USMS Pool All American Honors – 6 Individual
USMS Top Ten Achievements – 240 Individual, 14 Relay
USMS Certified Coach – Levels 1, 2 & 3
USMS Adult Learn to Swim Instructor

Like many things in my life, I sort of stumbled upon competitive swimming. We spent our summer days (all day) at the pool. When I was 9, the pool director started a swim team. I was rather reluctant to try it; but with a little encouragement, I did. Our “training” was to do twice our age in laps sometime during the week. This is a far cry from what I try to do today.

After that first summer in Western Mass, we moved to St. Louis County for five years. There was a strong AAU program in Missouri. So from 9 to 13, I competed in St. Louis County before returning to Massachusetts.

From 14 to 17, I swam both on high school and YMCA teams with my mother as coach. The girls’ high school team won Western Mass in 1968. I was the 200-yard freestyle Champion in 1969. There were no state meets in those days. This ended my early competitive years, for my college had no swim team. However, I was still drawn to water: I rowed and did synchronized swimming in college.

I started Masters in 1983 in the NEM era of Jim Edwards and Tom Lyndon. I have swum almost continuously since then (minus a decade in the ’90s when I played a lot of tennis). My swimming strengths seem to lie in longer events, but I like variety and each stroke has been my “favorite” at one time or another.

I love swimming and the challenge of setting goals and striving to achieve them. The swimming community is so welcoming and supportive. At meets, I have met people I have swum with as a kid, people I've coached, and people who have swum for my brother, who was the coach at Smith College and is now one of my several Masters coaches.

Highlights of my Masters swimming career include making Top 10 times in both USMS and FINA. I set the top FINA time in the 400-meter IM SCM 2017. I’ve also set some New England records, but times are only part of this experience. Attending my first Nationals meet at Industry Hills, swimming in the Olympic Trials pool in Omaha, and swimming at Worlds in Montréal are also stand out moments.

But, it’s not just the big meets that are special. As Jim Edwards once said, meets – mini-meets, regional meets, all meets – are just socials with some swimming thrown in. Making new friends and sharing time with likeminded people is the essence of Masters swimming.

I taught for 30 years, primarily math and science at the middle school level. I also conducted math education workshops on the school, district, and national levels. In addition, for about 25 years, I taught swimming from tiny tots to adults and coached YMCA, USS, and high school swimming. Since retiring from teaching, I’ve tutored high school math, been a family caregiver, and have been active in city issues. I play the hammered dulcimer and volunteer as a performer for a local historical ssociety. Rounding out my swimming are paddle board, pickleball, and running. Finally, I love both geology and travel, so I combine these in trips from Iceland to Australia.

Masters Swimming is so much more than swimming. I am glad to have participated in it for so many years. It’s an honor to be recognized and to be part of this induction class 2024.

Little known fun facts:

I was on the cover of Swim magazine’s February/March 1985 issue with a photo from a meet at Brown University 1984.
For one year, I swam in the pool where Bill Yorzyk, the 1956 Olympic champion in the 200-metter butterfly swam when he was in town. The pool was 40 feet long and only 2 or 3 lanes wide with a low ceiling and minimal deck space. It wasn’t’ much, but if it was good enough for Bill, it was good enough for us.
I have a loose-leaf notebook with all my swims, splits, and meet locations since 1983.