Maine Masters (MESC)

Formed in 1988 at Bowdoin College after several regular swimmers (who had been Masters swimmers in other states), approached the Bowdoin Athletic Dept. asking to form a Masters team. Key initiators along with the Bowdoin aquatic coordinator held several organizational meetings where bylaws were created, and officers were elected. Hosted the first meet at Bowdoin in October of 1989.

From the article in the October 20, 1995 The Times Record:

Starting a Maine-based Masters program wasn’t a simple process. It took months of organizing and eventually submitting a proposal to Bowdoin. It became a reality, thanks to a core group of agitators that included Erswell, Forney, Joyce Brown, Sandy Potholm and Peter Packard.

The Maine Masters swim Club is an organized program of swimming for adults. Members participate in a variety of ways ranging from lap swimming to international competition.

In addition to the foundling group in the Brunswick area, Maine Masters members swim in eight to 10 pools across the state. The program’s popularity and growth has taken its founders by surprise. Maine Masters has become a well-organized structure in this state from a handful or brainstorming.

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2019 NELMSCHOF Inductees

Maine Masters Trailblazers

Vermont Masters Swimming Club (VMSC)

Vermont Masters Swimming Club (VMSC) formed after several swimmers attended the Phillips Exeter meet in October of 1981. An ad was placed in the newspaper, organizational meetings were held in February and March of 1982, a constitution written, and officers elected in April. The St Michaels Pool was the central location for their coached Masters workouts. VMSC held their first practice on April 18th.

From the information packet for new members:

We are a group of people of all ages and abilities interested in a swimming program to improve our physical fitness. We hope that you will enjoy the camaraderie of the team while on your quest for physical fitness. After all, MASTERS HAVE THE BEST TIMES!

From the article “They Get their Kicks in the Pool” that appeared in August 19, 1982 issue of The Burlington Free Press:

The Vermont chapter of the U.S Masters Swim Association, an eclectic group of adults dedicated to improving their strokes, competing against their contemporaries and having fun in the process. Some 60 people ages 25-63 meet three times a week at the St. Michael’s College pool to hone their skills in Masters workouts.

From the article “Happy Birthday to Us!!:

It’s our birthday! On April 18, 1982, the Vermont Masters Swim Club first got all wet. Since that time, we’ve grown to over 100 members and become a real competitive entity amongst the northeast Masters swim groups, as well as providing a fitness routine for many non-competitors.

February of 1984, VMSC hosted the first (of 3 annual) Vermont Swim and Ski Triathlon – Giant Slalom race Saturday afternoon at either Mad River or Cochran’s (depending on the year), party Saturday night, swim meet Sunday morning at St. Michaels (the first mini meet at their home pool) and cross-country ski race Sunday afternoon at Camels Hump. The scoring system was quite intricate and was updated each year. There has never been anything like it!

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2019 NELMSCHOF Inductees

Vermont Masters Trailblazers

New England Masters Swim Club (NEM)

The origins of New England Masters Swim Club (NEMSC) go back to May, 1970, when Dr. Ransom Arthur, then a Navy psychiatrist in San Diego, and John Spannuth, a swimming coach and AAU official., dreamed up the first national Masters swimming championships in Amarillo, Texas. There were 40 contestants at the meet. The next year 112 swimmers took part in the nationals, which were again held in Amarillo. Among them were four men who drove from Waltham, MA , in a VW camper: Ed Reed, Jr., then the coach at Tufts, Warren French, coach of the Waltham Boys Club; and two men who had been working out together every noon at the Boys Club and who were to become national prominent Masters swimmers and leaders in the national Masters program, Ted Haartz and his close friend, Hal Onusseit. Returning non-stop back to New England this handful of swimmers, who had placed third as a team at Amarillo, passed along their enthusiasm for the Masters program almost evangelistically to others.

NEMSC was organized August 1, 1972 with a constitution and a Board of Directors formed: Roger Nekton, Jim Edwards, Ed Reed, Sr., Warren French, Ted Haartz, Ginny Stephanos, Al Johnson and Enid Uhrich. The purpose of the club was to bring together former and future competitive swimmers, over the age of 25 years (now 18), to provide a positive swimming experience both individually and as part of a group.

