News

Eight GOLD swimmers win 43 medals at USMS LCM Nationals GOLD swimmers captured 27 individual medals and 16 relay medals at the USMS Long Course Nationals in Bend, Oregon, from August 14-17. That total powered GOLD to 20th place out of 140 teams. Representing GOLD at the nationals were Phillip King (40-44), Kerri Roussain (45-49), Debbie Cavanaugh (50-54), Roger Parsons (60-64), Cav Cavanaugh (70-74), Bill Dykstra (70-74), Dave McIntyre (70-74) and Alan Rapperport (75-79). GOLD results | Meet results Scharf preparing for world championships in Portugal Pompano native Lee Scharf, right, is preparing to follow up his medal winning performances at the Special Olympic World Games in Shanghai, China, last year as part of Team USA at the World Championships for Down Syndrome International in Portugal in November. Scharf, 30, swims for GOLD with Hammerhead Aquatics. Full story. FGC LMSC newsletter Download a copy of the July Florida Gold Coast LMSC newsletter by clicking HERE. Lloreda, Highsmith, Squires swim around Key West Carlos Lloreda, 50-54, Bill Highsmith, 55-59, and Lisa Squires, 25-29, completed the 12.5-mile Swim Around Key West on June 21. Lloreda and Squires were first in their age groups and Highsmith was second in his. Complete results. Gold Coast LMSC defeats Florida LMSC in open water challenge Florida Gold Coast LMSC swam past the Florida LMSC in the first FG-FL LMSC One Mile Open Water Challenge on Saturday, May 31, on Fort Myers Beach. The Masters Mile was one of nine different events in the Open Water Festival that ran from May 30 through June 3. The overall men's winner was Ricardo Valdivia, who also won the Masters 10K Open the following day. Lisa Squires won the women's 10K and finished third overall in the women's mile. FGC's women winners in the open water mile in the 25-29 age group were Squires (1st) and Alejandra Cordovez (2nd), in the 30-34 age group Belle Forino (1st) and Gwen Pursell (2nd), in the 35-39 age group Dale LeClair (2nd) and Michelle Nelson (4th), in the 40-44 age group Andrea Woodburn (1st) and Barbie Camejo (3rd), in the 45-49 age group Sarah Bennett (1st), and in the 50-54 age group Barbara Protzman (1st). FGC's men winners in the 25-29 age group were Jarrod Gac (1st) and Cesar Aguiluz (2nd); in the 40-44 age group Valdivia (1st), Sean Frampton (2nd), David LeClair (3rd), and Bill Korey (4th); in the 45-49 age group Jonathan Olsen (1st) and John Grzeszczak (2nd); in the 50-54 age group Carlos Lloreda (1st); in the 55-59 age group William Highsmith (3rd); in the 60-64 age group David Quiggin (1st) and Scott Woodburn (2nd); and in the 65-69 age group Lars Pedersen (1st) and James Ward (3rd). Coach John accepted the traveling trophy for FGC, which will defend its title and bragging rights next year. In the Masters 10K Open on June 1, Lisa Squires was overall woman winner, Michelle Nelson fifth, and Barbie Camejo 6th. In the men's race, Ricardo Valdivia was the overall winner, and actually passed all but three of the 10K USA Swimming entrants whose start was two minutes earlier. Julio Fuentes was second, Carlos Lloreda fourth, Steve Becker seventh, and William Highsmith ninth. GOLD swimmers finish 4th overall at Y Masters Nationals for Broward Y 61 GOLD swimmers swam for the Broward YMCA in the May 15-18 YMCA Masters Nationals at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex. The Y team finished fourth overall behind Sarasota Y (FL), Mid-Delmarva Y (MD), and the Jordan Y (IN). The men's team was second and the women's team was fifth At the right are Tim Shead, Debbie Cavanaugh, John Grzeszczak, and Tony Riker. YMCA National Champions were Larry Caldwell (50 back), Cav Cavanaugh (50 free, 100 free, 200 free), Debbie Cavanaugh (50 back, 100 back, 200 back, 50 breast, 100 breast, 200 breast, 100 IM), Tommy Cuticchia (100 fly, 200 fly), Brigitte