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Former
Olympian Evelyn Ashford delivered the opening address. Before she got
up to speak, she was quoted as saying, "It’s my way of giving
something back. I came up through the ranks as a young athlete. I’m
going to give them some words of encouragement. You have to believe in
yourself; setbacks are temporary; and don’t give up." From all
reports, the fans loved her.
She
recently received recognition as the top 100-meter sprinter of the
century, according to Track and Field News. Ashford represented the
United States in the 1976, ’84, ’88 and ’92 Olympics. She also
was our flag bearer in the 1988 opening ceremonies. On top of all
that, she was a two-time 100-meter world record holder!
As
for our own Lincoln participants, they were a part of the 6,500
athletes that marched in the opening ceremonial parade. The theme of
the ceremonies was "A Salute to Youth Athletics." Events
included music and fireworks.
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This
is not just another meet; it is one of the most prestigious events of
the summer. It will run for six days and feature our nation’s top
age group athletes. In all actuality, this track meet has long been
known as the premier youth track and field event in the world.
All
50 states have some representation, as athletes between the ages of 10
and 18 compete in both the track and the field events. There are
really 10 meets going on at the same time. The divisions are as
follows: young men/young women (age 17-18), intermediate (15-16),
youth (13-14), midget (11-12) and bantam (10-under). Participants who
finish in the top eight places are recognized with All-American
status.
Running
and field events for all age groups were set to begin at 8 a.m.
Eastern Time.
As
always, the LDN will update you as information is forwarded to us. The
LDN certainly wishes every Lincoln area athlete good luck and
Godspeed!
[Jeff
Mayfield]
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As
far as practice goes, they do enough of it. These dedicated swimmers
practice zealously from 7 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday during the
summer. Not easing up a bit, the Gators also practice from 6 to 7:30
p.m. during the winter.
A
typical day for the Gators includes a challenging but relaxed workout. The
workout usually incorporates approximately 3,000 yards for the more
experienced swimmers and 1,500 yards for the young but potentially
talented swimmers.
The
Lincoln Swim Club got off the ground in 1972 and changed its name to
The Lincoln Gator Swim Club in 1975. According to the first coach of
the swim club, Sam Redding, the Gators took their name as sort of a
mascot.
Today,
the Gators are coached by Heidi Heidbreder of Lincoln.
Simple
yet significant, the goals of the Gators are to "promote
sportsmanship, teamwork and basic swimming skills," Heidbreder
said. "An essential portion of the Gators is the basic swimming
skills. Without the basics, swimmers cannot obtain their full capacity
of the swimming techniques."
Heidbreder
directed attention to a few exceptional talents. Of the older Gators,
Heidbreder mentioned that four swimmers come to mind, including
17-year-old Angie Couch. "Angie is genuinely talented and has
already broken several records swimming for Lincoln Community High
School. Angie is gifted in all areas of swimming, but she excels in
the freestyle and the butterfly strokes."
Another
up-and-coming talent is 13-year-old Sean Weaver. "Sean has swum
with the Gators for four or five years. He also shines in the
freestyle and the butterfly."
Mindy
Malerich, a four-year participant with the Gators, does remarkably
well at each stroke, but her most powerful event is the breast stroke,
according to Heidbreder.
Heidbreder
also mentioned Malory Hinton, whose freestyle is her best stroke.
As
for the younger group, 7-year-old Alberta Danley is exceedingly
talented in every stroke. Heidbreder stated excitedly that Alberta
swam the 200 I.M. at a meet (200 I.M. consists of a certain yardage of
each stroke in one race).
Sam
Wood, 8, achieves great success in the backstroke, but like the others
performs well at the other strokes.
Last
but not least is 6-year-old Brennan Elsas, whose most outstanding
stroke is the freestyle.
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"I
feel like every swimmer does well at all the different strokes."
However, the few mentioned stand out in Heidbreder's mind.
Heidbreder
believes the Gator swimmers perform all strokes well because from the
beginning they are taught the fundamentals of swimming. As time goes
by, the swimmers keep practicing all the strokes, not just one certain
stroke. Therefore, eventually all the strokes are improved.
According
to Heidbreder, another attraction of participating with the Gators is
that swimmers can obtain friendships from swimming. It's "as easy
as one, two, three" for the swimmers to acquire many friendships
when the Gators swim together almost all year-round. "Amazingly,
the group gets along well, which makes them fun to be around,"
Heidbreder said.
If
you would like to find out about how to get involved with the Gators,
pay attention, because they don't advertise much. Most advertising is
usually done by word of mouth.
The
Gators consist of various age groups. These groups include age 8 and
under, 9-10, 11-12 and 13-14. Finally, there is the seniors group
which includes kids aged 15-18.
