The Latest News

This page is home to our Menlo Masters news. Visit often to see what's most current and to check for latest results, upcoming deadlines, and fun features. Subscribe to receive news via email by logging into My Account and opting in.


Newsletter
October 22, 2009
by Tim Sheeper
In this edition:

Dynamic Duo Results

Saturday October 17, 2009 was a wonderfu  l morning to perpetuate our team tradition of some very fast relay swimming at Burgess Pool.  84 swimmers lined up to give their best in head-to-head competition in each of the four heats.  The smoking fast heat winners walked away with "big melons" while all the other competitors received progressively smaller pieces of fruit.

2000 yards of swimming where 2 people trade off every 50 yards. Thefollowing shows the break down for each heat:

Heat 1.

1. Tom Still/Mike Fero 21:54.0
2. Stephanie Couch/Scott Marshall 22:13.22
3. Craig Doeden/Mike Taylor 22:21.10
4. Sarah Eisner/Gary Swart         22:21.66
5. Lindsay Holland/Mark Simon 22:47.85
6. Sue McGlennon/Jeff Hewitt 23:44.15
7. David Mauney/Jon Richardson 24:00.00
8. Eric Kinney/Lalit Shahani 24:08.06
9. Mike Texido/Anne Young         24:31.72
10. Adam Kerr/Carl Mortensen 25:07.50
11. Wallace Holland/Len Dulski 27:50.00

Heat 2

1. Jeff Solomon/Rebecca Pinto 23:58.81
2. Dave Quincy/Gautam Makani 24:10.22
3. Rick Peterson/Frances Reneau 24:10.28
4. Stephane and Kirsten Mouradian         24:12.00
5. Keith Wilson/Blake Elder 24:29.19
6. Harry Macey/Sadler Nelson 24:32.70
7. Bill Nighan/Rich Cottrell 24:42.10
8. Stephanie Rowen/Laura McAndrew         24:54.78
9. Jennifer Still/Chris Balz 25:13.75
10. Julie Wahlig/John Goldman 25:16.18
11. Bill Kirsch/Greg Gaffney 26:15.00

Heat 3

1. Jennifer Still/Suzanne Zebedee 22:23.75
2. Ken Fine/Martin Pieprzyk 23:09.00
3. Bob Hubbel/Kathy Colburn 23:13.10
4. Tom Anderson/Mimi Winsberg 23:14.68
5. Martin Michael/Eduardo Llach 23:18.90
6. Daniel Ellinger/Katie Stimson 23:34.69
7. Deanna Lin/Sergey Averchenkov         23:55.97
8. John Collin/Blake Simpson 24:12.22
9. Ashley Fouts/Karen Lines 25:30.68
10. Jeff Kline/Neerav Berry 31:14.88

Heat 4

1. Leslie Platshon/Kevin Platshon 21:38.00
2. Chrissy Anderson/Aaron Platshon         22:41.44
3. Judith Schwartz/Steve Schwanke         24:13.05
4. Kim Caprarotta/Mathieu Frenette         24:24.36
5. Kathy Gilles/John Vironis 25:23.25
6. Leah Fine/Kendrick 25:23.78
7. Joe Newman/Patty McGraw         26:02.77
8. Doug Vort/Heidi Fertig 27:42.16
9. Tito Bianchi/Kathleen Barcos 27:55.94
10. Duke Rholen/Abishek Dubey 29:19.98


<top>


Pacific Masters Swimming Short Course Meters Championship Meet

That is the long and official title for last weeks swim meet at Heather Farms in Walnut Creek.  This was not a team focus race, but one would hardly know that by the attendance and the high quality of swimming that went on.

