Pacific Masters Swimming - 18th July 2026

Illnesses at the end of 2025 and start of 2026 prevented me competing in MEMO’s Thrice is Nice in December and USF Valentine's Affair in February. I restarted swim-training in March and added basic weightlifting, progressing to the gym at the end of May. It took until around April to regain the weight I'd lost while sick. By the start of May I was swimming back on pace with my 2026 best, but I got slower in late May and June as I added more weight and weight-training days to my routine.

Based on my prior performance at 100m short course, I entered the 2026 Pacific Masters Swimming LCM Championships 100 long course meter freestyle with 1:05.14, much slower than my 1:00.96 in 2012. I only entered one event as I didn't want to spend the day waiting for just the 50 meter freestyle at the end of Saturday.

On July 1st I twisted my ankle. It continued to bother me through race day but two days before I swam ~63s for 100 yards without a dive, in a shared lane.

It was my first time at the Soda Aquatic Center in Moraga CA. The competition and warm-up pools are nice but the locker-rooms are quite small.

I practiced a couple of starts during the warmup (thanks to a coach from USF staffing a second practice-lane). 

100 LCM Freestyle: 1:02.60 - video.
My start was slow, and still wasn't deep enough, but I kept my goggles secure for a change. I felt good during the first 50m, comfortably keeping pace with the swimmers alongside me. My turn wasn't great (no video evidence to learn from this time), but I had enough energy to push the second 50m harder. In hindsight, I think I could/should have gone faster on the first leg too. I was happy enough with my final time: 1:02.60; faster than October 2025, but much slower than 2012. (1:02.60 converted back to short course equates to 1:01.00 which is much faster than my 1:03.05 in October. Either my race in October was worse than I thought (maybe my flip turns were truly awful?), or I've gotten faster.) I placed second in my heat and in my age group.

Equipment:

• Suit: Speedo Endurance
• Googles: Speed Vanquisher 2.0
• Cap(s): Rocket Science Sports base, Tyr on top 

Personal notes for my next event:

• After the race above I went down a rabbit hole with The Swim Suit Guy and others to learn about modern race gear. I might try to buy more speed with a tech suit and different swim cap.

Other notes:

• The swimmer who finished just after me is about 20 years older, a former All-American, and holds 16 Pacific Masters records!

Results:

• My US Masters Swimming results history 
• Pacific Masters Pool Competition Results 

Possible next events: 

• October 3rd and 4th: Kerry O'Brien Short Course Meters Championship
• February 6th: USF Valentine's Affair

Pacific Masters Swimming - 4th October 2025

After a break of more than 12 years, I restarted swim training in May 2025. More than 13 years after my last race meet, I (re)entered the 2025 Pacific Masters Swimming Kerry O'Brien Short Course Meters Championships in Walnut Creek, CA. I registered for only two events, and needed to guesstimate entry times based on short course yards training at the Chinatown YMCA in San Francisco. My local YMCA forbids diving so I couldn't practice dive-starts, nor properly account for them in my entry times.

In 2010 I raced at the same event and had a bad experience. I hoped for better in 2025. I'd spent the summer re-learning 21st century swimming and nutrition, and trying to put what I could into practice. I was eager to see how much that could counteract my old(er) age, and lack of training and race practice. One study shows swimmers become about 0.6% slower per year. If that applied to me, I could expect to be about 8% slower than I was in 2012. My entry times were significantly slower than that margin. Did I sandbag too much? (Two men I raced against in 2012 maintained their fast speeds for about ten more years! [1] [2]). 

I competed without a club affiliation. YMCA SF has a masters team, but they don't train at my local pool. My old club, USF, is full, and has a waitlist to (re)join.

Pre-event registration suggested my age group was filled with fast swimmers.

In mid-July I tweaked behind my right knee. General hamstring and calf tightness and cramping issues held me back from late July through September.

I ate my normal breakfast around 9am, and snacked on dates and Gu Roctane before my races started around 1pm.