Edelmaier (50 Fly, 100 fly), Sean Frampton (50 breast, 100 breast, 200 Breast), John Grzeszcak (50 Fly), Snag Holmes (200 fly), Bill Korey (1650 free), David LeClair (200 back), Barbara Milanese (500 free, 1000 free), Jeannie Mitchell (50 Back), Nicole Pierce (50 free), David Quiggin (50 free), Pat Sargeant (50 free, 100 Free, 200 free, 50 Fly), Tim Shead (50 back, 100 back, 50 breast, 100 breast, 200 breast, 100 IM, 200 IM, 400 IM), Claire Young (50 breast). The 55+ men's 200 Medley Relay of George Schmidt, Tim Shead, Dave Quiggin, and Jose Ferraz was also a national champion. Read Debbie's daily reports by clicking HERE. For event results, click HERE. Shead sets six USMS records, GOLD swimmers medal at USMS Nationals Six swimmers represented GOLD at the USMS Short Course Nationals in Austin, Texas, May 1-4. Tim Shead, 55, led the contingent with an amazing six gold medals and six American records in a very competitive age group. Cav Cavanaugh was a gold medal winner in the 200 free, and many of the swims were top ten. GOLD swimmers and their results are listed below. Cav Cavanaugh, 72 (3rd 50 fly--:31.72, 2nd 50 free--:25.89, 2nd 100 IM--1:13.96, 1st 200 free--2:14.81, 4th 50 back--:36.22, 3rd 100 free--:59.90) Debbie Cavanaugh, 50 (5th 200 back--2:25.24, 4th 100 breast--1:16.95, 4th 100 back--1:05.87, 4th 50 breast--:34.50, 2nd 50 back--:30.70, 4th 200 IM--2:27.36) Michael Dively, 69 (9th 50 free--:29.16, 10th 200 free--2:40.32, 11th 500 free--7:47.09, 7th 100 free--1:07.77) Jose Ferrez, 63 (16th 50 fly--:29.62, 9th 50 free--:25.82, 14th 100 back--1:13.25, 6th 50 back--:31.23, 7th 100 free--56.07) Courtney Montgomery, 43 (27th 200 back--3:30.54, 44th 50 free--:36.75, 35th 100 back--1:31.97) Tim Shead, 55 (1st* 100 breast----1:01.42, 1st* 100 IM--:56.20, 1st* 100 back--:57.61, 1st* 50 breast--:27.81, 1st* 200 breast--2:17.00, 1st* 200 IM--2:04.09 *new American records) Grzeszczak medals at FINA World Championships John Grzeszczak medaled in two events at the recent FINA World Championships in Perth, Australia, April 15-25. Coach John placed sixth in the 50 back with a time of :31.80 and 10th in the 50 fly with a time of :29.29. Fantastic Four set two USMS relay records at Pompano The Men's 280+ relay team of Andy Morrow, Cav Cavanaugh, Dave Quiggin, and Alan Rapperport, right, set two national records at the March 14-16 Hammerhead Invitational in Pompano Beach. On Friday, the relay team broke the 400m Freestyle Relay long course record with a time of 4:45.42, breaking the old record, set in 2006 by the GOLD relay of Cavanaugh, Dave McIntyre, Bill Dykstra, and Rapperport, by just over 21 seconds. On Saturday, the same group broke the 800m Freestyle long course record with a time of 10:57.90, breaking a five-year old record held by Masters of South Texas by almost four seconds. Records fall at Hammerhead Invitational The second annual Hammerhead Invitational took place at the Pompano Beach Aquatic Center March14-16. Swimmers from as far away as Oregon, New Mexico, Virginia, and San Diego participated in this tune up meet for the FINA Masters World Championship to be held in Perth, Australia, in April. GOLD won the team scoring. The runner up was Florida Aquatic Combined Team and the third place finisher was Ft. Lauderdale Aquatics. In the  out of state division, Virginia Masters, San Diego Masters and Doc I Masters finished first, second, and third respectfully. Four USMS LCM Records were set. The GOLD 280+ relay team of Cav Cavanaugh, Alan Rapperport, Andy Morrow, and David Quiggin set the new standard in the 800 Freestyle Relay and broke the 400 Freestyle relay by over 21 seconds. Karl Wiedamann (70) FACT set records in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Other GOLD Masters setting records were Debbie Cavanaugh (50) with a new Dixie Zone record in the 200 backstroke. She