Master swimmer earns honors

Tom Landis of Camp Sherman has received several awards for his outstanding swim record.

Landis was awarded "The most valuable male swimmer for Oregon" at the U.S. Masters awards ceremony in Portland recently.

Swim magazine chose him as one of the six outstanding male swimmers in the United States.

He was chosen "Most Valuable Swimmer" for the year by team COMA (Central Oregon Masters Aquatics, Bend).

Tom also made the U.S. Masters "Kart-a-Way" swimmers pool All-Star team for 2002.

Landis holds the fastest time in his age group (60-64) in 14 All-America freestyle events. He set two world records and six national records in 2002.

Tom also won the national open water one-mile swim event at Dorena Lake (outside Eugene) last year.

"I practice four to five times a week at the Juniper Center in Bend," Landis said. "I get there early and do 2,000 yards before the team's Master practice of another 3,000-4,000 yards."

Tom really appreciates the excellent coaching he has received from Bob Bruce, who coaches the COMA team.

"We really have a good swim team and compete well throughout the state," he said.

The 61-year-old Landis is currently preparing for the U.S. national championships to be held in Tempe, Arizona, next month. He is competing in the Washington State championships this week at Seattle and will participate in the national five-kilometer open water championships this summer at Elk Lake.

Holding top times in all freestyle events from 50 to 1,650 yards in the United States, Tom considers himself a middle distance swimmer.

"My top race is the 200 yard distance. It's unusual for a swimmer to be successful at both sprint (50, 100 yards) and distance (1,000, 1,650 yards)," he said. "I'm happy if I put in a good performance. If I happen to win, that's okay, too."

Landis' goal is to set a world record for the 200-yard freestyle event. Also, he said, "I had to really decide if I wanted to compete as hard this year after last year's success. Good swimmers are training to beat my times. I decided I'd compete, do my best, and give them a chance to beat me in the pool."