The following is a summary:
- 9 swimmers (6 men, 3 women) - 7swimmers set individual records, Menlo was 8th of 43 teams
- 43 swims, 28 new team records set - over half of the swims set team records.  Frank won high point for the 25-29 Men's age group; Brett, Al, Bill, John and Jana came in as top 5 finishers in their respective age groups.
- Individual team records set:
- Brett Bannan (5) - M25-29, 50 Free (12 year old record, beat by half a second), 100 Free (10 year record, faster by ~1 sec),  50 Fly, 100 Fly, 100 IM
- Bill Dawson (5) - M65-69, 200 Back, 100 Breast, 200 Breast, 100 IM, 200 IM (Bill was working to complete all the empty boxes in the team records!)
- Frank Guan (3) - M25-29, 50 Breast (14 year old record, beat by, 2.5 sec), 100 Breast (14 year old record, faster by nearly 5 sec.), 200 Breast
- Al Humphrey (5) - M50-54, 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free (11 year old record, faster by 28 sec), 800 Free (2.5 min - who knew?  Al, a distance swimmer?), 50 Fly
- Jana Mantena (1) - W45-49, 1500 Free (6 year old record, beat by almost a minute), 100 Breast (1:23.28, broke PMS record, but came in 2nd), 200 Breast
- Judy Strauss (2) - W55-59, 800 Free (pending verification), 50 Fly
- John Sulzbach (7) - M75-79, 100 Free, 200 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 100 IM, 200 IM
- Swimmers attended:
- Brett Bannan
- Tasha Capen
- Richard Cottrell
- Bill Dawson
- Frank Guan
- Al Humphrey
- Jana Mantena
- Judy Strauss
- John Sulzbach


<top>


Building Futures Now Update

About three weeks ago things did not look very good for our program.  We needed seven male mentors to commit to a whole year of guiding and assisting our new fourth grade students in our own Building Futures Now program.   So I sent out an email explaining the situation and requesting help. 

Well, what happened next was just amazing.  Within a few hours of the email request I had seven fully committed mentors and two additional mentors that will have to wait for next years new class of students.   Mentoring is no small task.  It involves meeting with the children 3-6 hours per month and getting to know the child's entire life situation with the goal of imprinting some valuable skills that can be used throughout their lives.  This is a very emotional commitment, not to mention the time and effort that goes along with it.

I applaud all those who bravely stepped forward, which again just proves to me that we are all apart of an amazing community called Menlo Masters.

Our New Mentors:
Jackie Wood
Beejay Reynolds
Ann and Gordon Burton
Henry Arredondo
Harry Le
Parisa Azad
Laura Sleasman
Michelle Chao
Jeff Starr
Steve LeSieur
Jean Gillon
Jan Brennan
Madhuri Yechuri
Paul Gorman
Pierre Pujol
John Couch
Leah Fine

Our Veteran Mentors:
Charles Dimmler
Artemis Daphnis
Nancy Prouty
Michele Santihano
Greg Gaffney
Sue McGlennon
Miki and Bill Armstrong
George Richards
Mike Fero
Anna Lippi
James Edmunds

To learn more about the program go to: www.buildingfuturesnow.org or read the October Newsletter at:
http://buildingfuturesnow.org/uploads/pdfs/newsletter/2009/BFN_News_Oct09.pdf


<top>


Killer Quad Dates

Hour Swim - Saturday October 31, 6am, 7am, 8am.
50 x 100s Thursday November 26, 6am and 8am.
75 x 100s Saturday December 26, 6:30am.
100 x 100s Saturday January 2, 6:30am.


<top>


Strength Training Offer-Free

I would like to offer all the Menlo Masters a free strength training class led every week by our staff coach,  Dr. Jake Havenar.  

This class has been offered for years exclusively to our triathletes, but I would like to open it up for the remainder of the year to all masters swimmers.  The class involves core strengthening exercises on mats  as well as functional strength movements, and body weight exercises that will assist in preventing injuries and will lead to better performance in everyday living.

Here are the vitals:

Day: Thursday
Time: 6:00 - 7:00pm
Place: Holbrook Palmer Park, Carriage House. 
Address: 150 Watkins Road, Atherton
Coach: Jake Havenar, PhD in exercise, nutrition and wellness/emphasis in strength training.
Length: Remainder of 2009
How: Just show up with athletic clothing and shoes, and let Jake know your background.
Limitations: Inform Jake if you have limitations.

This is a no-nonsense way to kick start yourself on a strength building or maintenance program, around all the people you usually swim with.  We are fortunate enough to have a place and a premium level instructor.  Hope you can take advantage of this offer.


<top>