95-Year Old Swimmer Sets National Record in 1650 Free at USMS Nats

2018 USMS SPRING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• May 10th – May 13th
• IUPUI Natatorium, Indianapolis, Indiana
• Meet Site
• Psych Sheets/Heat Sheets
• Live Results

The largest U.S. Masters Swimming (USMS) Spring National Championships to date kicked off with a whisper on Thursday at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Only 2 of the 44 events that will be raced across the 4-day meet were held on distance day, with the men’s and women’s 1000 and 1650 yard freestyle events for all ages kicking off at 7:30 AM and continuing throughout the day.

We caught 2 National Records broken on the first day, mostly in the oldest age groups. This is not a surprise, given some of the legendary masters distance swimmers that have torn through these record-books in the last few years, like Heidi George, Laura Val, and Karlyn Pipes.

Among the record-setters was 95-year old Willard Lamb from Oregon. Already the National Record setter for the 90-94 age group with a swim done in 2013, Lamb aged up and is now attacking records in the 95-99 age group. On Thursday, he swam a 30:38.15 in the men’s mile, which doesn’t break, but rather sets, the USMS record: they don’t currently maintain a record, implying that nobody has swum this race at a record-qualifying meet in that age group.

Christie Hayes from New England Masters took a huge chunk out of the women’s 70-74 record in the 1650 free. The old mark was a 23:45.69, which Hayes has been very close to with a seed time of 23:47.37. On Thursday, she dropped her age-group best time by 40 seconds to win in 23:07.57, and take 38 seconds off Lavelle Stoinoff’s 2004 National Record.