Pool Performance

David Vail

  • USMS Pool All American Honors – 4 Relay

  • USMS Top Ten Achievements – 84 Individual, 39 Relay

USMS Profile

As a kid I snorkeled for scallops in Long Island’s Peconic Bay. But I got a late start in competitive swimming as a sophomore at Shaker Heights High in Cleveland. Senior year, I made the Ohio state finals in the 200-yard individual medley. 

At Princeton, I was a journeyman backstroker, freestyler, and water polo player. Three highlights of those younger years were: 

  • Swimming on a 400-yard freestyle relay that set a Princeton record while losing to Olympian Steve Clark and his Yale crew.

  • Serving as assistant to legendary Yale coach Phil Moriarty and his great mid-60s teams, while in grad school. 

  • Coaching Uganda’s Makerere University swim team to third place in the Pan-African Games when I was a Rockefeller Foundation economist.

My Masters swimming also started late. At Bowdoin College, I served as faculty advisor to the water polo club and later Charlie Butt’s swim teams. But other activities – kayaking, cross-country skiing, and road racing – held my attention until stress fractures brought me back to the pool at age 50. I learned about innovations like goggles and pull buoys and lots more about stroke mechanics, body alignment, and race psychology. 

Although I took pride in winning at least one event at every New England championship I entered, New England records and national Top 10 rankings only became routine after I had shoulder surgery at 65 and talented competitors began to fall by the wayside. Since 2013, my training and competition have had ups and downs as I’ve coped with two cancers and some heavy-duty meds. At age 81, I think of myself foremost as a lucky survivor.

I’ve managed seven second-place national rankings in backstroke and freestyle but never made All-American because a few superstars my age just won’t quit. I’ve swum on four All-American relays with fellow Maine Masters members and have managed to win four golds, eight silvers and a bronze medal at the National Senior Games. In 1998, on a research sabbatical in Sweden, I trained with Stockholm’s Lidingö IFK club and swam in the Swedish short course championships, winning four individual events and contributing to two victorious relays.

Masters swimming is much more than racing: I’ve enjoyed being our Bowdoin workout group’s USMS contact person, collaborating with Bowdoin coach Brad Burnham to organize our fall meet, and hoisting a pint with MESC mates.

Dick Hutchings

  • USMS Pool All American Honors – 9 Individual, 1 Relay

  • USMS Top Ten Achievements -75 Individual, 16 Relay

USMS Profile

Freshman year at Worcester North High School, I met a classmate who swam with coach Leo Majcher at the Main South YMCA. I went to a few practices but my swimming career was short-lived. I don’t know if it was swimming with kids who had been on the team for six or seven years or if coach Majcher just didn’t see the promise in my dogpaddle.

At 41, I started swimming laps at the Worcester YWCA where I found out about Masters swimming. I entered my first meet at Swim Center 1 in Granby, Connecticut. Never having gone off the blocks before, I lost my goggles on my first start. In the spirit of Masters Swimming, Fred Dalby realized I needed help and introduced himself. He helped me tighten my goggles and gave me some suggestions to improve my starts.

After moving to Hubbardston, I started swimming laps at the MWCC pool and soon, at age 70, I joined Greenwood Masters with coach Dave Phillips. Under his direction and that of his successor, David Graham, my times improved each year in the 70 to 74 age group.

A memorable swim took place at the 2022 Summer Nationals in Richmond, VA. Not usually doing well in 50s, I finished 1st by 8 hundredths of a second and that converted to about four inches. Coach had told us to finish on our side.

It has been really important to see the reorganization of Mount Wachusett Masters. With their enthusiasm, their ability as swimmers, and their early success, the team has a bright future.

Tracy Grilli

  • USMS Pool Records – Relay – 5 Lifetime

  • USMS Long Distance Records – Relay – 2 Lifetime, 1 Currently Held

  • USMS Long Distance All Star – 2000

  • USMS Pool All American Honors – 4 Individual, 8 Relay

  • USMS Long Distance All American Honors – 5 Individual

  • USMS Top Ten Achievements – 354 Individual, 222 Relay

USMS Profile

Tracy Grilli was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, in April 1957, just in time for the grand opening of Bearcroft Swim and Tennis Club where her family were charter members. Her mom brought Tracy and her siblings (Kim and Mike) to the club pretty much every day during the summer. Tracy passed her pool test at age two-and-a-half, and she swam in her first meet at age 6. “Many years later, someone created an ‘Orphans of Bearcroft Swim Club’ Facebook page which really bring back the memories,” she says.

Tracy continued to swim during the summers at Bearcroft and with the Seekonk Dolphins under coach Ellis Mayers during the winter until she was 16. “I was an OK swimmer, nothing to brag about,” she says. “But my high school sports and activities became a priority and that was it for swimming.”

Tracy graduated from Norton High School in 1975 and she attended Slippery Rock State College in Pennsylvania to study physical education. “I tried out for the cheerleading squad,” but didn’t make the team. “I was too big.” She also tried out for the volleyball team and made it to the last cut. Still searching for something to keep her occupied, she went out for the swim team. “I figured I was 500 miles away from home and needed to do something, so I joined the swim team. Again, I was just an OK swimmer.”