• 100 SCM Freestyle. 1:03.05 (splits: 29.20, 33.85) - video (6th of 12 in age group)
  My guesstimated entry time was 1:13.00, about 19% slower than my 2009 time: 1:01.48. Improvements after race-registration in late September, meant I expected to race around 1:08.00. This meant I would need to break from my heat competitors by several seconds - I couldn't use them to pace myself unless someone else also overestimated their time. 
  My dive-start (my first in 13 years) sucked. I partly displaced my goggles, and didn't get any depth. My final time was about 3.2% slower than in 2009. I think I could get close to 1:02 with a better dive and without leaking goggles.
• 50 SCM Butterfly. 31.64 - video (3rd of 6 in age group)
  I hadn't raced this event since college (or longer, so maybe since the 20th century?). My guesstimated entry time was 0:34.00 which I expected to be close to what I would race on the day.
  My dive was better, and my race felt better than I expected, which means I should have pushed harder on the first 25m. :-) 

Finishing in the middle of my age group twice makes me officially Mediocre!

Equipment:

• Suit: Speedo Endurance
• Googles: Speed Vanquisher 2.0
• Cap: Tyr x2

Personal notes for my next event:

• Find somewhere to practice dive-starts.
• Fix my freestyle turns: 
• my head is too far forward after the push 
• my push isn't straight, it veers right  
• I'm raising my head too soon 

Other notes:

• Andy Grant casually clocking 50.93 for the 100m free (just half a second off the USMS record) and making the rest of the field look slow was something to behold.
• Both my heats placed me in lane 1 with no-shows in lane 2. 
• The pool lane 5 has a bizarre start-block setup. That block is almost over the lane rope between lane 5 and 6. I never want to race from that lane!
• The pool also still doesn't have backplates on their starting blocks (not that I've ever trained to use one!) (Backplates have been legal since 2008.)

Results:

• My US Masters Swimming results history 
• Pacific Masters Pool Competition Results 

Possible next events: 

• December 6th, 2025: MEMO’s Thrice is Nice, San Leandro 
• 50 SCY Freestyle 
• 50 SCY Butterfly
• 100 SCY Freestyle
• 200 SCY Freestyle
• February 7th, 2026: USF Valentine's Affair, San Francisco 
• 50 SCY Freestyle 
• 100 SCY Freestyle 
• 50 SCY Butterfly 

Pacific Masters Swimming - 11th, 12th August 2012

The 2012 Pacific Masters Long Course Championships were held at College of San Mateo instead of UC Santa Cruz as in previous years. The new venue is closer to San Francisco (about 30 minutes drive versus 90 minutes), bigger (with a dedicated 25 meter warm-up pool), had timing pads at both ends, and includes expansive grassy grounds to relax in.
(Video links below are available in up to 480p).

• 200 LC Meter Freestyle 2:21.54 (PR) (splits: 29.65, 34.20, 38.37, 39.32) - video
  As my splits and the video suggest, I raced the first half faster than I should have, but I was pleasantly surprised by the final result. Watch Lane 4 ("Druz, Loren", age 56) and Lane 7 ("Kenny, Daniel", age 55, red hat) for their counterattacks!
  Prior PR: 2:24.38, in 2011
• 400 LC Meter Freestyle Relay - video
  Confusion reigned when two of our four swimmers arrived late (after the start), and one of them had our timing card. This also seems to have distracted the timekeepers, or swimmers repeatedly bumped the timing pads as they exited, as our splits were screwed.
• 50 LC Meter Freestyle 27.11 - video
  Slower than I would have liked; I may have let myself be distracted by the swimmers on my left, and glided too far at the finish.
  PR: 26.58, in 2010
• 200 LC Meter Medley Relay
  Scratched. Some teammates didn't show up. 
• Mixed 200 LC Meter Freestyle Relay 26:54 - video
  I swam in place of "Chiang, Chris". After my previous attempt at 50 meters, I hit the wall with a bit too much enthusiasm.
• 100 LC Meter Freestyle 1:00.96 (PR) (splits: 28.17, 32.79) - video
  My goggles came off as soon as I dove in. This meant I slowed quite a bit while searching for the wall at the turn.
  Prior PR: 1:00.98, in 2011
• Mixed 400 LC Meter Mixed Medley Relay 1:18.70 (splits: 33.33, 45.37) - video
  I switched with "Letson, Mary" to swim butterfly instead of freestyle. This was my first 100 meter long course butterfly ever, and my first butterfly race in about 16 years. As you may see in the last 15 meters, I need more practice. :-)

Overall, it was a worthwhile and fun weekend. I raced two personal records, and made some mistakes to learn from. :-) It's also inspiring to compete in an event with men and women aged 18 through 96, and witness them break local, USA-national, and world records.

