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Newsletter
June 7, 2010
by Tim Sheeper
In this edition:

Catfish Swim Results

Menlo Masters sponsored the USA Productions Catfish Swim, an East Bay event in Pleasanton on April 25.  The team had a great turnout both in swimmers and in volunteers. About 30 swimmers from the team participated in the 2 mile and/or 1 mile races, braving the slightly chilly air and water in the early morning. 10 swims were done without wetsuits in the low-mid 60s temperature water. For a full list of results, go to http://www.finishlineproduction.com/results.html, in the meantime, here are a few highlights:

- 20 swimmers swam the 2 mile race; 12 swam the 1 mile race.  12 women and 18 men from the team competed, spanning from the 30-34 age group to 65-69.
- The team had 10 first place finishes, and 9 second place finishes.
- Marianne Brems won her age group in both distances in the non-wetsuit division
- Suzan Jensen had the fastest Menlo Masters 1 mile swim in the wetsuit division
- Dariusz Paczuski had the fastest Menlo Masters 2 mile swim on the team in the wetsuit division getting out of the water one step ahead of the coach Tim Sheeper
- Congratulations to all our Menlo swimmers in this event! - 2 mile swimmers:  Lucey Bowen, Marianne Brems, Tim Sheeper, Altay Sendil, Amy McGaughey, Angie Weinberger, Cara Barr, Christopher Balz, Chris Spetzler, Dariusz Paczuski, Jeff Hewitt, Jeff Solomon, Leigh Wade, Lennard Hachmann, Mark O'Sullivan, Meredith Gimble, Michael Ashman, Michael Texido, Mimi Winsberg, Tina Lount-Pretre
- 1 mile swimmers:  Chuck Ogren, Dave Gildea, Dave Mandelkern, Henry Scoble, Jean Gillon, Kathy Engelmann, Marianne Brems, Molly Morse, Perry Shoor, Suzan Jensen, Tim Sheeper, Vaagn Toukharian

Since Menlo Masters sponsored the event, we also supported the event with volunteers who were fed, watered, outfitted with T-shirts and offered discounts on future USA Productions events for their efforts.  Thank you to Louise Feeley, Judith Schwartz, Rebecca Pinto, Sue McGlennon, Vaagn Toukharian, Tigren and Suzan Jensen for their assistance!  (And apologies if you volunteered but your name was missed.)

The next Catfish Swim event is July 25 in Morgan Hill at Uvas reservoir.  Once again, come to swim and/or volunteer to help! To register, go to http://www.usaproductions.org/events/swim-series/catfish-crawl-southbay; to volunteer, email Michelle Goal Haustein (volunteer@usaproductions.org).


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Upcoming Events - Mark your Calendars!

Menlo Masters Team Events

- Pacific Masters Long Course Championships, Fri-Sun Jul 9-11 in Santa Cruz.  The long course season has begun!  Those of you who dread flip turns, this is your big chance to try out competing, with only half the turns of your usual swim!  They just fixed up the UC Santa Cruz pool last year, so it should be a great time to swim.  You can bring your family for a weekend away, swim a few races (including relays), have fun with your teammates and still have time with the kids at the Boardwalk.  We're aiming for a big turnout at this meet - keep an eye out for more news in the coming weeks, at the pool, via email and the Menlo Masters Facebook group (search for "Menlo Masters" to find the group).  Registration is open â?" mail-in entries are due June 23, online entries are due July 2.  http://www.pacificmasters.org/comp/10cruzLcm.pdf.  If you have any questions or would like to be matched with a swimmer who can help you decide what to swim (and what times to enter), email Tasha Capen.

- Catfish Crawl - South Bay, July 25 Uvas Reservoir in Morgan Hill. Sponsored by Menlo Masters (see note above). http://www.usaproductions.org/events/swim-series/catfish-crawl-southbay

Other local swimming events

- USMS 1.5 Open Water Champs, this Sunday, June 6 at Lake Del Valle in Livermore, http://www.pacificmasters.org/comp/10tvmow.pdf.

- Lake Berryessa Open Water swim, June 12, http://www.pacificmasters.org/comp/10damOW.pdf.