At the first long-course nationals, which were held in 1972 under Doc Counselman’s direction in Bloomington, Indiana, flyers were distributed announcing a Masters meet to be held at the Waltham Boys Club that fall. Enid Uhrich ran the meet with 70 swimmers participating.

For several years the Medford High School pool was the Club’s “home” pool. Monthly mini meets as well as the annual SCY New England championships were held there. In time, the desirability of moving meet sites around throughout the New England area was recognized and 2-3 mini meets were being offered each month. The popular New England SCY championships moved to Harvard’s Blodgett pool (still hosting today) and the LCM championship meet at Brown. New England Masters hosted successful US Masters Long Course National Championships at Brown in 1978 (Enid Uhrich meet director) and 1985 (Dave Eskin meet director).

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2019 NELMSCHOF Inductees

New England Masters Trailblazers

Debbie Alsofrom

• 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - VMSC Trailblazer)

• A key member responsible for formation of club and creating club constitution

• Appointed as first Masters coach

Jean (Hotchkiss) Archibald

• 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - VMSC Trailblazer)

• A key member responsible for formation of the club and creating club constitution

Having started swimming with the Masters program in my 50’s, I can say with assurance that it has made all the difference in my health and my joy for the last 4 decades. I am swimming regularly with the BASS workout group at the Edge in Williston, VT. Over the years, Masters has meant a lot to me. It sure is the best for overall health!

Sharon (Forney) Battistini

• 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - MESC Trailblazer)

• Aquatic coordinator at Bowdoin

• Coordinated Masters workouts at Bowdoin

• Maine Masters Swim Club President

• Meet Director for Bowdoin Meet

Sharon grew up in Toronto Canada in a family heavily invested in sport. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in Physical and Health Education and immediately joined the staff at the University of Guelph as a lecturer and coached girls’ basketball and field hockey. She played on the Eastern Canada Field Hockey team prior to coming to the US in 1971 on a two year visitor status to work as an Outward Bound instructor at Dartmouth College. Forty-eight years later, she is still here!

She coached boys high school soccer in North Carolina for 8 years before returning to New England to live in Harpswell, work at Bowdoin and raise a family. So where does swimming come in? It has always been a love of life and the best way to keep fit!

Joyce Brown

• 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - MESC Trailblazer)

• Key initiator

• Positions served over the years President, Secretary, Registrar & Treasurer

Joyce held the position of Maine Master (Swim) Registrar and Treasurer for over 20 years. She also was a competitor and trained under Bowdoin’s famous swim coach Charlie Butt. She swam in many Maine Master Swim meets and competed in numerous National swim meets and placing 4th in freestyle at the Nationals held in Tucson, Arizona.

Joyce was also active in local swim activities. In 1978 she, with the help of Charlie Butt, started the Harpswell Swim program for the local school and held a two week summer swim program to teach beginners through advance Red Cross Life Saving program.

After her passing an endowment was established in her name to fund students in Harpswell and is administered by the Town of Harpswell. Thousands of Harpswell youths have learned to swim under Joyce’s swim programs.

Jim Edwards

• 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - NEM Trailblazer)

• Member 1972-2007 (deceased)

• Inaugural BOD member

• NEM Executive Committee President (1975-1977)

• NEM News Editor (1977-1991)

To understand Jim Edwards aka “JKE” and his importance to New England Masters Swim Club, one just needs to visit the NEM Newsletter archive and read any or all from July 1997- October 1991.

The following was taken from the November 1982 NEM News article, “High in Their 50’s – Profiles of Three Men Who Help Make Wilson and Katz Look Good in NEM’s 55-59 Division”:

(Ed. Note: the editor has been motivated to include a profile of himself in this newsletter by his desire (a) to honor the urgings of scores of our readers who want to learn more about this innately modest man and (b) to de-fuse the threats of a small but vocal character-lynching mob to compose and publish their own profile of him.)

Love of the water came early to Providence lawyer Jim Edwards (59 at the time of this article), who grew up in the summers in Barnstable on Cape Cod. Edwards swam backstroke and a little freestyle for the University of Michigan HS in Ann Arbor. During the early 40’s he tried unsuccessfully to make Michigan’s national championship team. Jim recalls, with pain not yet entirely assuaged, Coach Matt Mann barking at him, “Get out of there, Whitey, and let on of my boys have that lane!”