also broke two LMSC records: 50 breaststroke and 200 back. Sean Frampton (42) set LMSC records in the 50 & 100 breaststroke, Alan Rapperport (75) in the 100 & 200 backstroke, and David Quiggin (63) in the 1650 free. Design a GOLD T-shirt, win a gift certificate, get a freebie We are in need of new GOLD T-shirts. You will be the designers and get to vote on the shirt design. So all you talented swimmers with ideas, put them on a T-shirt. I have found a web site www.customink.com that will let you design a T-shirt and add your own graphics. This makes it easy for those who don't have programs. You don't have to use that web site. Here are the requirements: Your t-shirt design must be in a format that will be camera ready art. You may have the design on the front, back or both. 3 color max The words GOLD, GOLD COAST MASTERS, GOLD COAST MASTERS SWIMMING, any combination of these or just one of these must be on the shirt. You may add FLORIDA to these if you want. The t-shirt must be Royal Blue Send your designs by Sunday, March 9, 2008, to Debbie Cavanaugh at entries05@juno.com. The winner will receive a $25 gift certificate and of course a free t-shirt! Preview some of the designs already submitted by clicking HERE. Valdivia outlasts ocean, weather to win Rough Water 5K Ricardo Valdivia, overall winner in the 2007 USMS 5K Open Water National Championships, began 2008 in the same fashion, winning the 38th Annual Fort Lauderdale Rough Water Swim on Saturday, January 5. The appropriately named event challenged swimmers with six foot waves, rip currents, jellyfish, and 15-20 mph winds. Other GOLD swimmers in the 5K were Carlos Lloreda (1st 50-54; 7th male overall), Cathy Mancino (1st 55-59; 8th female overall), and Steve Vosilla (2nd 50-54; 8th male overall). In the 1-mile race, Blaise O'Neill was first in the M45-49 age group, Jason Miller third and Ben Hill seventh in the M35-39 group, and Matt Gill fourth in the M50-54 group. Additional races in the event included 1/4-mile and 1/2-mile. The story continues below. June Krauser inducted into Broward County Hall of Fame Broward County inducted six sports legends into its Sports Hall of Fame at the Broward County Convention Center on Tuesday, December 11, 2007. The six were June Krauser (swimming), Earl Weaver (baseball), Ericc Rhett (football), Rick Tucci (wrestling), Greg Samuel (basketball), and Fred Turner (sports journalism). Full story Individual, relay records smashed at Coral Springs Coral Springs Masters hosted another great short course meters meet December 1-2, 2007, with 181 entered swimmers, of which 97 were from GOLD. WORLD RECORD: Congratulations to the Men's 240+ 200 free relay with a time of 1:49.78. Relay members were Cav Cavanaugh, Tim Shead, David Quiggin, and Steve Pomerantz. AMERICAN RECORD: Ricardo Valdivia was the only GOLD swimmer to break an individual USMS record with a time of 8:40.40 in the 800m free. AMERICAN RECORD: Congratulations to the Men's 240+ 400 free relay for smashing the exiting American record by ten seconds with a time of 4:11.70. Relay members were Cav Cavanaugh, Tim Shead, David Quiggin, and Chris Burt. AMERICAN RECORD: Congratulations to the Men's 100+ 200 free relay with a time of 1:43.06. Relay members were Luis Comulada, Roger Stoudt, Josef Bittman, and Jovan Martinez. This was the first world record for Steve Pomerantz and the first American record for Chris Burt, Luis Comulada, Roger Stoudt, Josef Bittman, and Jovan Martinez. LMSC RECORDS: GOLD men and women broke 37 individual LMSC short course meters records during the meet. Complete meet results 2008 Registration 2008 registration forms are posted on the FORMS page. Because USMS increased its portion of the annual registration fee at its convention in September, the annual registration fee is now $40 plus any individual club registration fees.

