Departments
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Week of 23 January 1998 |
Vol. I, No. 17 |
Feature
Article
BU masters swim team wins New England championship
by Brian Fitzgerald
Robert Leonard expected a "solid performance" from the BU masters swimming team when it competed in the New England championship at Northeastern University last month. His swimmers, ranging in age from 19 to 64, had trained vigorously in the Case Physical Education Center's pool and weight room for months.
Still, he didn't anticipate a first-place finish because there were 61 other teams -- many of them from well-established programs -- battling for the title. But Leonard, coach of the BU masters swimming team, seems to have grossly underestimated the Terriers' speed and stamina. On December 7 they swam away with the trophy and broke several regional records in the process.
"We have a really dedicated group," says Leonard, assistant coordinator of aquatics for the physical education, recreation, and dance department (PERD) at BU. "And believe me, when the alarm clock goes off at 5:30 in the morning, it takes dedication for anyone to get up and train. But they make it here, and they have a lot of fun." Each swimmer has his or her own reason for joining: fitness, camaraderie, the thrill of competition, explains Leonard. He points out that the program's popularity is spreading. "When I came to Boston University three years ago, 60 people were on the team," he says. "Now we have 90."
The "practices" are actually PERD courses. The team splits into thirds and meet twice a week for one-hour sessions at either 6 a.m., 7 a.m., or 8 a.m. Audrey Zapletal (SAR'99), who participates in the 6 a.m. class, says that waking before the sun rises and swimming laps while the rest of the city sleeps is definitely worth it. "The drills are difficult, but they're invigorating, and they have made me a much faster swimmer," she says. "Bob helped improve my technique, and he also taught me how to dive better."
Unlike varsity swimming competitions, masters meets do not include Olympic-style diving from a high board. But knowing how to dive effectively is still crucial in relay races, and in the New England championship the 35 swimmers that represented Boston University immediately proved themselves. "I predicted a strong showing at Northeastern," recalls Leonard. "But after we won the first relays, I knew we had a shot at winning the title."
Leonard was assistant coach of Boston University's varsity swim team last season. "I learned a lot from BU's head coach, Reagh Wetmore," he says of the man who has been at the helm of the Terriers' swimming program since 1974, its first year of varsity status. Leonard himself was part of a record-setting relay team when he swam for the University of Maine's Black Bears from 1987 to 1991.
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BU masters swimming team
members Amy Dunham (SAR'97) and Edie Jirak (right),
community relations liaison for Boston University,
take a break during a recent practice.
Photo by Fred Sway
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"Bob has given me a lot of encouragement," says 50-year-old Malcolm Eckel, associate director of the GRS religious and theological studies division. "He is a tremendous motivator." Eckel joined the team because he wanted to stay in shape, and "swimming is a lot easier on the knees than biking and jogging."
BU's masters swimming team members encompass not only a wide range of ages, but also abilities. "There are very fast, fast, medium, and slow lanes," says 46-year-old Deborah Chassler, a research assistant at the School of Social Work. "I am one of the slow swimmers, but I get a fantastic workout, and I've certainly gotten stronger since I joined. There are teammates, however, who are incredible athletes. Some of them compete in triathlons."
Triathletes compete without stopping in three successive events: swimming, bicycling, and running. One of BU's masters swimmers, Michael Ingardia of Charlestown, has for the past two years competed in the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon, which entails swimming for 2.4 miles, bicycling 112 miles, and running 26.2 miles. How valuable have the BU training sessions been to the 27-year-old Ingardia? "Last October, in Hawaii, I beat the eventual winner out of the water," he recalls. Unfortunately, Ingardia lost time in the bicycling and running events.
Brookline resident Britt Greineder, like Ingardia, is among many swimmers on the team who live in the Boston area, but have no official ties to Boston University. "It's fantastic that people from the community have this kind of access to BU's athletic facilities," she says. "There aren't many places to swim in the vicinity." A Case activity card, which costs $65 a semester, provides access to the Faneuil Pool for recreational swimming, along with use of weight training and fitness rooms. The tuition for PERD's masters swimming course is $90 a semester.
"One of the problems we have is our pool's small size," says Leonard of the 6-lane, 25-yard pool. "A lane can hold six people at the most, and the pool is only available to the team from 6 to 8 in the morning." Harvard's Blodgett Pool, which is three times the size of BU's pool, enables that university's 200-member masters swim team to practice mornings and evenings. In addition, MIT is in the process of building a pool that is double the size of Faneuil. "We can have no more than 90 people on BU's masters swim team, so there is a waiting list," he says.
However, a new student recreation center is being discussed on the site of the former Commonwealth Armory, on West Campus. "Right now pool time is very restricted here," adds Leonard. "Once we have a bigger facility, there will be many more opportunities."