The weather was warm, and the swimmers were HOT at this years SCY State Meet at the Saddlebrook Swim Club in Oro Valley.  There were 27 total events with 12 in state teams and 6 from out-of-state; Colorado, Nevada, California, Washington State and New York.   A big thank you to Rome Yount and his crew who did a wonderful job officiating the meet and moving it along.  A big thank you to the young volunteers and all the meet officials.  

The following SCY National Records were set this year:

• Jeff Commings from Dolphins of the Desert 50-54 Age Group
  • 200 Back 1:53:63
  • 100 IM 53:41
• Richard Burns from Tamalpais Aquatics 80-84 Age Group
  • 50 Fly 32:12
  • 200 Back 2:44:23
  • 200 IM 2:50:39
  • 50 Back 33:72
  • 100 Fly 1:18:55
  • 100 Back 1:15:20
• Laura Val from Tamalpais Aquatics 70-74 Age Group
  • 500 Free 6:13:73
• The Saddlebrook Masters 75+ Relay – T. Ashton, J. Spiegel, D. Springer and L. Moreno
  • 400 Medley Relay 6:37:39

Congratulations to these outstanding swimmers. To check all the meet results go to our Events page.

Annual Meeting

On Saturday afternoon the annual meeting was held with 49 in attendance.  There was plenty of food for everyone, but the beer went fast.  Jeff Commings talked about the Nationals and a new program called “Grown-Up Swimming”.  It’s geared toward getting fun adult summer leagues in major cities across the country.  It’s meant to rekindle the fire and passion for adult league swimming. USMS agreed and has partnered with Grown-Up Swimming to help get the organization going – and growing.  The mission is to get as many adults swimming as possible.  Hopefully getting people into a pattern of fitness.  It’s about bringing a fun atmosphere to swimming.  Jeff is in hopes of bringing it to the Phoenix area by next year. 

Arizona Masters Swimmers and the AZLMSC Board of Directors attending the annual meeting.

This year’s winner of the Gruender Award was Leslie Nock, the coach of the Sun City Starrs. Leslie grew up in Central New York.  She swam in age group swimming throughout high school.  She went to college for music, her instrument being the trombone.  Her grandparents lived in AZ and encouraged her to check out ASU.  She got her bachelor’s in music from ASU.  After graduation she was looking for a job and found the military.  As it happened, they had an opening in the music program. It was a perfect fit.

After a distinguished military career of 30 years, Leslie settled back in Arizona.  She swam with the team in Sun City from 2019-2020.  Then the current coach had to leave.  Leslie volunteered to take on the job.  Her physical training from the military helped her to decide, although shoulder issues were keeping her sidelined.  She worked to become a level 3 coach and a certified USMS official.  She enjoys the challenge of a diverse group of swimmers.  Some are highly competitive and others not.  Trying to balance all that she feels makes her a better coach.  Approximately 50 swimmers have access to the pool every Monday-Friday for 2 hours.  Leslie could not do all the training and teaching without the help of other swimmers in the club who are also certified.  She draws from them, and they from her.  Someone is always on deck, but not necessarily Leslie.  She feels this is a way for other team members to give back.  She credits Barb Sloan and Coke Lepinski with collaborating with her to make it all work. 

Her team was the mid-size team winners this year.  Nineteen members were in attendance when Leslie received her award at the luncheon.  Well deserved!

Achievement awards were also presented. Barb Sloan presented to Gynt Clifford for her outstanding performance in both the National Senior Games and the most recent Masters World Meet in March in Doha, Qatar. Leslie Nook awarded Mary Ann Case for her participation in the 2024 World National Swim Meet in Doha, Qatar. Coach Jeff Commings presented to Aiden Barg- in the one-hour virtual swim, he won 1st place in his 18-24 age group. He swam 3,870 yards. In addition, Jeff presented to Relays:

• Men’s 18+ 1st place: Aiden Barg, Julien Mathias, and Marcelo Cabral. They swam 12,420 yards.
• Mixed 18+ 1st place: Aiden Barg, Julien Mathias, Ellen Geiger, and Christina DiGiacomo. They swam 17,545 yards.