Bermuda, October 2017
Felicia Bianchi and Kathy Masterson represented the "Jocks" this past October at the Bermuda Round the Sound 8K Open Water Swim. With the support and cheering of Paula Johnson our Ladies had an awesome time. Fel was second overall female with the time of 2:20:28 and first in the 40-59 age group. Kathy was second in the 60+ age group with the time of 3:29:08!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The ladies extended their permanence on the island for a few days after the race to enjoy the sun, the beautiful views and some awesome bike rides.
Felicia Bianchi and Kathy Masterson represented the "Jocks" this past October at the Bermuda Round the Sound 8K Open Water Swim. With the support and cheering of Paula Johnson our Ladies had an awesome time. Fel was second overall female with the time of 2:20:28 and first in the 40-59 age group. Kathy was second in the 60+ age group with the time of 3:29:08!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The ladies extended their permanence on the island for a few days after the race to enjoy the sun, the beautiful views and some awesome bike rides.
XVII FINA World Master Championships - Budapest - August 2017
The Jocks return to the International scene with four members competing at the XVII edition of the Masters World Championships. The event was held this past August in Budapest, Hungary. Congratulations to John Fields, Britta O'Leary, Megan Melgaard and Nei-Kuan Chia that after swimming several races each came back with many Medals. Megan only swam the 200 back and got second in the M35 group with an outstanding 2:29:84. Nei-Kuan placed 5th and 4th in the 100 and 200 back in the M40 group. John brought back home a 2nd and two 3rd's in the 100 free, 50 free and 50 fly in the M60 group. Britta (in the M30 group) was the multi medal holder with two 2nd's, a 3rd, a 4th and a 5th. She had a couple of very close races . . . especially in the 100 free where she placed 2nd with 59:61 and only 5/100 behind the winner.
Great swims everyone .....
The Jocks return to the International scene with four members competing at the XVII edition of the Masters World Championships. The event was held this past August in Budapest, Hungary. Congratulations to John Fields, Britta O'Leary, Megan Melgaard and Nei-Kuan Chia that after swimming several races each came back with many Medals. Megan only swam the 200 back and got second in the M35 group with an outstanding 2:29:84. Nei-Kuan placed 5th and 4th in the 100 and 200 back in the M40 group. John brought back home a 2nd and two 3rd's in the 100 free, 50 free and 50 fly in the M60 group. Britta (in the M30 group) was the multi medal holder with two 2nd's, a 3rd, a 4th and a 5th. She had a couple of very close races . . . especially in the 100 free where she placed 2nd with 59:61 and only 5/100 behind the winner.
Great swims everyone .....
FINA World Master Championships - August 2014
Congratulations to John Fields, Lorenzo Benucci, Britta O'Leary and Megan Melgaard. The four Jocks participated to the 15th FINA World Masters Championships that took place this past August in Montreal, Canada. The four Jocks swam against many swimming "Gods" of the past and still came back home with a full carnet of 6 silver and 1 bronze medals. Great Job Guys . . . .
Congratulations to John Fields, Lorenzo Benucci, Britta O'Leary and Megan Melgaard. The four Jocks participated to the 15th FINA World Masters Championships that took place this past August in Montreal, Canada. The four Jocks swam against many swimming "Gods" of the past and still came back home with a full carnet of 6 silver and 1 bronze medals. Great Job Guys . . . .
Proud new mommy Britta with baby Emma and her second place medal.
Rowdy Gaines Invite (SCM) - Orlando - October 2013
Awesome swims by the Jocks at the Rowdy Gaines Invitational in Orlando, FL. Andy Dyer (55-59) with the Atlanta Water Jocks scored 7 state records himself in the 50 and 100 free, 50, 100 and 200 breast, and 100 IM - way to GO Andy!!!
Another Atlanta Water Jock, Igor Vazhenin (45-49) came out for a short visit winning the 200 fly and taking 3rd in the 200 free.
World Masters Olympics - Turin, Italy - August 2013
On August 6th of this year, Igor and Irina Vazhenin celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary competing at World Masters Olympics in Torino, Italy. They decided to do one crazy thing - added an extra event which one of them have swam before - 400 IM. Suprisingly, they both won silver.
Irina had a 4th in the 100 breast, 200 breast, and 200 IM; she finished 2nd in the 400 IM! Igor had a 5th in the 200 free, 4th in the 400 & 800 free, 2nd in 100 fly and 400 IM, and a 1st in the 200 fly.
