2001 Masters Swimmers of the Year
They come mostly from California. But also from Florida, Kentucky, Colorado, Virginia and Texas. More than 60 years separate the youngest and oldest, and they range in age from mid-20s to late-80s. They are newcomers and veterans, sprinters and distance swimmers. One has only been swimming eight years; others have been to the Olympics. All take their swimming seriously, but they don't want you to think they take it too seriously. These six women and six men comprise the 2001 Masters Swimmers of the Year.
By P.H. Mullen
Laura Val (W 45-49 and 50-54)
It's 10 seconds until the set starts.
"Laura, you go first."
"No way."
"Come on, Laura, you're faster."
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm not faster."
Fifty-year-old Laura Val, SWIM Magazine's unanimous choice for 2001 Masters Swimmer of the Year, doesn't want to lead her lane_ironically, this woman, who in 15 years of competing almost never takes second, truly despises going first in practice.
The clock is ticking. Five seconds. Since the only thing worse than going first is breaking the integrity of a set, Val now gives us a remarkable sound of teenage exasperation and pushes off to start our 1,800-yard pull set. She wears huge paddles_they're barn doors_and she is the only Masters swimmer on our 150-member Santa Clara Swim Club team to use a black tube around her ankles (for resistance).
Behind her, the three male swimmers_including me, the writer, the one doing this article_are relieved. We all competed at Division I colleges and we're significantly younger than Val (she will object to the use of "significantly"). The fact is that we are regularly awed to be sharing water with this woman, this phenomenal, see-it-once talent who can kick 100-yard repeats under 1:30 and can hold 100 yard freestyle sets under 1:00.
Of course, we never tell her because the reprisals would be too great. Compliment Val over-generously, and she'll call you soft in the head. Tell her she can do better, and she'll respect you in the morning.
Every season seems an incredible carpet ride for Laura Val, but 2001 was truly extraordinary. Check out the stats: 21 world records and 26 national records. No. 1 rankings in 30 of a possible 53 events (all three pool courses). At age 49, she broke her own national 45-49 age group records in five events (100, 200, 500 yard freestyle and 100, 200 butterfly) while finishing first in nine events. At age 49, she swam a lifetime best 53.2 in the 100 yard freestyle, when her previous best was 54.2 from five years previous. Thirty years earlier, when she was a teenager swimming 15,000 meters per day and qualifying for Olympic Trials in 1968 and 1972, her best time in the 100 freestyle was three seconds slower.
But who cares about age 49? Val turned 50 in time for the long course season and finished with 13 No. 1 rankings, 13 national records and 13 world records. In short course meters, she took home another eight No. 1 rankings, eight national records and eight world records. All the more astounding is that Val swam lifetime bests in many of the events, which means her 50-54 records are faster than her own 45-49 records.
Val, who grew up swimming in northern California and has two non-swimming, college-aged daughters, credits Santa Clara Masters Coach John Bitter for last year's success. "He took our training to a new level," she said. "Every day you were pushed to swim fast." She also credits all the people she swims with each morning, especially breaststroker Matt Kanzler, for pushing her to be successful.
"I could give up racing tomorrow, but I want to train forever. That is where the fun is for me." In fact, some of her words to live by include, "Have fun, and don't take yourself too seriously. And don't avoid competition. Competition should be fun. I get nervous before every race, but I can't wait to see what I can do."
Here's how our 2001 Swimmer of the Year does it: she trains 5,000 yards or meters five days a week. She has to force herself to take two days of rest. She swims year-round without break, and can't remember the last time she skipped a workout. She says (and I only halfway believe her) that she doesn't know her times, only her goals. She doesn't keep a logbook and genuinely doesn't know how many national and world records she has set.
Her daily routine is unswerving. From 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. she swims. Afterward, she stops at a bakery for a two-donut breakfast (she weighs 115 pounds_same as 20 years ago_and has a body any 23-year-old would die for). She then arrives at her fast-growing Silicon Valley start-up, where she serves as human resources director and regularly works until 7:30 p.m. with no lunch break.
Val does not lift weights. She does not cross-train, monitor her diet or do stretching exercises. "Swimming is one part of a very busy life," she says. "It's a very important part, but I can only devote a portion of my day to it."
Val never competed in college (she was pre-Title IX), but she trained on club teams until graduating from San Jose State University with a nursing degree. After a decade out of the water, she joined the Los Altos Masters in 1984, and for several years swam only to stay in shape.
