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New Masters program offers swim workouts for fitness seekers and competitive athletes
masters swim pic1
Turlock Masters Swim Club members Lindsy Speckens (left), Lew Boyle (center), and Tom Kinnier (right) follow instructions from coach Julius Young on Monday at the CSU Stanislaus pool. TMSC will hold their first meet and greet at 6 p.m. on Monday at Sweet River Bar and Grill. - photo by ANDREA GOODWIN/ The Journal

The new Turlock Masters Swim Club will offer coaching and camaraderie to adults who have an interest in swimming. 

“This is not just for competitive swimmers. We’re open to all swimmers, ages 19 to 130, who just want to get out there and swim,” said Lew Boyle, co-founder and board president of Turlock Masters Swim Club.

The club was founded by a group of swimmers who work out at the California State University, Stanislaus pool. He met with Kellie Marshall, Tom Kinnier and Fred Griffon and they formed a board of directors. They decided to found their own masters swim program because they saw a need in Turlock that was not met by other programs.

“Masters Swim is all about fitness through swimming. There are a lot of people in this area who used to swim competitively, are training for triathlons, or who just like to swim,” Boyle said.

There are several other Masters Swim clubs in the area, which all fall under Pacific Masters Swimming. Masters Swim programs are open to competitive and non-competitive swimmers over the age of 18. Members pay a $40 annual fee to be part of the organization, and small monthly dues to use the pool.

Julius Young, Turlock Masters Swim Club coach, said that there would be three levels of workouts for TMSC members. They will range from a beginning workout for those looking to improve swim technique and physical fitness, a more intermediate workout, and an advanced workout for competitive swimmers. There is a suggested minimum swimming ability for members.

“Anyone who can swim 25 yards in a comfortable time, that’s about one length of the pool, should do fine. We can work with them from there. It’s all about quality, and then quantity,” Young said.

Young and Boyle both stressed that the club is for anyone who wants to improve physical fitness through swim, and not just experienced competitive swimmers. Boyle said that there are a lot of triathletes in the area, and usually their weakest area is swimming.

“What we provide is a coached, supervised and organized workout,” Boyle said.

The swim club will meet five days a week at the CSU Stanislaus pool, which is heated to around 80 degrees.  Boyle said that CSU Stanislaus has been very helpful in scheduling times for TMSC to use the pool.

In addition to physical fitness, Boyle said that there is a social element to master swim programs. Some Masters programs sponsor barbecues and other outings. The first meet up of TMSC will be a “dry land” meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday at Sweet River Bar and Grill.

For more information or to sign up for TMSC, call Lew at 485-0818.

To contact Andrea Goodwin e-mail agoodwin@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2003.