{"id":489315,"date":"2021-10-10T14:17:40","date_gmt":"2021-10-10T21:17:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=489315"},"modified":"2021-10-10T14:17:40","modified_gmt":"2021-10-10T21:17:40","slug":"usms-nationals-day-4-celebrating-john-mary-pohlmann-who-met-58-years-ago-on-a-pool-deck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/usms-nationals-day-4-celebrating-john-mary-pohlmann-who-met-58-years-ago-on-a-pool-deck\/","title":{"rendered":"USMS Nationals Day 4: Celebrating John, Mary Pohlmann Who Met 58 Years Ago \u2014\u00a0On a Pool Deck"},"content":{"rendered":"

USMS Nationals Day 4: Celebrating John, Mary Pohlmann Who Met 58 Years Ago \u2014 On a Pool Deck<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Daniel Paulling.<\/em><\/p>\n

John and Mary Pohlmann<\/strong> fittingly met on a pool deck.<\/p>\n

It happened in 1962 in San Antonio, Texas, where he was stationed with the U.S. Army Special Forces for medical training and where she was living with her family. John was 19, Mary 18. A few months after they met, John asked her to a dance, and they\u2019ve been together since.<\/p>\n

The two St. Louis Area Masters members have been married for 58 years, a lengthy relationship that Masters Swimming has been a part of. Meets such as the U.S. Masters Swimming Long Course National Championship (USMS)\u00a0 in Geneva, Ohio, which concluded Sunday, provide them an opportunity to have something to look forward to on their schedule and travel to.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes the difference between just having kind of a normal existence and having a committed existence,\u201d John says. \u201cWhen it\u2019s on the calendar, there\u2019s a place we have to go at this time, and we make preparations for it and we focus on the activity rather than ad lib.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sitting next to him, Mary continues the thought: \u201cRight. And a long time ago, I gave a talk on how to stay healthy in retirement. One of the things I said was you need a reason to get up in the morning, and I certainly have a reason to get up in the morning. The pool opens at 6 a.m.\u201d<\/p>\n

John, 77, and Mary, 76, don\u2019t train together\u2014she likes swimming early in the morning, whereas he likes swimming later in the day and focuses on a different stroke\u2014but they\u2019ve been participating in Masters Swimming for a long time, like many other married couples.<\/p>\n

Mary joined USMS in 1984, but John didn\u2019t do so until 2002 when he retired and decided he wanted to travel with Mary to meets. They\u2019ve been all over the U.S. and to Italy twice, Canada, Germany, and Sweden to compete.<\/p>\n

When John brings up that they went to Hungary for the FINA World Masters Championships in 2017, the two go into a conversation about how great the experience was, feeding off each other like a couple that has been married for nearly six decades. They then swap stories about various mishaps they experienced there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got to swim in there right after the elite swimmers had been in there,\u201d Mary says, referring to the FINA World Championships that ended before the Masters meet. \u201cWhat was really funny was they had all the security in place for these elite swimmers, and here comes these old guys trying to get through this turnstile, and it was so funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

She then asks John to share the story of what happened to him in the turnstile.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s embarrassing, but this bar got between my legs unintentionally,\u201d John says. He then pauses and adds with a deadpan before laughing: \u201cAnd it hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 More masters coverage<\/a><\/p>\n

USMS gives John and Mary the balance they like in their relationship. They don\u2019t train together and swim different strokes\u2014he focuses on breaststroke, she on backstroke and freestyle\u2014but spend quality time together while traveling for meets.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the secret to good marriages is that you do some things together but then you have some other things you do separately,\u201d John says. \u201cYou always have this reason for getting together in the evenings and [ask] how was your day and learning how your spouse spent their day.\u201d<\/p>\n

World and USMS Records Broken on Day 4<\/strong><\/p>\n