- LCM meet, June 19, 1 pm at Clovis North High School in Fresno, http://www.pacificmasters.org/comp/10ClovLcm.pdf. This is the pool SCY Nationals were held at in 2009 - great facility, but a bit of a drive!

- USMS SCY Nationals 2011.  No one from Menlo went to Atlanta this year (anyone going to Puerto Rico in August for LCM Champs?).  Next spring USMS SCY Nationals is being held in Mesa, AZ, April 28-May 1, 2011 - mark calendars and plan your training!


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Year-Rounders through May 2010

The following is a list of the individuals who accepted the challenge of swimming 10,000 yards once a month for all twelve months in 2010.  A great number of these swimmers have used the "pack-mentality" to make it through these challenging workouts.  They can be seen once a month taking over a lane for 3+ hours with a scattering of water bottles and food wrappers at the end of the lane.  Keep it going, some on the list are already half way there.

Martin Michael
Michele Santihano
Stacy Fredericksen
Ann Burton
Jan Jindra
Blake Elder
Lalit Shahani
Jana Matena
Duke Rohlen
Brett Bannan
Nicole Cadman
Ken Plough
Ken Fine


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RAAM

RAAM is short for Race Across America.  The RAAM is cross-continent bike race that has captured the imagination of many endurance athletes, but very few are fortunate enough to be able to act on their dream of this extreme adventure. 

I have always wanted to cycle across the country, but planned to take my time and do it when my kids were off in college.  Just recently, an opportunity presented itself.  Three longtime Menlo Masters athletes asked if I would like to join their team and become the final rider on a four person relay.  The circumstances were to strong to decline and my life plans were accelerated.

Next Saturday, June 12, 2010, Eduardo Llach, Bill Kirsch, David Quincy and myself will begin our "race" across the country.  We will be supported by 4 other Menlo Masters, Peter Davies, David Greenwood, Sig Paulazzo and Steve Young.  The 8 of us will be joined by 5 other crew members in our attempt to get across the country as fast as possible.

We plan on cycling about 500 miles per day, and cover the 3000 miles in just over 6 days.  We have to maintain a very high rate of speed to accomplish this so a fresh rider will be on the road every 30 minutes for 24 hour straight, 6 days in a row.

This is an ultimate test of teamwork and energy management.  Most of us will be exhausted most of the week, and then exhilarated at the finish. 

I will be out of the Menlo Masters fold for 10 days.  June 10-June 20.   Thanks to Rick, Judy, Mike and Juliette who will coach in my absence.

I have included some links to our adventure and have added some information about our cause.  Have a peek at what we are doing and check in with the race during the week if you get a moment.

We are racing under the team name Building Futures Now.  T405. Also, keep Menlo Master member Michelle Santilhano, in your thoughts as she is attempting the race as a solo competitor.

Building Futures Now is a foundation that was started by our Menlo Masters as a way to focus the energy of training and racing into helping kids in need of direction.  BFN is creating opportunities for children to build strong, productive and highly functioning lives. The BFN program organizes mentors that help guide East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park children from 4th grade all the way through college graduation.  Your donation will directly help kids in need get through the difficult early years and into a successful college career. Whatever you can afford will make a huge difference and motivate us even more to get across the US:
http://www.teamsheeper.com/news/building_futures_now_raam.php

Keep us in your thoughts and thank you for helping the kids!

Our Facebook page - where we will be uploading photos & "blogging" our successes.:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/RAAM-BFN/359533394354

The page that should be showing our progress across the country:
http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/raam/rcracermap.php?s_N_Year_ID=33&s_N_Entry_ID=2576

The Team Sheeper page which will have links to all of the other links including a photo gallery:
http://teamsheeper.com/news/building_futures_now_raam.php


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Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen Clinic

Mark your calendars.  Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen will be returning to conduct her fantastic freestyle clinic this Summer.  Karlyn is a gifted swimmer holding hundreds of Masters swim records and she is also a gifted presenter, clinician and coach.  She brings so much energy to her clinics you will be amazed at how much personal information you walk away with.

The clinic will be held at Burgess Pool on Friday August 13, 5pm-8pm.  There will be one hour of class room presentation and 2 hours of in-water instruction.

Registration will open soon for this event.


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