There was quite a heavy contingent of Bainbridge Aquatic Masters (BAM) swimmers who were part of the Puget Sound Masters regional club that swam last weekend at the U.S. Masters Spring National Championships in Santa Clara, Calif.
Among the 89 swimmers was Sarah Bullock, who won two events. BAM coach April Cheadle was selected to lead the PSM team for the third year.
“It was an honor to be chosen to lead, organize, and coach the 89 athletes that made up the Puget Sound Masters Spring National squad. This was the largest squad to travel from our region to a national meet, and we had high hopes of placing in the top three going into the meet,” Cheadle said.
PSM won the overall regional team title with a score of 1,530. Oregon Masters finished second (1,174.50) and Colorado Masters third (900.50). The women’s team placed first (828) as did the men (570).
Bullock won the 1,650-yard freestyle in the 45-49 age group with a time of 19 minutes, 32.15 seconds. Bullock won her second title in the 400 individual medley in 5:26.14.
“It’s so fun to see my hard work pay off,” Bullock said. “I’ve been training for months without really watching my times, so seeing that number one beside my name was pretty shocking.”
Also competing for BAM were Kari Wetzler who was second in the 1,650 free in the 30-34 age division; Kate Carruthers (65-69) was second in the 100 breaststroke in 1:32.34 and Karen Segerson was sixth in the 1,000 free in the 35-39 age division.
For the men, Dennis Sawyer (70-74) finished fourth in the 400 IM in 6:50.95 and fifth in the 200 breaststroke in 3:11.44 and had a time of 1:22.46 in the 100 breast for fifth; Mark Benishek (30-34) was 11th in the 50 free in 23.25 and eighth in the 100 backstroke in 1:03.69; Randy Rogers (55-59) was eighth in the 200 butterfly in 2:27.90 and Cestjon McFarland, Tom Goodlin and Barney Voegtlen all contributed to BAM’s success.
Also, the mixed 200 free and medley relays in the 65+ each placed third — 2:03.09 for the free and 2:26.57 for the medley. The 200 medley relay for the men’s 65+ finished fifth in 2:20.39 and the 200 free relay was eighth in 2:06.39.
I’ve also included a link for a searchable list on the USMS website for all PSM swimmers who participated. You can also search by swimmer at the same site.
