Contributor

Ann Yelmokas McDermott

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  • 2020 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor)

  • 1993-1994 NELMSC Chair

  • 1991-1993 NEM President

  • 1988 & 1989 Meet Director, NE SCY Championships at Bentley

  • 1986-1989 Coordinator, NEM Workouts and Clinics

  • 1983, 1984 & 1985 Meet Director, UMass Boston

  • 1982-1983 Coach, UMass Boston NEM workouts

  • 1980 December NEM News Mini-Profile of Ann Yelmokas

  • USMS Records

    • Pool – 1 lifetime relay

  • USMS Top Ten – 12 individual, 15 relay

  • Club: New England Masters (NEM)

  • USMS Profile

Ann’s swimming career started when she took an advanced beginner’s swimming class as an undergrad at Boston University. At that time, she was not able to swim with her face in the water. By her junior year, she was a member of the varsity swim team, swimming the freestyle and breaststroke events. She was inspired to join New England Masters after reading Phil Whitten’s Parade Magazine article about Masters swimming that featured Ted Haartz.

After graduating with a B.S. in physical education, health, and recreation, Ann coached high school and age group teams from 1977 through 1984. Ann was the coach for both the Men’s and Women’s swimming teams at MIT from 1982 through 1986. She was then hired by Simmons College as their first aquatic director when they built their first ever recreation center and initiated the first women’s swimming and diving team (1989-1995).

Ann left coaching at the competitive college level for three years to become the Boston University assistant director of recreation and aquatics (1986-1989). Moving to an administrative teaching role enabled her to have more influence on course offerings, training staff, and providing education series for university students, faculty, and staff. She was also able to provide teaching workshops for regional fitness instructors.

Over the years, Ann coached a number of Masters workouts including Tufts (Sunday mornings), UMass Boston (started coached workouts and served as a mini-meet director), Boston University (expanded, coached and supervised Masters workout program for members internal and external to B.U.), and Simmons College (started the Masters workout program).

Ann served as the President of NEM from 1991 through 1993 and the NELMSC Chair from 1993 through 1994.

During her time as a member of NEM, Ann also served as the NEM workout group information contact person and NEM Mini-Meet Director of many meets at UMass Boston, MIT, and Simmons. She also organized and coached a number of day-long stroke and sports medicine clinics at MIT that featured the best of NE college coaches, including John Benedick, Nancy Bigelow, Don Megerle, Bruce Hutchinson, Hank Dunbar, and Charlie Butt, to name a few. Ann hosted the MIT summer stoke clinic series (1983 through 1986) with John Benedick.

Ann competed in many, many events over the years including mini-meets, 1-hour and postal swims, regional championships, USMS short- and long-course championships, World Games, and open water swims.

Ann has a M.S. in athletic training from Northeastern and a Ph.D. in Nutrition Science; Specialization: Physiology, Exercise Physiology from Tufts. She completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Obesity Science and Genetics at Tufts 2002-2006. She is also a licensed dietitian nutritionist. Currently she is working as an independent health and education consultant.

Bob Seltzer

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Bob Seltzer started his competitive swimming career at Syosset High School in the late 1960s. He was recruited to swim in college but opted instead to “fully enjoy the diversions of college life in the late 1960s and early 1970s,” he recalls. “I went on a 20-year taper before joining USMS in the early 1990s.” 

Bob served as NEM president from 1996 through 2000. “At my first public speech as NEM President in 1996, I vowed to double membership in four years (1000 by 2000 was the slogan). NEM had a poor record of growing membership. As every business owner knows, it’s easier and cheaper to sell an existing client than find a new one. We conducted a study of member renewal rates and found that those people who competed and were affiliated with "coached workout groups" renewed membership at much higher rates. We created two major new competitive events with the expressed intent of growing NEM membership. The first event was the January 1997 One Hour Swim which we turned into an epic battle against the evil empire represented by Davis Aquatic Masters, the perennial National Champion. Under the able leadership of Fred Schlicher and through the creative use of email we turned it into a major calendar event. In March 1997, we held the first ever NEM Workout Group competition at Northeastern University. This was the brainchild of Ed Gendreau who kept pressuring me to think about NE Masters adopting US/NE Swimming organizational structure. I connected Ed's idea with our member retention program. I also used the North Carolina model where their regional competition featured local workout groups but they competed nationally at North Carolina Masters.  

