Hometown and Current residence: I was born in San Francisco, CA, and currently live in Rogers, Ar. In between, I lived in Washington DC., Knoxville, TN, Birmingham, AL, St. Louis, MO, Indianapolis, IN, Houston, TX, and Omaha, NE.
Family and Occupation: Have been married to my husband, Dan, for almost 35 years. We have two awesome children, Shawn and Katie, and a wonderful daughter-in-law, Emily. I just retired after twenty years as a school library media specialist.
Swimming background: My mom put us all on summer swim team to get us out of her hair. I was 6 at the time, and I quickly started swimming year-round (AAU at that time). I swam through high school, and then 1 year of college at a Division III school (DePauw University). After college I swam on my own off and on until I discovered a masters team at Univ of Nebraska, Omaha in about 1996. Thought I would hate it, but LOVED it! Most of my great friends have come through swimming or other sports.
Favorite event/race: I was always a sprinter (50/100 Fly and Free), but I’ve been branching out and doing some long distance events recently. I actually kind of like it.
Swimming hero: Mark Spitz was my hero as a kid, and Jason Lezak more recently. I got to meet him in 2008 while volunteering at the Olympic Swim Trials, and I hate to admit it, but I didn’t know who he was at the time!
Swimming goals: My current goal is to swim a 200 fly at a meet, but I also want to be swimming and competing until I’m old(er) and gray(er).
Advice to new masters swimmers: Swim with others! You will work harder and learn from them. Plus, it’s just more fun.
Hobbies: Reading, cycling, rug hooking (yes, I’m a hooker), and traveling. My biggest adventure was walking the Camino de Santiago across Spain last fall.
Do you participate in other sports? I’ve done a few triathlon, and I ride with Girls Bike Bentonville.
Where do you currently swim? Bentonville Community Center, and Melvin Ford Aquatic Center in the summer.
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