SPM Newsletter (Apr-Jun 2015)

April 2015
Volume 5, Issue 2
St. Pete Masters
Newsletter
April Showers brings Masters
Nationals
In like a lion and out like a swimmer.
As many of you are aware, SPM has quite a large team heading to San Antonio in a few weeks for Spring Masters Nationals. The team will proudly represent SPM, all decked out in
team gear and many wearing the latest and greatest tech suits . It is
not very common for masters teams to enjoy such camaraderie with
their fellow members and actually act like swim teams. Many “teams”
are just set up for triathletes to train or for the 10 or 20 interested
pool swimmers who use swimming as fitness. SPM actually is a true
TEAM. We train together, we socialize together, we care about each
other. The memories of masters nationals & worlds over the past few
decades still circulate, with many fast swims and great dinners (and
possibly beers) after each session. For those of you who have never
experienced a USMS Nationals, it is amazing. It reminds us all that no
matter what age or what kind of shape you are in, there is still a place
for you in this sport. It also reminds many how much darn fun it is to
race!
SPM is so proud to have this great group representing us and we all
can’t wait to recount the fun, fast swimming, and entertaining stories
that come out of this trip. Best of luck!!!
Please e-mail knard819@gmail.com if you are interested in writing an
article or if you have a great idea for a story.
www.stpetemasters.org
Welcome New Members!
Kristin Cason (40-44)
Nicholas Chase (25-29)
Steven Cohen (50-54)
Owen Deckinga (50-54)
Karin Deleurand (55-59)
Michele Forte (45-49)
Michael Gay (55-59)
Tom Gomez (35-39)
Stacy Goodrich (45-49)
Alex Graham (35-39)
Bruce Haselden (50-54)
Greg Kennebeck (45-49)
Patrick King (30-34)
Christopher Knop (50-54)
Paul Kurtz (35-39)
Victor Maslov (40-44)
Cynthia Maston (35-39)
Jing Nimchuk (60-64)
Daniel Nolan (55-59)
Kurt Ott (50-54)
Liz Schuster (25-29)
Steve Selgison (65-59)
James Strouse (35-39)
Laura Strouse (45-49)
Hurricane Man
Info
2015 Happenings
Spring things!
SPM 2015 Spring National Team
St. Pete Masters is gearing up after 26 swimmers recently finalized their
entries for this year’s USMS Spring Nationals in San Antonio, Texas, April
23-26,, 2015. The excitement is definitely building after our meet and everyone is training hard so that we can make a great showing in Texas.
Thanks to sponsorship by Speedo and OxiClean, we are able to deck out
the group in national team caps, t-shirts, polos, jackets, and shorts for the
guys and yoga pants for the ladies (no, Ted, you cannot have the yoga
pants!) . Please tune in to www.usms.org during the meet and keep an
eye on the results for the following National team members:
Bob Beach
Ted Bradley
Kern Davis
John Doolittle
Steve Freeman
Phil Harasz
Eric Herman
David LeClair
Dan Newhaller
John Nixon
Anthony Sullivan
Sherri Bogue
Dawn Clark
Lauren Connolly
Melissa Harasz
JoAnn Harrelson
Cheryl Kupan
Dale LeClair
Stase Michota
Charlotte Petersen
Phyllis Scheidt
Jodi Schwartz
Suzzette Seril
Paula Texel
Linda Visser
Livia Zien
Hour Swim Results
Thanks to the many SPM team members that entered the One Hour ePostal National Championship event this year. Team results are not yet posted, but despite
the incredible number of entries, we had some individual and relay success. Finishing in the Top Ten in this event were Stase Michota (25-29) -10th, Paula Texel
(40-44) – 6th, Charlotte Petersen (50-54) – 2nd, Kern Davis (60-64) – 3rd, Carl Selles
(65-69) – 6th, Jack Pyhel (70-74) – 6th and Bob Beach (80-84) – 2nd. Relays that
finished in the Top Ten for women were: 25+ (Stase Michota, Charlotte Petersen,
Paula Texel) – 3rd, (Lauren Connolly, Sarah Swoch, Sarah Kwon) – 7th, 35+
(Adrienne Forkois, Dawn Clark, Patricia Euler) – 10th, 45+(Melissa Harasz, Cheryl
Kupan, Livia Zien) – 6th, 55+(Anne Page, Patty Nardozzi, JoAnn Harrelson) – 7th.
For the men we had the following: 45+ (Ken Gersbach, Vince Brockman, Josh
Smith) – 9th, 55+ (Tim Kennedy, Dan Newhaller, Kern Davis) – 2nd, (John Nixon,
Steve Freeman, Phil Harasz) – 9th, 65+ (Pat Marzulli, Carl Selles, Jack Pyhel) – 2nd.
Mixed Relays were successful as well and the results are: 25+(Michota, Kwon,
Smith, Kennedy) – 7th, 35+ (Petersen, Newhaller, Texel, Davis) – 5th, 55+ (Selles,
Nixon, Nardozzi, Harrelson) – 6th.