After graduation, Tracy got a job as the physical director at the Malden YMCA, “and that’s where I found out about Masters swimming! I also met David there, and the two of us joined NEM. Well, actually I was too young to join,” – the minimum age to join Masters at the time was 25 – “but I was allowed to compete at meets and was listed in the results as a ‘sub-Master.’ We just absolutely loved everything about NEM – the people, the fun, the meets, the parties, the camaraderie.”

Tracy and David married in 1981, and subsequently had two children; Victoria was born in 1982 and Luke in 1985. They moved to Londonderry in 1986. Tracy got a job at the Nashua YWCA where she worked for 10 years. Throughout all of these years since college, there were very few pool workouts between meets, and relying on her fitness and stamina from teaching fitness and aerobics classes. 

Sometime in her mid 30’s the “light bulb went on” and Tracy realized if she wanted to swim faster in meets, she needed to work out in the pool. She started swimming with the Granite State Penguins at the Nashua Boys and Girls club and at age 40, for the first time, she broke 1 minute in the 100 free. At the age 50, she broke 20 minutes in the 1650 and SCM 1500. At age 60, she had the fastest time in the world in the LCM 1500 in the 60-64 age group. Finally, she’d become a good swimmer

She says “For many years it was all about swimming my best times. Now it isn’t and I’ve adjusted my philosophy too. If I’m not going to swim fast, I’m going to have fun! No matter what it’s my best time of the day”.

Tracy is grateful she can participate in this sport, and the swimming friends she’s met since competing in her first meet in 1981 are just the absolute BEST.

Stuart (Stu) Cromarty

  • USMS Pool All American Honors – 12 Individual, 12 Relay 

  • USMS Long Distance All American Honors - 2 Individual

  • USMS Top Ten Achievements – 195 Individual, 71 Relay

USMS Profile

My swimming began at an early age in South Africa. My mother taught young kids how to swim in our backyard, and by age 2, I was already diving for coins in the deep end. I started competitive swimming late (around 12) and my first formal coach, Brian Wood, was the high school swim coach and English teacher. In my sophomore year of HS, I represented my state and eventually captained the state team my senior year. I represented South Africa in an international meet in Taiwan in 1981 and then represented my country in international lifesaving competition in Greece, Austria, Germany and the United States in 1982 and 1983. 

In 1984, I crossed the Atlantic on a full swimming scholarship to Boston University and captained the team in 1986 – the first foreign-born student-athlete to serve in that capacity at BU. I graduated with a BSc. in Biology and then went onto to receive my M.Sc. and Ph.D. at the University of Rhode Island. It was during this time that I was introduced to Masters swimming by Frank McQuiggan and Peter Solomon, who was coaching the URI Masters and RAM Club team at the time. When Peter Solomon left to coach at Middlebury, I took over the Masters Swim Program (1989-95) and kept it going for 7 years! I also helped coach the URI Age Group Team (1992-95) with Bob and Barb Crowder, who at the time were NEM members. 

During my post-doctoral years, I continued swimming masters; I swam in Atlanta, Ga. with the Pace Academy Masters Team (1995-97) while I did research at Georgia State and the Cambridge Masters (1997-2000) when I was Harvard Medical School. In 2000, I started my faculty career at Assumption University where I currently reside as a Professor of Biological Sciences. This was during my most active Masters Swimming, and I was inducted into the Rhode Island Swimming Hall of Fame in 2005. Then in 2009 the University asked me to start a NCAA D2 swimming program and suddenly my competitive Masters Swimming was paused while I built a college program from scratch–I did however manage to continue open water swims during the summers.

Building a college program took a huge percentage of my time but was very rewarding. I was most proud of the fact that even in the first year I never had a losing record as a head coach at Assumption. With a career 80-24 record in dual meets–we boasted an impressive 32-3 record at home (we never lost a home meet from 2011 to 2019). The team progressed each season from seventh in his first season to capturing three consecutive Northeast-10 Conference Championships in 2013-14, 2014-15, and 2015-2016. The team was runner-up the next two seasons and then in my final year of coaching (2018-2019) we finished first in the conference. During this time, I recruited and coached 125 student athletes and for 24 semesters in a row, we received the CSCAA Scholar All-American Team Award. I have been honored to attend 25+ weddings of my former athletes and still counting.

I was excited to get back into Masters Swimming in 2020 after not competing in pool competitions for 12 years. I missed the racing but more importantly I missed the camaraderie. One thing about swimming is that the friends you make last a lifetime. You may not see them for 5 or even 10 years but one day when you see their name on the heat sheets at a masters meet; you track them down and it is as if time has stopped, and all the great memories come back. 

