One of the many things that ceases to amaze me about the YMCA Indy SwimFit program is the dedication, motivation and the perseverance of the athletes in the program. As a coach, each week that goes by it is with great pleasure to see each of you attain the goals you have set for yourself. Whether you swim in program for fitness , compete in triathlons, Open water, or competitive Masters Swimming. You challenge yours elves to be the best you can be. The past two weeks have been a perfect example of your perseverance . I apologize, some of what I am including in this email is old news, however I wanted to SHOUT IT OUT! in one email… Our activities are so diverse it is very hard to bring it together.

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Triathlons is a grueling sport (swim, bike , run), and to see so many MultiFit program members compete and do so well in the Tri Indy Triathlon is very gratifying. Many placed well in their age groups and or had personal bests. The same holds true for the Steelhead Triathlon, where we had two National Qualifiers (David Forsee and Mike Smith) for the World Triathlon Championships in Clearwater, Florida later this year. Ed Merkling also qualified for the World Triathlone Championships in Clearwater.



Jim Barber / Victoria Rian at the Finish

I would very remiss if I did not mention the accomplishment of two girls and guy and their Catalina Cahnnel swim.( Jim Barber , Victoria Rian, and Mallory Mead ) Jim and Victoria made the crossing in 8 hours and 43 minutes, the fastest crossing this year Thursday night and Mallory followed up with a great swim on Monday 8:37. Jim and Mallory have swam the Triple Crown of OW Swimming (English Channel, Catalinea, and Manhattan)






National Champions

Now on to San Juan, Pureto Rico site of the US Masters Swimming Long Course Championships. After two days we have 4 individual National Champions and 1 National Championship Relay. Karlene Denby (55-59) 800 Free, Sally Newell (70-74) 200 Breaststroke, Fran McAree (80-84) 400 Free, and George Quigley (70-74) 100 Back. These same four national champions swam on the 280+ Medley Relay National Championship relay. While we all can’t be champions, we had outstanding swims and placing high in their age groups with personal best from Christine Pedersen, Catherine LaCrosse, and Ben Christoffel.....



280+ Mixed Free Relay

Katherine Triathlete
National Champion

Turned Swimmer National Champions

The beat goes on...The final two days saw YMCA Indy SwimFit swimmers garner several more National Championships. Sally Newell 50 and 100 Breast, Karlene Denby in the 400 Free, Fran McAree in the 200 Free, Coach Ben Christoffel 50 Breast, and Coach George Quigley 200 Back. In addition to these individual efforts the 280+ Mixed Free Relay (Denby, McAree, Newell, and Coach Goldstein) won a National Championship. The Final Total in Gold Medals for YMCA Indy SwimFit for these National Championsips was 18. Wow ! What a way to end the week...

Personal Stories- Aglow Transformation Cruise

Phyllis King

Please let me share something very personal with you today. I was one of those kids that grew up in a church and wished I hadn’t. I just wanted a normal life with no responsibility of having to think about who God is or what He wants.



As a child, listening to Sunday school lessons, hearing talk about God in church, and watching church people left me in a confused and agitated state. I couldn’t figure out why there are so many denominations and why they don’t get along. Or why they say God is loving and yet, are so mean to each other.



I invited Jesus into my life when I was five years old and then resented that I had given my life to anything or anybody before I even knew what my life was to give. As an adult, I attended church and tried to be a Christian, but eventually gave up. When I drank alcohol, I became an alcoholic. I got married and divorced twice. I was afraid, angry, frustrated and kept trying to work out my life by myself.



As my way of living exhausted me, I started to wonder about God. It made sense to me to go to the Bible, the source, instead of a church for answers. I started reading the Bible daily with one question in mind: “Who is God and what is He really like?” I found that Jesus said He came in love to point the way to God.



The Bible says he is the loving, healing, God of peace. I discovered that following Jesus put me on a path of peace and happiness I had never known before. I learned He is pleased with me and has a plan for my life. It’s such a peace to know that I’m on my way home to Heaven with him when I die. Following him hasn’t made me perfect, just forgiven.



I am sharing this with you today because I am concerned about the stresses we live in. I want you to be able to know the same peace, happiness, belonging to God’s family, and assurance for eternity that I have found. To really find Jesus, I had to search for Him personally, and not just a religion. It is wonderful to be in a relationship with the living Jesus Christ.



I prayed something like this: “Jesus, if you are real, will you come into my heart and live in my life? Show me how to let you be Lord of my life.” If you haven’t done this yet…please pray something like this for yourself and find the treasure that I have found. And thank you for reading my story.

The Earth

This is fascinating - it's rather dazzling
to see the Earth presented this way.

Jupiter

Sun

I CERTAINLY THOUGHT THIS WAS ENLIGHTENING.
BEYOND OUR SUN IT'S A BIG UNIVERSE.

ANTARES IS THE 15TH BRIGHTEST STAR IN THE SKY.
IT IS MORE THAN 1000 LIGHT YEARS AWAY.
NOW, HOW BIG ARE YOU?
NOW, TRY TO WRAP YOUR MIND AROUND THIS...
THIS IS A HUBBLE TELESCOPE ULTRA DEEP FIELD
INFRARED VIEW OF COUNTLESS 'ENTIRE' GALAXIES
BILLIONS OF LIGHT-YEARS AWAY.