For
people interested in attending a swim meet, Heidbreder explained that
the Gators usually compete in one meet per week during the winter and
two meets per month in the summer season. During the summer there may
be large meets which last more than one day. These meets usually occur
Friday through Sunday. Most other meets are one-day events, which also
occur on weekends.
The
Gators participate in USS meets, which can have as many as 15 to 20
teams per meet and 100 swimmers per age group. Each member is required
to pay a fee in order to swim with the team. There is a $25 per month
fee and a $36 USS yearly fee to participate in the Gators.
"Kids
aren't the only ones who have to be dedicated," Heidbreder said.
Parents are responsible for taking kids to and from meets and for
buying swimming supplies such as goggles and swimsuits.
According
to Heidi, the best part about coaching the Gators is "definitely
the kids. They are so fun to be around and they are a great group of
kids."
You
can contact Coach Heidi Heidbreder at 735-3421 or Jayne Weaver at
732-7073 for further information.
[Cassie
Hewitt]
Click
here to see pictures of the Gator swim team and their supporters.
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Tiger
Woods is to golf what Michael Jordan is to basketball, what Ruth
and Mays are to baseball, and what Gretsky is to hockey. In this
day and age when every periodical and every radio and television outlet
name their top 50 or 100 athletes…STOP THE PRESSES! There’s a
new sheriff in town. You might as well tear up all of those lists
because Tiger is moving up the list so fast that even Jaws on an
empty stomach at Amityville beach couldn’t have eaten up more
people than the Tiger has!
Woods
has left the PGA tour players in his wake. He’s left the place a
vast wasteland. Some expert commentators say the rest of the field
is playing for second place…I disagree. I think they are playing
for pride. They have to get within single digits of him. For five
hundred years people have heard and told the tales of golf, but
this is a new story. I fear that when we tell our kids and our
grandkids how dominating that Tiger was that they will look at us
as if we’re telling them a fish story or one of our own golf
tales that get better with age.
I
don’t know if our recounts of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach or
the British Open at St.
Andrews will do the true story justice. I mean, how do you
describe the complete annihilation of the greatest golfers in the
world on two of the legendary courses? Tiger has made a mockery of
the game. If he wants to win, he will. At 2-1 odds he blew away
the field!
He
can even win the way he wants to. If he wants to play it straight,
he can win that way. If he wants to punch the ball under or
through the wind, he can win that way. Or, if he wants to putt the
ball any time he is within 65 yards of the pin, he can win that
way. He was never in a bunker this week on a course that is famous
for eating golf balls. I haven’t seen a stat on this, but I can’t
think of a time when a winner wasn’t in at least one sand trap
in route to the winner’s circle.
He
didn’t even play all that well in his final round. I know he
shot a 3-under-par round. But, if you studied him, he was not
happy with his round most of the day. His approach shots were
flying the pins, and his putts were coming up short most of the
day.
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And
in spite of what he felt was a lackluster performance, he blitzed
his fellow competitors by eight shots, which was still the largest
margin of victory in 87 years of golf’s oldest major
championship. He became just the third player in Open history to
win with four rounds in the 60s. His 19-under 269 will reign as
the lowest score in relation to par EVER in a major championship
and of course, the lowest score ever recorded at St. Andrews. It
seems fitting that as St. Andrews has long been recognized as the
home of golf, those people got to see the coronation of the new
king!
When
Woods tees off at Valhalla in August, he will chase Ben Hogan as
the only other golfer to win three majors in one year…and this
LDN observer will not be betting against him! Tiger has now
entered elite company. He joins Gene Sarazen in 1935, Ben Hogan in
1953, Gary Player in 1965 and Jack Nicklaus in 1966 as the only
players in history to win the Grand Slam (for those who may not
know…the Grand Slam of golf is achieved by winning the Masters,
the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA championships) of
golf.
Oh,
and by the way, that makes Tiger, at 24, the youngest player ever
to do it. He also did it in his 93rd event, while it
took Nicklaus 125 to accomplish the feat.
I
agree with what five-time British Open champion, Tom Watson said
about Tiger, "He is something supernatural. He has raised the
bar to a level that only he can jump."
A
few years ago, Lincoln resident Brad Neal and former Lincolnites
Curt Swan and Brad Bumgardner and I got to follow the then-amateur
Woods as he played a practice round with Nicklaus and Arnold
Palmer. I got right next to the rope and walked alongside Tiger to
make the ensuing picture appear as if I were in the foursome. But,
I won’t do that the next time that I encounter Woods. The next
time I see him, I’m gonna say, "There goes the best that’s
ever been."
[Jeff
Mayfield]
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