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.

Greg Shaw

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

• USMS Records – 32 lifetime, 0 currently held

• USMS All American – 74 (518 points)

• USMS All Star – 2 years

• USMS Top Ten – 199 Individual

• NE LMSC All Time Top 3 – 304 points

From Swim magazine, Jul-Aug 2005 “Timeout for Training” by Alice Phillips

You have to make that time for yourself, you have to be a little selfish. New England Masters swimmer Greg Shaw, a college professor, husband and father of teenagers, agrees. ‘Exercise is not something ‘extra’ – it shouldn’t be,’ he says. ;It is an integral part of who I am, and so is my life at work and at home.’

Shaw prefers to swim at the end of his workday because it’s easier to get a lane at his local YMCA and he also feels most energetic in the evening.

Diann Uustal

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

• USMS Records – 94 lifetime, 18 currently held

• USMS All American – 4 (28 points)

• USMS All Star – 6 years

• USMS Top Ten – 257 Individual

• NE LMSC All Time Top 3 – 319 points

Excerpts from “2016 Top 12 World Masters Swimmers of the Year,” in April 2017 Swimming World magazine:

Uustal was first selected as a Top 12 honoree in 2011—one year after setting her first Masters backstroke world records. Since then, she has extended her swimming mastery into sprint free, fly and IM.

None of her accomplishments should come as a surprise, though, when one considers her family’s background in the sport of swimming. Uustal’s grandmother, Ruth Elizabeth Coburn, was a formidable open ocean and competitive pool swimmer, while her mother was a notable diver and swimmer in New England

Excerpts from “From the Center Lanes,” SWIMMER magazine Nov-Dec 2013:

While Uustal was growing up in Rhode Island, her grandmother, Ruth Elizabeth Coburn, was a central figure in her life and taught her to swim. Coburn was a noted open water swimmer in New England during an era when women weren’t allowed to swim; but she swam anyway by binding her breasts and swimming under a male pseudonym. She won often. ‘She more than introduced me to what it’s like to be free in and in love with the water,’ Uustal says.

Although swimming has always been her passion and something she’s excelled in, the path to world records and Top 10 times hasn’t always been easy. In 2003, Uustal was in a car accident that severely damaged her spinal cord; doctors said she might never walk or race again. Because he spine is still so damaged, ‘I balance on the razor’s edge. I race conservatively and am mindful that good stroke mechanics are key.’ A subsequent slip-and-fall in 2008 tore all three hamstrings off her leg and broke her arm and shoulder. Because of her injuries, Uustal hyper-focuses on technique rather than yardage to achieve improvements in time. And she’s had to keep her mind and spirit strong in the face of adversity. ‘I don’t give the injuries power, and I stay disciplined in my swimming. I’m grateful to be back in the water!’

Fred Schlicher

• 2010 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Pool Performance)

• USMS Records - 81 lifetime, 5 currently held

• USMS Pool All American – 176 (1232 points)

• USMS Top Ten – 381 Individual

• NE LMSC All Time Top 3 – 398 points

Fred is originally from Greenwich, CT. He graduated from Culver Academy, class of 1966, where he held a number of swimming records including the 100 butterfly, 160 individual medley, 40 and 200 freestyle events.

From Around the NELMSC – September 2018:

New England swimming legend Fred Schlicher , who recently turned 70, set world records in the 200 free and 200 fly at the 2018 Pan American Masters Championships in Orlando, FL. He also set UANA records in the 50 back and 200 back. Two weeks earlier, at the 2018 South Central Zone LCM Championship meet in Texas, Fred bested the world record in the 100 fly, as well and set national records in the 200 IM and 400 IM.

Petey Smith

• 2010 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Pool Performance)

• USMS Records – 31 lifetime, 0 currently held

• USMS All American – 74 (518 points)

• USMS All Star – 1 year

• USMS Top Ten – 313 Individual

• NE LMSC All Time Top 3 – 121 points

Clara Walker

• 2010 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Pool Performance)

• 1948 Olympian

• 1995 Inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame

• 2003 Inducted into the Masters International Swimming Hall of Fame

• USMS Records – 146 lifetime, 0 currently held

• USMS All American – 341 (2387 points)

• USMS Pool All Star – 7 Years

• USMS Top Ten – 469 Individual

• NE LMSC All Time Top 3 – 143 points

Excerpts from the 1995 IMSHOF Induction Ceremony program:

When Clara Lamore climbed out of the pool at the 1948 Olympic Games in London after swimming the 200-meter breaststroke as a member of the United States Women’s Olympic Team, she swore she would never do it again. At 22 she had been swimming ten years and had had enough. After all, she was the winner of three U.S. national championships. She had done it.

It lasted for 33 years, until her doctor recommended, she start swimming to relieve the pain from a bad back. She was 54 at the time. She had worked for the telephone company, spent seven years in a cloistered religious order and became the first female graduate of Providence College in Rhode Island. She was married to Doneal Walker, a Naval officer and traveled through Europe with him for seven years until he died unexpectedly in 1970. She then taught school and became a guidance counselor at Western Hills Junior High School. It was then that she got back into the pool—for therapeutic reasons. Wasn’t much, just three days a week for a few months. But after she entered her first swim meet, maintaining somewhat the same stroke that Coach Joe Whatmore had taught her years before, she set a U.S. national record in the 50-yard breaststroke in the 50-54 age group. It re-inspired her and re-enthused her to train hard. It was as if all the years away from the water didn't matter. It was as though she were alive again back in the Olneyville Boys Club, her world defined by the borders of the pool.

Once again swimming became everything to Clara.

Win Wilson

• 2010 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Pool Performance)

• USMS Records – 24 lifetime, 0 currently held

• USMS All American – 79 (553 points)

• USMS Top Ten – 299 Individual

• NE LMSC All Time Top 3 – 101 points

In his book “Good Swimming” Win shares a lifetime of swimming vignettes and the wisdom gained on his journey from a junior lifesaving swimmer in the 1930s to a top middle-distance college swimmer, and later on, record-breaking Masters swimmer.

At Brown University, Win set records in the 220-, 440-, and 1500-yard freestyle events. He was inducted into Brown’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980. Even more impressive is the fact that he had never swum competitively before he entered Brown. The coach needed a distance swimmer, saw possibilities in Win’s stroke, and proceeded to “fashion a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.”

Win made his return to competition in the mid 1970s, earning many honors during his Masters swimming career.

Excerpt from the Brown University Hall of Fame website:

You don’t become a Master’s Swimmer merely by sending in your application fee. In Wilson’s case, the price he pays is between 2,500 and 3,000 yards in the Smith Swimming Center pool each morning, back and forth until his lungs curse at him.