Valdivia outlasts conditions at January Rough Water Swim

Seas roughest in 38 years of the event

By SHARON ROBB

Sun-Sentinel staff writer

FORT LAUDERDALE---Bruce Wigo had the right idea when he renamed the International Swimming Hall of Fame Ocean Mile Swim the Fort Lauderdale Rough Water Swim. The ISHOF president and CEO had no idea how prophetic he would be about the 38th annual event held  Saturday morning.

A large group of swimmers of all ages and ability levels including several northern college teams training during winter break, were greeted by rip currents, choppy seas, pesky man-o-war, 3 to 6-foot waves and winds gusting 15 to 20 miles per hour.  Rough was an understatement.

"That was one for the books," said Matt Gill, 50, of Fort Lauderdale, who finished the mile swim in 29 minutes and 51 seconds. "That was insane. Those waves were 10 feet."

At 4-foot-9 and 80 pounds, Daniel Angeles, 12, of North Miami Beach, swam against waves that were bigger than him in his open water debut. "The hardest part was the waves crashing into me, it never ended," said Angeles, a sixth grader at Highlands Oaks Middle School. "Those were big waves."

Even the heartiest and most experienced of souls found the race challenging including former University of Alabama All-American Ricardo Valdivia, 43, of Gold Coast Masters. Valdivia won the overall 5K title in 1 hour, 5 minutes and 15 seconds, more than five minutes ahead of longtime rival Chris Derks. "I haven't swum in such rough water for a long time, I tried making the best of it," Valdivia said. "It's tough swimming against the waves and visibility is poor when the water is so rough. You're really racing against the elements more than against other people. I was checking the weather the last few days but I didn't imagine it would be like this."

Wigo adapted a few ideas from the LaJolla (Calif.) Rough Water Swim, the nation's oldest open water swim, including a survivor finisher's medal, chip timing and t-shirt with various warnings on the back. Shorter races were added to attract more swimmers. "LaJolla was actually in a cove, nothing like we had here," Wigo said. "This was actually rough water. These were the roughest conditions we have ever had in the 38 years this has been going on. We couldn't even keep the buoys out there. All the buoys broke loose and that's never happened before."

Sid Cassidy, chairman of the FINA open water technical committee and aquatic director at St. Andrew's School in Boca Raton, served as a human buoy paddling alongside swimmers in a kayak to make sure they didn't veer off course. Cassidy's son, Quinn, 12, a seventh grader at St. Andrew's, won the half-mile 11-12 age group title in 13:11, 18 seconds ahead of teammate Cole Grady.

"The waves got bigger when I was in the water," Cassidy said. "They looked a lot smaller from a distance. I love this. I've done a lot of these. This was one of the roughest but most satisfying swims I've done because I finished it."

Complete Results

 

GOLD results from USMS Long Course Nationals

Bend, Oregon ~ August 14-17, 2008

Cav Cavanaugh (70-74) 50 free: 1st -- :29.89 100 free: 1st -- 1:07.52 200 free: 2nd -- 2:33.77 50 back: 8th -- :45.85	David McIntyre (70-74) 50 free: 5th -- :31.75 50 back: 2nd -- :37.93 100 back: 5th -- 2:34.39
Debbie Cavanaugh (50-54) 50 back: 3rd -- :36.23 100 back: 3rd -- 1:18.33 200 back: 2nd -- 2:46.32 50 breast: 2nd -- :39.95 100 breast: 4th -- 1:32.65	Roger Parsons (60-64) 50 free: 10th -- :32.28 100 free: 11th -- 1:12.98 100 back: 4th -- 1:26.40 200 back: 6th -- 3:09.02
Bill Dykstra (70-74) 50 free: 7th -- :33.71 100 free: 4th -- 1:16.66 100 back: 4th -- 1:34.31	Alan Rapperport (75-79) 50 free: 3rd -- :34.12 400 free: 3rd -- 6:31.36 100 back: 4th -- 1:35.22 200 back: 3rd -- 3:28.42
Phillip King (40-44) 400 free: 10th -- 4:38.10 800 free: 3rd -- 9:42.60	Kerri Roussain (45-49) 200 free: 10th -- 2:27.91 400 free: 5th -- 5:15.30 1500 free: 4th -- 20:20.35
Relays 240+ mx 200 free: 2nd -- 2:02.09 (C. Cavanaugh, D. Cavanaugh, K. Roussain, D. McIntyre) 240+ mx 200 medley: 3rd -- 2:29.91 (B. Dykstra, D. Cavanaugh, D. McIntyre, K. Roussain) 280+ men 200 free: 2nd -- 2:05.74 (C. Cavanaugh, R. Parsons, A. Rapperport, D. McIntyre) 280+ men 200 medley: 2nd -- 2:32.13 (R. Parsons, C. Cavanaugh, D. McIntyre, A. Rapperport)

 

Y Masters Nationals daily reports

from Debbie Cavanaugh

 

Day 1: Thursday, May 15

We have started off with a bang. We are in 3rd place just 8 points behind Arthur Jordan Y.

There were 2 national champions today. Barbara Milanese in the 1000 Free and Bill Korey in the 1650. This is the first time Bill has ever been a National Champion. Way to go Bill & Barbara!!!!

Chela Devanney broke the YMCA national record in the 1000 Free and finished 2nd. Outstanding!!!!

