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Newsletter
September 28, 2010
by Tasha Capen
In this edition:

Pacific Masters SCM Championships, sign up by Wednesday September 29th!

Short course meters season has begun! Pacific Masters SCM Champs will be held Oct 8-10 in Walnut Creek. This is always a competitive yet low key meet, a great selection of events and relays and lots of opportunities to shine!  This meet requires sign-ups prior to the meet, so get your entries in online by THIS Wednesday Sept 29.  Meet information and registration are available at:

https://www.clubassistant.com/club/meet_information.cfm?c=1301&smid=2501.

If you're not up for racing on your own, come just to swim a relay or two, you get to swim with three other teammates and the distances are short.

If you need any assistance deciding what to enter, or if you want to swim relays only, feel free to contact Tasha Capen at 510-207-7554 or via email.

Note: Speed Club standards for the 100 Free SCM are posted at the pool and on the Menlo Masters Facebook page.

Hope to see you there!


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Building Futures Now - Mentors Needed Immediately!

Building Futures Now is currently seeking 8 male mentors and 5 female mentors to support the incoming class of 4th graders who have already completed an intensive summer school program with BFN. Mentors support their student via 1-2 outings per month to be arranged flexibly by the mentor. Outings can range from playing at a park, going to a sporting event, going swimming or biking, visiting a library or museum or joining your family for a local activity. Mentors are always welcome on BFN field trips and some field trips will be offered as optional Mentor Outings, like the Stanford Soccer game on October 17th.

The most important quality for a mentor is a sincere interest in developing a relationship with a child that is supportive, consistent and stable.  It should not be time-intensive, expensive or emotionally demanding. To support you as a mentor, BFN staff offer training and ongoing assistance to you as needed.

This role makes a tremendous difference in each child's life, and is an important way our team gives back to our local community. Please contact Alison Lopez at alopez@buildingfuturesnow.org or (650) 380-9038 to volunteer or to find out more.

More about: Building Futures Now

Building Futures Now opens the doors of the Bay Area's top public and private schools to high potential low-income students of color.  Through year round individualized support, Building Futures Now empowers students to develop the skills to succeed in junior high, high school, college, and beyond.

Each year, Building Futures Now launches an intensive recruitment campaign to identify up to 15 high potential, low-income students of color in the third grade within East Palo Alto, East Menlo Park and neighboring communities. Once accepted to the program, students participate in year-round programming and receive individualized support from full-time staff and committed volunteer tutors and mentors. We currently have 40 incredible students in 4th-6th grade, each prepared to learn and make the most of their potential and the BFN program. Read more at www.buildingfuturesnow.org.


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Open Water Swim Season Summary

Menlo Masters has had a great showing in open water events so far this year - 64 team mates have completed 105 open water races through mid-September.  28 of those swims were first place finishes within an age group - over 25%!  Our top participants are:

* Jana Matena - 8 swims, 3 first place age group finishes, all 8 finishes were top 3 in her age group
* Marianne Brems - 5 swims, 3 of which are first place finishes in her age group
* Christopher Balz and Chris Spetzler each have 4 open water performances to date

Two swimmers had top 10 overall finishes in the non-wetsuit category of swimmers (generally the largest group of swimmers):  Jana Matena came in 7th overall at the Spring Lake 1 mile swim in May, and Nancy Prouty came in9th overall in the Catfish South Bay swim at Steven's Creek Reservoir in September.

Swimmers who completed two or more swims so far are:
Jana Matena
Marianne Brems
Christopher Balz
Chris Spetzler
Meredith Gimble
Nancy Prouty
Sandy Dutro
Leigh Wade
Mike Texido
Stephanie Couch
Jeff Hewitt
David Gildea
Martin Michael
Gaurav Narasimhan
Jean Gillon
Greg Gaffney
Cara Barr
Henry Scoble
Tim Sheeper
Amie Ashton
Mary Anne Kurucz
Janice McCall
Jason Morimoto
Sandy Bardas

Congratulations to all of our intrepid open water swimmers!


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Swim Across America San Francisco Bay, 2010

This past weekend, Menlo Masters swimmers participated in the 5th annual San Francisco Bay Swim Across America event, raising money to fight cancer. This year, 150 swimmers swam 1.5 miles from the Golden Gate Bridge to Crissy Field Beach, 50% more swimmers than last year's record participation, including Angels, people that stay with swimmers that feel unsure of themselves in the bay. Participants collected $300,000+ and counting (donations are accepted until Dec 1) to benefit UCSF Childhood Cancer Survivor Program and Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute Cancer Research Center.