In 1987, her teammates talked her into competing at Masters nationals, where she won five events and set five national age group records. The rest is history. Today she trains under Bitter at Santa Clara, but competes for Tamalpais Aquatic Masters because they have a stronger presence at meets.
She's embarrassed about her goals, thinking they sound too lofty: "I want to continue doing lifetime bests," she says. "I know that's unrealistic as I get older, but"
She doesn't finish her sentence. She can't. The only thing unrealistic about her career is to suggest it has limitations.
Beth Baker (W 40-44)
Who says you can't look forward to turning 40? Beth Baker of Virginia Masters burst into the 40-44 age group last year and promptly took it over, finishing 2001 ranked No. 1 domestically in an incredible 24 events.
In short course yards, Baker won seven national titles while setting five national records (including records in all three butterfly events). In short course meters, she captured seven titles, set five national records and four world records. And in long course, she did even better, winning eight titles and setting five world and national records.
The butterfly and backstroke specialist, who swam collegiately at the University of Virginia, trains in suburban Washington, D.C. under renowned Masters and Curl-Burke coach John Flanagan.
In preparation for "aging-up" into a new age group, Baker put in 35,000 yards per week swimming with Flanagan's age group team instead of his Masters group. That meant she daily raced_and often beat_some of the area's best youth swimmers. It was a unique situation, where she served as a Curl-Burke assistant coach specializing in technique (she is also the technique coach at American University and teaches swimming lessons), partially trading her expertise for pool time.
As a technique coach, she's a firm believer in proper stroke mechanics: "Get your technique down. That's the No. 1 priority. If you have technique, the speed will come."
In addition to Masters competitions, Baker races at USA Swimming meets and occasionally posts faster times there. (This is significant because in several cases, she has swum markedly faster than her new Masters world records. But the times did not count as records because they didn't occur in Masters-sanctioned meets).
Baker says her success in age group meets is partially due to less pressure, but partly because as a technique coach, she knows her athletes are "standing on deck and watching every stroke to make sure I'm doing things right." At these competitions, Baker has two ways to judge whether a swim was good or not: by her time and by the number of swimmers who afterward ask her for lessons.
Flo Carr (W 75-79)
Flo Carr, a freestyle specialist from Sun City Center, Fla., ended 2001 with eight new national records. Two important breakthrough swims came in the 50 and 100 yard freestyles, when Carr became the first U.S. woman over 75 years to break 35 seconds (34.78) and 1:20 (1:19.38), respectively. She continued her winning ways in meters swimming, capturing two national titles in long course and another two in short course. All four triumphs came with national records.
Six days a week, Carr drives from her retirement community in northern Florida to the nearby Brandon Swim and Tennis Club (until recently, the training site for U.S. Olympic champion Brooke Bennett). Carr trains 4,000 meters per workout with three or four other Masters athletes, and at meets she competes for the Florida Maverick Masters.
She discovered swimming in 1936 at age 10 when the U.S. Olympic Trials came to her hometown on Long Island, and within several years she was winning New York state titles.
By age 20, she had turned professional and joined Buster Crabbe's famous Aquashow. For the next 20 years, Carr appeared in water shows, performances and movies. She was a swimsuit babe in the James Bond movie, "Goldfinger," and worked with Jerry Lewis in "Bell Boy."
In between, she raised three children, two of whom became accomplished swimmers. (The third was a diver and became a world champion in cliff diving.)
In the 1930s and 1940s, Carr and several others were involved in the Women's Swimming Association of New York. Today, six of them_ranging in ages from early-60s to mid-90s_compete in Masters. Carr credits the lessons learned there with her longevity.
When asked what advice she would give to her fellow swimmers, she answered: "I was taught to always warm up before doing anything hard. Make sure your muscles are loose, or you will hurt yourself."
Rachel Komisarz (W 19-24 and 25-29)
All of 25 years, Louisville's Rachel Komisarz is the baby of this year's elite group of all-stars. She's also its ringer, for Komisarz is really a stunningly fast member of USA Swimming's national team who has competed in just a handful of Masters meets. She first entered a local competition because it was the only meet in town when she needed to test her speed in a race situation.
At the 2000 Olympic Trials, the 1999 University of Kentucky graduate reached the finals in no fewer than five events. Not bad, considering she'd only been swimming six years at the time. Since then, she's reduced her events to middle-distance freestyle and the 100 meter butterfly.
