New Year's Swim
By Cheryl Wagner
Seventy swimmers boldly greeted the new millennium at the University of Maryland in College Park, ignoring Y2K fears and hoping not to hear the word "millennium" yet again!
The Campus Recreation facility, normally teeming with stair stepping, aerobic dancing, basketball-playing students, was eerily quiet at 9:15AM on December 31, as event organizers filed into the natatorium. They labored quickly to convert the 50 meter pool to short course yards, set up a bountiful array of snacks, organize paperwork, and mix 120 servings of Gatorade.
By 10 a.m., the first swimmers arrived, filing through the classroom filled with food and onto the pool deck. Aquatics Director, Jim Wenhold, cranked up the above and below water speakers to psyche everyone for their big swims. The first swimmer to hit the water was Dave Diehl, original Terrapin, who ignored an aching shoulder to do 2,000 yards.
A long-distance open-water swimmers' reunion occurred as Iracema Leroi, Rob Dobry, Sue and Harry Megaw, Andrew Johnson, Nick Olmos-Lau, Robbie Allen, Bob Lazzaro and I kicked off our spring training. Iracema and Andrew are planning to do Manhattan in June. Nick Olmos-Lau who displayed a bit of techno-wizardry by sporting goggles with an embedded pace clock, is setting his sights on the English Channel in August. Iracema's husband, who lives in Ireland, traveled the farthest to attend the event.
Penny Bates, PV newsletter editor, cranked through her 10,000 yards by alternating continuous 2000 IM sets with other continuous sets. She emerged from the pool at 2:17 p.m. with camera in hand to search for victims. Numerous Ancient Mariner New Year's Swim "alumni" attended including Dorothy Buchhagen, Myriam Pero, Dave Harmon, Jason Lee, Margot Pettijohn, Richard Sachs, Nancy Thomas, Judy Lim-Sharpe, Kathleen Costello and Carole Kammel.
Lots of Terrapin "alumni" returned including: Sally Ann Andraitis, Chris Benedick, Steve Lynton, Jim Nealis, Marilyn Redman, Eddie Rivas, Ann Marie Lombardi, Karla Hoff, Julie Ernstein, Yoni Wexler and Jane and Sean West. Other alumni who gave ideas for our "millennium" (that word!) black, long-sleeved t-shirt were Tom Biery and John Hanrahan. And still more "alumni:" Wayne Hartke, Zoran Avramovic, Bob Anderson, Lee Bettis, and Iris and Alan Madison returned for another New Year's swim. The final swimmer to emerge from the water at 3:35PM was Terrapin coach, Jane West, who easily completed 100x100 yards.
Many thanks to Bob and Roberta Lazzaro, Michael Lee, Susanna Van Sant, Debbie Morrin, Jim Wenhold, Dave Diehl, and the Campus Rec staff for their help in producing the event. Congratulations to all who completed the swim and we hope you'll return next year.