On August 6th of this year, Igor and Irina Vazhenin celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary competing at World Masters Olympics in Torino, Italy. They decided to do one crazy thing - added an extra event which one of them have swam before - 400 IM. Suprisingly, they both won silver.
Irina had a 4th in the 100 breast, 200 breast, and 200 IM; she finished 2nd in the 400 IM! Igor had a 5th in the 200 free, 4th in the 400 & 800 free, 2nd in 100 fly and 400 IM, and a 1st in the 200 fly.
Jocks at the Classic City Masters - June 2013
3 Jocks crushed the Classic City Masters LCM Invite this past Sunday with 12 wins. Andy swept all 3 breaststroke events in his age group, while David, competing in the same age group as Andy, took 1st place honors in the 400 free, 100 and 200 back and 100 fly. He took 2nd behind Andy in the 200 breast. Britta went 5 for 5 in an off-event meet in preparations for Pan Ams, breaking the GA record (25-29) in the 400 free along the way.
Great job Jocks!!
3 Jocks crushed the Classic City Masters LCM Invite this past Sunday with 12 wins. Andy swept all 3 breaststroke events in his age group, while David, competing in the same age group as Andy, took 1st place honors in the 400 free, 100 and 200 back and 100 fly. He took 2nd behind Andy in the 200 breast. Britta went 5 for 5 in an off-event meet in preparations for Pan Ams, breaking the GA record (25-29) in the 400 free along the way.
Great job Jocks!!
Jocks have some amazing swims at Nationals in Indianapolis - May 2013
Heidi, Amy, Andy, Britta and Lorenzo a the Indy pool!!!
AWJ had a strong showing at Short Course Nationals in Indianapolis. We placed 25th in the combined team results out of 223 teams that entered the meet. With only 5 swimmers competing, that's pretty awesome.
We brought home 20 Top 10 finishes including 5 National Championships. For full Jocks results, please follow the link:http://www.usms.org/comp/meets/meetsearch.php?club=AWJ&MeetID=20130509NATLY
Arena USA took great care of us during the meet, helping us with tech suit sizing and the new Mark 2 suit! Thank you to James and Travis for the great support!
Jocks make a Splash at St. Pat's Invitational at Dynamo - March 2013
Several Jocks attended the meet. Some were actually competing for the first time and some of them actually set a Georgia State Record for the first time. Lynn Beach set the new Georgia Record for W55 in the 50 Breast and her joy was barely containable :-)
Several Jocks attended the meet. Some were actually competing for the first time and some of them actually set a Georgia State Record for the first time. Lynn Beach set the new Georgia Record for W55 in the 50 Breast and her joy was barely containable :-)
Jocks take Third at Auburn Invitational - February 2013
Amy Web, Britta O'Leary, John Fields, Andy Dyer, Felicia Bianchi, Lynn Bech and Heidi Natkin attended the Auburn Invitational in Auburn, AL. The team placed third overall. Britta and John both won the high point awards for their respective age groups. Heidi, Andy, Lynn, Felicia and Amy all had great swims and many wins bringing home lots of point for the team. Congratulations to everyone and way to GO Jocks!.
A great review of the Auburn swims and performances of the AWJ was reported on the February Georgia News letter. See attached below:
Amy Web, Britta O'Leary, John Fields, Andy Dyer, Felicia Bianchi, Lynn Bech and Heidi Natkin attended the Auburn Invitational in Auburn, AL. The team placed third overall. Britta and John both won the high point awards for their respective age groups. Heidi, Andy, Lynn, Felicia and Amy all had great swims and many wins bringing home lots of point for the team. Congratulations to everyone and way to GO Jocks!.
A great review of the Auburn swims and performances of the AWJ was reported on the February Georgia News letter. See attached below:
James River Race, VA 2012
Some of us love swimming in a pool while others most certainly do not. Our own William "Billy" Bond participated in the first (and very cold) up and down the James River race in Richmond, VA on October 13th, 2012. Read the details of the awesome race on the attached article.
2012 Eric Shanteau's Swim for Life
Several Jocks participated in the Eric Shanteau's Swim for Life Fundraiser and 5k Open Water Race. The event took place at Lake Lanier on September 22nd, 2012. The event raised $116k for the Livestrong Foundation.
2012 FINA World Championships - Riccione, Italy
The 14th Fina World Masters Championships were the most numerous Championships ever. The swimming complex was filled with both athletes and spectators at any given time of the day. Around 10,000 swimmers, 2,400 open water (many of them swam in the pool too), 1,400 water polo players, 580 synchronized swimmers, 270 divers this was – by far – the most attended event of our beloved sport.