Along the way during my early Masters days, I met and swam with many wonderful people, most notably, Peter Solomon, Frank McQuiggan, Jenny Mooney, Jacki Hirsty, Matt Gilson, Jason Eaddy, Mike Powers, Tom Manfredi, Fred Bartlett, Homer Lane, Doug Sayles, Tracy Grilli, Liz Welch to name just a few. I currently swim with Sarah Sutton, Chuck Barnes and EJ Testa.

Aagje Caron

  • USMS Pool All American Honors – 7 Individual

  • USMS Top Ten Achievements – 279 Individual, 54 Relay

USMS Profile

I was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. After the war, my family moved to a small town in Meppel in the province of Drente also in the Netherlands. My father had started a leather making business and his company expanded to that town.

I learned to swim in the 4th grade, which was mandatory for everyone to receive a diploma in swimming and water safety. We were taught the breaststroke first. After receiving my swimming diploma, I continued to swim with friends in the pool and area lakes. 

While commuting by train to college in another city, I happened to see a sign about a swim meet. I signed up, swam the 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke and found that I liked competition. I did not belong to a swim team, but I continued to compete in a few more meets. After college I went into nursing and swam whenever I could. 

My family is still in the Netherlands. At the age of 23 I came to the United States, curious about the country. I met my husband Chet on a blind date. We moved from Virginia to Alexandria, New Hampshire, and after many years of not swimming, I was able to rekindle my passion. After a couple of months, I was asked if I wanted to compete, and I said yes. It was a great experience – I enjoyed the camaraderie and the competition and swimming keeps me mentally and physically fit.

Over the years I have competed in many national and world competitions. I enjoy meeting people from all over the world and learning about their cultures. I have also competed in horse shows (jumping) and triathlons. In addition, I care for my horse, take hikes with my dog, Janna, go mountain biking, and enjoy oil painting.

Karen Bierwert

  • 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

USMS Profile

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. 

Charles "Chuck" Barnes

  • USMS National Records – pool individual 13 lifetime, 9 currently held 

  • USMS Pool All Star Honors – 2019 

  • USMS Pool All American Honors – 5 years individual (32 events); 4 years pool (8 events) 

  • USMS Top Ten Achievements – 47 Individual, 30 relay

  • USMS profile

Chuck Barnes is a member of the BC High School Athletic Hall of Fame and the Brown University Athletic Hall of Fame. One of the most accomplished male swimmers at Brown in the last 50 years, Barnes holds the school record in five different events, including the 100- and 200-yard backstroke. Barnes earned First Team All-Ivy honors seven times throughout his career and won the Phil Moriarty Award as the top swimmer at the EISL Championships for three straight years.

He was also named the Ivy League’s most valuable swimmer for three straight years and was recognized as a Top 100 Athlete of the Century at Brown. Barnes finished 18th  in the 200-yard backstroke at the NCAA Championships in 1999, the highest finish by a male swimmer at Brown since 1984.

Barnes was named the team’s MVP all four of his years at Brown and served as captain his senior year in 1999. He is just the second Brown swimmer to earn the Phil Moriarty Award at the Eastern Championships and holds the most Eastern Championship Titles in Brown history, racking up seven throughout his career.

After earning his degree in Business Economics from Brown, Barnes spent 15 months training for the Olympic Trials and qualified in the 100 back, 200 back, 100 fly and 200 free. His best finish was 12 th in the 200 back. After finishing his swimming career, Barnes competed in triathlons and placed 37th in the world’s largest in Chicago.

Barnes then took 18 years off and only started swimming again after seeing information for Masters swimming when bringing his child to swim class. He started swimming 1 to 2 times per week at first, then 3 times, and he now swims 4 to 5 times per week.  “Masters swimming has allowed me to get away from working all the time and enables me to travel to different places I probably never would have gone to without Masters swimming. It enables me to meet many new friends and do what I love to do, which is compete.”

Katherine Branch

  • USMS National Records – pool individual 4 lifetime

  • USMS Pool All American Honors – 17 years (20 individual)

  • USMS Long Distance All American Honors – 2 years (2 individual)

  • USMS Top Ten Achievements – 278 individual

  • USMS Profile

My life in competitive swimming started when I was 10, at the suggestion of coaches at a sports “boot camp” where I essentially flunked the other five sports but was able to swim a 500-yard freestyle. After a couple years of summer swimming in Albuquerque, New Mexico, my family moved to New Delhi, India where I started “year-round” swimming. Our morning swim team practice started with us kids skimming the pool surface to remove an almost solid layer of locusts, crickets, dragonflies, and many other bugs that looked like cockroaches to me. Highlights of that year in India included my placing second in the 100 butterfly, freestyle, and backstroke in the Junior Girls category at the National Aquatic Championships and our 400-freestyle relay breaking the Indian national record.

After moving back to Albuquerque, I started swimming in earnest with an AAU team and my high school team, then enrolled at Arizona State University in 1975, swimming on the women’s team and making the 200 backstroke qualifying time for the Association for the 1976 Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Nationals (before women’s college athletics was part of the NCAA). Two of my ASU team-mates represented the United States at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal: Melissa Belote (who had won three gold medals at the 1972 Olympics) and Maryanne Graham (who set the American record in the 200 backstroke at 1976 Trials)—both women have swum or are currently swimming in USMS competitions, as is my college friend, teammate and roommate Karen Andrus-Hughes.

