News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
It's gotten so routine for Tom Landis to knock off masters swimming records that it takes a major performance to remind Sisters that it is home to one of the best in the world.
The United States Masters Swimming National Championship meet held in Federal Way, Washington, May 17-20 was such an event.
"It was a monster meet for me," Landis said.
Landis won six events, breaking national records in four of them. The swimmer is defying age to retain his level of performance.
"When I went to the championships in Hawaii in 2002 competing in the 60-64 age group, I thought I would never have another comparable meet. There, I won five events and set two national records," he said.
"This time around, competing in the 65-69 age group, I had championship swims in six events and set four national records. My times were comparable to or better than what I did in Hawaii, something that should not happen at my age; five years should detract significantly from my performances in the previous age group."
Landis attributes his success to hard training at Sisters Athletic Club, where he works out with partner Kris Calvin.
"I just trained really hard," he said. "I was in excellent physical condition. All my swims just reflected that preparation."
There were 1,456 competitors from almost every state competing in 45 events over four days. The oldest competitor was 93.
In the 1,650-yard freestyle Landis recorded a time of 19:16.25, besting the national record of 20:00.61
"During the 1,650 my 1,000-yard split time set a new national record of 11:41.40 (old record was 11:49.31)," he noted.
In the 200-yard freestyle Landis's time of 2:01.36 missed the national record by .14 seconds.
Landis's 400-yard Individual Medley time of 5:19.23 set a new national record; the previous record was 5:21.94.
"This was a pleasant surprise," Landis said. "I had not expected to set a record in this event, even though I knew it might be possible."
The swimmer missed the 100-yard freestyle national record by .10 seconds with 54.53. He took the 500-freestyle with a record time of 5:37.64. The previous record was 5:44.52.
Landis won't rest on his laurels for a while yet.
"I'll keep training through the middle of July," he said. "In March, I set world records in long course swimming at 200 meters and 400 meters. I'll go after the 800-meter world record at a meet in June and try for the 1500 meters at the state games in July.
"These are both tough records, so I'll have to be in top form to break them. After the state games I'll quit swimming and take off with (his wife) Madeleine for six weeks of backpacking."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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