Currently, she's living out her straightforward credo, "Follow your heart," by training full time for the 2004 Olympic Trials with Louisville's famed Seahawks team (Mary T. Meagher's old club).
Komisarz ended 2001 ranked No. 14 globally in both the 400 meter freestyle and 100 meter butterfly, and is currently ranked No. 3 in the 100 meter (short course) butterfly. At last summer's World University Games, she swam all lifetime bests. Swimming experts say she is a legitimate contender for the 2004 U.S. Olympic team.
In one weekend of Masters competition, Komisarz rewrote the record book, establishing five national yard standards in the 19-24 age group. Later, she aged-up into the 25-29 age group and set three long course world records with mind-bendingly fast times: 8:47.44 for the 800 meter freestyle; 16:39.77 for the 1500 meter freestyle; and 1:01.44 for the 100 meter butterfly.
Caroline Krattli (W 35-39)
Caroline Krattli, one of two swimmers from San Diego Swim Masters honored in this year's list (the other is Jim Eubank), was not supposed to be so successful in 2001. After all, she was 39 years old, which is an age when most Masters swimmers usually coast while they wait for their 40th birthday and dream about high rankings in a new age group.
Not Krattli. She smashed all three national breaststroke yard records in her 35-39 age group with times that no one has come close to matching. She did it again in long course, establishing three world records that left swimming experts shaking their heads in wonder.
By year's end, Krattli owned 12 No 1 rankings. She also dabbled in several major U.S.A. Swimming meets, making it into the finals and competing against young swimmers whose mothers in some cases were younger than she was.
Maybe it's because I'm a guy. I love to know women's breaststroke times so I can compare them against my freestyle times. It's a motivator: "Coming into the last lap, he's neck-and-neck with Krattli; it's going to be close!" Join the fun! Here's what Krattli put on the board in 2001:
Short course yards: 30.08 in the 50, 1:04.96 in the 100 and 2:23.61 in the 200. Long course meters: 33.91 in the 50, 1:13.81 in the 100 and 2:41.76 in the 200
Intimidated? You should be. And just wait. The best is probably still to come. When Krattli moves into the 40-44 age group this year, expect records to fall left and right.
June Krauser (W 70-74 and 75-79)
Fort Lauderdale's June Krauser, known by many as the "Mother of Masters Swimming," is one of two outstanding women in the 75-79 age group honored this year (Flo Carr is the other). Krauser, who swims for Gold Coast Masters, has been a fixture on the Masters scene almost from the organization's inception, and has participated in every single nationals since the early 1970s.
Now it looks like she'll be fixed in the record books for some time. In 2001, Krauser earned 13 new world records and 27 No. 1 rankings. She started the year at the top of her 70-74 age group and still managed to capture three No. 1 rankings.
When she aged-up to 75-79 in time for long course, she promptly set seven world records, nine national records and captured 12 No. 1 rankings. She's something of the sport's Ironwoman and dominates all distance freestyle events from 400 to 1500 meters. She also owns the 100 and 200 meter butterfly.
Perhaps her most astounding swim of 2001 was the 400 meter IM, where she became the first woman over 75 to break 8 minutes. A bit of perspective here: no woman over 75 has ever broken 4 minutes for the 200 IM, let alone 8 minutes for the 400 IM, the sport's most demanding event.
Lest we forget, Krauser continued her winning ways in short course meters, taking another six world records, eight national records and 13 No. 1 rankings.
Jim Eubank (M 85-89)
If Californian Jim Eubank of San Diego Swim Masters is not your role model, he should be. This year's "senior" member of the 2001 Masters Swimmers of the Year (don't ever say "oldest" even though his e-mail address is "oldcalif") was unavailable to interview. Why was he unavailable? Because in the second half of the ninth decade of his life, Jim Eubank had hopped on an airplane bound for New Zealand, where he competed in the Masters World Championships.
I want to be Jim Eubank when I'm in my late 80s. So should you.
Eubank lives in San Marcos, Calif., a suburb north of San Diego. It's largely a retirement community, and it's a safe bet that Eubank is one of the most accomplished athletes in the region.
In 2001, he was marvelous in the yards format, winning six No. 1 rankings and setting five national records in the 85-89 age group. He dominates the freestyle events and finished first in every event from 50 yards through 1650 yards. He set records in all but the 50. Most notable was his 1:16.19 for the 100 yard freestyle.