After 1976, I stuck to intermural inner tube water polo and lap swimming until after the birth of my second son in 1987, when I joined USMS with Maryland Masters. I carpooled to my first Masters meet with the legendary Nancy Brown (916 USMS Top Ten swims!) and her daughter Jill Springer. Between her beer relays, her swimming with a bouncy eyeball headband, and her energetic love of the sport, Nancy showed me how much fun Masters swimming really could be. I joined New England Masters in 2007, after I moved to Vermont.

Besides beer relays, other highlights of my aquatic adventures including my meeting my future husband while swimming laps at the University of Arizona, placing 5 th overall (1 st in women’s) in the 4.4-mile Chesapeake Bay Swim, watching my sons compete in all four years of collegiate swimming, having my older son also meet his future wife while swimming laps, breaking the 200 backstroke SCM world Masters record in my 30s and competing at the World Masters Championships in Montreal.

Outside of the pool, I had a career as a medical and science librarian, then worked as a Masters swim coach and at a fair-trade handicrafts store until I retired. Besides swimming, I serve on several of my town’s commissions, raise a large vegetable garden and try to see my three grandchildren as often as I can.

William “Bill” Jones 

  • USMS Pool All American Honors – 4 years (4 individual)

  • USMS Top Ten Achievements – 299 individual

  • USMS Profile

I learned to swim at the town beach on Hobbs Pond, Hope ME.  At the Y in Philadelphia, they lined up everyone for a 25-yard race at the end of general swim.  I always won, so they put me on their team. They had the only good coach I ever had.  One day, our butterflier didn’t come so I filled in and got the job.  After junior league, I swam for Germantown Academy, later famous for swimming.  In 1955, I was the surprise winner of the Eastern Interscholastic 100 fly. I regularly made All American in high school and college.  The breaststroke-butterfly rules were changing then.  My only flirtation with national records was when you were allowed to swim breaststroke under water.  My best national rank was 4th in the 200 breast - not good enough for the Olympics.

Upon college graduation in 1959, I was sick of swimming.  I spent 17 happy years neither competing nor paying attention.  Worsening back trouble threatened forced disability retirement by age 40.  I just dodged surgery.  One MD said patients like me were doomed to a life of therapy and pain, but that, occasionally, some who swam a lot didn’t return.  Judging swimming preferable to the knife, I resumed swimming and heard about Masters.

I have swum for DC Department of Recreation and Parks, then Maine Masters, since age 40.  Work time lost to back trouble declined, though I travelled to nationals in Chapel Hill NC flat in the back of a station wagon and could not dive start the night before winning the 200 fly.  On our DC relay fly start, I got to send a wave over MA’s relay’s Paul Tsongas.

Over the years, I have picked up occasional national championships, mostly in long butterfly and IM, and recently by being the only one in my age group to swim something — nationally first and last.  I’ve been on some national-championship Maine relays, including a mixed 400 IM that held the national record for 6 years.  At 75, I made national top-10 in all 53 events except for the 50 breast, in which I was 11th.  I hold or have held a variety of Maine and New England records.  And I haven’t had back surgery yet.

Elizabeth Mancuso

  • USMS Pool All American Honors – 9 years (21 individual)

  • USMS Long Distance All American Honors – 1 year (1 individual)

  • USMS Top Ten Achievements – 105 individual

  • USMS Profile

Liz grew up swimming in Andover, MA.  She raced in her first swim meet at age 3 and fell in love with the sport. Liz swam for the Merrimack Valley Pirates and the Andover/North Andover YMCA club teams. She was also a four-year member of the state championship–winning Andover High School Swim and Dive team. In high school, Liz was named 2003 Massachusetts Swimmer of the Year. In 2023, Liz was inducted in the Punchard/Andover High School’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

Following high school, Liz attended and swam at Dartmouth College. She majored in psychology with a minor in education. Liz was a four-year member of the varsity swim team, previous multiple individual and relay event school record holder, and co-captain. As a senior, she was awarded the Kenneth Archibald Prize, the highest honor a Dartmouth athlete can receive for best all-around athlete, moral worth, and high standing in scholarship. In 2009, Liz was inducted into Dartmouth College’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

Post college, Liz jumped right back into the pool for Masters swimming. She swam at Boston University Masters Swimming, where she met her husband, B.J. Brannan. After a move to the South Shore, she currently swims at Scituate Racquet and Fitness Club. Liz has participated in numerous open water races including winning the 8-mile Boston Light Swim in 2010.

Liz is an elementary school psychologist. In addition to her love of swimming, she also enjoys playing tennis and paddle, skiing, going to the beach, and spending time with her family and friends. Liz has two sons, George and Paul. She hopes they, too, will find a sport or activity to enjoy and create lasting memories and friendships.

