Harold E. Peter
The Huntsman Senior Olympic World Games were held this year in St. George, Utah October 11 through 13. The swimming events were inviting enough to have two SaddleBrooke swimmers participate. It was kind of appropriate because the games were close enough to the start of the competition swimming season.
The World Games include a lot of athletic events bringing over 12,000 athletes to St. George. Consequently, the hotels were full despite the spikes in the room rates. The hotels seemed to be going by the motto “Let’s cash in when the getting is good.” The weather was perfect, but it didn’t matter for the swimming events because they were held in an indoor 25 meter pool.
The swimming events started at 7:00 a.m. each day with the warm-ups, followed by the events promptly at 8:00 a.m. Unfortunately, the so called heat sheets showing which lane and starting block you should be at were late every day, creating a lot of scrambling as to where and when one had to show up for each event. The competition finished each day around 11:00 a.m. and concluded with the presentation of the medals and ribbons. That gave us all afternoon to rest up for the next day’s competition.
Harold Peter swam two events each day of the competition in the 80 to 84-year-old age group finishing the three days with two gold, three silver and one bronze medal. Wendy Weinberg competed in the 70 to 74 age group and earned five silver and three bronze medals. All in all, it was an enjoyable start to the swimming season; however, also pointing out that one needs to get in somewhat better shape to earn all gold medals. The ride back home to SaddleBrooke was enjoyable as well; very scenic and giving us an opportunity to view the northern rim of the Grand Canyon and stay in Sedona, the red rock country. Both were colorful and pretty in the sunshine we experienced every day.