It’s a Wrap: Ron Johnson Swim Meet 2023

By Jeff Commings – Dolphins of the Desert Masters

Swim Devil Masters just wrapped up work as host of the 21st annual Ron Johnson Invitational, a meet that has become a destination for Masters swimmers from neighboring states. In the early years, only Arizonans came to the meet, but in the early 2010s, athletes from California and Colorado came to Tempe to race in the mid-fall short course meters meet. This year, athletes from as far away as Minnesota came to race at what has become one of the top short course meters meets in the country.

This year, the meet celebrated record attendance, with 266 swimmers competing at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center on the campus of Arizona State University.

“The meet was up and active months earlier than in previous years,” Katy James said. “I think that brought in more out-of-state swimmers because they were able to make travel plans early.  It also helps when we have the fastest pool in the place with the best fall weather in the country!”

Though the meet competed with the ASU football game on Saturday and the Ironman Arizona triathlon on Sunday, everything went fairly smoothly. Each day finished at least 15 minutes ahead of the timeline!

Mother Nature made a nasty appearance during the Saturday distance session, with rain falling through most of the 800 heats. But, the clouds parted during the Saturday afternoon session, and spectators were rewarded with three world records, all in the 50 breaststroke.

I was not expecting to lower my Masters world record in the 50 breast in the 45-49 age group. I had set the record at 45 years old in 2019, and was only trying to see how close I could get to it in my final year in the age group. Stepping up on the blocks next to world championships participant Youssef Elkamash and Olympic gold medalist Roland Schoeman gave me the boost I needed to shave .01 off my record with a 28.64. Schoeman took down the world record in the 40-44 age group with a speedy 27.05. Elkamash, a native of Egypt who represented Grand Canyon University, just missed the world record of 26.99 in the 25-29 age group with his final time of 27.46.

Katie Glenn, representing Off Piste Aquatics in Colorado, made the trip to Tempe and was rewarded with a world record in the 50 breaststroke for the 45-49 age group. Her time of 32.59 took down the six-year-old world record of 33.01 set by Australian Olympian Linley Frame and the 13-year-old USMS record of 33.82 by Olympian Susan von der Lippe. In a situation very similar to mine, Glenn said she just wanted to see how close she could get to the record, and surprised herself by dropping more than a second off her recent best time.

Brent Creager of Swim Devil Masters got in on the fun as well on Saturday with a national record in the 100 butterfly. His time of 55.53 was good enough to beat Mike Ross’ 15-year-old record of 55.82.

The atmosphere at the meet was at an all-time high, perhaps likely due to the record attendance. Even after the sun set on Saturday and relay teams were bundled in parkas waiting to swim, cheers from teammates keep spirits high. As a longtime member of U.S. Masters Swimming, I always enjoy seeing and hearing the excitement on the deck at a swim meet, and even seeing swimmers dressed in funny outfits.

Another great highlight was having some of the Arizona State swimmers racing in exhibition swims during the relay breaks. A lot of Masters swimmers gathered on the side of the pool to watch these young swimmers in action, and I could hear some people making comments about how they can apply what they saw in the NCAA swimmers into their own swimming. Perhaps that can be a regular feature of the Ron Johnson meet. Some years, we get Olympians racing throughout the meet. In 2021, Ryan Held wowed the crowd with quick swims, and Darian Townsend gave swim racing clinics over several years. I’m still crossing my fingers and hoping that a certain 28-time Olympic gold medalist will use the Ron Johnson Invitational as his Masters swimming debut.

Jeff Commings is a Masters world and national world record holder. He is the head coach of Dolphins of the Desert Masters in Tucson and the co-owner of Dolphins of the Desert Swimming Academy.

Why We Compete

I recently had the pleasure of speaking to several individuals who belong to swim clubs across the valley. They ranged in age from 37 to 73. I wanted to answer the question…why we compete. What they told me was so inspiring. All of them began swimming at age 6 or 7, and most of them joined a swim team at 8 years old and are still competing today.