Karen Mareb

  • USMS National Records – pool individual 1 lifetime

  • USMS Pool All American Honors – 13 years (20 individual)

  • USMS Top Ten Achievements – 167 Individual

  • USMS Profile

I was born in Bangor ME and am the second of five children. I grew up spending winters in South Bend, Indiana, and summers in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where my Father did research at the Marine Biological Laboratory. I learned to swim in the ocean in Woods Hole and competed in the summer beach swim meets held at Mass Maritime. Although I swam all summer long recreationally, I did not join a swim team until 1973 at John Adams High School in South Bend. I fortunately made the varsity team my Freshman year with few skills and learned the breaststroke, as that was what was needed. John Adams Girls’ Swim Team won the State Title three years in a row from 1972 to 1974. I was part of the winning State 200 IM relay team in 1974.

I graduated high school in three years and was accepted at the University of Notre Dame. My freshman year was the first graduating year of women at ND and my first year I swam with the Boys’ team (poorly). I spent my sophomore year in Rome, Italy, studying Italian and art. On my return in my junior year, Notre Dame had a club team, but it was nowhere near the powerhouse status of today. During my college years, I worked as a Falmouth lifeguard and competed on the Falmouth lifeguard competition team as the swimming leg for various events. In 1979, I swam to Martha’s Vineyard from Woods Hole with a group of swimmers from MBL completing the swim from Nobska Point to West Chop (approximately 3.5 miles) in 1 hour and 51 minutes. I swam to the Vineyard again last summer (2022) 43 years later - albeit at a much slower pace!

After several years, I reconnected with my Falmouth lifeguard boyfriend, Fred, and we got married in 1984. I swam for a few years with the Andover YMCA team until I had my children and proceeded to take the next 15 years off. In 2003 at age 45, I returned to the pool and swam for 10 years with Andover YMCA Masters group, competing in local meets and Y Masters Nationals in Fort Lauderdale. I bettered all my high school times except for one. In 2014, I started swimming with the Granite State Penguins and have been a regular at all of the major meets including most SCY Nationals. I have also competed in FINA World Competitions in Riccione Italy (2012), Montreal (2014), Canadian National (2017), and Budapest (2018).

My interests include anything connected to the water, (boating, fishing, snorkeling) traveling, good food, and good books. My latest challenge is learning the game of golf.

Ildiko “Ildi” Szekely

  • USMS National Records – pool individual 1 lifetime, 1 currently held

  • USMS Pool All American Honors – 11 years (33 individual)

  • USMS Long Distance All American Honors – 2 years (2 individual)

  • USMS Top Ten Achievements – 74 individual

  • USMS Profile

For some, swimming is a healthy exercise, for me, it is a lifestyle. I grew up in Hungary, and by age six, I was a competitive swimmer. Swimming has been so ingrained in my life that I can no longer separate it from my identity. I love the sport; it has provided me with opportunities others can only dream of. Yes, (along with many young children) I had dreams of the Olympics. While I did not attain the rights of the five-ring tattoo on my body, swimming has led me to a New World, to an athletic scholarship, to a master’s degree, to my best friends, and it continues to take me to amazing venues in the world.

A brief overview of my swimming history: I qualified for the Cadet European Championships in the 200- meter butterfly when I was 12 years old. At 16, I received the bronze medal at the Hungarian National Championships in the 200-meter butterfly and anchored the 4x100 free relay to a National title. However, for my Hungarian coach, I become too old and not elite enough.

I tried my luck across the “Pond,” and continued the sport at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania under Olympic alternate and Michigan State alumnus, Pete Williams. He trained me to Junior Nationals and helped me get recruited by his alma mater. At MSU, I became a four-time Academic All-America, earned three individual and two relay school records, was named Student-Athlete of the Month by MSU Athletics, and made the Olympic Trials cut in the 200-meter butterfly in 2002.

After six years of hiatus, I found love again in Masters swimming. These past 11 years with the help of Coach Chris Morgan, I became a World Champion in the 200-meter butterfly in 2014 and 2017, as well as Pan-American Champion in 2018 and 2022. I earned National titles in 2015, 2016, 2019, and 2021 as well as Open Water 1-mile Masters National titles in 2017 and 2022. I love to travel to open water races as much as possible, too. I have no doubt racing will be a significant part of the rest of my life.

Jason Eaddy

  • 2022 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Pool Performance)

  • USMS Records – pool individual 5 lifetime, pool relay 1 currently held, 7 lifetime

  • USMS Pool All Star Honors – 2001, 2002, 2004

  • USMS Pool All American Honors – 8 years pool individual, 7 years pool relay

  • USMS Long Distance All American Honors – 9 years long distance individual

  • USMS Top Ten Achievements – 198 individual, 73 relay

  • NELMSC All Time Top Three – 104 points

  • NE LMSC Top Ten Chair

  • Club: New England Masters (CRM)

  • USMS Profile Jason H Eaddy - USMS Swimmer

Jason Eaddy grew up swimming in Florida, originally learning to swim by dodging alligators in Orlando’s Lake Virginia. He graduated to the Rollins College pool next to the lake, joining the Blue Dolfins swim team and coaches Harry & Kevin Meisel. 

