Subject: Re: [PHISH]Re: [PHISH]Reunion
From: borakaallen@aol.com
Date: Tue Jun 02 2009 - 17:00:57 CDT
I knew the high school team had a pititul record but didn't realize it was 0 for 21+.? Damn we were good!? It's had to be perfect through four years of high school.? College partying does have a way of debilitating ones prowess.? I coach junior high girls.? For them it's first menstrual cycle and menstrual cramps.? I'd prefer partying.
Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Thomas <jthomas@math.niu.edu>
To: Ottawa Hills - 1959 <ohhs59@venus.soci.niu.edu>
Sent: Tue, 2 Jun 2009 1:30 pm
Subject: RE: [PHISH]Re: [PHISH]Reunion
On Tue, 2 Jun 2009, Jim Gaikema wrote:
> Didn't we practice early in the morning, before school? As I recall, the
> armory pool was always cold. Who was our coach?
Bob's memory remains intact:
Rip Collins was the coach the years I was on the team ('56-59). We never
won a meet. I didn't realize until I got to JC that he didn't really
know much about swimming, let alone coaching it. We practiced at the
armory once or twice a week after school, as I recall. Yes, the water
was frigid. If they had morning practices, I missed them all.
A few of the '59 group went on to swim at GRJC - John Fehsenfeld,
me, Pete Price, and Vic Dennis. I think we were the only Ottawanians
for the two years we were there. The coach (Bob Wickstrom) was good
and actually turned us into decent swimmers. We won our first meet,
and having lost about 21+ in a row at Ottawa, it felt good, and we
had a decent team. A few of us placed well in the state JC finals.
Wickstrom turned Vic Dennis into a high-power backstroker, but he
couldn't go full-blast because he kept cramping up and either had to
go a bit slower or risk being hauled out of the pool after cramping,
which seemed about half the time. As I recall, his best times exceeded
those of anybody in the state, but he could never finish.
I went to Mich State, started off with the MSU team, switching to
distance from butterfly, but after about the second week the partying
pretty much did me in. It was downhill from there for a while.
Jim
Ottawa Hills High School Discussion List - 1959
Ottawa Hills High School Discussion List - 1959
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Wed Sep 23 2009 - 14:10:58 CDT