Terry DeBiase swims with the Swim Devil Masters. He told his mother he liked the swim team t-shirts. To get one she told him he had to join the team, so he did. His coach said he was a natural. When you swim and win blue ribbons it motivates you.

Lindsey Urbatchka swims with the Swim Devil Masters, Mesa Aquatics, and the Phoenix Swim Club. She grew up in a small town in Wyoming. Her parents enrolled her in swimming lessons at the YMCA. When Lindsey had completed all the lessons, the swimming instructor recommended she join the swim team. Her mom didn’t know what the swim team was. At 8 years old Lindsey won her first state championship.
Katy James swims for the Swim Devil Masters and is the AZLMSC board chair. She began swimming at 6. Her dad signed her up for the swim team at the YMCA at the age of 8. She remembers being able to swim backstroke the length of the pool.

Karen Loring swims with the Sun City West Masters swim club. She walked 1 ½ miles with her brother to watch him swim. She told her parents she wanted to swim too and began lessons with the Red Cross. She didn’t swim competitively until the age of 65, when a friend wanted a companion to swim the 1650 with her at the Senior Games. Karen did swim with her friend and also swam her first 50 freestyle.
Keisuke Yagi swims with the Swim Devil Masters. He was born in Japan. His mother was a swim coach and had him in the water at less than a year old. The swim coach encouraged him to join the team. After moving to the United States, he began swimming with a swim club to be around more English-speaking people.

Marc Valle swims with the Swim Devil Masters. He remembers learning to swim in the community pool with his parents and swallowing lots of water. For Marc the swim club was all about training. He did not enjoy swimming until High School when competition was not the primary motivator, but swimming was more about comradery and the team.

All these amazing swimmers began swimming at a young age. If there were lapses in their swimming, they found themselves coming back to it. They are high achievers, but what kept them swimming and competing was not their achievements but their friendships with other team members, the fun they had competing, the memories. Marc has travelled to Russia, Budapest, Italy and South Korea swimming with a Master’s swim club. He loves seeing new places and sharing these times with good friends. Marc came back to swimming when his doctor told him he had high blood pressure. He didn’t want to take medicine to control it and remembered that swimming was how he used to keep in shape.

Lindsey was recruited to the University of Kansas. She loved the family atmosphere and the feeling of swimming for something bigger than herself. I liked it when she said, “It’s you versus you. You don’t have to rely on anyone else. It’s your fault you have the race of your life. It’s your fault if you don’t.”

Terry still enjoys competing, but more for fitness. It’s now as important as competing. If he’s sore and stiff in the morning he gets into the pool and gravity takes over and the soreness and stiffness is gone. Terry said, “I don’t want to survive a competitive event, but I prepare for it so that I can enjoy swimming it when competing.” All the swimmers said staying fit was a large part of why they still compete and swim.

The rule in Karen’s family was if you joined a sport you had to complete the season. They emphasized the importance of team spirit. Marc mentioned that the Swim Devil Masters club is a very large group, but only a small number of people compete. The coach is great at getting people to come out to stay fit. He makes it fun. It’s about the club as a whole coming together and supporting each other to compete, stay fit, and have fun as a team.

Keisuke is now a pilot for Delta Airlines. He swims every day but can be gone for 3-5 days at a time. When he gets back in the pool, he feels like he has lost what he had gained. But he loves swimming and will always be swimming.

As Katy James said she intends to keep swimming. “Forever, or until I die.” Everyone I spoke to says the same. Competition keeps them motivated, but swimming to compete, competing to swim is part of their lives.

Article by: Terri Stauffer-Schmidt

Master Swimmer Gynt Clifford

Still Competing at 85 and Inspiring Others

To the Sun City West Masters Swimming club Gynt Clifford is our Star and the rock that joins us together as a team on race day.  Barb Sloan has coached the team for the last year and a half and said that “coaching Gynt has been one of the most rewarding and joyful experiences I have had.”