In long course meters, Eubank again dominated the freestyle events, owning the top ranking in every event from the 50 freestyle through the 800 freestyle. He finished the long course season with two world records, four national records and five No. 1 rankings.
And how's this for range: his two world records were set in a sprint (100 meter freestyle) and a distance event (800 meter freestyle).
Ron Johnson (M 65-69 and 70-74)
Ron Johnson may have been one of the most accomplished swimmers of 2001, but he's convinced his best times were left in the operating room. That's because last December, as Johnson was peaking for his biggest meet of the year, he was waylaid by both a double hernia and a prostrate problem. Then he tore ligaments in his knee while kicking breaststroke.
Despite the late-season setbacks, Johnson, who lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., just outside Phoenix, was one of two men to dominate the 70-74 age group last year. The other was Graham Johnston, and when they raced, everyone stopped to watch "Johnson vs. Johnston."
Johnson finished 2001 with 13 No. 1 rankings and 11 world and national records. He also became the first man over 70 years to break 3 minutes in the 200 meter IM (2:59.90). He also owned top rankings in every discipline except breaststroke.
Johnson, the only coach ever to win collegiate and Masters awards for Coach of the Year (he coached Arizona State University), runs the Sun Devils Masters program in Tempe, Ariz.
When Masters swimmers die, maybe they get to go to a place like this: workouts run like clockwork morning, noon and night, and Olympic swimmers stand on deck giving stroke instruction. The head man, Johnson, spends his idle hours writing a swim book called "A Feel for the Water," which will present interviews with top coaches, training philosophies and a general assessment of where the sport is going.
A couple of interesting facts about Johnson: first, he was the first man ever to hold the world record in the 100 yard butterfly. The stroke (which grew out of breaststroke) was legalized in September 1954. A month later, Johnson, a swimmer at the University of Iowa, set the first global standard.
Second, around the same time, a young Ph.D. student, working as an assistant coach at Iowa, wrote his thesis on stroke mechanics in swimming and used the strokes of two swimmers to build his case. The Ph.D. student was, of course, James "Doc" Counsilman, and this work would ultimately change the sport forever. One of Counsilman's subjects was none other than Ron Johnson.
Graham Johnston (M 70-74)
Along with Ron Johnson, Graham Johnston was the most successful male septuagenarian in 2001. The Houston-based freestyle expert who swims for Masters of South Texas had an incredible year starting with short course yards, when he set six national records and earned six No. 1 rankings. He controlled the middle-distance and distance freestyle events from the 200 to the 1650, as well as both individual medleys.
During the long course season, Johnston stroked to five new world records, five national records and five No. 1 rankings. Of those, four were in freestyle (from 200 through 1500 meters) plus the grueling 400 IM.
The 1500 meter freestyle was, perhaps, his most satisfying victory. From virtually the first lap, Johnston was swimming faster than any man over 70 had ever swum. A metric mile later, he touched in 20:36.56, an astounding two minutes faster than the previous world record.
He continued winning in short course meters, setting another seven world records, seven national records and seven No. 1 rankings.
Jim McConica (M 50-54)
When I used to compete in USA Swimming's open water national championships, occasionally I'd race against Masters great Jim McConica. The athletes would congregate at pre-race meetings, and all the young kids_gum-snapping scholarship stars from Auburn, Michigan, SMU and elsewhere_would wonder who was the serious old guy in the back of the room. They, of course, weren't even born when McConica was winning NCAAs while at USC in the early 1970s. But they sure remembered him after their open water races, because if McConica hadn't beaten them, he'd given them a run for their money.
Today, I live in northern California, and the name of Jim McConica, who lives hundreds of miles south in Ventura, floats into our wet ears probably two or three times per year. The information about him is always choppy and unsubstantiated. It contains legend, hyperbole and half-truths. We hear about the 51-year-old Jim McConica swimming 5 x 1,000 and averaging faster than 10:00. We hear he does triple workouts. Someone (who?) swears he saw McConica break Masters world records in practice while wearing long pants. Another: on weekends, Jim McConica swims from Los Angeles to Catalina Island (23 miles) because the island has a great omelet place.