At West Point Edwards lettered for three years (1943-1945) by concentrating on the 440.

The first race of Edward’s Masters career was the 1500 in the 1972 Long Course Nationals at Bloomington, IN where he defeated former Olympian and move star Buster Crabbe (who was 15 years older than Jim).

While the NEM News readership in general seems to approve of Edwards’ editorial efforts, Edwards has vowed to continue, so long as his awesome responsibilities as editor of “The Tattler” continues, making objective, somber, straight-talking – but with a generous – assessments of his teammates.

George Erswell

• 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - MESC Trailblazer)

• Key initiator

• Director of Meets & Officials through 1999

• Annual George Erswell Meet at Bowdoin in October named after him

When George Erswell moved back to Maine from Atlanta in the fall of 1988, he was both surprised and dismayed to find there was no Masters swim program in the state. Although he could swim regularly at the Bowdoin pool, and compete in swim meets as a member of the New England Masters Swim Club, there was no program specifically for Maine swimmers. He began pestering Sharon (Forney) Battistini, then a pool monitor and lifeguard supervisor at Bowdoin, about getting a Masters program going in Maine. It was the right time and Erswell was the right person.

From the Maine Masters website:

An avid swimmer attending his first swim meet at the age of 10. He swam for Brunswick High and Bowdoin College. He continued his swimming career joining the Georgia Masters. Upon his return to Maine and finding no Masters program, he along with Sharon Forney founded the Maine Masters Swim Club. George was nationally ranked in his age group holding records in most of his events. At the age of 73 George died on August 24, 2000 at his home in Harpswell. In October 2000, Sandy Potholm changed the name of their annual Halloween Swim Meet to the George Erswell, Jr. Annual Swim Meet in his honor. It was all agreed it should be his. George is missed dearly and his impact on Masters Swimming in Maine will never be forgotten.

Ted Haartz

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

• 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor – NEM Trailblazer)

• 2013 Inducted into the Masters International Swimming Hall of Fame

• 2009 Ted Haartz U.S. Masters Swimming Staff Appreciation Award

• 1996 U.S. Masters Swimming National Championship Meets Award

• 1982-Present Member of USMS Board of Directors

• 1978-1981 National Masters Committee (of the AAU) President

• 1976 Capt. Ransom J. Arthur M.D. Award

• 1972-1973 National Top Ten and Records Recorder

• 1971 October NEM News Profile of Ted Haartz

• 1971 Participated in the 2nd Masters National Meet in Amarillo, TX

• Inaugural NEM Board of Directors member

• NEM Nationals Entry & Relay Coordinator

• NEM Executive Committee

• Club: New England Masters (NEM) (1971-2005)

• USMS Profile

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.

Carol Limanek

• 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - VMSC Trailblazer)

• A key member responsible for formation of the club and creating club constitution

• Elected first President

Swimming with the Vermont Master’s in the early 80s was a great way to get back in the water after swimming competitively from age 9 to 21. Helping new swimmers learn the different strokes, swimming before work in the early morning, and meeting other adults who enjoyed a vigorous workout were all aspects that drew me to Masters. Great fun!

Sandy Potholm

• 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - MESC Trailblazer)

• Key initiator

• Positions served over the years Vice President and Treasurer

• Historian

• Editor of “Lap It Up” – cooking with the Maine Master Swimmers of Brunswick, Maine cookbook (a collection of favorite recipes published in 2008)

Growing up on Long Island Sound and loving the ocean, I never dreamed I'd step foot in a swimming pool. My idol was Esther Williams and that was about as close as I got to a pool. But somewhere along the way after injuring myself from running, I decided to lessen my chances by swimming at the Bowdoin College swimming pool in Brunswick, ME where I still live and swim. I took a WSI course to learn the stokes which opened up an opportunity to teach children how to swim.

“Then I discovered a group of swimmers who were already doing regular workouts. I decided to join them. Loving the camaraderie and how great my body and mind felt after swimming, I was eager to help George Erswell and Sharon Forney Battistini form the Maine Masters Swim Club (MESC) when they asked me. I don't compete any longer, but I do swim 5 days a week.

My biggest enjoyment continues to help new swimmers join MESC to promote physical fitness and give them the opportunity to compete.

