relays. 

Not far behind Joanie for Iron Man honors was Alison Edwards who swam the last heat of the 1000 free and then had to turn around and swim in the first heat of the 200 Back!  On the same day she swam the last heat of the ever-popular 400 IM and then immediately returned to the block for the first heat of the 200 Medley relay

PRs
Dave and Bob continued to attack their own PR’s with Bob recording a 200 free style. In 2:00.04.  Bob also knocked out 5:28 500 Free.  Dave finished the 500 in a very respectable 5:39 and clocked a 1:07 100yd back.

Relays
Relays are vital to the success of the team in this type event since the points awarded for each relay is double that of individual events. It was very helpful that all of our relays placed very well

Friday
Bob, Nathan, Steve, and Tom earned 3rd place in the 200 Medley Relay and Alison, Gretchen, Beverly, and Joanie came in 1st in their age bracket. Bob, Nathan, Tom, and Steve returned for the 400 Free Relay and took 2^ndand the Women earned another 1^st!

Saturday
Saturday featured the ever-popular 800 Free Relay and SOBA fielded two teams.  Bob Nathan, Mike, and Dave posted a very respectable 8:26 for a 3^rdplace finish and Gretchen, Beverly, Alison, and Joanie, combined for second.

Sunday
On the final day of the meet we fielded three 200 free relay teams.  Tom K, Steve H Gretchen P and Joannie C placed 4^th.  Marty, Ellen, Shannon and Brian Dunne placed 2^nd.  Tea, Nathan, Jay, and Mike Tan placed 1st.  Leading off the team Tea clocked a 22.19 and Jay showed his speed with a 25.6 split. The very next event was the 400 Medley Relay consisting again of Tea, Mike, Nathan, and Jay.  Tea opened with a 55.22 100 back and Jay closed with a very speedy 56.2 free on the way to a 2^ndplace finish.  Tea’s back split was equal to the 10^thfastest time in the nation last year!

This was SOBA’s best SCY finish in many years and probably one of the mellowest race weekends I’ve ever experienced.  In a role reversal that is unique to Masters swimming quite a few kids in attendance were rooting for mom or dad! The meet finished early every day.  Even though it rained Sunday morning and during the storm our E-Z Up took off like Dorothy’s house on it’s way to OZ, team morale remained high and a good time was had by all (aided somewhat by the doughnuts that Joanie contributed).  I have attached a couple of photos contributed by Kevin Cody.

Upcoming Events
The Huntington Beach Swim June 11- A great swim for athletes who want to test their surf and navigation skills.  The swim is relatively short (less than 1000yds) reasonably priced, and includes an event shirt. It should be noted that good-sized surf and a strong lateral current often come into play. This event also awards team points to participating individuals. To my memory no team outside of Orange County has ever won. Perhaps we should take this as a challenge!!

Ocean Championship Series
The following events are sanctioned by SPMA. Individuals participating in these events will accrue points to determine age group open water champions. Dave Neilan was last year’s open water ace. Check out the SPMA Website for details

Seal Beach 1 and 3 mile swims-July 9.  The organization tends to be a bit shoddy but the water is warm and relatively flat.  Scout out the buoy placement before the race if possible-otherwise it’s easy to get lost and frustrated.

Seamana Nautica 6miles-July 10 This is fairly serious swim that requires a paddler. I will be happy to paddle for anyone interested in taking this one on!

Balboa to Newport 2 mile-July 16. This nominal 2miler seems somewhat harder than our pier-to-pier swim and as such makes a good reality check for those wishing to try the P2P. The challenge is to swim to aim for the end of the Newport Pier while working against a swell that wants to push you into shore in the last ¼ mile or so.

Don Burns Corona Del Mar 1 mile-One of the prettiest beaches in So Cal The course is rectangular and relatively flat in spite of being just across the harbor mouth from “the Wedge.”

Naples Island Swim 1 and 3 miles.  Sept 13- Easily one of the most unique swims ever!  The 3-mile goes around Naples Island.  My feeling is that the course is a bit short but actually kind of scenic.  The one-mile swim takes you around a “doughnut hole” cut out that forms the center of the island.  It’s very different to have homeowners watch you go by as they take on their morning coffee!

Slam the Dam at Lake Mead Oct 1 -1.2 and 2.4 mile loops.  Many lake swims are kind of slimy so the swimmer ends up taking on quite a bit of algae and moss salad during the event. On the other hand, Lake Mead may be the clearest, best tasting, water I have ever raced in. Vegas might be an added minor attraction

Other team favorites
Pier to Pier swim July 31. Part of the international Surf festival this is a training focus for the team and is generally followed by a team party. I would also invite anyone to join me for the body surfing championship on Saturday

La Jolla Rough Water Swim Sept 11. A great team event! Many of us stay for the weekend and enjoy the sights of La Jolla. We generally meet for a swim in the Cove on Saturday, do a little “carbo loading” Saturday evening, and hang out in the park on Sunday waiting for our events.  The one-mile is a triangular course in an aquatic wildlife reserve so you are apt to see lots of fish. The three-mile is a real navigation challenge and due to currents ranges in difficulty from not easy to “what have I gotten myself into?” Those swimmers who complete both the one and three miles swims earn “Gator Man Status.

Long Course Pool Meets
There are quite a few Long Course meets on the SPMA schedule but two items stood out to me. There is a relay only race in Mission Viejo and Long Course Regionals in August. Rose Bowl did a sort of stealth relay only meet a couple of years ago that generated many records for the home team.  On paper we have bodies that could generate many national and even world top ten Relay times. Normally regionals and the P2P conflict but I believe the two-week spread between the two makes launching an effort workable.

If you add half dozen local triathlons and a few good 10ks you can see the summer has lots to offer

Thanks again to those who came to regionals. Let’s keep the momentum going during a great summer season.

Steve