Summer Redux 2010

Photos added soon!

Sweltering. Stifling. Sultry. Oppressive. It’s been all that and MORE!

Summer, that is. And MTSC Masters have sizzled their way through this long, hot summer race season!

From Atlanta to San Juan and back to Music City again, MTSC Masters “Swam across America” to earn funds for cancer research. They made Top Eight times in their events at Nationals and Top 10 in their age groups nationally. They joined with MTTC to form the most relay teams to compete in the history of the Music City Triathlon. They trained, and when they were tired, they trained some more. Whether in the pool or in the open water, MTSC Masters scorched the competition and burned their names into the record books as they reached new fitness goals.

We enjoyed some great social events, like the Kumbaya Nights after open water swims and the Tomato Art Festival in East Nashville. Who got “Best in Show”????

Some work came with great reward besides those found on a podium at a race, as a little girl named Ansley was forever seared into our hearts, while our friend John Steinhauer taught us all a lesson in strength and perseverance. A man named Dana passionately sang our national anthem, and reached his fitness goal of swimming a mile.

Let’s recap our Summer of 2010…

The scene starts in Atlanta in May at USMS SC Nationals. MTSC Masters marched into Atlanta, much as General Sherman did—taking no prisoners and leaving a blazing path behind them. Doug Thain led the charge; he set the men’s 50-54 age group on fire with his swims. Doug had six top 10 finishes, including a 2nd place in the 1000 Freestyle (10:34.84) and a 3rd in 500 Free (5:06.34). Teammate Dennis Mullins also had Top 10 finishes, placing 6th, 7th, 8th and 10th, respectively in the 500 Free (5:04.07), 200 Back (2:03.45), 100 Back (56.88), and the 200 Free (1:52.34).

MTSC’s women also posted top 10 performances at SC Nats: Andreea Ianoli took 4th in the 500 Free, with a time of 5:43.77, and 7th in the 200 IM at 2:26.77. Sarah Sarbacker placed 9th in the 200 Back (2:37.75) and 10th in the 100 Back (1:12.49), while teammate Shelly Calonge took 9th in the 50 Breast, with a time of 38.06. Throughout the event, MTSC Masters had personal best times in their events.

Speaking of Top 10, the USMS Short Course Yards Top 10 Rankings were recently posted (www.usms.org), and Doug “the Natural” Thain made the top 10 in three different events: 4th in the 500 Free (5:06.36), 4th in the 1000 Free (10:34.84) and 8th in the 50 Back (27.08). Congratulations, Doug! You make it look easy!

Swim, bike, run isn’t as much fun when the temperatures reach 100 degrees with 100% humidity, but our MTTC triathletes smoked the competition this season. With 48 athletes participating in the Music City Triathlon, we had the largest showing for relay teams in the history of the event, many of which took their places on the victory podium!
In the sprint race, Marisa Gordon, Temisha Jones, and Crystal Loudermilk placed first in the female division.

At the intermediate distance – Sarah Sarbacker, Charlene Alcorn, and Jamie Abbott placed first, while Kathryn David, Candy Owens, and Melissa Ausland rocked the house in third.

The co-ed team of Cody Chlasta, Barry Baird, and Leslie Valdez placed second in the division.

MTTC men made a clean sweep of the podium with Doug Thain, Mike Riley, and Scott Wietecha in first, Ron Chlasta, Jeff Yaeger, and Tom Dolan second, and Shane Scott, Jay Martin, and Vance Pounders third.

In the individual races, MTTC had three teams place: Nick Schimmel ran his first race at the intermediate distance and placed third in the overall male beginner category. Susan Taplin, who represented the female 45-49 division, placed third in the age group. In the sprint race, Will Fuqua placed 2nd in the men’s 35-39 age-group.

Most recently, MTTC/MTSC athletes competed in the Mountain Lake Tri in Guntersville, AL: Will Fuqua completed the course with a time of 1:20:11, followed by Melissa Ausland (1:28:12), Mike Yarbrough (1:28:06), Sheila Yarbrough (1:40:43), and Tiffany Horton finished her first triathlon with a time of 1:45:42. The Endurance Geeks’ Coach Barry Baird and his family comprised a family team, and finished with a very respectable 1:21:23.

Even the TN Senior Olympics felt the heat as MTSC Masters scorched the competition, proving that youth knows no age. Roger Lancina took 1st in three events in the 65-69 men’s group (50 Breast, 100 Breast and 200 Breast, and 3rd place in the 500 Free. Jon Jepsen took top honors in three events, the 50 Butterfly, 500 Free, and the 50 Breast, 2nd place in the 200 Free and third in the 100 Free and the 50 Free. For the women, Betty Ragland scored 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place honors, respectively, in the 100 Free, 200 Free and the 50 Free in the 60-64 age group.

MTSC Masters does on occasion show a “softer” side, this time by hosting our first ever Swim Across America Nashville open water swim on Saturday, August 21. We welcomed Olympians Janel Jorgensen, Ashley Whitney and Craig Beardsley. With 110 swimmers, scores of teams and volunteers all working to raise funds for cancer research, prevention and support, we earned over $45,000, and everyone is already talking about how great our event will be next year!

It wasn’t all work, though. We are social animals at MTSC Masters, and our Kumbaya Nights after open water swims are a popular get together. We even had a “Best in Show” in the Wet Burrito Eating Contest at this year’s Tomato Art Fest in East Nashville. Yeah, it was all in good fun eating those burritos, until you hit a “hot” pocket! ¡Ay caramba!

As the summer winds down and we feel the first bite of fall in the air, we will celebrate the end of a successful summer race season by what? Swimming, of course! On September 18 at 4 p.m., we will have our final open water swim of the season, the “Nacho Cove” Tour. Swim around the cove, enjoy the Mexican buffet and savor the sunset over the lake as we prepare to run fast and run hard towards a new training cycle!