Jason joined St. Petersburg Aquatics and coach Fred Lewis just prior to turning 13 in 1989. Swimming for SPA & St. Petersburg High School, Jason was a Senior National qualifier in the 800 & 1500 freestyle. His senior year, Jason was an All-American, winning the 500 free and placing second in the 100 butterfly at Florida High School State Chmpionships. Both swims broke school records and still stand 29 years later. At Princeton under coach Rob Orr, Jason continued to specialize in distance freestyle and was a four-year letter winner. His senior year, he captained Princeton's team to a undefeated EISL dual meet championship.

After college, Jason took a few years to find his way back to serious swimming, eventually joining Cambridge Masters Swim Club at Harvard and continuing his love/hate relationship with Blodgett Pool from college. With CMSC, Jason was fortunate to swim under Rob Berry, Bek Getman, Steph Morowski, and Scott VanKuilenberg. Focusing primarily on butterfly as a masters swimmer, Jason started racing at both USMS and USA Swimming meets, placing 5th in the 200m fly at the U.S. Open in 2002 and returning to USA Nationals in 2004. Along the way, he set World Records in the 100 & 200 SCM butterfly in the 25-29 age group and National Records in 50 SCM butterfly and the 200 LCM butterfly.

In addition to bringing lifelong fitness and a renewed passion for the sport, masters swimming also brought Jason his wife Jenny Mooney (a Rhode Island Aquatics Hall of Fame inductee), meeting her at the New England SCM Championship Meet in December 2002. They currently live in Sudbury, Massachusetts. These days, Jason typically spends his weekends as a USA Swimming official watching their two sons compete. 

Beth Estel

  • 2022 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Pool Performance)

  • USMS Pool Records – pool individual 4 currently held, 7 lifetime, pool relay 2 lifetime

  • USMS Long Distance Records – long distance relay 2 lifetime

  • USMS Pool All American Honors – 6 years pool individual, 9 years pool relay

  • USMS Long Distance All American Honors – 4 years long distance relay

  • USMS Top Ten Achievements – 202 individual, 79 relay

  • NELMSC All Time Top Three – 281 points

  • Club: New England Masters (GSP)

  • USMS Profile Beth A Estel - USMS Swimmer

My passion for swimming started at age 6, when my next-door neighbor, the swim coach, encouraged me to swim with his daughter, my best friend. My parents were very supportive of this new “hobby”. But at age 10, we moved to New Jersey, which was a challenge for my swimming “career”. I already knew I loved being in the pool. The YMCA required that I prove that I was swim team worthy and I had to attend and pass four different levels of swim classes before being allowed on the team. I swam with the Montclair Marlins for several years and went to AAU Nationals in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

After several breaks from the pool, it was finally time to get back to it when I moved to New Hampshire in 2006. Tracy personally experienced my enthusiasm and competitive nature when I returned. 

Currently, I work in Boston at Tufts University Dental School and plan my workouts before and after work. Staying in shape is a priority for me so I can perform at swim meets and stay healthy. The Granite State Penguins are a huge support, especially when things don’t go as expected. They are family and put up with my antics.  My husband, Scott, is my personal cheerleader. My siblings all came to Montreal for Worlds in 2014, another exciting chapter – a Relay World Record. 

This past summer my granddaughters, Leah, age 9, and Josie, age 7, started competing, which is as exciting to me as my own competitions.  I am thrilled my son, Justin, has encouraged them to swim.

This award is a big surprise and I feel honored to be recognized for doing what I love. 

Eric Nilsson

  • 2022 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Pool Performance)

  • USMS Pool Records – pool individual 1 currently held, 6 lifetime, pool relay 1 currently held, 2 lifetime

  • USMS Pool All Star Honors – 2011, 2015

  • USMS Long Distance Records – long distance individual 1 lifetime

  • USMS Pool All American Honors  – 8 years pool individual, 4 years pool relay

  • USMS Long Distance All American Honors – 4 years long distance individual, 2 years long distance relay

  • USMS Top Ten Achievements – 100 individual, 26 relay

  • NELMSC All Time Top Three – 225 points

  • Club: New England Masters (MIT)

  • USMS Profile Eric T Nilsson - USMS Swimmer

Eric Nilsson was born on June 30, 1987 in Bolton Massachusetts. He started competitive swimming at age 9 and continued swimming competitively on the club team New England Barracudas until college, while also swimming for Weston High School. Eric swam at Northwestern University where he received several All-American accolades and set several school records, as well as competing at NCAA championships all four years, including a 3rd place finish in the 400 freestyle relay in 2007. Eric raced at the 2008 pool swimming Olympic Trials and the 2012 10K open water Olympic Trials, finishing 12th.

Since graduating Northwestern University in 2009, Eric has lived in Chicago, Hawaii and Florida, but has lived in the Boston area since 2013. In addition to swimming, he has enjoyed coaching high school and adult aged swimmers in his spare time, and currently works as an Actuary for John Hancock.