Between the two Menlo Masters Teams, Team BASS (Bay Area Survivors and Supporters) and Get Busy Living, 11 Menlo Masters teammates participated as swimmers, angels or volunteers:

John Goldman
Stephanie Couch
Louise Feeley
Mike Pyle
Adam Kerr
Deanna Lin
Ken Plough (Angel)
Paul Laustsen
Anne Young
Jean Gillon
Judy Strauss (Organizing Committee)

The teams together raised over $36,000 (so far!). For more information about the swim, go to http://www.swimacrossamerica.org/Page.aspx?pid=317.

Congratulations and thank you to all swimmers, and thank you to many, many Menlo Masters swimmers who donated to the two teams!


More about:  Swim Across America San Francisco Bay, 2010
By Judy Strauss

We all arrived at Crissy Field before sunrise where we registered, got bodied marked and signed waivers. From there we took a shuttle to Pier 3 where there were refreshments, a Why We are Swimming banner to sign and the boat. As each swimmer boarded the Spirit of San Francisco they were handed a flower that they would toss into the water in honor or memory of loved ones.

We sailed into a calm, relatively warm (60 degrees) bay with harbor porpoises frolicking. On the boat we paused for a picture, enjoyed the views and told our stories. Pretty soon it was time put our flowers into the water and to jump into the bay. I stayed on the boat this year and was treated to a fantastic sight as 150 swimmers jumped off the boat into a strong flood tide. The tide carried the swimmers swiftly away and toward shore.

We watched the swimmers being surrounded by kayaks and the flowers floating between them. Everyone that I talked to had a fantastic swim. When they got to the beach there was a ceremony and food... It was fun and I think we all felt that really good about being able to contribute to the fight against pediatric cancer.


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Mountain View SCM Meet Results

Mountain View Masters held their 7th Annual Alan Liu Memorial SCM Meet on Sunday, Sept 26. Six Menlo Masters swimmers swam a number of events in this short, local meet. All swimmer set at least two team records, and the team earned two Pacific Masters records:

* Ann Kay set the new standard for the womens' 75-79 50 backstroke
* Sandy Dutro, Barbara Breen, Tasha Capen and Jana Matena beat the womens' 800 Free Relay for the 200+ age group by 10 seconds

Menlo Masters records set were:
* 50 Breast, Tasha Capen
* 100 IM, 200 Back, Jana Matena
* 50, 100, 200 Free and 50 Breast, Barbara Breen
* 100, 200 Free and 100 IM, Sandy Dutro
* 50 Free, 50 Back, Ann Kay
* 50, 200 Breast and 200 IM, Dave Gildea
* Relays (Women 200+): 200, 800 Free, Sandy Dutro, Barbara Breen, Tasha
Capen and Jana Matena

Great work, team - looking forward to more on the list after SCM Champs in two weeks!


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Year-Rounders and Team Records

A hearty group of team members continue to crank out the long yards each month.  Our "Year-Rounders" listed below have been doing at least one 10,000 yard swim days each month, January-August.  Next time you see one of these folks, feel free to egg them on - only 4 more swims to go this year!

Kim Freitas
Martin Michael
Michele Santilhano
Stacy Fredericksen
Ann Burton
Jan Jindra
Lalit Shahani
Jana Matena
Duke Rohlen
Brett Bannan
Nicole Cadman
Ken Plough
Ken Fine
Blake Elder/Tasha Capen*
*Blake moved to the East Coast after completing Jan-Jun - Tasha is finishing his Year-Rounder!

You might start thinking about goals for next year - the Year-Rounder might be a good challenge to add to your list!

Also, team SCY and LCM records â?" individual and relay - have been updated on the Menlo Masters website.  Take a look through to see some of the amazing swims our team has posted this year!


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Menlo Masters Facebook Group - sign up!

Have a Facebook account?  Want to connect with other Menlo Masters teammates online?  Come join the Menlo Masters Swim Team group in Facebook (Category: Sports & Recreation - Fitness & Exercise).  We have over 90 members so far - it's a closed group so only members can see the content posted to the group.  Request to join and we'll add you to the group!


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Killer Quad 2010

Don't forget the Killer Quad is sneaking up on us!  Mark your calendars for the series of swims

* KQ I - Halloween Hour Swim - Swims will be held Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Oct 30-Nov 1
* KQ II " T-giving 5000 - Swims will be held Wednesday, Nov 24 and Friday, Nov 26
* KQ III - Christmas 7500 - Swims will be held Thursday and Friday, Dec 23-24
* KQ IV - New Yearâ?Ts 10000 - Swims will be held Thursday and Friday, Dec 30-31


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Summer Picnic Thanks

And last, a thank you to Swimmers-of-the-Year Miki Armstrong and Bill Dawson for hosting the 2010 Summer Picnic.  Attendees enjoyed a relaxing afternoon of food, friendly competition, good company and fun. As summer ends and fall arrives, it's time to mark your calendars for the 2010 Killer Quad swims.  We've had record numbers of participants the last few years, we look forward to even more this year!


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