Master Swimmer Gynt Clifford

Still Competing at 85 and Inspiring Others

To the Sun City West Masters Swimming club Gynt Clifford is our Star and the rock that joins us together as a team on race day.  Barb Sloan has coached the team for the last year and a half and said that “coaching Gynt has been one of the most rewarding and joyful experiences I have had.”

Swimming at any age has so many benefits.  Better lung capacity, bone health, improved sleep and improved mood are just a few.  No one talks about the mental stress though that comes from being a master swimmer.  Competing in any competitive event can be gut wrenching.  Having someone on your team that inspires, mentors, and encourages everyone to do their best can make a big difference.  That person for the Sun City West Masters Swimming club is Gynt Clifford.  Whether you are new to the morning workouts or been around awhile, she is always willing to help you.  Whether it’s your flip turns, which she does beautifully, the best way to bend that forearm to get the maximum pull of the water swimming freestyle, or rotating the shoulders while swimming the backstroke, Gynt is there to help you and encourage you in your efforts.  Of course, watching her in any competitive event is amazing.  She swims with such grace and strength.  Having overcome some physical and family hardships over the years and still persevering through it is inspiring.

Karen Loring was invited to swim on the team in 2014.  She said she would not have continued if it wasn’t for Gynt being on deck and encouraging her.  Karen commented that “She would step in wherever there was a need and help.  She would do for each one of us.  Gynt taught her the beginning of everything and always encouraged her.”

Gynt has 20 years of top 10 achievement rankings dating back to 2004 at age 65.  In 2010 at age of 71 Gynt achieved an all-star listing for her swims at the San Diego Imperial pool event.  In the 2012 FINA World Masters SCM ranking Gynt Clifford was #1 in the 100 butterfly.  She has 8 Individual All American Listings from age 68-83.  Gynt is the current Arizona State USMS record holder in the 80-84 age group for both the 100 and the 200 SCY freestyle records she set in 2020 and 2022. This year at the National Senior Games in Pittsburg in July in the 85-89 age group Gynt had 5 first place finishes.

The one thing about Gynt that is to be admired most is not so much the importance of the medals she has won and what she may win in the future, but what she has achieved competing against herself.  The goal is to be the best you can be, and she has done that and more.  At 415 USMS recorded swims she is an all-star.

Earlier this year, an Italian film crew came to Sun City West.  They interviewed and filmed Gynt for a documentary on aging with a healthy lifestyle.  They could not have picked a better role model.

It’s Never too Late to Conquer Your Fear of…

I think I was five years old when my parents took us to a nearby lake to swim.  I was floating in the water in an innertube watching my older sister and the other kids swimming in the distance.  I decided it couldn’t be that hard to swim and scrambled out of the innertube.  I immediately sank to the bottom.  I remember sitting there in this green murky water looking around.  For some reason I was not afraid.  Then one of my mother’s friends tripped on me and pulled me up.  After that my parents made sure I could swim.  We moved to the suburbs of Chicago and joined the YMCA. 

My experience was unique, but for many others the fear of water is very real.  It could be they were never around water, or that a bad experience when they were younger influenced them for the rest of their lives.  For whatever reason that fear only grew exponentially as they got older. 

In the spring of 2023 Barb Sloan, with her Adult Learn to Swim certification, advertised new Adult Learn to Swim classes to Sun City West.  The response was overwhelming.  During the 8 one-hour sessions in a walking pool, swimmers were helped with breathing, kicking, and freestyle arm movement along with a high dose of encouragement and confidence. 

To pass the course swimmers must swim the length of the pool, but not without Barb and her helpers walking beside them and cheering them along.  The excitement and joy in the eyes of the men and women alike is so amazing when they reach the wall at the other end.

Today these graduates can be seen at the pool continuing to determinedly swim the length of the larger RH Johnson pool in Sun City West.  Many of them swim with other graduates encouraging each other.  It’s truly amazing to watch and see the satisfaction on their faces. 

Additional classes will be held this fall starting in September.  You must live in Sun City West.  For more information go to: The Sun City West Masters Swimming Website.

Authored by:  Terri Stauffer-Schmidt of Sun City West

I’m a Happy Camper

My journey to Kona Swim Camp hosted by globally renowned swimmer, Karlyn Pipes

By Lisa Harris (MAC Masters, AZLMSC – Communications Chair)

“Swimming the Ironman World Champion waters in Kona is a spiritual experience” – straight from badass Karlyn Pipes – Faster Freestyle Camp/Kona – owner and chief guide.

As an avid | novice swimmer – obsessed with open water swimming, that was all I needed to hear to add this camp to my dream list. Although it took a minute, from meeting Karlyn at a triathlon shop presentation in Denver to the shores of Kona – my bestie and I ventured to the Big Island in February.

My goals were to experience a guided tour of various swim areas across Kona, knowing that the swims were carefully curated by Karlyn and her team, gain confidence in ocean swimming, and seek that ‘spiritual’ experience. The faster part of camp would be icing on the cake. 

Our first and last days of camp included 1:1 endless pool instruction where Karlyn spent as much time as needed to understand my strokes and to guide me on a path to gain efficiencies (and I even attempted a flip). My key learnings on my freestyle stroke was the 10 and 2 entry – this has really helped my pull. These sessions were followed by a delicious buffet and social time in Karlyn and Christopher’s idyllic home with a breathtaking ocean view. 

My first dive-in I brought my camera in hopes of seeing a few friendly fishies and to my shock there were heaps of posers along the way.