The Hurricane Man
Open Water Swim event
is filling quickly and will
cap at 400 entrants. If
you are planning on
competing, please go to
www.clubassistant.com
and enter today! Volunteers will be needed, so
please e-mail me at
pnardozzi@hotmail.com
and let me know if you
can help out. I need
help in all capacities including kayakers and/or
paddleboarders.
Valentine Meet
Results
SPM made a splash at
the annual Valentine
Meet which was also
this year’s Dixie Zone
Championship Meet.
With many of our team
readying for Nationals in
San Antonio, many of
our team had outstanding swims. Overall high
point winners were Paula Texel (40-44), Cheryl
Kupan (50-54) and Kern
Davis (60-64) and St.
Pete Masters finished
third overall with a total
of 838 points. Awesome job team!
2
Farewell to a Friend
Konrad Euler
June 2, 1935 – February 25, 2015
Konrad’s early life was certainly a prelude to how he became
the person and swimmer that we all know. When he was
quite young, he fell, scratched his knee which became infected. He was incorrectly diagnosed with bone tuberculosis and
treatment was to encase Konrad in a body cast to immobilize
him. At one point it was suggested to amputate his leg, which
his father refused to do. After six years, the correct diagnosis
was made as a staph infection and treated, but the damage
was done and important bone growth was stunted leaving his
left leg 5” shorter than his right. Fortunately, Konrad found
that it did not impact him as a swimmer and a life-long love of
the water and the sport ensued.
Konrad and his wife, Waltraut, both physicians, had been married for over 50 years and have one son, Herbie. Konrad and
Waltraut have owned a home in St. Pete since 1980 and have spent as much as six months at a time here. Konrad
joined St. Pete Masters around 1996 and was training as much as 5,000 yards per day preparing for his first open
water swim in 1997. That next year he completed the 12.5 mile swim around Key West and in 2000 represented St.
Pete Masters at World Championships in Munich finishing third in the 5K Open Water event. After three attempts
at the Tampa Bay Marathon Swim, he finally completed the swim as a 66 year old in 13 hours, 9 minutes and 28
seconds. Not only was Konrad a fantastic open water swimmer, but he excelled in the pool as well, ending his career with a total of 7 individual long distance All Americans, 3 relay All Americans, 34 individual Top Ten times and
27 relay Top Ten times. The St. Pete Masters swimming family gathered together on March 8th to celebrate the full
and fantastic life of Konrad Euler. His son, Herbie and daughter-in-law, Patricia were there to share the memories
as well before he was “laid to rest” in his favorite place, Tampa Bay. Bon voyage, Konrad, you will be missed.
SPM 45th Annual Short Course Championships
Despite the small number of entries, the St. Pete Masters 45 th Annual Championship Meet was a huge success. Beautiful
weather and some fast swimming kept everyone in a great mood and enjoying the fun atmosphere. SPM was far and away
the combined winner of the meet with a whopping 1,778 points! Winning High Point towels in their respective age group
were: Hannah Caron (18-24), Sarah Swoch (25-29), Nat Glackin (30-34), Paula Texel (40-44), Livia Zien (45-49), Charlotte
Petersen (50-54), Kern Davis (60-54), and Bob Beach (80-84). It was great to have head coach, Fred Lewis, swimming in the
meet and also fun to watch his SPA swimmers cheer him on. Former SPA swimmers, Stase Michota and Tom Gomez had
fun swimming their events. Another SPA connection were husband and wife, Paul and Stephanie Kurtz, enjoying being in
the pool instead of volunteering on the deck. Many of us enjoyed watching their two little boys running up and down the
warm-up lane, heat sheet in hand, “coaching” their parents. As always, the meet cannot run without volunteers! Many
thanks to the following for helping out with timing duties: Dave and Margot Larson, Miles Williams, Sandy Steer, Katy
Kline, Jon Rosenbaum, Bruce Day, Stacy Goodrich, Tim McMahon, Stephanie Lee, Greg Carlin, Bob Aldrich, Christoph
Lichtenfeld, Chris Burke, Tiffany Weidner, Mary Jo Cillian, Sarah Kwon, Ann Piccard, Jason Breese and Joe Baker. Our concession/hospitality crew, Kathy Selles, Adrienne Forkois, and Ann Albert was the BEST and special thanks to Livia for bringing the pasta! Last, but not least, thanks to our officials, Dan Nardozzi, Kevin Mooren, Charlie Kohnken and Joannie
Gauzens. They run a fantastic meet!
