And the winner is ....

We have had 'winners' in every age group every year for some time now. Some
times the 'winners' have not been aware they've won. That's good. Why bask in
glory when a bit of toiling in obscurity will do ?

The winning is based on either having the best average speed (AVG), or the most
points by position (POS), or the most points by value (VAL-the octodecathlon !).

It was not always thus. In the beginning (1985 or so), overall ranking was
solely by most points by position (10-9-8 etc when we had Top 10, 15-14-13 ...
when we had Top 15, and 20-19-18...3-2-1 when we had - are you ready for this
now - Top 20).

Let's stroll down memory lane and review the winners of the past. It will help
determine the winningest of them all, show who had longevity or not. Some had
brevity. Some obscure names will crop up, some big names will be absent. This
is not as it could have been, but as it was ! (Up to 91, the SC and LC results
were combined as one. From then on, LC results became available, but the
following results then track SCM - 25m results only).

Among the changes that have occured over the years is the Fina-age introduction
in 95. Prior to that it was possible for a swimmer to be in two age groups in
the same season (say a birthdate of March meant you could be 39 till March, and
40 till Aug 31. Currently you are deemed to be 40 all year long, and your age-39
times are reported as 40). Also seasons used to run from Sept 1 to Aug 31;
now they run from Jan 1 to Dec 31.

Also in the early beginning, all strokes were reported but rankings were
calculated on the 'main' events only (50, 100, 400 free, 50 back, 50, 100 br,
50 fly !). Later more, then all events were brought into the calculations.

So now with 18 events and 20 points for a 1st place, the theoritical maximum
is 360. Well, 3 people have been over 340 (Jacques Amyot 344, Erda Dillinger
342 and Lynn Marshall 341). 


Women:

20-24:Anne-Marie Therrien had the best score in 95 (324), but only Kim Druiven
has won more than once ('85, '87). So the title has changed hands nearly
every year ! No consistancy here !

25-29:Best score:Lucie Turcotte '94 (258). Lynn Marshall, Lucie Turcotte and
Sara Lynn Oesch have won twice. That's more like it. 

30-34:Best score is by Lynn Marshall '93 (341). Quite the reverse from the
20-24 age group, people here are very consistant: Lynn Marshall has won
5 times, the best that is possible (5 years is a whole age group). Ilka
Lowensteyn has 4, Michele Oliver had 3, Claudia Cronin had 2. Ilka had a
baby in 2000, so won't equal Lynn's streak !

35-39:Best score is by Lynn Marshall '97 (336). Ann de Praeter won 4 in a row
in the early 90's, but Lynn has 4 already (and will likely win in '00 also).
All others were single-year winners.

40-44:Best score is by Avila Rhodes '99 (251). Susan Gustavison won 4 times
(86 thru 89). Cathy Merritt and Edie Fisher have won twice.

45-49:Best score is by Patty Thompson, 311 in '91. Patty has won 3 times
(91-93-94). Jacqueline Odlum won twice in the late 80's, Mary Lou Wood
won twice (88 and 92 - sounds like Olympics), Cathy Merritt won in 97 and 98.

50-54:Best score is by Olenka McKee, 312 in '99. Mae Waldie had a 5-year run
(86-90). That equals Lynn Marshall's run over the 30-34 age group. There
were 3 double winners: Jacqueline Odlum (91-92), Viviane Laliberte (96-97)
and Olenka McKee (98-99).

55-59: Erda Dillinger scored 342 positional points in 97. Somehow this
is 1 point better than Lynn Marshall. It may indicate lesser opposition,
but you still got to go out and swim those events to claim first place !
Judie Oliver also scored the perfect 5-year streak (88 thru 92), joining
LM and MW (see above). Joan Parnell doubled in 86 and 87. Erda Dillinger
won in 96 and 97.

60-64: Judie Oliver's best score is 317 in 93. She won 3 times (93-94-95),
but Cecile Gosselin won 4 (86-87-89-90). The spoiler for Cecile was Helene
Caty who won in 88 and 91 !

65-69: Cecile Gosselin had the best score in this age group with 299 in 92.
Catherine Kerr won 4 times (86 thru 89). Sheila Naiman has won 3 (95-96-97)
while Shirley Crandell won twice. Judie Oliver, a name we're getting to know
has won in 98 and 99.

70-74: Catherine Kerr has scored 300 ('92). There is no mandatory retirement
in masters. Catherine (Cay) has won this age group 3 times. Kalis Rasmussen
has won two.

75-79: Believe it or not, Rose Ann Leclerc score 308 points to win in 94.
That's a lot of swimming. Mary Pacey won twice in 91 and 93. Jeanne Turgeon
did it in 96 and 97.

80-84: Not as sharp as in 94, Rose Ann still has this age group's best total
with 289 in 98. That's still a lot of diving and stroking. Florence Picard
won in 87 and 89, while Dorothy Bullen won 3 years apart, 94 and 97.

85-89:Marge Anderson was the first over 85. She won in 89-91-92-93. Dorothy
Bullen won twice. Her 98 total of 140 is best in this age group.

90-94: Marge Anderson, first to reach 90, won this age group twice. 93 and 95.

95-99: Marge Anderson reached the age of 95 in 98 (and won her age group !).

So who are the best female masters across all age groups ?  And the winner is:
Well ... we have a tie (shades of Gore/Bush). Lynn Marshall has 11 titles
in 3 age groups. The remarkable thing is that it has been a continuous 11
years, that is Lynn has never been beaten in Masters ! 

Judie Oliver has also won 11 titles in 4 age groups. The span between the
years is impressive enough. First (known) title in 85, last in 99 !

