The COVID-19 pandemic radically altered how Masters swimmers around the country were able to connect with their sport and their peers, and swimmers in the Charles River Masters program who had worked out at Harvard University’s Blodgett Pool for years found themselves out in the cold starting from March 2020. The pool closed to Masters workouts for three years.

But thanks to the efforts of long-time NELMSC member Sue Jensen, along with her husband and a few other swimmers, Masters swimming returned to Blodgett’s hallowed hall on April 1, 2023. Jensen led the push to get approval from the university to launch a lunch-time workout group.

“It took a great deal of patience, effort, and negotiation with the administration there to make this team a reality,” says one admirer. “The group also investigated several other pools, including Belmont High School and the South End Fitness Center, as part of their effort.”

Blodgett’s closure also displaced the thriving annual April is Adult Learn-to-Swim Month program that Jensen has been heavily involved with since 2015. But in 2022, Jensen, who’s been a certified USMS Adult Learn-to-Swim instructor since 2015, established a new program at the Boston Sports Institute in Wellesley, the new post-pandemic home of Charles River Masters. As a result, in 2022, 27 students got to take free swimming lessons in the state-of-the-art facility located in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and programs are ongoing.

Not just an in-water volunteer, Jensen has held several important positions in local and regional Masters swimming circles. She served as the NELMSC Officials Chair from 2015 to 2022, a busy role that requires staffing each meet in the region with qualified officials and supplying those officials with the tools and resources they need to effectively officiate at meets.

In 2022, Jensen took the Chair reins of the NELMSC Championship Meet Committee and has since worked hard to ensure that NELMSC members have access to local, high-caliber championship meets. For example, she worked closely with Alford Green, WPI Meet Director, to garner a bid for the 2022 NELMSC SCM Championship Meet, then partnered with Green and his team to ensure a well-run event. Additionally, Jensen conducted a post-meet survey to collect feedback from swimmers, coaches, officials, and volunteers to improve for the future.

Jensen also led the planning for the 2023 NELMSC SCY Championship meet, with help from Douglas Sayles and Kysa Crusco. She reached out to 10 pools, including Harvard, MIT, Boston University, Brown University, Phillips Academy Andover, and WPI to find a home for the meet. After speaking with several Aquatics Directors, she secured WPI and worked closely with WPI Meet Director Paul Bennett to ensure the meet ran smoothly and attendees had more fun than ever.

The meet featured great swag (caps and t-shirts), heat winner prizes, age group high point awards, and a generous snack table. This meet also signaled a return to pre-pandemic business as usual, as it was the NELMSC’s largest since 2019, with 442 swimmers from 55 teams participating.

In 2023, Jensen was awarded the U.S. Masters Swimming Dorothy Donnelly Service Award. She is a member of the New England Masters Swim Club.