The Mississippi Senior Olympics 2023

We did it. Penny and I drove down to the Coast and I swam. Vicki went and she swam. We had a good time, a jolly good time. If you have a few moments, I'll tell you about it.

We got to Biloxi and checked into our room about 4:00 o'clock Friday afternoon. From there we rested, and then went out to eat and secured some good seafood. Then it was time for relaxation and bed. 

We had breakfast, a pretty good one, at the motel and then headed for Father Ryan Boulevard. I love that street. It has nice old houses, huge live oaks, and enough palm trees to make the Mississippi delta seem a million miles away. And it is only a block off the beach. The Biloxi Natatorium is on the west end of Father Ryan Boulevard, a long course pool that is set up for short course. Every year when we show up, a young swim team is finishing their practice. Some of them dress and then work our meet. God bless them.

The place feels familiar now. I first swam there when Penny and I went to MML a few years back. Then you could rent a lane for two bucks. I swam every day we were there. Then I heard about the Senior Olympics and started competing each year. Now Penny and I feel at home when we show up and set up for a morning of swimming.

Saturday morning, April 22nd, we arrived about 8:00 a.m. Swimmer check in was at 8:30. We set up, checked in, and I began to warmup. I did 650 before I ran out of time. I had to take care of necessary business beforehand, and for the first time in my life, I was wearing a racing suit. Real swimmers will know what that means.

Penny, my cheerleader, settling in
for a long morning.

For awhile, there was an absence of heat sheets. They had some taped to the wall, but I found that quite distressing. I took pictures, but from the start I was lost. Being registered for seven events, I was sure I'd miss something. The PA system is so bad there that the announcer may as well be speaking Portuguese with a wounded tongue. Then I bumped into the race director on deck, and I told him I'd give $20 for a heat sheet. "You don't have to give 20 bucks. Here is one for free," he said handing me one. Now I was having fun.

My first event was the 200 free. This is one I have always won. Not this time. There were a lot of men at the 2023 meet, several new ones. If I remember right, all eight lanes were full. I came in second. The guy who beat me was a former college swimmer. A number of those guys were on hand to make this the most competitive meet I have ever done.

Next up was the 50 yard breastroke. This is the one I added when I found out we could do more than six events. It is a terrible event for me, but still the best of my really bad ones that I wasn't already signed up for. The pool was full, and I was far from the first when it was over. The thing about these races is you don't always know how you did until they pass out the medals. Sometimes several age groups are in the same heat, and out-of-staters are eliminated from medal contention. To my surprise, when I picked up my awards, I was gold in the 50 breast to go with my silver in the 200 free.

Within minutes, I was back in the water for the 100 back. This is my best bad stroke. All eight lanes were full, and when I touched to wall at the finish, everyone else was still swimming. So that made two golds and one silver.

After my third event, I had a few minutes before number four. We watched Vicki race and a guy named Mike Weeks who raced seventeen events plus the relays. WHAT!?!?!?!? Yeah, I thought I was a bad dude doing seven. He did seventeen!

I was finally back on deck for the 50 free. There were three heats for the men's 50 free. This is the first time I have ever been here when they had more than one heat for a single event. I was in the third heat which had eight people in the pool for that one. I got second place. Not long after that, I was swimming the 50 back. I won my age group in that one, but I was not the first one to the wall.

There was only one race between the 50 back and the 100 free. That closeness, however, did not seem to hurt me as I swam well but finished second to Jeff Andrews that former college swimmer I told you about earlier. He and a couple of other former college swimmers killed all the sprints. Still it was fun competing and beating all the old men not named Jeff Andrews.

My fat belly getting ready to deck dive
to start the 500 free.

The last race of the day (it was the last before they added the relays this year) was the 500. This has always been my best event and the one I train for. I consider all of my training preparation for this race. I had just watched Vicki win her age group in this event, and now I was on deck and ready to dive. Unlike the 200 where I went out way too hard, I paced myself for the first 100. All eight lanes were full, and I was out ahead of everyone. I had some trouble reading the numbers. On the far end of the pool, a lap counter is stationed for each swimmer. Beginning with the third length, they stick a pole down with a number on it to help you keep up with where you are. My volunteer, God bless her, was not putting in down deep enough and then pulling it up too soon. I became confused and at one point I determined to stop and ask where I was. I had lapped the guys on each side of me. When I came to the wall, I saw legs in every lane. WHAT!!! My timer said, "You did extra." Dude, I had to do at least 100 extra!! Since I had lapped them, if I only went an extra 50, I still would have beaten them to the wall. Oh well, I won, but it is a little sweeter when you finish and look back and see everyone else still swimming. 

So the final count was four gold and three silver medals. Not bad for an old man. My 500 time as twenty-plus seconds faster than last year despite the fact that I did not get to hammer the final 50.

Then there were the relays. We divided up into teams and swam mixed medley and mixed 200 free. On the medley, I swam backstroke. I changed and left right after the second relay. Later, Vicki sent me a photo of some medals and said she would bring them to me. So I guess they pass out medals to everyone who swims relay. That's what they do at the State Games.

It was a ton of fun, and Vicki and I both had some success. Right now, I am sky high and looking at this heat sheet and figuring what I can add next year. My goal is to add at least one more race, but I can't imagine doing seventeen like Mike Weeks. That guy punched his Bad A_ _ card for a lifetime with that performance.

Next up, the State Games in Meridian on June 3rd, the day after I turn 67. Then there will be Pool Fools, and then the Heart O' Dixie Triathlon, and then I heard something about a swim across a bay in Bay Saint Louis. Heavy training, here I come.