PHOENIX, Arizona, April 19. IN the latest edition of Swimming World Magazine, which arrived in subscribers mailboxes earlier this month, we named the Top 12 World Masters Swimmers of 2006. They hail from five different countries and range in age from 29-91.
Here is the complete list of winners:
MEN
GRAHAM JOHNSTON, 75, UNITED STATES
Masters of South Texas
JIM McCONICA, 56, UNITED STATES
Ventura County Masters and BuenaVentura Swim Club
ROBERT STRAND, 61, UNITED STATES
The Olympic Club
MARCUS MATTIOLI, 46, BRAZIL
Minas Tenis Clube
ALEXANDER MILLS, 55, NORWAY
Hamar Idrettslag
GORO KOBAYASHI, 91, JAPAN
KSG Yamaguchi
WOMEN
JANE ASHER, 75, GREAT BRITAIN
King's Cormorants Wimbledon
LAURA VAL, 55, UNITED STATES
Tamalpais Aquatic Masters
SUSAN VON DER LIPPE, 41, UNITED STATES
Colorado Loveland Masters
WILLY VAN RYSEL, 90, GREAT BRITAIN
Spencer Swim Team
BETTY ANN BARNETT, 60, UNITED STATES
Hawaii Masters
HITOMI MATSUDA, 29, JAPAN
Ohahu Club
Runners-up:
MEN
DENNIS BAKER, USA
JOHN CALVERT, USA
RICH SAEGER, USA
GARY HALL SR., USA
WOMEN
LYNN MARSHALL, CANADA
JENNIFER MERRITT, GREAT BRITAIN
KANA OHASHI, JAPAN
ROSA SELLARES, SPAIN
We also want to thank our expert panel for participating in the selection process:
Morrie Chiang, Taipei: president of Taipei Masters Swimming.
Hideki Mochizuki, Japan: Swimming World Magazine's Japanese correspondent and writer for Japanese Swimming magazine.
Mark Moore, USA: Masters editor of SWIM Magazine and the Masters program director at Mission Viejo.
Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen, USA: regular contributor to SWIM Magazine and former World Masters Swimmer of the Year.
Skip Thompson, USA: USMS Coach of the Year and swimming expert.
Andy Wilson, Great Britain: editor of British Masters swimming magazine.
Phillip Whitten, USA: former editor-in-chief of Swimming World Magazine and current executive director of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America.
Swimming World Magazine is also indebted to the following individuals for their invaluable assistance in preparing the list: Jorge Aguado, Alex Pussieldi, Brent Rutemiller, Amanda Smith and Stephanie West.