The Martha’s Vineyard Masters Swim Team, based at the YMCA and coached by Rainy Goodale, traveled to Harvard University on Saturday, March 10, for the first day of the 2018 New England Local Masters Swimming Committee (LMSC) Short Course Championships. Any person 18 years and older is eligible to join the Masters program and be eligible to swim.
Saturday was distance day, with swimmers choosing either the 1,000 or 1,650 freestyle races. Six members of the team made the trip, with impressive results. All six swimmers swam the 1,650-yard race.
For the women, Leslie Craven led the way with a first-place finish in her age group (21:10.33). Liz Fox came in third in her age group, with a time of 28:53.78. Jen Passafiume finished fourth in her group, beating her best time by more than 30 seconds (25:13.93). Beth Goodell also did her best time, finishing seventh in 27:07.57.
For the men, Keith Chatinover, fresh off the high school swim season, finished third in his age group (24:45.43). It was the first 1,650 race for Keith. Jonathan Chatinover finished fourth in his age group, with his best Masters time of 21:54.02. Father and son Jonathan and Keith got to swim in the same heat, which was a thrill for both of them.
After the first weekend, the Vineyard is in fourth place out of 13 small teams, and 15th out of 36 teams overall. Next weekend (March 16-18) will be the bulk of the meet, with 44 events scheduled over three days.
