Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Swimmers carry home medals from Masters Nationals

Long course finals staged near Portland

---

Here are five of the seven local swimmers who competed Aug. 13-17 in the U.S. Masters Long Course Swimming National Championships at Mt. Hood Aquatic Center in Gresham, Ore. From left, they are Jeff Jones, coach Karen Morrison, Toni LeClercq, Lisa Hall and Bard Widmer. Not shown are Heidi Watanabe and David Verst. Photo by

Seven Masters-class swimmers from the Wood River Valley competed in the U.S. Masters (ages 25-95) Long Course Swimming National Championships at Mt. Hood Aquatic Center in Gresham, Ore.

Facing fierce competition during the Aug. 13-17 meet near Portland were Zenergy Zen Masters coach Karen Morrison, David Verst, Heidi Watanabe, Toni LeClercq, Lisa Hall, Jeff Jones and Bard Widmer.

Perhaps the most impressive performance was by women's 60-64 class swimmer Toni LeClercq, who last competed at nationals in California when she was 14. She placed in the top six in all her events including a bronze medal in the grueling 100-meter butterfly event at nationals.

LeClercq said, "It's the journey, not the end, that makes it worthwhile. The daily tough workouts, the lifelong friendships, the support of everyone on the team and the fun we have together have made this a purposeful journey. I hope I continue to keep swimming until I get old."

Other highlights at nationals:

Recent World Masters entrant Jeff Jones (45-49) had personal-best times in 50m and 100m freestyle (27.3 and 1:01.56 seconds); World Masters swimmer Heidi Watanabe was fourth in 800m free; and former world champion and NCAA swimmer Karen Morrison (50-54) medaled in all five of her events;

• viagra
• buy viagra
• acheter viagra

In his first Masters meet David Verst posted top 20 results in three events and competed in the demanding 200m individual medley; new mother Lisa Hall displayed tremendous versatility in all strokes and grabbed bronze medals in 50m and 100m breast stroke; and Bard Widmer won the bronze in 500m free.