Every year, Pacific Masters swimmers look forward to the Annual Celebration and Meeting. It is a chance to see each other for a relaxed, fun, informative day. Usually the festivities begin with a group swim practice led by our award-winning Pacific Masters coaches and a dry-land exercise class showcasing workouts designed specifically for swimmers.

During the Meeting, annual finances are reported and discussed, elections are held. We acknowledge the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to run this organization and show appreciation to all our volunteers by presenting the annual Service Awards. This familiar format was before COVID-19.

The Pacific Masters Service Awards for 2020 were announced at the Annual Celebration Meeting on November 15th. Pacific Masters couldn't be successful without its volunteers. They represent the unsung heroes in every club and Masters activity in Pacific Masters.

Nancy Ridout Award for Distinguished Service: Phyllis Quinn
Contributor of the Year: Karen Harris
Appreciation Awards: Richard Burns; Carol Nip; Laura Shope; Greg Stoner
Personal Achievement Awards: Catherine Breed; Google Relay (Craig Robinson, Joe Gardner, Erik Haugen, Sven Mawson, Collin Johnston, Tom Dowd, Rob Gray, and Joe Young)
Peggy Lucchesi Award: Bonnie Tsui

In one of our early organizing committee meetings for the 2020 virtual Annual Celebration and Meeting, I volunteered to make a video about this year for Pacific Masters Swimming. I quickly realized that there were no activities during the year, no content to work with. I also never made a video in my life.

The solution was to ask members to send in their stories about how they weathered the pandemic. Many of you were gracious enough to share your stories. That solved the content problem. I still needed to turn it into a video.

While exploring my options, I kiddingly asked my 11-year-old grandson if he could make a video. He'd never made one either, but unlike me, he didn't know what he didn't know. Together we produced this video capturing the essence of Pacific Masters Swimming during 2020. You can view it here.

By: Rich Burns

The year 2020 will go down in posterity as a challenging one. United States Masters Swimming is mandated to have an Annual Meeting, but COVID-19 has the world by the tail. Travel is limited and group meetings are forbidden, forcing us to make appropriate adjustments. 

Mary Kahn has been a coach for Davis Aquatic Masters since 2009. During that time she has exemplified what it means to be a leader, a mentor, a counselor, an advocate and a friend. Her presence on deck has been, and continues to be, settling and inspirational for the myriad of swimmers she connects with each day. She is also a leader by example when she is in the pool, helping to forge and sustain an atmosphere of competitiveness and supportiveness among fellow swimmers. She consistently exudes an aura of approachability and a genuine interest in helping those around her. Even under tremendous duress and adversity, Mary exemplifies what it means to be outstanding in the way she responds to and resolves both ongoing and emergent issues. The totality of her unique skills are unparalleled and her inspiration is unquestionable.

These days, the closest I’ve come to going for a swim has been going for a walk through the park and pausing at the chain link fence protecting my local pool from people like me. When the Shelter-in-Place order was first announced, I had just returned from a lovely swim and felt great. How long could this lockdown possibly last?

It’s lasted long enough for me to revisit many of my favorite swimming-related books, as well as dive into a few new ones. Below is a list of some classic, must-read, books as well as a few new, or lesser-known ones that deserve your attention. I’m an open-water baby, so my picks lean towards tales of wild swimming, stories about endurance athletes and books about the healing nature of water. I hope you’ll find a few on this list to tide you over until you are next able to jump in and enjoy the water yourself.