Out of these almost 15,000 athletes, five bold, strong and young-spirited swimmers joined the masses and represented Georgia in these Championships – Michael Soderlund for the Stingrays, Lorenzo Benucci and John Fields for the Atlanta Water Jocks, and Malena Hankins and Megan Melgaard for GAJA.
These five swimmers did not leave Riccione without making a splash. These five athletes were able to score a total of 17 top ten placements over a total of 18 swims.
The leader of the pack was definitely Michael Soderlund (M50) from the Stingrays. He was short one gold medal from having a perfect carnet. He swam 5 events and won 4 of them. Michael won the 50 free with 25.29 and the 100 free with 55.97. He also won the 100 and the 200 backstroke. He was second in the 200 free. The highlight of his swims was a phenomenal 2:17.57 in the 200 back that gave Michael the Gold and the new World Record in this distance for his age group.
Megan Melgaard (M30) from team GAJA swam three races and won them all. Unfortunately, because of a small technicality, she was short one day off her probationary period from elite swimmer to master swimmer and could not swim the 800 free the very first day of racing. With 2:06.91 in the 200 free and 2:24.25 in the 200 back, Megan won these two races by almost 8 seconds each.
John Fields (M55) representing the Atlanta Water Jocks had his share of the podium as well – see below picture. He raced three times and grabbed 2 first and one second place. John was second in the 100 free. He raced and won the 50 fly with the time of 28.17. Even after having swum this race ate at night (10:15 PM), John was also able to grab the gold in the 50 free with the time of 26.00 the morning immediately after.
Lorenzo Benucci (M45) representing the Atlanta Water Jocks placed 7th in the 100 free with 56.25, 4th in the 100 breast with 1:11.29 and in the 400 IM with 5:02.64 and finally 2nd in the 200 IM with the time of 2:16.93.
Malena Hankins (M35) representing team GAJA placed 15thin the 400 free with 5:05.83, 10th in the 800 Free with 10:15.29 and 5th in the 3k open water.
Out of these almost 15,000 athletes, five bold, strong and young-spirited swimmers joined the masses and represented Georgia in these Championships – Michael Soderlund for the Stingrays, Lorenzo Benucci and John Fields for the Atlanta Water Jocks, and Malena Hankins and Megan Melgaard for GAJA.
These five swimmers did not leave Riccione without making a splash. These five athletes were able to score a total of 17 top ten placements over a total of 18 swims.
The leader of the pack was definitely Michael Soderlund (M50) from the Stingrays. He was short one gold medal from having a perfect carnet. He swam 5 events and won 4 of them. Michael won the 50 free with 25.29 and the 100 free with 55.97. He also won the 100 and the 200 backstroke. He was second in the 200 free. The highlight of his swims was a phenomenal 2:17.57 in the 200 back that gave Michael the Gold and the new World Record in this distance for his age group.
Megan Melgaard (M30) from team GAJA swam three races and won them all. Unfortunately, because of a small technicality, she was short one day off her probationary period from elite swimmer to master swimmer and could not swim the 800 free the very first day of racing. With 2:06.91 in the 200 free and 2:24.25 in the 200 back, Megan won these two races by almost 8 seconds each.
John Fields (M55) representing the Atlanta Water Jocks had his share of the podium as well – see below picture. He raced three times and grabbed 2 first and one second place. John was second in the 100 free. He raced and won the 50 fly with the time of 28.17. Even after having swum this race ate at night (10:15 PM), John was also able to grab the gold in the 50 free with the time of 26.00 the morning immediately after.
Lorenzo Benucci (M45) representing the Atlanta Water Jocks placed 7th in the 100 free with 56.25, 4th in the 100 breast with 1:11.29 and in the 400 IM with 5:02.64 and finally 2nd in the 200 IM with the time of 2:16.93.
Malena Hankins (M35) representing team GAJA placed 15thin the 400 free with 5:05.83, 10th in the 800 Free with 10:15.29 and 5th in the 3k open water.
2006 FINA World Masters Championships - Stanford University - Stanford, CA - Aug 4-17, 2006
2006 SCY Spring Nationals - Coral Springs, FL
2003 Founding Members - Jim Ebert, Lorenzo Benucci, David Eng - @ Our First Meet - Auburn Invite - Feb 16, 2003
