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Newsletter
January 9, 2012
by Tasha Capen
In this edition:

**Upcoming events**

- Hour Swim Relay, Saturday, Jan 28 at Burgess, see details below  

- Annual Swimmer of the Year Awards Banquet 
  Date and location (Menlo Park) will soon be finalized, and you'll be able to mark your calendars for late Jan/early Feb. Find out who Carl and Barbara have picked to be our next Swimmers of the Year!  

- February Can-Do 
  Start stockpiling those cans of food and other donation items, get your stroke technique in order, and rest up...February's coming up fast! Awards will be available for those reaching 50K and 100K milestones. Regardless of how much you swim, please donate a can for every 2000 yards you log in the month of February.


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**The Hour Swim - as Relay**

It's January, time for our long-standing tradition of participating in the USMS One Hour Postal Swim. We have at least 11 years of history with this event, so we decided it was time to change the game and swim the hour relay-style instead! Find three teammates to join you on Saturday, Jan 28 at 6:30am or 7:45am to swim as many yards as possible in 60 minutes. Form your teams with the following in mind:    

  - 4 team members per team: 4 men or 4 women or mixed (2 men and 2 women) 
  - One swimmer swims at a time; trade swimmers by 200yd, 500yd or 15 min increments (you must maintain the same order of swimmers for the 200 and 500 options) 
  - Team standards will be set by gender and age, with age groups determined by the sum of team member ages as of Jan 28: 72+, 100+, 120+, 160+, 200+, 240+ and 280+  

In each hour, there's space for 8 relay teams, with 3 warm-up/warm-down lanes. Each team will also need to bring their own timer/counter to record the team's progress by 50 throughout the hour. (Menlo Masters will provide watches, split sheets, etc., as usual.)  

When you've got your team ready, complete the sign up sheet on Google docs at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtUOxuTLNrE0dEZ0RWlEQ2ozWjNicUhUNERHX1UzM2c&authkey=CKHMrPgL  

Want to swim but don't have a team?? Use the same link to add your name to the "Pick me! I'm available!" list at the far right of the sheet. Email Tasha at tasha@menlomasters.com if you have any questions, or if you have trouble with the sign-up sheet.  

Note: This Menlo Masters event will not qualify for the USMS One Hour Postal Championship. Feel free to enter the USMS event by swimming an hour at any time on your own. Take advantage of lap swim time (and even the bubble if it helps!), and bring a friend to count and time for you as you rack up the yards. For entry information, go to: http://www.clubassistant.com/club/meet_information.cfm?c=1308&smid=3291


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**2012 Year-Rounder and Million Yard Challenges are ON!**

If 2012 is your year to focus on endurance swimming, then the Year-Rounder and Million Yard challenges await!  

For the Year-Rounder, swim 10,000 yards in a single day at least once per month. In years 1 and 2 of the Year-Rounder, an even dozen swimmers completed the challenge each time. (More on that in the next newsletter...)  

For the Million Yard challenge, swim a million yards (or more!) in 2012. That's just over 568 miles, a mere 83,350 yds per month! Four team members took on the challenge in 2011, its inaugural year.  

To sign up for these challenges and track your progress each month, the 2012 Google docs are standing by! 
Year-Rounder: 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtdguLaBiFTWdEZYQ09wNGJoUXNJcnVsWVhEVUwxNGc 
Million Yard: 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtUOxuTLNrE0dFZJdXdFZ1dZZnF5Y0syUndLREdpcXc&authkey=CMGNosMD


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**Visit Heidi in San Leandro**

Just a reminder, Heidi Renner and her family are ready for visitors. You can sign up for a time to visit via: http://www.doodle.com/yd3vvge9w55hiq3t (please no drop-ins). Note that children and young adults are not allowed at this time. Once you pick a visit day and time, the family will send you information to help you prepare for your visit. For details, please see last week's message (from this email address, sent Friday, Jan 6, around 1:15 pm) 

 On behalf of Heidi, Janet and her family say, "Thank you so much - we are so excited that this time has come for Heidi!!!"


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