Official Results. Official splits. Official Points. Real-time (unofficial) results.

Thoughts for next time:

• Reapply sunscreen on neck, shoulders, and face, after every swim.
• Practice dives; keep my head down.
• Try 50m butterfly.

Alcatraz Challenge - July 17th 2011

Prologue:

Alcatraz Challenge 2011 was never going to be easy. It was my first multisport event in two years, and my first competitive run & open water swim since knee surgery. To raise the bar further, it was preceded by a work trip to Orlando; thunderstorms meant I spent six hours in MCO airport (aka The Disney Family House of Horror) waiting for a delayed flight to LAX. When the plane eventually arrived on the west coast, my wings to SFO had already flown without me (and most of my fellow passengers). This left me 24 hours until race start and still 350 miles from the ferry to Alcatraz.

To add firstWorldProblem insult to injury, a Microsoft convention and LA Highway 405's "Carmaggedon" construction meant I struggled to sleep on a chair in terminal 7 until a 7am flight. In the eight hours I spent there, the elevator-style-mood-music paused only for security announcements...

The trip wasn't all bad news. My recently reacquired United Airlines frequent flier "Premier" status granted me roomier seats and priority boarding. (Kudos to United's prompt mileage updates). Flying as a standard passenger would have meant submitting my laptop bag & work equipment to the vagaries of luggage handling; my checked baggage flew separately anyway.

After incessant (but required) Florida air conditioning, and having to yell during a presentation sans microphone, a sore throat worried me, but resolved itself in time for Sunday's race...


Race day:

I completed this event three times before, but this was my first under new Tri-California management. Registering early (still) pays dividends; it grants competitors a seat on a later bus to the ferry i.e. marginally more sleep. Also Tri-Cal kept race day registration; especially welcome in 2011, given my travel issues.

Swim (38:09): I jumped off the boat after about 30 other swimmers. Concerns about fog meant the race directors and their kayakers herded us much closer to shore than normal. Having said that, I screwed up my sighting at the start by aiming slightly behind the lead boat; I ended up on the left border of the field (having started on the right). I also allowed the close shoreline to become a distraction and worried to much about where I would land rather than focusing on pushing my swim pace. Having said that, I exited the water as soon as the beach was accessible, and made up some time on those who decided to stick with the bay.

T1 (1:52): The normally ultra-organized Tri-California neglected to provide a kiddie pool to rinse our sandy feet; I need to add a rinse-water bottle to my equipment checklist. After sunburn the previous weekend, I reapplied sunscreen in the transition area.

Run (50:44): My run split was four minutes slower than in 2009. That might not seem like much to some, but it's about 30 seconds per mile, a significant difference. I felt surprisingly good out of transition but I began to flag while crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. After finally getting some Gatorade at the Marin turnaround, I got a nice buzz on the return leg; my face hurt from smiling by the time I was halfway back.My bib number was 412.

Results (pdf). My finish time was 1:30:45.

Photos. Of me. Swim exit 1, 2, 3.

PS Several friends competed and kicked a$$. Donncha. Jen.

Pacific Masters Swimming - 9th & 10th July 2011

After enjoying the 2010 event, I returned in 2011 for the Pacific Masters Long course Championships at UC Santa Cruz. (It's a 50 meter pool despite that some of the headers claim yards).

Unfortunately I got a mild throat, sinus, and lung infection about 10 days prior to the competition; and an upset stomach the work-week before race-weekend. (The latter might have been due to nerves, or gorging on fine food and drink at a Sonoma wedding on July 3rd). I also had a nose bleed the day before.

In spite of imperfect preparation, colder & damper weather, and a lower turnout than in 2010, I enjoyed the weekend.

