The Morning Star from Vernon, British Columbia, Canada • 12

1 2 Wednesday, April 25, 1 990 The Morning Star III I VI TV. I I A -ytftwiwk-J i i i 1 1 swimmers Vernon net masters1 medals The youngest participant on hand was 21 year-old Pavla Pol-carova from Vancouver, while the most senior was 80 year-old Murdock Brown. The top finishers from the championships are eligible to take part in the Canadian Masters Championships in Regina next month. Swimming is a sport that can kindle the competitive fires for life, and is an excellent way to stay fit, according to Poggemiller. "I'm still doing this primarily to stay in shape, but also because it's exciting coming to meets, getting the competitive juices flowing," he said.

Ex-olympic swimmer relives world record Speec Bob Boyd Of VSA Hiahwavs speedy pitch past a National wien i-asipiicn action, i ne Haiders won the game 4-3. Morning Star photo by Mike McQuillan Royals one game away from clinching berth da Raiders DreDares to deliver a Hotel batter in Toro'd Major Terriers from the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association have recently started their best-of-seven finals. Nipawin won the the first match 3-1. Portage La Prairie were 1972-1973 Centennial Cup champions. In the Central region, the Sudbury Cubs beat out last year's champions Thunder Bay Flyers four games to two.

The Cubs are now playing Longueiul Sieurs, from Quebec, in the region's finals. The Quebec club won the first game 9-5. The Amherst Ramblers from Nova Scotia have clinched the Atlantic region berth in the Centennial Cup. They defeated the Charlottown Abbies from Prince Edward Island in the finals. The Centennial Cup starts May 4 in Vemon.

As host club, the Lakers have an automatic berth in the championships. In other games, the National Hotel Roos hammered Nu-Tcc 23-1, Roos downed the Armadillos 5-1, the Vernon Lodge Lakers doubled Sun Valley Sports 10-5, the Lakers blasted the Armadillos 20-0, Custom Mechanical Royals outscored Kokanecs 15-11, the Royals trounced Toros 19-6, the Silver Bullets nipped Sun Valley 5-4, Longhorn blasted Silver Bullets 8-1, Drifters Pub edged Kokanecs 17-16, and the Raiders whipped Drifters Pub 134. it' 3 slk -3 I m0 snni' Ralph Hutton's blood must be at least two-thirds chlorine by now. Having spent a good portion of his waking hours under water for the past 33 years, the 42 year-old former Olympian sees no reason to quit now. "Swimming is a lifetime ac tivity; it doesn't end when you're no longer a national champion," he said.

Hutton was one of the sport's premier athletes in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was in Vemon over the weekend for the Provincial Masters Swimming Championships, predominantly in his role as coach of the UBC Masters, but did help out on a relay race that needed a fourth member to enter. Now a Vancouver Police Department Constable, Hutton fondly remembers his days as the planet's fastest human being over 400 metres of freestyle. He broke the world record al most 22 years ago at the 1968 U.S. Nationals in Nebraska.

But it was the man he beat on that occasion, Mike Burton of the U.S., who would out-distance him later that year at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico and take the gold medal. Hutton had to settle for the silver, something at the time he considered his best effort, but now second guesses from time to time. "I remember thinking' at the time that I did my best and was beaten. But now, 22 years later, the imagination tends to get way By Ian Hunt Morning Star Writer Vernon athletes were well-represented on the winner's podium at last weekend's Provincial Masters Swimming Championships. More than 130 swimmers gathered at the Recreation Complex for the first provincial meeting to be held in the Interior.

Competitors from 20 to 80 years of age vyed for titles in 10 different age categories. All regions of the province were represented, with the lion's share of medals going to athletes from the clubs of the populous Lower Mainland. But teams from the Okanagan excelled as well. In particular, the host Vernon Masters Swim Club managed to haul in their fair share of hardware. Anne Monteith was a standout, winning six gold medals in her age group.

The 28 year-old won the 50, 100, 200, 400, 800 and gruelling 1500 metre freestyle events. Monteith thoroughly dominated her races with the possible exception of the sprint 50-metre contest on Sunday. In that race, she sprinted past two Victoria Masters swimmers in the final stages, managing to out-touch them to claim victory. Dave Poggemiller, a 36 year-old stock broker, was another multiple winner for VMSC, taking top spot in the 50-metre backstroke, 200-metre butterfly, and 400-metre individual medley. He also captured silver medals in three other events.

Poggemiller, who swam with the Kokanee Swim Club in his youth, said there is no lack of fierce competition among the older set "The calibre of swimmers here is very good. We've had two Canadian (Masters) records broken so far it's top quality," he said. K. T. Donahue, a 49 year-old from Penticton, broke the record in the 50-metre backstroke for men aged 45-49.

Irene Athans, a sprightly 67 year-old from the Lower Mainland, erased the record for the 200-metre breastroke. I A masters swimmer In last 9' mmm Ralph Hutton from me and I think maybe if I had done this or that, I could have won," he said. The world record stood for just over a year, and for more than seven years as a Canadian record. Hutton retired from competitive swimming after the 1972 Munich Olympics, not having repeated the level of success he had attained in 1968. "I have a lot of very fond memories from that time," he said, adding that seeing today's athletes at the Olympics stirs a desire in him "to be a part of it all the atmosphere surrounding it is terrific." The pool veteran continues to work behind the scenes in the amateur sport, serving on the board of directors of Swimming Canada, and as an assistant coach for the varsity team at UBC.

i It appears the Vemon Lakers and the New Westminster Royals may get a chance to meet each other again in the Centennial Cup. The Royals were one game away from clinching a berth in the national junior hockey championships, Monday, with three straight wins over the Calgary Canucks in the best-of-seven Pacific region finals. The fourth game was played Tuesday night. The results of that contest were unavailable when the Morning Star went to press. The Royals won the first two games in Calgary by 74 and 4-2 decisions and then edged the Albertan team with a 3-1 margin, in Monday's game in New Westminster.

In the Western region finals the Nipawin Hawks from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and the Portage La Prairie Classics sweep doubleheader The Swan Lake Garden Centre Classics stretched their win streak to four games by sweeping a doubleheader in Molson Men's Slowpitch League play, Sunday. The Classics blasted the Longhorn Whalers 15-4 and Nu-Tec 13-1. In other action Sunday, the Julia's Brewers recorded a shutout sweep. The Brewers blanked the Coldstream Hotel 'x Raiders 17-0 and Toros Pub weekend's competition races In thel 00-metre Butterfly event. Morning Star photo by Mika McQuillan.