Mike Hendricks

Family and Occupation:  I have a wife, Marsha, and two kids who are in college.  I’m employed as an accountant with First Security Bank in Searcy.

Swimming background: I swam age group and high school in Jacksonville.  Then I came to Harding and swam almost a semester there.  In the early 90’s I swam with a masters team in Jacksonville, but when I moved up to Searcy, there wasn’t a place to swim, so I took several years off.  Recently the city of Searcy built a pool, and I took up swimming again and re-joined masters swimming.

Favorite event/race: I like the sprint freestyle races.  You know, the ones that seemingly everyone likes!  I’ll also do some butterfly, but I like to keep it to a 50 or less.

Swimming hero: When I was in high school, I guess it was Rowdy Gaines.  And more recently, it’s hard not to be impressed by what Michael Phelps has done.

Swimming goals: My goals are simple – swim for fitness.  Get a couple of workouts a week to keep in shape and form.  I don’t get in the pool and crank out 100 laps straight and then go home – I still like to do sets with intervals.  That’s probably because that’s the only type of swimming I know.

Advice to new masters swimmers:  Enjoy.  Have fun.  Watch yourself get better.  Be your best.  Most folks our age would struggle to do what we do, so take pride in what you’re doing.

Hobbies: Most of my spare time is spent exercising (I mountain bike or road bike in addition to swimming) or reading.  My wife inherited a farm in SW Arkansas, and lately I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can about a 1950’s tractor, so I can get it running and working.

Favorite drills:  I like pulling.  I like the “hand paddle reach” drill – one hand holds a hand paddle out extended in front.  The other arm takes a stroke, and then you grab the paddle with the other hand, and then you take a stroke with your other arm.  In high school, we didn’t use a hand paddle, and we called this a “touch and go” drill.

Do you participate in other sports?  I took up bicycling in the late 90’s, and again around 2007, because Searcy had no pool to swim, and I wanted to do something exercise related.

Where do you currently swim?  The Searcy Swim Center.  It’s a new pool, 5 years old.  8 lanes, 25 yards.