3
Annual SPM Awards Banquet
St. Pete Masters members and their dates for the evening enjoyed the breathtaking views from the 28th floor of Bayfront Tower and dined a delicious array
of hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, drinks and desserts at our annual St. Pete
Masters Awards Banquet. Recognized at this year’s banquet were the following SPM members:
ALL AMERICAN:
Bob Beach
Brooke Bowman
Ted Bradley
Hannah Caron
Dawn Clark
TOP TEN:
Laura Albee
Sara Kwon
Ryan Brady
Patty Nardozzi
Patty Conolly
Barbara Prescott
Herbert Euler
Joshua Smith
Steve Freeman
Sandy Steer
Philip Harasz
Linda Visser
Eric Herman
Karen Westerman
Katy Kline
Kern Davis
Melissa Harasz
Tim Kennedy
Pat Marzulli
Charlotte Petersen
Cheryl Kupan
Sherri Bogue
Colleen Miller
Ron Collins
Anne Page
John Doolittle
Carl Selles
Adrienne Forkois
Andrea Spurr
Ken Gersbach
Paula Texel
Annie Hayman
Tiffany Weidner
Jeff Johnson
Robert Aldrich
Barbara McNulty
Chris Burke
Regina Novak
Bryant Davies
Jack Pyhel
Patricia Euler
Bill Specht
Andrew Glenn
Bill Stephens
JoAnn Harrelson
Michelle Walker
Leonard Hughes
Livia Zien
In addition to the swimming awards, we were treated to a performance by
our own Anthony “Sully” Sullivan (also known as the OxiClean guy) as he gave
away fabulous baskets filled with OxiClean products AND “as seen on TV”
items. Our Speedo rep, Lauren Connolly, also a SPM member, was there to
hand out the baskets filled with donated Speedo products and also made sure
that every person present received a mesh gear bag. Once again, the Georgies were the highlight of the night and everyone had a good laugh or two at
the expense of the Georgie recipients.
April Fools!
Would you buy one of
these?!
“A conglomerate of
SwimToday partners are
coming together to introduce the new Narwhal
Swim Cap
(#NarwhalSwimCap) as a
lead-up to the Olympic
Games in Rio in 2016. This
first-ever, high-tech innovation is engineered to help
elite and youth athletes
improve performance. It is
inspired by the hydrodynamics of the narwhal, the
“unicorn of the sea,” and a
uniquely specialized Arctic
predator. “
Painting with a
Twist!
Thanks to our social committee, Paula Texel and
Cheryl Kupan, for arranging
a super fun outing to
Painting With a Twist. As
you can see by the photo,
not only are we awesome
swimmers, but fabulous
artists as well (some of us
anyway!).
4
2015 Calendar
April
23-26 – USMS Spring Nationals – San Antonio, Texas
25 – Tampa Bay Marathon
Swim
May
2 – Hurricane Man Open
Water Swim
15 – September 15 –
5K/10K ePostal Swim
June
12-14 – Bumpy Jones Meet
– Sarasota
July
11-12 – SPM LCM Championship Meet
August
6-9 – USMS Summer Nationals, Geneva, Ohio
September
15 – 5K/10K Ends, 3K/6K
ePostal Begins
October
4 – Tropical Splash Open
Water Swim – Sarasota
9-11 – Dixie Zone Championship Meet (Rowdy
Gaines) – Orlando
November
7-8 – Shark Tank Meet –
Sarasota
15 – 3K/6K ends
December
2016 USMS Renewals
Team Holiday Party TBD
Happy Birthday to YOU!
APRIL BIRTHDAYS
3 – Fred Leadbetter – 55*
7 – Chris Burke
Stuart Burns
4 – Don Lepore
10 – Susan Haltunnen
11 – John Hockensmith
Ann Piccard
18 – Vince Brockman
19 – Koco Eaton
20 – Marybeth Finster
23 – Mike Torsney – 85*
25 – Melody Janson
26 – Anne Page
29 – Bruce Day – 65*
Bill Specht
JUNE BIRTHDAYS
2 – David Larson
4 – Jenn Verser
6 – Kathy Cleary – 50*
9 – Holly Davila
Ken Eckelkamp
15 – Gary Bastie – 65*
16 – Art Halttunen – 65*
18 – Cheryl Kupan
19 – Marcelle Rideout
20 – Leslie Beauchamp
23 – Steve Nelson
28 – Sandy Steer
29 – Don Volpe
30 – Adam Corbin
SPM Officers
President
Women’s Vice President
Men’s Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Head Coach
Assistant Coach
Newsletter Editor
MAY BIRTHDAYS
3 – John Woodruff
4 – Ron Collins
6 – Linda Visser – 45*
8 – Kevin Mooren
9 – Carey Joyner
10 – Sharon Steinmann
11 – Patty Nardozzi
12 – Amy Nordstrom
Stefanie Silvers
14 – Peter Betzer
18 – Mili Dimitrijevic
Suzanne Holland – 45*
20 – Jerry Little
21 – Stase Michota
25 – David Herman
27 – Michelle Walker
28 – Joe Baker
29 – Bryant Davies
Melissa Harasz
Christine Kirchner
Steve Freeman
Sandy Steer
Kevin Mooren
Fred Lewis
Patty Nardozzi
Kristen Rambicure
Board of Director
Bob Aldrich
Gary Bastie
Peter Betzer
Kern Davis
Colleen Egan
Adrienne Forkois
Phil Harasz
Katy Kline
Cheryl Kupan
Livia Zien