Henry Southall

• 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - VMSC Trailblazer)

• Long time registrar and club contact

Enid Uhrich

• 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - NEM Trailblazer)

• Member 1971-1984 (deceased)

• Inaugural NEMSC BOD member

• NEMSC Secretary/Treasurer (1972-1977)

• NEMSC Treasurer (1972-1982)

• NEM News Editor (1972 – 1977)

• National Top Ten Recorder for Women – 1974-1979

• National Top Ten Recorder for Men and Women – 1980-1987

• 1978 Summer Nationals Meet Director

• National Masters Committee (of the AAU) Secretary (1978-1981)

• 1980 Capt. Ransom J. Arthur M.D. Award

• 1st USMS National Registrar – 1982-1990

Enid Uhrich was a dominant force in keeping Masters swimming running smoothly behind the scenes during the first decade of its existence. While she attended numerous competitions, she rarely competed, choosing instead to be part of the management of the competitions. Enid seeded heats and formulated and ran software programs for recording results. She was never averse to rounding up “volunteers” from the deck or audience to fill missing slots of timers and officials. 

Enid’s career in Masters swimming began when she served as the meet director for New England’s first Masters meet in 1972. She developed a cutting-edge database program to manage the club. Eventually Enid was tapped to compile records and Top Ten finishes for all the women in USMS. She also served as USMS Secretary from 1978-1981. Enid received the Captain Ransom J. Arthur M.D. Award along with Ed Reed in 1980.

The following is from the 1982 NEM News profile of Bill and Enid Uhrich:

In Bill Uhrich’s words, his wife Enid is “a lousy swimmer but great at paperwork and record-keeping.” That is certainly true, but it is too succinct to give any idea of the nature and extent of her decade of contributions to Masters swimming, both here in New England and throughout the country. It was Enid who, at the first long-course national Masters Championships in 1972, conceived the idea of combining small Masters groups from the Greater Boston area, New Hampshire and Rhode Island into one organization, the New England Masters Swim Club. For several years, as the club’s treasurer, newsletter editor, membership chairman, and the arranger, organizer, conductor and record-keeper of all its meets, she was almost by herself the administration of NEMSC.

The following appeared in 1985 in SWIM Magazine:

To me, Masters swimming has been the people. They are sociable, and there’s an aliveness. No matter what the age, there’s certain joie de vivre and I like the mixture of different ages all enjoying one another. Masters are intensely competitive without being aggressive. My times are getting better. I’m still at the bottom, but who cares? I’m better than I was, and that’s what counts. Everyone is a happy for you as for anyone else.

Dennis Willmott

• 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - VMSC Trailblazer)

• A key member responsible for formation of club and creating club constitution

• Elected first Secretary

John Woods

• 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - MESC Trailblazer)

• Newsletter Editor

• Meet results documentation

• Reviewer of Top Ten Times

John was a runner, and for 25 years, he ran more than 50 miles a week training for distance races. But, he was injured and unable to keep that schedule and tuned to the Maine Masters swim program. “Competing is a way of life for me. I have traveled all over the world with Masters running and I’m doing so now with swimming. I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t swim.”

Jacki Hirsty

• 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.

Ronnie Kamphausen

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

• USMS Records – 17 lifetime, 3 currently held

• USMS All American – 66 (462 points)

• USMS All Star – 5 years

• USMS Top Ten – 911 Individual

• NE LMSC All Time Top 3 – 220 points

Excerpts from the March 13, 2009 The Time Record article “A National Treasure”:

Ronnie grew up in Baltimore and participated in a number of sports including swimming. Here dad taught swimming and got her hooked. She had an aunt who ran a camp at Small Point. So, from the time she was 7 until she finished college, she spent summers in Phippsburg, ME where she resides today.

In the late 1970s her parents stumbled upon the Masters swimming program and, come to find out, some of her old pool adversaries were getting into the sport. “And, my parents were like, ‘why aren’t you doing this?’” At that time she lived in Connecticut and joined Connecticut Masters.

Ronnie has been a member of Maine Masters since 2004, participating at every meet she can. She used to be a sprinter but is now more of a distance swimmer. She likes the team concept of the Masters competition.

“This is what I love… I am one of the older people, but you’re a teammate with younger people. So, this is a refreshing thing where they treat me as one of them. It’s so much fun and some of them are so encouraging and fantastic. You know, here in Maine we have a phenomenal group of swimmers.”