Eric has competed in around 100 open water swim races ranging from 1 to 20 miles and swims in all the pool meets that he can find, and he plans to swim for the rest of his life.

Fritz Bedford

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  • 2020 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Pool Performance)

  • 2006 Inducted into the St Lawrence University Hall of Fame

  • USMS Records

    • Pool – 14 lifetime individual, 8 currently held

      • 45-49: 50 Fly SCM 

      • 50-54: 50 Back SCY, 100 Back SCY, 50 Back SCM, 100 Back SCM 

      • 55-59: 50 Back SCY, 100 Back SCM, 50 Fly SCM 

  • USMS All-Star – 1 year pool

  • USMS All-American

    • Pool – 44 individual (308 points), 3 relay

  • USMS Top Ten – 110 individual, 9 relay

  • NELMSC All-Time Top Three – 212 points

  • Club: New England Masters (NEM)

  • USMS Profile

Fritz Bedford was born on September 10, 1963 in Cannan, NH, and currently lives in Etna, NH. He attended Hanover High School and Deerfield Academy. Fritz was named an All-American at Deerfield six times over two years. He attended St. Lawrence University from 1981 until 1985, earning a B.S. in Physics. While there, he earned All-American honors nineteen times over four years. Fritz earned his M.S. from the University of New Hampshire and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He worked in engineering at Creare (Etna, NH), Avery Research Center (Pasadena, CA), General Motors R&D (Warren, MI), Fluent/ANSYS (Lebanon, NH), Norwich University (Northfield, VT) and CD-adapco/Siemens (Lebanon, NH). Fritz swam Masters for the Rose Bowl Aquatic Club and the UV-Rays in White River Junction, VT. He is currently a software developer for Siemens in Lebanon, NH. He also coaches the Men's and Women's swimming teams at Hanover High School and continues to swim Masters with the UV-Rays. He is married with three daughters.

From the St Lawrence University Hall of Fame website:

A 19-time All-America swimmer, Fritz Bedford excelled in a variety of strokes and is among the all-time greats in Saints’ men’s swimming.

The Outstanding Male Senior Athlete Award winner in 1985, Fritz qualified for the NCAA Championships as an individual in each of his four years and was All-America in five individual events and three relays during his career. He was New York State champion in 50 freestyle and 200 backstroke and part of the state champion 400 medley relay team.

He was All-America in the 100 fly, 100 free, and 50 free and part of All-America teams in the 400 medley and 400 and 800 free relay teams as a freshman; All-America in the 50 free, 100 fly, and 100 free, and the 400 medley relay and 800 free relay as a sophomore; in the 50 free and 200 back and the 400 medley relay as a junior and in the 50 free and 100 and 200 back plus the 400 medley relay and 800 free relay as a senior.

Now a mechanical engineer, he earned his master’s degree at the University of New Hampshire and a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin.

Ted Haartz

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Ted Haartz, a former collegiate swimmer from Tufts University, turned his sights to Masters Swimming in 1970 after reading about the first Masters meet in Amarillo, TX. He competed in the second Masters National Championship in Amarillo in 1971. He became a charter member of the New England Masters Swim Club and quickly progressed to volunteering at the national level.

Ted received the Captain Ransom J. Arthur M.D. Award (USMS’s highest honor) in 1976 as a result of his volunteer service. Notably, he established and maintained Top Ten Times for Masters Swimming in all age groups and relays, commencing with the first Masters Nationals in Amarillo, TX, in 1970. This was in the days when that meant hand writing and typing results! Ted was a key player in the formation of the original 55 Local Masters Swimming Committees (LMSCs) that governed Masters Swimming on the local level.

He quickly rose to positions of leadership in the fledgling national organization while it was still a part of the AAU and trying to establish its identity. He served as national president and for many years as a swimming official. Significantly, Ted took charge of the effort in the late 1970s to separate Masters from the AAU, which allowed Masters to become a more independent organization that could raise its own funds, write its own rules, and determine its own destiny. At the 2013 U.S. Aquatic Sports Convention, Ted was inducted into the Masters International Swimming Hall of Fame.

The following is from an October 1977 NEM News profile of Ted:

Reasons for participating in the Masters Program: ‘Swimming has become my recreation, exercise, and a release for the tension I encounter in my daily life. I believe that I eat better, sleep better, and am generally healthier because of a regular routine of physical exercise. I also thoroughly enjoy the companionship and friendship of the hundreds of other Masters swimmers with whom I have come in contact.’

After his retirement and move to Arizona, Ted, of course became involved in his local group and switched to Arizona Masters. However, here in New England we still consider him one of our own and thank him for his contributions to the sport.