Swimming at any age has so many benefits.  Better lung capacity, bone health, improved sleep and improved mood are just a few.  No one talks about the mental stress though that comes from being a master swimmer.  Competing in any competitive event can be gut wrenching.  Having someone on your team that inspires, mentors, and encourages everyone to do their best can make a big difference.  That person for the Sun City West Masters Swimming club is Gynt Clifford.  Whether you are new to the morning workouts or been around awhile, she is always willing to help you.  Whether it’s your flip turns, which she does beautifully, the best way to bend that forearm to get the maximum pull of the water swimming freestyle, or rotating the shoulders while swimming the backstroke, Gynt is there to help you and encourage you in your efforts.  Of course, watching her in any competitive event is amazing.  She swims with such grace and strength.  Having overcome some physical and family hardships over the years and still persevering through it is inspiring.

Karen Loring was invited to swim on the team in 2014.  She said she would not have continued if it wasn’t for Gynt being on deck and encouraging her.  Karen commented that “She would step in wherever there was a need and help.  She would do for each one of us.  Gynt taught her the beginning of everything and always encouraged her.”

Gynt has 20 years of top 10 achievement rankings dating back to 2004 at age 65.  In 2010 at age of 71 Gynt achieved an all-star listing for her swims at the San Diego Imperial pool event.  In the 2012 FINA World Masters SCM ranking Gynt Clifford was #1 in the 100 butterfly.  She has 8 Individual All American Listings from age 68-83.  Gynt is the current Arizona State USMS record holder in the 80-84 age group for both the 100 and the 200 SCY freestyle records she set in 2020 and 2022. This year at the National Senior Games in Pittsburg in July in the 85-89 age group Gynt had 5 first place finishes.

The one thing about Gynt that is to be admired most is not so much the importance of the medals she has won and what she may win in the future, but what she has achieved competing against herself.  The goal is to be the best you can be, and she has done that and more.  At 415 USMS recorded swims she is an all-star.

Earlier this year, an Italian film crew came to Sun City West.  They interviewed and filmed Gynt for a documentary on aging with a healthy lifestyle.  They could not have picked a better role model.

It’s Never too Late to Conquer Your Fear of…

I think I was five years old when my parents took us to a nearby lake to swim.  I was floating in the water in an innertube watching my older sister and the other kids swimming in the distance.  I decided it couldn’t be that hard to swim and scrambled out of the innertube.  I immediately sank to the bottom.  I remember sitting there in this green murky water looking around.  For some reason I was not afraid.  Then one of my mother’s friends tripped on me and pulled me up.  After that my parents made sure I could swim.  We moved to the suburbs of Chicago and joined the YMCA. 

My experience was unique, but for many others the fear of water is very real.  It could be they were never around water, or that a bad experience when they were younger influenced them for the rest of their lives.  For whatever reason that fear only grew exponentially as they got older. 

In the spring of 2023 Barb Sloan, with her Adult Learn to Swim certification, advertised new Adult Learn to Swim classes to Sun City West.  The response was overwhelming.  During the 8 one-hour sessions in a walking pool, swimmers were helped with breathing, kicking, and freestyle arm movement along with a high dose of encouragement and confidence. 

To pass the course swimmers must swim the length of the pool, but not without Barb and her helpers walking beside them and cheering them along.  The excitement and joy in the eyes of the men and women alike is so amazing when they reach the wall at the other end.

Today these graduates can be seen at the pool continuing to determinedly swim the length of the larger RH Johnson pool in Sun City West.  Many of them swim with other graduates encouraging each other.  It’s truly amazing to watch and see the satisfaction on their faces. 

Additional classes will be held this fall starting in September.  You must live in Sun City West.  For more information go to: The Sun City West Masters Swimming Website.

Authored by:  Terri Stauffer-Schmidt of Sun City West