CAMAS, Washington, September 30. THREE Masters swimmers increased their world record tally over the weekend, setting 11 Masters short course meters world records among them at the LaCamas Headhunters Classic.
Four of those records were set by 80-year-old David Radcliff, who is having an incredible year in the pool. Last March, he set the Masters world record in the 400 free with a 5:39.27 and with his four records last weekend, he owns all the freestyle short course world records in the 80-84 age group with the exception of the 50 free.
Radcliff took care of two world records in one race, posting a time of 11:43.02 in the 800 during the 1500 free. That split time beat Bumpy Jones’ year-old world record by a full minute. When Radcliff touched the wall at 1500 meters, he had recorded a time of 21:59.53. That beat Jones’ world record by an incredible two minutes and 37 seconds.
Next up were the 100 and 200 freestyles, and Radcliff took aim at both world records owned by Spain’s Roberto Alberiche. In the 100 free, Radcliff took down Alberiche’s record of 1:12.84 with a quick 1:11.26. In his final swim of the meet, Radcliff blazed through the 200 free with a 2:38.35, beating Alberiche’s 2:45.24 by a sizeable margin.
Radcliff rarely competes in the 50 free, last doing so in 2010 when he posted a 31.16 as a 76-year-old. But the prospect of owning all the freestyle records for the 80-84 age group has likely not been lost on Radcliff.
Willard Lamb had some fun in the distance freestyle events, setting four world records in three events in the 90-94 age group. Similar to Radcliff’s strategy, Lamb broke the world record in 800 freestyle during his 1500 free event with a 16:07.84. That time demolished his own world record of 16:20.40 from last year. In the 1500 free, the 92-year-old posted a 30:41.82 to lower his own record of 31:01.09.
Lamb took another shot at the 800 freestyle world record during that event, lowering his new record even further with a 16:04.18. Lamb also owns the world record in the 400 free with a 7:46.30 in March, and he lowered it again in Washington with a 7:44.83.
Ellen Reynolds enjoyed a successful meet as well with three world records of her own in the 50-54 age group. The 50-year-old from Sawtooth Masters started the meet with a 5:10.96 in the 400 IM, lowering the world record of 5:14.65 that she shared with Canadian Lynn Marshall. Later, she took down the last remaining world record by Laura Val in the 50-54 age group with a 1:01.41 in the 100 free, breaking Val’s record of 1:01.49. She capped off the meet with a 2:28.62 in the 200 IM, beating Karlyn Pipes’ record of 2:30.63.
Also in the record-breaking mix was Dan Kirkland, who set a USMS national record in the 800 free with a 10:19.31 in the 65-69 age group. The 66-year-old broke Hubie Kerns’ record of 10:21.01 from this past June, and was just three seconds off Vittorio Ermirio’s world record of 10:16.06 from 2007.