Congrats to everyone in the 1650: Darcy LaFountain-2nd, Joann Berry-5th, Larry Caldwell-4th, Chris Burt-2nd, George Busse-2nd, Karl Kolb-4th, William Highsmith-8th, Lars Pedersen-3rd,

Congrats to the 1000 swimmers and those who doubled up: William Yepes-3rd, Jill Johnson-3rd, Jon Olsen-2nd, Chris Burt-4th, Ken Bier-11th, William Highsmith-12th, Dick Brewer-4th, Lenny Silverstein-6th, George Busse-4th.

 

Day 2: Friday, May 16

Wow! We are doing a great job and having great swims. While I can't give you all the results you can find them online by clicking HERE

Here are some highlights...We haven fallen to 5th place, 21 points back. We need you to swim all your events and show up for your relays. We would like to finish in the top three.

Great swims by Ray Venture who dropped 10 seconds in his free event, Sarah Bennett who is doing best times every time she swims, and Larry Caldwell who won his first National Championsip in the 50 Back. And everyone else, you are all part of the team.

Tim Shead (55) set a USMS national record in the 400 IM. It was also a YMCA national record. Tim also set the YMCA national record in the 200 Breast and he won the 50 Back.

Debbie Cavanaugh (50) broke the YMCA national record in the 50 Back and also won the 200 Breast.

The 200 Medley relay team of Cavanaugh, Celia Devanney, Peggy McDonnell & Pat Sargeant broke the YMCA NR.

The 400 Free relay Team of Shead, George Schmidt, David Quiggin, & Jose Ferraz broke the USMS NR.

National Champions today were Sean Frampton (41) 200 Breast, Pat Sargeant (54) 100 Free, 50 Fly, Cav Cavanaugh (72) 100 Free, Brigitte Edelmaier (61) 50 Fly, John Grzeszcak (49) 50 Fly, Jeannie Mitchell (61) 50 Back, Larry Caldwell (43) 50 Back.

Tomorrow is red, white, and blue day. I have some flags for us to wave during the national anthem. See you tomorrow.

 

Day 3: Saturday, May 17

I am so impressed with this group. You are doing great!

Everyone is contributing and having great swims. We have moved back into 4th place in the combined 154 points back. The men are doing great and are in 2nd place. The women are in 5th.

Outstanding efforts by Becky Willman, Phil Lustig, Steven Jacobson....your times are contiuing to drop. Kudos to Lee Scharf who is doing a great job and had a 3rd place finish in the 100 Breast. He is one of our Speical Olympic swimmers and makes us all very proud. What a team!!!

Six YMCA National Records were broken today along with 15 national championships. Record breakers were Tim Shead -- 100 Breast,100 IM (also USMS records); Debbie Cavanaugh -- 200 Back YMCA NR, 100 Breast, 100 IM; Pat Sargeant -- 50 Free YMCA NR; David Quiggin -- 50 free YMCA NR.

YMCA national champions were Barbara Milanese -- 500 Free; Sean Frampton -- 100 Breast; Tommie Cuticchia -- 200 Fly; Snag Holmes -- 200 Fly; David Le Clair -- 200 Back; Nicole Pierce -- 50 Free; Cav Cavanaugh -- 50 Free. The 45+ women's 200 Free relay of Cavanaugh, Sargeant, Milanese, & Peggy McDonnell broke the YMCA NR.

 

Day 4: Sunday, May 18

What a great job everyone did. You guys are unbelievable! There were great swims and improved times for everyone...

Our oldest competitor today, 80 years young Claire Young won the 50 Breast! If you have not met this lady, you are missing out. She is a real class act. Kudos also go to Lenny Silverstien he hung tough this whole meet; he has had to overcome some hip operations etc and has been glad he has been able to compete. He is making a come back! In the 50-54 200 Free Pat Sargeant, Celia Devanney & Barb Protzman went 1, 2, and 3.

The team finished 4th in combined scoring and we received a plaque that I will present to the YMCA of Broward County. The women finished 5th and the men finished 2nd. What a team! It was nice to have swimmers from other teams join with us for this event. I know we all had a lot of fun. I bet a lot of you never saw that many masters do the Y.M.C.A. song!

National YMCA records today were set by Tim Shead (100 Back, 50 Breast, 200 IM) and Debbie Cavanaugh (100 Back).

National Champions were Shead (100 Back, 50 Breast, 200 IM); Cavanaugh (100 BK, 50 Breast); Pat Sargeant (200 Free); Brigitte Edelmaier (100 Fly); Claire Young (50 Breast); Tommie Cuticchia (100 Fly); Sean Frampton (50 Breast); and Cav Cavanaugh (200 Free).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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