How does a man who owns an auto dealership, McConica Motors, and who is active in the development of several multimillion-dollar community projects (including the creation of a 95-acre public recreation park) earn an aura of mythology like this? Maybe it's because last year he was SWIM Magazine's Swimmer of the Year. Maybe it's because he has successfully swum both the English Channel and the Catalina Channel. Maybe it's by posting times like these when he was 50 years old: 1:47.69 (200 yard free); 4:47.57 (500 yard free); 10:01.74 (1000 yard free); and 16:42.07 (1650 yard free).
Last year, McConica, who has two non-swimming college-aged daughters, set seven national records in yards, and three world records in meters. He took home 13 No. 1 rankings. His records in the 1000 and 1650 yard freestyle were faster than his own records in the 45-49 age group. In the 800 meter freestyle, his world record time of 9:03.84 was nothing short of amazing.
He did it, he believes, by training six mornings and several evenings per week with the age group Buenaventura Swim Club (he competes for the Ventura County Masters), and doing a weekly total of 25,000 to 35,000 meters.
"On our team, Masters and young swimmers train together," he says. "You can't believe the camaraderie and support this creates. I look forward every day to swimming with these young people....Father Time doesn't have to catch up for a long time."
By the way, did you hear the one about Jim McConica planning to swim even faster this year than last? That's not myth; that's likelihood.
Paul Smith (M 40-44)
You want to know how far swimming has come in 40 years? You want to know just how good Masters swimmer Paul Smith is? In 2001, Smith, a 41-year-old from Vail, Colo., became the first person over 40 to break 2 minutes in the 200 meter freestyle. In 1964, Olympic gold medalist Don Schollander had been the first to swim under the mythical barrier; 37 years later, in 2001, Smith's record-breaking age group time was faster. And Smith was coming off reconstructive shoulder surgery. And Smith swims only three times per week.
A former collegiate swimmer at the University of California at Santa Barbara who resumed swimming only three years ago, Smith practices at 7,000 feet with Vail Swimming in the same lane as his wife, also a former UCSB swimmer. Of about 50 Masters swimmers, they are the only two who compete.
Obviously, she's a great training partner because in 2001, Smith clocked times of 47.00 in the 100 yard freestyle and 1:43.37 in the 200 yard freestyle. Those times_both earning him No. 1 rankings_would have made him an attractive recruit for nearly every Division I college swim team. He also turned in a 23.05 in the 50 yard fly, a time that would beat most male swimmers half his age.
All told, Smith closed 2001 with four world records (including the incredible sub-2:00 200 meter freestyle in long course), seven national records and 13 No. 1 rankings. Not bad, considering in late 2000 his shoulder surgery had required the removal of one-inch from his clavicle and left him unable to take a powerful stroke for months. Even today he's unable to swim butterfly in practice.
Smith runs a sales agency that requires travel, and in 2001 he spent 140 nights on the road. He stayed fit by checking out the U.S. Masters web site (www.usms.org) to find local teams so he could keep training. It's a great way to make new friends in the sport, but this kind of uneven training probably won't sustain him forever. Meanwhile, his age group is teeming with exceptional talent.
But that doesn't overly concern him. "We should look beyond the sport's dichotomy (i.e., do we swim to compete or to stay in shape?). What's beautiful about swimming is that every day it offers you a test to extend and better yourself."
In fact, the key to his success to date, he says, is that he loves to race and knows how to balance swimming with the rest of his life.
Bob Strand (M 55-59)
I watch Bob Strand at local Pacific Masters swim meets in northern California. All of us watch him. That's what you do when there's a superstar in your midst. Strand specializes in one thing and does it better than almost anyone else in the world: he swims breaststroke.
In 2001, the San Francisco-based swimmer who swims for The Olympic Club claimed six world records, 10 national records and 12 No. 1 rankings. Most impressive was his short course season when he obliterated the previous 55-59 U.S. standards in all three breaststroke events, going 29.09 in the 50, 1:03.22 in the 100 and 2:20.49 in the 200 yard breaststroke.
In long course, he was equally strong, setting two world records, a 1:14.80 for the 100 meter event and a 2:46.31 over 200 meters. Both times were faster than most men his age can swim freestyle. In short course meters, it was more of the same. Strand set four world records, four national records and enjoyed four No. 1 rankings.
P. H. Mullen is author of the acclaimed "Gold in the Water: The True Story of Ordinary Men and Their Extraordinary Dream of Olympic Glory." Visit www.goldinthewater.com.
