One thousand competitive swimmers descended on Birmingham, Alabama between June 5th and June 10th to compete in the 30th anniversary of the National Senior Games (NSG). Among them were our very own Betsey “The Animal” Kassen and Father Tom “FT” Fritschen. This was Betsey’s fourth appearance at NSG and Father Tom’s first. Over 10,000 senior athletes (50 and over) from around the country were in town to compete in a variety of sports.
The swimming competition took place in Birmingham’s beautiful new Crossplex, a 750,000 square foot facility dedicated to sporting activities. Ten 25-yard lanes in the natatorium were devoted for racing with the other half of the pool reserved for continuous warm-up/warm down. The pool is so state of the art that it uses ultraviolet light water filtration rather than chlorine or saline.
The meet itself was so large that it was divided into three sessions, almost like three separate swim meets. Betsey swam during the first half of the week while Father Tom anchored the second half. Mother Nature offered up rain and lightning the first couple of days, but there was no stopping our intrepid warriors!
First up, Betsey took gold in the 200 free, breaking the national record by 9 seconds! She went on to nail another national record in the 400 IM, with a time almost a minute faster than the second place finisher. And that was only Day 1!
On Day 2 Betsey took second in the 100 Breast, but that was just a warm-up. She went on to swim the much dreaded 200 Fly and garnered another record with a time 12 seconds faster than the 2nd place finisher! You see why we call her “The Animal”? OMG!
Day 3 brought two more national records in the 200 IM which she broke by 4.5 seconds and the 500 free which she eclipsed by 4 seconds!
She is nothing less than a Level 5 aquatic hurricane! What do you do for seconds, Betsey?
Father Tom was up next. FT took 7th in the 100 Back, his best time by a full second! He nabbed 14th in the 50 free while registering his best time by half a second and landing an impressive sub :30 time. He went on to capture 13th in the 200 Free.
After a run-in with a slippery deck, FT was forced to scratch the 200 Back, but he excelled in everything else he swam. Way to go, FT, on a great meet!
FT is no stranger to adversity. After ranking at or near the top nationally in track cycling for years in his younger days, he was involved in a terrifying crash with a car while riding in Colorado some years ago. After a good amount of healing, his doctor recommended swimming, and the rest is history. He’s only been swimming for about 3 years now, and he’s gotten so fast!
Many kudos to both of our incredible TWIMmers and congratulations. You’ve raised the bar – and our banner – ever higher!
Hail TWIM Long Live!
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Way to go, champions!
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