Through the week we journeyed through many magnificent destinations around the island each one bringing new sites, adventures and swim experiences in distances, surfs and beauty.  Each swim included exceptional guides, making us safe and capturing progress footage. Each destination included a site-seeing opportunity of caves, ponds, landscaping, and beaches.  We never rushed exploring land and sea.  Post camp time allowed for luau’s, whale watching, dinner cruises, volcano park visits, turtle ogling, sushi, Kona coffee, local jewelry shopping (oops) and sunset cocktails.  I think one of our campers walked the Ironman run course!

To crystalize the week-long experience, we celebrated our accomplishments with homemade lasagna and cookies and relished in our newly formed life-long connections and spectacular sunsets over mystical waters.

Upon return I competed in our state meet and scored one minute faster in my 1000!

My sister asked when I was going back – maybe thinking about camp in Sicily – Italy sounds fun!

Majalo

Contact Karlyn Pipes – Hall of Fame Swimmer, NCAA Champion, Olympic hopeful and Author of The Do-Over with roots in Coronado currently residing in Kona

For questions contact Lisa Harris

It’s A Wrap: 2023 Nationals Held in Irvine

By Jeff Commings – Dolphins of the Desert Masters

During my warmup on the first day of competition at the 2023 USMS spring national championship, it suddenly dawned on me that this was the 20th anniversary of my first national championships, which was held on the campus of Arizona State University in May 2003. As I made my way through the yardage of my usual warmup routine, I flashed back to those hot days in Tempe, when I was in awe of the environment of my first Masters nationals, seeing men in their 90s swim freestyle and backstroke races.

Not much has changed in my view of the scene at nationals. I am still in awe of the variety of people on deck, including first-time competitors, Olympians, grandparents, recent college graduates, and 101-year-old Maurine Kornfeld, easily the top celebrity of the meet. The only thing that has really changed about nationals is the size. Nearly 2,500 people attended this year’s meet in Irvine, California, a record number of swimmers and a positive sign for the growth of U.S. Masters Swimming.

This was the first time I’ve attended the national championships as a full-time coach, guiding 13 members of my team, Dolphins of the Desert Masters, through four days of events. Last year in San Antonio, I was also coaching and swimming at the same time, but with only four other members of my team in Texas, it was easier taking on the dual roles. This year, being coach and swimmer was challenging, but very rewarding. All of my swimmers swam at least one Masters-best time, and many were already making goals for their next nationals.

I am always amazed at the efficiency of the meet, and this might have been the first nationals in a few years to end every session within 10 minutes of the timeline. A lot of moving parts combine to make that happen, and when a meet is run efficiently, everyone has a good time and can concentrate more on their swimming.

In between watching my own swimmers and competing in my own races, I cheered for as many people from Arizona as I could. The Arizona Masters regional club was one of the best teams in the pool, placing third out of 20 regional teams with 1,159 points.

Ten men and seven women from Arizona won individual events, led by Doug Springer and Kelly Harrigan as the only Arizonans to win all of their individual events. Springer won five events in the 75-79 age group, highlighted by a 1:15.92 in the 100 breast. That time was only seven tenths off his own national record! Harrigan’s top swim was the 100 backstroke, in which she chopped more than a second off her seed time with a 57.14.

The mixed 200 medley relay and the mixed freestyle relay in the 75+ age group were the only national record setters from Arizona in Irvine. The foursome of Craig Shaffer, Doug Springer, Mary Ann Case, and Lyn Moreno were part of both relays. Up first was the freestyle relay, where they combined for a 2:23.90. Two days later, they swam 2:43.23 in the medley relay.

Below is a list of individual event winners from the 2023 spring nationals:

• Melissa Belote Ripley
• Mary Ann Case
• Devon Colgan
• Jill Fritz
• Kelly Harrigan
• Judith Laney
• Joanne Menard
• Patrick Brundage
• Peter Churchill
• Jeff Commings
• Jack Fritz
• Richard LeRoy
• Mark Modjeska
• Scott Shake
• Doug Springer
• Matt Ulrickson
• Jeff Utsch
• Judy Gillies

Jeff Commings is a Masters world and national world record holder. He is the head coach of Dolphins of the Desert Masters in Tucson and the co-owner of Dolphins of the Desert Swimming Academy.

The Road to S.C.A.R./Arizona Open Water Challenge

Masters Swimmers take the plunge!

Follow us here for on-going articles on this amazing race and the brave hearts that participate.

Lucky us.  A renowned, global open water swimming event is right in our backyard and covers the oasis of four watering holes —- Saguaro Lake (swim 9.5 miles), Canyon Lake (swim 9 miles), Apache Junction (swim 7 miles) and Roosevelt Lake (swim 5 miles).

“We capture the beauty of our lakes and offer an extreme open water marathon swimming challenge for the strong of heart” shared Kent Nicholas, Race Founder/Director and finisher.

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 S.C.A.R has been swimming for 12 years and has a reputation for being a stepping-stone for brave challenges such as the English and Catalina Channel events.

Former finisher Kelly Harrigan, world class competitive swimmer shares, “Open Water Swimming is a different experience than pool racing. Outside of the ice bath preparation, I trained very hard for S.C.A.R. and it’s one of my favorite distance experiences”.

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S.C.A.R. 2023 will be held from April 25 – 29.

Seasoned long distance cold water and open water champion, Claire Russell says “Honored to have been accepted to swim S.C.A.R. I’m new to Arizona area from the great seas of the UK – this will be a special experience – the cold-water training is in full gear.”

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S.C.A.R. is sold out for 2023. Not too late to volunteer to Kayak and start training for 2024 (registration opens November 1, 2023)