Upcoming Meets

St Pete Masters SCY March 19 - 21
Get your entries in soon for the St. Pete Masters 40th Anniversary SCY Championships at the fine North Shore Pool March 19 - 21.  Its close, its a great meet, and they have great high point prizes, so sign up and swim lots of events!  This is a great meet to get some times in before Y-Nats, and find out where you are in your training, and what you need to work on before the big meets (like turns?).   There is also a 1650 free on Friday evening March 19, so I know you all can't wait for that!  Last year we have 7 or 8 of us swim the 1650!  It will be great to have a good showing from TMM, so get your entries in!
Mar. 19-21 / SCY: St. Pete Masters 40th Anniversary SCY Championships. St. Petersburg FL. Information & Entry | Map. Entry deadline: postmarked by Tuesday, March 9; late entries received to Friday, March 12 with extra fee
YMCA Nationals April 15 - 18
I still need your entries for those that are planning to go, as I've only received a handful so far.  I would like to get everything wrapped up on the entries around Feb 28 to allow for the YMCA administration to get everything together. Remember, we must enter this meet as a consolidated team entry, including relays, so please get it in soon.  Any questions, contact Mark or reply to this e-mail.  Most of the info is on the TMM website at http://tampametromasters.org/ynats.html .

Y-Nats Hotel update! If you're looking for a cheaper hotel than the official meet hotels you may want to try this La Quinta. Its about 6 - 7 miles away, but at lot cheaper than the nearby hotels on the beach.  Some of us have stayed there in the past, and its been clean, recently remodeled in the last couple years, several good restaurants and shopping nearby, and the traffic is not bad to the pool.
TMM is on Twitter!

Wow! Talk about exciting!  Its the 21st century, and TMM is now on twitter at http://twitter.com/tmmswimming .  What does this mean for the future of TMM, Masters swimming, and the future of the free world?  I don't know!  But we'll figure it out, and have some fun along the way.  So start following "tmmswimming" on twitter, and your life will change forever.  If you have questions, let me know.  I'm not sure I can answer them, since I'm still figuring out how to "tweet".

Top Tens

Several TMMers are currently ranked in the top ten in the USA in various events, including several number ones!

Jay Smith
 40 - 44
 50 free (1st), 100 free (1st), 100 IM (2nd) 50 back (1st), 50 fly (5th), 200 back(5th), 50 breast (10th)
Mark Calvert
 50 - 54
 50 free (9th), 100 free (4th), 200 free (1st), 500 free (1st), 1000 free (1st), 50 back (10th), 200 back (5th)
Mike Ruelf
 55 - 59
 50 breast (5th), 50 fly (10th)
Tim Carroll
 55 - 59
 50 breast (10th)
George Corrigan
 55- 59
 1000 free (1st), 200 free (6th), 500 free (7th)
Jennie Faith
 25 -29
 50 breast (4th), 100 breast (5th), 200 breast (9th)
Karen Becker
 40 - 44
 100IM (5th), 400IM (7th), 50 fly (2nd), 100 fly (3rd), 50 back (7th), 100 back (10th)
Sheila Carpenter-vanDijk 60-64
 200 back (9th)

Congrats to all!  Keep up the fast swimming!
Giveback

Its time for the Building Strong Kids Campaign at the YMCA, and several of us are volunteering this year in the fund raising.  Many of us grew up active in the Y in the many sports they offer and this campaign is a good time to reflect a bit about your participation in the Y over the years, perhaps from your childhood, learning to swim or playing basketball when you (or me) could not make the freshman HS team.  They YMCA provides a great an outlet for the development of children, and gives them a place to play, have fun, and learn to be active for life and health.  Last year, the adult swim program banded together and raised over $500 for the campaign.  $500 is enough to give 10 children and opportunity to participate in programs they may not otherwise be able to.  Almost 1/3 of the children at New Tampa YMCA are on scholarship, so the need is there, even in New Tampa.  The management at New Tampa YMCA is extremely grateful for our contributions last year.  This is a great way to giveback to the Y and get some more recognition for masters swimming, and greater support from the Y. 

Please consider contributing to the Y again this year.  Its easy.  Just stop by the front desk, pick up a pledge card, and fill it out.  You can make a one time contribution, or spread it out as a monthly draft.  Please note "Masters Aquatics" on the bottom of the pledge card so we get some recognition.  Any questions, let Mark, Kelly Spivey, or Beth know.

Photos

We've set up a new TMM Photo sharing web site at http://picasaweb.google.com/tampametromasters .  Tim will be cross linking from the TMM web site as well.  I've added everybody into a group that can also contribute photos to the albums as well, so we can all participate.  You will have to sign in (or create an account) in Google to upload.  Note, you can only upload to an existing album (restriction in Picasaweb), so if you don't see an album that fits for your photos, upload to the "PhotoDrop" album, and I'll move things around from there.  Take a look, and have some fun!

Upcoming Competition and Events

Planning on USMS SCY Nationals?  You should, it is in Atlanta May 20 - 23 at Georgia Tech. Its close!  Yes, that is the 1996 Olympic pool!  Its a great chance to race against the best, in one of the best pools in the world!  And we can still wear the tech suits!  This will be your last chance to cheat wear those fast suits.  Rumor has it there may be some of USA National swimmers and even former Olympians competing, since this is the last time anyone can compete in those suits anywhere!  I've got mine, as Blueseventy Nero Comps are going for $100 (available at blueseventy.com or Toad Hollow Athletics).  Entries must be received by April 15.  There will be an online entry available soon, and paper entries are being accepted now.  All the meet info is available at http://www.usms.org/comp/scnats10/meetinfo.php .  If you are thinking about going, let Mark know, and we may be able to car pool on the drive up.

Open Water anyone?  The Hurricane Man open water is coming up soon! Its a lot of fun!  Especially when you finish! 
May 8: Hurricane Man (2.4-miles & 1000 yds). St. Petersburg FL. Information | Entry. Entry deadine: postmarked by Wednesday, April 28.
If you really like open water swimming the Tampa Bay Swim is coming up, and still has openings for individuals and relays!
April 17: Whiskey Joe's Tampa Bay Marathon Swim (24 miles). Tampa FL. Information & entry. Entry deadline: received by Monday, March 1.
I've heard rumors the Clearwater Beach open water series of swims will be back this year (May, June, July?), 2 - 3 races, about a mile each.  If/when I hear more, will let you know.  Maybe it will be on twitter.com/tmmswimming first!

The water is nice, so no excuses!  Be Happy!  Swim!

Tampa Metro Masters
mark@tampametromasters.org
http://tampametromasters.org