It’s hard to believe that the FINA World Masters Championships are just around the corner in Palo Alto. The Bay Area is one of my most favorite places on the planet. Mary and I lived there for a little over 15 years and we have many wonderful memories and connections to the swimming community there.

Here's a shot of Mike and Ron with Janet Evans!

Since we are bumping up our training this month, I thought we could all use a little bit of inspiration of “Olympic Proportion” once again. This month's contributor is Mike Bottom, who sends us greetings from the Bay Area and a special "sprint training" workout for our group! An accomplished athlete himself (1980 USA Olympic Team) and coach of the No. 2 ranked University of California men's swim team (Go BEARS!), Mike has distinguished himself as one of the foremost sprint coaches in the world. He coaches several Olympic sprinters from all over the world. Remember the phenomenal tie in the 50 Freestyle in the 2000 Sydney Olympics? Mike coached both Gary Hall Jr. and Anthony Ervin. What a great honor for a coach, and a great outcome for two incredible athletes in which he invested a lot of blood, sweat and tears! You can click here to read Mike's official bio on the CalBears site, or just take look at his website, www.bottomlineaquatics.com, to get an idea of his many accomplishments as a coach and an athlete.

While all of that is very impressive, I treasure Mike as a close friend who has been with me through many of life’s most incredible adventures! Enjoy his greeting to our team – but most of all – get ready for the work! At MTSC, it’s “performance … not pageantry”!

Here are some photos that were taken when Mike and Ron launched Bottomline Aquatics back in the late '80s (Webmistress note: THAT explains the "fashions"...or lack thereof) at a Christmas event that included a $10,000 "Dash for Cash" with the three fastest men in the WORLD at the time, swimming a 25 yard free for the cash! Give me a few good men...How about these guys? Steve Crocker, Tom Jaeger, Mike, Ron and Matt Biondi

Mike and Ron in their holiday attire--the precursor to "Derby de Mayo", no doubt!

Let's hear from Mike:

Dear Ron,

Can’t wait to see you this summer in NO.CAL! Sounds like your MTSC Masters are really motivated this year. Right now is a good time to be preparing … so train those guys well and we’ll look forward to some fast swims in August!

If you remember the most fun that you had in the water when you were a kid, it was the times you raced your friend, mom, dad, brother from here to there -- and maybe even back! The race--the feeling of your body moving through the water fast! The excitement of beating someone! Come on out to California and re-live the excitement. Then go to the city and view the San Francisco Bay or the Golden Gate, have a drink, watch the sun set into the Pacific, or come over and visit us here at Cal. Life is good!

Here is a set we did the other day to experience the fun of swimming fast:

After about a 2000 warm up we did:

3x50 from a dive on the 1min. Take the two slowest 50s and add them up to better then your best unshaved 100.
Long swim down 500+
then do 2x50 with fins on the 1:00.
swim down
finally one all out 50 w/ fins and green paddles.
warm down

Swim Fast and have fun!

BEars!
Mike