We also have a tie for 3rd place. Catherine Kerr has won 8 titles in 3
age groups, Mae Waldie 8 in 4. Marge Anderson has won 7 times.

Finally we have 7 women having won 5 times: Susan Gustavison,Cathy Merritt,
Jacqueline Odlum,Patty Thompson,Cecile Gosselin,Joan Parnell and Dorothy
Bullen. We have our answer now. Should all these high-point winners be
made future Hall-of-famers ?

Men:

20-24:Best score is 273 shared by J.P Emond '91 and J. Agagnier '92.
Each of these two gentlemen won twice in the early 90's, but like the women
there have no repeats since. The last two years have seen a win by a Philippe
from DDO, but a different Philippe each time !

25-29:Best score is by Fernand Cholette, 259 in 92. He had won in 91 also.
Raymond Przybysz won twice, 93-94. Jean-Luc Bernier won the last 3 years,
97-98-99, but who will equal Geoff Camp who won 5 times, 84 to 88 ?
(Due to not having the FINA rule, Geoff won as 20-24 the same year he won
his first of five 25-29 titles).

30-34:Best score is by Danny Finch, 256 in 99. Richard Zajchowski won twice
(84-85), so did Ken Ekstrand (86-87). This is half as many as Marc-Andre
Gosselin (no relation to Cecile) who won in 91-92-93-94.

35-39: Best is by Dave Town who scored 231 in 97, after winning in 96 also.
Larry Steele won twice in 90 and 91. However Mike Morrow won 3 times in
85, 86 and 89. As you will see, Mike is still in the game. Big time.

40-44: Best is Don Gould, 283 in 92. That was the only year he won. Not
related to Shane, Don is a rare winner from New Brunswick. (Graham Reynolds
from neighbouring NS won in 86). There have been two double winners: Bryan
Finlay in 84 and 85. And Wieslaw Musial in 97 and 98. But we have also two
triple winners: Ken Ransom, 87-88-89. And Mike Morrow, 90-91-94. As in the
previous age group, Mike let 2 years go by before bagging his triple.

45-49:Len Minty had a pretty good 332 score in winning the 91 title.
Doug Bishop won in 92 and 93. Josef Kligman tripled (84-85-86). And Mike
Morrow improved to 4 titles this time around: 95-96-97-99. Is he aiming at
5 for 5 at 50 ?

50-54: Bryan Finlay won twice, 93 and 95, and owns the best score of 253.
Richard Weick won 3 times, 85-87-88. Joachim Lippinghof won 3 times, 86-89-90.
All of them, tough customers and record-holders galore.

55-59: Here the best score is by Richard Weick, 271 in 92. He won in 91 too.
John Sutton won in 98 and 99. Ted Roach who is still active today had won
in 84 and 85. But Carman Bradley had won in 88-89 and 90. 

60-64: Best is by one-time winner Ted Lutman, 282 in 91. Joachim Lippinghof
won 3, 96-97-99. Christopher Smith won 3 times, 92-93-95. Ted Roach (see
above, see below) won 4 times (86-87-88-90).

65-69: Best is 286 by Ted Roach in 93, who also won this age group 3 times
(91-92-93). This equals the 3 wins by Ed Thomas of 87-88-89. There has been
3 double winners: Ed Reynolds, 84-85, Jacques Amyot, 90-94 and Christopher
Smith, 97-99.

70-74:Plenty of repeats here: Fred Warren won twice, 91-92. Eugene Lehman
had a triple in 85-86-87. Ted Roach made his mark here again, winning in 96,97
and 99. He had scored a remarkable 337 in 96. However Jacques Amyot only won
twice in 95 and 98, but had an even better score of 339 in 95.

75-79: There you have it: the best score in this age group, Jacques Amyot's
344 in 99, is also the men's best score and the best of any master. Like
Aretha used to say, this is spelled R-E-S-P-E-C-T ! Frank Starr won twice
in 85 and 86. Roman Jezek won in 92 and 93. Imre Juhasz won in 96 and 97.
Eugene Lehman won in 88-89-90-91. That's 4 years by my count.

80-84: The best score is by Eugene Lehman, 229 in 94. Oh, he also won this
age group 4 times: 93-94-95 and 97. Charles Woolls won in 96 and 98.
Frank Taylor had won in 86 and 87. Jaring Timmerman won in 89 and 90.

85-89: This age group was won twice by Eugene Lehman, 98 and 99. His 99
score of 205 leads this age group. Tom Walker was the first male Canadian
over 85 when he won in 88. Tom Walker had coached the Cdn PanAm games team
of 1955 where Beth Whittall was a member. (For those who don't know, Beth
just about created Canadian masters).

90-94: Jaring Timmerman was the first Canadian male over 90 when he won this
age group last year.

So across the boards, who is the chairman of Canadian masters ?
Hum let's see now. Ted Roach has won 12 times in 4 age groups. That makes
him a very honourable second to Eugene Lehman who has won 13, also in 4 age
groups. Subject to confirmation of recounts (and no appeals) they should
be our leaders for at least 3 or 4 years, given that Mike Morrow, our best
boomer has won (only !) 10 in 3 age groups.

Next 3 are Joachim Lippinghof, 7 in 3, Geoff Camp (the younger), 6 in 2,
and Jacques Amyot, 6 in 4 age groups. We also have a group of fivers,
Bryan Finlay, Richard Weick, Christopher Smith and Marc-Andre Gosselin.

Followed by 6 000 masters across Canada who all want to put up their names
on the scoreboard now !

The complete list of winners can be found on the net (under Canada, texts).

Of course the 2000 winners will soon be announced (or will have been by the
time you read this), so you'll have to mentally re-do all the calculations !