There is a tough balance between the competition and having fun. Ronnie is at ease with both. “Some people just can’t handle the competition. They really don’t want to be up there… I don’t know if they just get too nervous or what. Nerves for me help get the adrenaline going. To me it’s just a wonderful shot in the arm to be around all these vigorous people.”

“A lot of people think that when you reach a certain age you get the rocking chair out and that’s the end of your physical activity. But, particularly in swimming, you can do it right through to the end. I plan to.”

Excerpts from the Center Lanes – SWIMMER magazine Nov-Dec 2011”

Not a braggart, although she clearly has plenty to brag about, Kamphausen guesses she does well because she loves swimming and swimmers and ‘keeps at it. I don’t think I am pushing that hard. I just think there are fewer people in my age group. I love it, and I have been doing it for so long,’ she says. ‘In some ways, I’m afraid to stop. And swimmers are wonderful.’

Dan Rogacki

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

• USMS Records – 2 lifetime, 0 currently held

• USMS All American – 14 (98 points)

• USMS Top Ten – 560 Individual

• NE LMSC All Time Top 3 – 450 points

I was born in Buffalo New York in the first half of the last century of the previous millennium (1947). I have two wonderful children and two grandchildren. My dear lovely wife Alison also swims and works for a non-profit watershed. I taught art for 33 years in Tewksbury, Mass., And have been asked back to judge this year’s high school art show. Into my ninth year of retirement, I keep occupied with coaching the Pittsfield Masters swim team, creating found ocean-oriented sculptures, doing acrylic and watercolor paintings, playing golf, cannoning, kayaking, hiking, camping, and I downhill ski and cross-country ski. We just got a sail boat, so I guess water plays a big part in my life.

Mike Ross

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

• USMS Records – 45 lifetime,17 currently held

• USMS All American – 106 (742 points)

• USMS All Star – 6 years

• USMS Top Ten – 175 Individual

• NE LMSC All Time Top 3 – 269 points

Mike Ross grew up swimming in northern Connecticut. He attended Princeton University where he swam the lead backstroke leg of two NCAA winning 4 x 50 medley relays, setting an American record in his senior year. Following college, he competed at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Trials. At the age of 36 Mike began swimming Masters as therapy following a back injury. With the support of New England and Maine Masters, he has achieved 45 USMS records and numerous New England and World records, specializing in sprint backstroke, fly, and freestyle.

Excerpted from “From the Center Lanes,” SWIMMER magazine, Sep-Oct 2009:

Mike Ross, 41, lives in Shrewsbury, Mass., and competes for Maine Masters, as well as swims and coaches for the Bluefish Swim Club. Ross was an NCAA Division All-American Swimmer for Princeton University, was an American record holder in the 200 medley relay, a three-time qualifier for the U.S. Olympic Trials, and a member of the first United States Resident National Team for Swimming. He currently holds five Masters world records in swimming and nine USMS records.

From “Washed up? No way,” March 30, 2006, in The Boston Globe:

Ross first leapt from the starting block as a youngster growing up in Somers, Conn. He had a successful college career at Princeton, finishing as a captain while swimming on an NCAA championship relay team that also set a national record. He went on to compete in the US Olympic trials in 1988, 1992, and 1996, but never qualified for Olympic competition. He retired in 1996 at the age of 28, focusing more on full-time work and starting a family.

‘In many ways, it was disappointing,’ he said. '’I felt I hadn’t reached my potential.’

Ross stayed away from swimming for seven years, although it was never far from his mind. Ask his wife, he said, and ‘she would say I was pretty depressed about it.’

’At that point, I had swum for 20 years competitively and now all of a sudden, I didn’t have that. It was a bedrock in my life. I defined myself as a swimmer all those years and now what was I? I don’t think I had much direction at the time. I wasn’t the same old person.’

An unexpected turn of events led Ross back to the pool. In 2003, he ruptured a disc in his back. As part of rehabilitation from surgery, doctors advised him to stay off his feet and to use exercises that would strengthen his back muscles. Swimming was ideal.

’Three weeks later, I was in the water, and I just kept swimming.’

In 2004, he competed at a national championship for masters-level swimmers and set two world records. The success surprised him -- motivated him, too.