• 200 LC Meter Freestyle 2:24.38 (split: 1:05.28, 1:19.10)
  • 3.98 seconds faster than 2:28.36 in 2010, in part due to faster second split while chasing a better swimmer, who swam a slower first split.
• Mixed 400 LC Meter Freestyle Relay 5:48.82 (swam 100m free, split: 1:02.21)
  
• 50 LC Meter Freestyle 27.00
  
  • 0.42 seconds slower than 26.58 in 2010.
• Mixed 200 LC Meter Medley Relay 2:52.12 (swam 50m free)
• 200 LC Meter Freestyle Relay 1:57.52 (swam 50m free)
  
• 100 LC Meter Freestyle 1:00.98
  
• 400 LC Meter Medley Relay 5:08.68 (swam 100m free, split: 1:01.31)
  

Official Results. Official splits. Official Points (pdf).

Videos: 100m free, 400m medley relay.

Thoughts for next time:

• Don't sandbag entry times (as much).
• Wear SPF clothing and sunscreen - my pasty white shoulders and back sunburned through my sweater!

Pacific Masters Swimming - 9th Oct 2010

The months preceding the Pacific Masters Short Course Championships included knee surgery, gum surgery, gum infection and strep throat. In spite of all that, I thought I was fit to compete. I ultimately proved myself very wrong.

My expectations were fueled in part by my surprisingly speedy swim in the relay earlier in 2010. My 1:00.09 split in a 50 meter pool translates to between 58.35 and 59:29 for the same distance in a 25 meter. [1][2][3]

My only event on Saturday was the 100 meter freestyle. I guessed it would take place before midday but it didn't get going until after 1pm. As a result, I hadn't eaten since breakfast (around 7am) and hoped (in vain) that Gatorade would be enough to sustain me.

The pool was outdoors but I stuck to the sparse shade. This worked fine until about 20 minutes before my heat began; a senior female competitor decided to hang out in the same area and badmouth my coach (among other things). In hindsight, I should have diplomatically asked her to get f**ked, but I listened politely while my positive energy drained away.

When it came time to race, I felt rushed and under-prepared. My dive was a too deep; my turns were poor, the halfway flip was terrible - I got much too close to the wall; my stroke felt sloppy; I ran out of steam on the last length and my finishing touch wasn't clean. I was bitterly disappointed to look up and see my time at 1:01.48, roughly three seconds slower than the equivalent distance in July. (My splits were 27.97 and 33.51).

Given my performance and since transport logistics (aka Sunday BART service) meant that I might miss the 200 meter freestyle on Sunday morning, I decided to throw in the towel.


PS Walnut Creek Masters' achievement board claims they won the Long Course Championships but USF beat them 2,777 points to 1,019.

Pacific Masters Swimming - 11th July 2010

I missed/cancelled most of my 2010 races due to injury, including

• Bay to Breakers (20^th May, run)
  
• Escape from the Rock (20^th June, triathlon)
• Alcatraz Challenge (18^th July, aquathlon)
• Marin Century (7^th August, bike)
• San Francisco Triathlon at Alcatraz (29^th August, triathlon)
  

Fortunately my knee problems (discoid meniscus) (see following posts) didn't prevent swimming, so long as it was freestyle i.e. relatively little leg motion, knee bending or impact.

The 2010 Pacific Masters Long Course Championship was held in UC Santa Cruz from July 9^th to 11^th. I competed as part of the USF team on Saturday July 10^th. Given my injury and lack of training, I was very pleasantly surprised by my performance - it was faster than at my "peak" in my teens when I trained five or six times a week, and often raced twice a month.

• 200 LC Meter Freestyle: 2:28.36 (splits 1:05.37, 1:22.99)
• 400 LC Meter Freestyle Relay: 4:13.97 (split: 1:00.09)
• 50 LC Meter Freestyle: 26.58

My lack of recent race-experience and stamina is telling from my 200 meter splits - they are embarrassingly front-loaded. I also had my share of race-drama - my goggles broke as I was about to mount the blocks for my relay swim. Luckily a teammate promptly loaned replacements.


Official results. Official splits.

Here's hoping I can get race-fit in time for the Pacific Masters Swimming Short Course Meters Championships, on October 8^th through 11^th.

Swim distance converters:

• Swimming World
• Huntsville Swim Association