It took us a few years and a few venue changes (Northeastern to Brown then Brown to Harvard) to perfect the NEM Workout Group competition format. Again, creative use of email helped promote the event throughout New England. We even had email rankings of various groups, very similar to ESPN power ratings in football, to encourage people to compete in getting the most entries processed by the deadline. Finally Rick Osterberg took over meet management from me and through his many innovations (webcam, live scoreboard, live results, rolling check-in) transformed the NEM Workout Group competition into very high quality championship meet. In time, it became a "destination event" and attracted visiting workout groups from around the country. 

The growth of Masters swimming in New England grew well beyond our initial targets. I was most fortunate to be a part of dedicated volunteers and am most proud that those that followed us have continued to keep Masters swimming in New England growing nearly 20 years after my last year as President of NEM.“

Bob has served several stints as founder of software/technology companies and he’s currently a managing director at an investment bank. 

Jean (Hotchkiss) Archibald

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  • 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - VMSC Trailblazer)

  • A key member responsible for formation of the club and creating club constitution

Having started swimming with the Masters program in my 50’s, I can say with assurance that it has made all the difference in my health and my joy for the last 4 decades. I am swimming regularly with the BASS workout group at the Edge in Williston, VT. Over the years, Masters has meant a lot to me. It sure is the best for overall health!

Sharon (Forney) Battistini

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  • 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - MESC Trailblazer)

  • Aquatic coordinator at Bowdoin

  • Coordinated Masters workouts at Bowdoin

  • Maine Masters Swim Club President

  • Meet Director for Bowdoin Meet

Sharon grew up in Toronto Canada in a family heavily invested in sport. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in Physical and Health Education and immediately joined the staff at the University of Guelph as a lecturer and coached girls’ basketball and field hockey. She played on the Eastern Canada Field Hockey team prior to coming to the US in 1971 on a two year visitor status to work as an Outward Bound instructor at Dartmouth College. Forty-eight years later, she is still here!

She coached boys high school soccer in North Carolina for 8 years before returning to New England to live in Harpswell, work at Bowdoin and raise a family. So where does swimming come in? It has always been a love of life and the best way to keep fit!

Joyce Brown

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  • 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - MESC Trailblazer)

  • Key initiator

  • Positions served over the years President, Secretary, Registrar & Treasurer

Joyce held the position of Maine Master (Swim) Registrar and Treasurer for over 20 years. She also was a competitor and trained under Bowdoin’s famous swim coach Charlie Butt. She swam in many Maine Master Swim meets and competed in numerous National swim meets and placing 4th in freestyle at the Nationals held in Tucson, Arizona.

Joyce was also active in local swim activities. In 1978 she, with the help of Charlie Butt, started the Harpswell Swim program for the local school and held a two week summer swim program to teach beginners through advance Red Cross Life Saving program.

After her passing an endowment was established in her name to fund students in Harpswell and is administered by the Town of Harpswell. Thousands of Harpswell youths have learned to swim under Joyce’s swim programs.

Jim Edwards

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  • 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - NEM Trailblazer)

  • Member 1972-2007 (deceased)

  • Inaugural BOD member

  • NEM Executive Committee President (1975-1977)

  • NEM News Editor (1977-1991)

To understand Jim Edwards aka “JKE” and his importance to New England Masters Swim Club, one just needs to visit the NEM Newsletter archive and read any or all from July 1997- October 1991.

The following was taken from the November 1982 NEM News article, “High in Their 50’s – Profiles of Three Men Who Help Make Wilson and Katz Look Good in NEM’s 55-59 Division”:

(Ed. Note: the editor has been motivated to include a profile of himself in this newsletter by his desire (a) to honor the urgings of scores of our readers who want to learn more about this innately modest man and (b) to de-fuse the threats of a small but vocal character-lynching mob to compose and publish their own profile of him.)

Love of the water came early to Providence lawyer Jim Edwards (59 at the time of this article), who grew up in the summers in Barnstable on Cape Cod. Edwards swam backstroke and a little freestyle for the University of Michigan HS in Ann Arbor. During the early 40’s he tried unsuccessfully to make Michigan’s national championship team. Jim recalls, with pain not yet entirely assuaged, Coach Matt Mann barking at him, “Get out of there, Whitey, and let on of my boys have that lane!”

At West Point Edwards lettered for three years (1943-1945) by concentrating on the 440.

The first race of Edward’s Masters career was the 1500 in the 1972 Long Course Nationals at Bloomington, IN where he defeated former Olympian and move star Buster Crabbe (who was 15 years older than Jim).