Christie Hayes

  • 2020 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Pool Performance)

  • 1997 Inducted into the William Smith College Heron Hall of Honor

  • USMS Records

    • Pool – 5 lifetime individual, 1 currently held; 1 lifetime relay

      • W70-74: 200 Free SCY

    • Long Distance – 2 lifetime individual, 1 currently held

      • W70-74: 1-hour ePostal

  • USMS All-Star – 1 year pool

  • USMS All-American

    • Pool – 20 individual (140 points)

    • Long Distance – 4 individual (28 points), 3 relay

  • USMS Top Ten – 410 individual, 37 relay

  • NELMSC All Time Top Three – 177 points

  • Club: New England Masters (NEM)

  • USMS Profile

Christie Hayes was born in Virginia in 1948 to ADM Jack, U.S. Coast Guard, and Bogie Hayes. She has 3 siblings in Virginia, Washington, and Alaska. She attended many different schools from Grades 1 through 12 as her family traveled the country with the U.S. Coast Guard. She graduated from high school in 1966.

Christie spent one year at Vejle Gymnasium, Denmark, as an American Field Service Exchange Student. She received a B.A. in English from William Smith College in Geneva, NY and an M.Ed. in Special Education from Wright State University in Dayton, OH. She also earned an M.S. (6th year) in Technology in Education from Bank Street College of Education in New York City. 

Christie swam and competed off and on as an age-grouper depending on where her family lived. She was a member of William Smith College swim team, and was named to the William Smith College Heron Hall of Honor in 1997.

Christie has been a member of U.S. Masters Swimming since 1973 and has earned national Top Ten rankings almost every year since then. She served as president of Connecticut Masters in 1977 to 1978. She earned two golds and two silvers at the first Master Swimming World Championship in Tokyo in 1986, and was featured in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd section for her wins. In February 2018, she set a national record in the 1-hour ePostal swim. In May 2018, she set four National records in 70-74 age group: 1650-, 1000-, 500-, and 200-yard freestyles.

Christie worked as a learning disabilities/special education teacher in Groton Public Schools from 1973 through 2008. During those years, she was the facilitator for the Student Assistance Team; Chairperson of the Groton Public Schools School Based Mentoring Program; a member of the Instructional Technology Study group and in-service instructor. She also served as an exchange teacher in Beloretsk, Russia, for one month in 1992. She was named Eastern Point Elementary School Teach of the Year in 1991.

Christie is also a committed volunteer, working with the Big Brother/Big Sister program, and is involved with St. John’s Episcopal Church, St. John’s Shoreline Soup Kitchen and Pantry, and her alma mater William Smith College. She won the Champion for Children Award from Town of Groton Department of Human Services in 2000.

Kathy Slifer

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  • 2020 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Pool Performance)

  • USMS Records

    • Pool – 3 lifetime individual, 1 lifetime relay

  • USMS All-American

    • Pool – 33 individual (231 points), 1 relay

  • USMS Top Ten – 222 individual, 14 relay

  • NELMSC All-Time Top Three – 98 points

  • Club: New England Masters (NEM)

  • USMS Profile

Kathy Slifer started AAU age group swimming back in the late 1950s, swimming for Coach Al Houston at the South Boston Boys Club. Many years later she joined Masters swimming, renewing her love for the sport and competition. “I am so grateful for this wonderful New England Masters organization, my supportive teammates and coaches, and the volunteers who make it possible for this 74-year-old to be sporting a Speedo!” she says.

Jacki Hirsty

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  • 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Pool Performance)

  • USMS Records – 32 lifetime, 0 currently held

  • USMS All American – 39 (273 points)

  • USMS Top Ten – 324 Individual

  • NE LMSC All Time Top 3 – 255 points

Jacki Hirsty always considered herself a late bloomer and now realizes that the longer you hang on the better it gets. Although she began swimming Masters with DC Masters, and spent some time with Texas and UCLA, most of her 320 top ten rankings were with NEM. After joining NEM at 37, she set 4 of her 32 world records and 18 of her 42 relay world records (those her most rewarding). While with NEM, she was a member of the USMS Coaches and International committees. She is now living and coaching college swimmers in Los Angeles and is the only member so far of the NEM Far West branch. She is also a USMS Leve 1 and 2 Certified Coach.

From the Occidental College Website:

Jacki Hirsty, a swimming coaching veteran with over 30 years of experience, is in her second year in the Occidental swim and dive programs as an assistant coach.

Hirsty had recently been an assistant coach at Assumption College from 2011-15, the head coach at Milken Community Schools in Los Angeles and Notre Dame HS in Worcester, Mass. She has worked the Navy Swim Camp and has been a Head Masters Coach at the East Side Y (Rhode Island), Qunicy Y (Massachusetts), Newton JCC, Babson College, Boston College and MIT.

She is a technical specialist with a keen eye and can help our student-athletes improve in a lot of areas. Her focus as a coach is to assure that every swimmer is aware of proper technique, thereby given the same opportunity to succeed. Her goals this year include getting our women and more of our men to NCAA Nationals. 

Hirsty is still a very competitive swimmer. She competes at the highest level of masters swimming and is currently part of 4 masters world relay records and consistently world ranked in her age group.

With degrees in Architecture from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Kansas, she has also been an Assistant Professor at Kansas State University, University of Kansas and Texas Tech, and Director of Student Affairs at the Boston Architectural College.