Friday, November 25, 2005

Fun reunion on the pool deck.


This is one of my favorite times. I love it -- LOVE IT -- when I'm on the deck of a swim pool and am graced by the presence of a swimmer I had the opportunity to coach. Meet Karin Painter -- or at least that was her name. Karin coaches with the Greensburg Y and is mom to twins. She was a HS All American on Relays the two years I got to coach her at Plum High School. I think she split a 53 in a relay at WPIALs (and the 400 free relay got first place, twice). Karin then went to Bowling Green, with some scholarship aid, and captained that team. She was a teacher until recently.

Meeting swimmers later in life is such a gas.

Here is another reunion I had with a former swimmer back in July, 2004. I went to a session of the Illinois Swimming Long Course Age Group Championships. I had coached in that meet and our team got 2nd! This guy was on those teams.


Derrik Ammerman, a guy I coached when he was 10, 11 and 12. Now he is a coach at Dunlap, Illinois.

2 comments:

Jonathan Potts said...

I met Karen once during a party at the home of someone I believe you know--Mark Platek. He's a fellow Westminster grad and a fraternity brother, though we are about five years apart.

Karen's brother was an undergrad at Ohio University's j-school while I was enrolled in its graduate program.

Mark Rauterkus said...

This is Karin with an "I" -- as Karen with an "E" was Karen Van Tassel -- teammates. Those were their nick names from me.

Yes, Mark Platek, another lad I coached -- when he was 10-years old. Fun as a basket of critter then too.

I had wished Karin had gone to OU -- but she went to the teaching school, BGSU (cks). Lucky for her, there was a coaching change while she was becoming an upperclassmen.

The sibling, OU grad just quit his DC magazine job and moved to the mistake on the lake, so I hear. Family move. Can't knock that.

FWIW, (and I think you know this) I'm BSJ 82 -- Ohio U -- news/editing sequence. I loved my Athens experiences.