While the NEM News readership in general seems to approve of Edwards’ editorial efforts, Edwards has vowed to continue, so long as his awesome responsibilities as editor of “The Tattler” continues, making objective, somber, straight-talking – but with a generous – assessments of his teammates.

George Erswell

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  • 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - MESC Trailblazer)

  • Key initiator

  • Director of Meets & Officials through 1999

  • Annual George Erswell Meet at Bowdoin in October named after him

When George Erswell moved back to Maine from Atlanta in the fall of 1988, he was both surprised and dismayed to find there was no Masters swim program in the state. Although he could swim regularly at the Bowdoin pool, and compete in swim meets as a member of the New England Masters Swim Club, there was no program specifically for Maine swimmers. He began pestering Sharon (Forney) Battistini, then a pool monitor and lifeguard supervisor at Bowdoin, about getting a Masters program going in Maine. It was the right time and Erswell was the right person.

From the Maine Masters website:

An avid swimmer attending his first swim meet at the age of 10. He swam for Brunswick High and Bowdoin College. He continued his swimming career joining the Georgia Masters. Upon his return to Maine and finding no Masters program, he along with Sharon Forney founded the Maine Masters Swim Club. George was nationally ranked in his age group holding records in most of his events. At the age of 73 George died on August 24, 2000 at his home in Harpswell. In October 2000, Sandy Potholm changed the name of their annual Halloween Swim Meet to the George Erswell, Jr. Annual Swim Meet in his honor. It was all agreed it should be his. George is missed dearly and his impact on Masters Swimming in Maine will never be forgotten.

Ted Haartz

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  • 2020 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Pool Performance)

  • 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor – NEM Trailblazer)

  • 2013 Inducted into the Masters International Swimming Hall of Fame

  • 2009 Ted Haartz U.S. Masters Swimming Staff Appreciation Award

  • 1996 U.S. Masters Swimming National Championship Meets Award

  • 1982-Present Member of USMS Board of Directors

  • 1978-1981 National Masters Committee (of the AAU) President

  • 1976 Capt. Ransom J. Arthur M.D. Award

  • 1972-1973 National Top Ten and Records Recorder

  • 1971 October NEM News Profile of Ted Haartz

  • 1971 Participated in the 2nd Masters National Meet in Amarillo, TX

  • Inaugural NEM Board of Directors member

  • NEM Nationals Entry & Relay Coordinator

  • NEM Executive Committee

  • Club: New England Masters (NEM) (1971-2005)

  • USMS Profile

Ted Haartz, a former collegiate swimmer from Tufts University, turned his sights to Masters Swimming in 1970 after reading about the first Masters meet in Amarillo, TX. He competed in the second Masters National Championship in Amarillo in 1971. He became a charter member of the New England Masters Swim Club and quickly progressed to volunteering at the national level.

Ted received the Captain Ransom J. Arthur M.D. Award (USMS’s highest honor) in 1976 as a result of his volunteer service. Notably, he established and maintained Top Ten Times for Masters Swimming in all age groups and relays, commencing with the first Masters Nationals in Amarillo, TX, in 1970. This was in the days when that meant hand writing and typing results! Ted was a key player in the formation of the original 55 Local Masters Swimming Committees (LMSCs) that governed Masters Swimming on the local level.

He quickly rose to positions of leadership in the fledgling national organization while it was still a part of the AAU and trying to establish its identity. He served as national president and for many years as a swimming official. Significantly, Ted took charge of the effort in the late 1970s to separate Masters from the AAU, which allowed Masters to become a more independent organization that could raise its own funds, write its own rules, and determine its own destiny. At the 2013 U.S. Aquatic Sports Convention, Ted was inducted into the Masters International Swimming Hall of Fame.

The following is from an October 1977 NEM News profile of Ted:

Reasons for participating in the Masters Program: ‘Swimming has become my recreation, exercise, and a release for the tension I encounter in my daily life. I believe that I eat better, sleep better, and am generally healthier because of a regular routine of physical exercise. I also thoroughly enjoy the companionship and friendship of the hundreds of other Masters swimmers with whom I have come in contact.’

After his retirement and move to Arizona, Ted, of course became involved in his local group and switched to Arizona Masters. However, here in New England we still consider him one of our own and thank him for his contributions to the sport.

