2017 Short Course Yards Championships: Hail? Yes!

The 2017 Pacific Masters Short Course Yards Championships were held on April 7, 8, and 9 at Campolindo High School’s Soda Aquatic Center in Moraga. While Friday and Saturday were rainy and windy, with even a little hail thrown into the mix, a sunny Sunday proved kinder to swimmers. A bumper crop of 695 swimmers turned out to compete this year. USF Masters earned the top spot in the Large Team division (100+ swimmers); DAM was the highest-scoring Medium Team (20-50 swimmers), and TAM won the Small Team Division (fewer than 20 swimmers). Comprehensive team and individual meet results are available here.

Saturday’s awards ceremony honored Carol Nip of Albany Armada Masters (ALB) as Pacific Masters Swimming 2017 Coach of the Year. A USMS Level 3 Certified Coach, Carol founded ALB and also works as the head coach of the Albany High School swim team. Read more about Carol’s inspiring dedication here.

The ceremony also recognized outstanding Age Group Swimmers of the Year for the 2016 season. This year marks an expansion of the award: Since Pacific Masters Swimming has a large number of competitive members, PacMasters has opted to present Age Group Swimmer of the Year awards for first through third place in order to more fully recognize the abundance of talent in its LMSC. Response to this year’s award change has been very positive. Click here to view the list of 2016 Age Group Swimmer of the Year Award winners.

Would you like to compete for a 2017 award? Are you interested in seeing how your results compare to your fellow age group members, whom you either stare down while on the blocks, touch out after an invigorating swim, or get left in the dust by? Follow the Pacific Masters 2017 Swimmer Age Group Standings page, which is updated frequently.

The Laura B. Val Award for Outstanding Male (or Female) Swimmer of the Year went to Rich Burns and Ann Hirsch for their remarkable accomplishments in 2016. Ann set two long course National records and three SCY National records; her National record in the 200 Breast for long course was 10 seconds faster than the previous record, and her SCY National record for the 200 Breast was faster by 11.1 seconds. Wow! Within Pacific Masters, Rich Burns ranked first in his age group in all 12 SCY events he participated in; 10 of 12 SCM events, and first in 7 of 9 long course events. He also set Pacific Masters records in the 100 yard Fly and 400 meter Free (short course). Bravo!