Carol Limanek

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  • 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - VMSC Trailblazer)

  • A key member responsible for formation of the club and creating club constitution

  • Elected first President

Swimming with the Vermont Master’s in the early 80s was a great way to get back in the water after swimming competitively from age 9 to 21. Helping new swimmers learn the different strokes, swimming before work in the early morning, and meeting other adults who enjoyed a vigorous workout were all aspects that drew me to Masters. Great fun!

Sandy Potholm

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  • 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - MESC Trailblazer)

  • Key initiator

  • Positions served over the years Vice President and Treasurer

  • Historian

  • Editor of “Lap It Up” – cooking with the Maine Master Swimmers of Brunswick, Maine cookbook (a collection of favorite recipes published in 2008)

Growing up on Long Island Sound and loving the ocean, I never dreamed I'd step foot in a swimming pool. My idol was Esther Williams and that was about as close as I got to a pool. But somewhere along the way after injuring myself from running, I decided to lessen my chances by swimming at the Bowdoin College swimming pool in Brunswick, ME where I still live and swim. I took a WSI course to learn the stokes which opened up an opportunity to teach children how to swim.

“Then I discovered a group of swimmers who were already doing regular workouts. I decided to join them. Loving the camaraderie and how great my body and mind felt after swimming, I was eager to help George Erswell and Sharon Forney Battistini form the Maine Masters Swim Club (MESC) when they asked me. I don't compete any longer, but I do swim 5 days a week.

My biggest enjoyment continues to help new swimmers join MESC to promote physical fitness and give them the opportunity to compete.

Enid Uhrich

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  • 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - NEM Trailblazer)

  • Member 1971-1984 (deceased)

  • Inaugural NEMSC BOD member

  • NEMSC Secretary/Treasurer (1972-1977)

  • NEMSC Treasurer (1972-1982)

  • NEM News Editor (1972 – 1977)

  • National Top Ten Recorder for Women – 1974-1979

  • National Top Ten Recorder for Men and Women – 1980-1987

  • 1978 Summer Nationals Meet Director

  • National Masters Committee (of the AAU) Secretary (1978-1981)

  • 1980 Capt. Ransom J. Arthur M.D. Award

  • 1st USMS National Registrar – 1982-1990

Enid Uhrich was a dominant force in keeping Masters swimming running smoothly behind the scenes during the first decade of its existence. While she attended numerous competitions, she rarely competed, choosing instead to be part of the management of the competitions. Enid seeded heats and formulated and ran software programs for recording results. She was never averse to rounding up “volunteers” from the deck or audience to fill missing slots of timers and officials. 

Enid’s career in Masters swimming began when she served as the meet director for New England’s first Masters meet in 1972. She developed a cutting-edge database program to manage the club. Eventually Enid was tapped to compile records and Top Ten finishes for all the women in USMS. She also served as USMS Secretary from 1978-1981. Enid received the Captain Ransom J. Arthur M.D. Award along with Ed Reed in 1980.

The following is from the 1982 NEM News profile of Bill and Enid Uhrich:

In Bill Uhrich’s words, his wife Enid is “a lousy swimmer but great at paperwork and record-keeping.” That is certainly true, but it is too succinct to give any idea of the nature and extent of her decade of contributions to Masters swimming, both here in New England and throughout the country. It was Enid who, at the first long-course national Masters Championships in 1972, conceived the idea of combining small Masters groups from the Greater Boston area, New Hampshire and Rhode Island into one organization, the New England Masters Swim Club. For several years, as the club’s treasurer, newsletter editor, membership chairman, and the arranger, organizer, conductor and record-keeper of all its meets, she was almost by herself the administration of NEMSC.

The following appeared in 1985 in SWIM Magazine:

To me, Masters swimming has been the people. They are sociable, and there’s an aliveness. No matter what the age, there’s certain joie de vivre and I like the mixture of different ages all enjoying one another. Masters are intensely competitive without being aggressive. My times are getting better. I’m still at the bottom, but who cares? I’m better than I was, and that’s what counts. Everyone is a happy for you as for anyone else.

John Woods

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  • 2019 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Contributor - MESC Trailblazer)

  • Newsletter Editor

  • Meet results documentation

  • Reviewer of Top Ten Times

John was a runner, and for 25 years, he ran more than 50 miles a week training for distance races. But, he was injured and unable to keep that schedule and tuned to the Maine Masters swim program. “Competing is a way of life for me. I have traveled all over the world with Masters running and I’m doing so now with swimming. I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t swim.”