Had Jeff Rahill just won the bronze medal and set personal records for himself in five events, that likely would’ve sufficed. At the 2000 United State Masters Swimming Long Course National Championship, where nearly 1,400 athletes suited up for competition,
Had Jeff Rahill just won the bronze medal and set personal records for
himself in five events, that likely would’ve sufficed. At the 2000 United State
Masters Swimming Long Course National Championship, where nearly 1,400 athletes
suited up for competition, just being in attendance surely was a treat.
But
Rahill, 55, swimming in the 55-59 age group, did more than that at the Potomac,
Md., meet Aug. 17-20.
He revitalized a coach, and kept a program from
drowning.
“Before Jeff went out there and did what he did at nationals,”
Mokihana Aquatics CEO Orlando Anaya said, “I was about ready to throw in the
towel on this master swimming program.
“We were generating interest, but
the guys in the program, all great guys, did not want to, or were unable, to
actually compete. And, at the heart of it, I’m a coach. I want to see my guys
compete.”
Rahill, who has been swimming under Anaya’s direction for a
number of years, jumpstarted his coach by excelling in all five of the events
he entered in Potomac. His top finish, a bronze-medal earning third place, came
in the 800-meter freestyle. Rahill placed sixth in the 400 Individual Medley,
eighth in the 100 back, 11th in the 200 freestyle and 12th in the 400
freestyle. He said some of the events had as many as 40 competitors; others
just 12-14.
“With all of the factors, like travel and hotel rooms and
irregular diet,” Rahill said, “I was most proud of the fact that I was still
able to get in and swim personal-best times.
“It was a great event that I
hope to be a part of for a long time.”
If Anaya has any say, Rahill will be
part of a group from Kaua’i at the next goround, during August of 2001 in
Federal Way, Wa.
“There is a nice core of good swimmers about the same age
as Jeff,” Anaya said. “I want these guys to get together and do a relay.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that the national champion in one of these
relays could come from Kaua’i.”
One might not guess how close Anaya was to
uttering the exact opposite words at Monday’s United State Swimming board
meeting.
“I was going to tell them we were dropping out of Masters,” Anaya
said. “Now, I’m going to ask for things I might need.”
This is not the
first time during Rahill’s 21 years on Kaua’i that he has contributed to the
livelihood of Masters swimming on the island. Through Anaya’s various attempts
to establish a program, Rahill, “has sometimes been the only guy to show
up.”
And he continues to be a force for Mokihana. After completing a
sanctioned course, Rahill is now an official assistant coach for the swimming
club. Anaya said many of the kids wish that Rahill would teach more than once a
week.
“He’s very popular out here,” Anaya said. “He knows his stuff and
relates well to the kids.”
That is what the love of swimming, and activity
altogether, will do.
Rahill has been on the go all his life. He joined his
first organized swim team at the age of 14. From there he moved on to Coronado
High School in San Diego, where his varsity team earned a California
Interscholastic Federation championship in 1963.
“I wasn’t one of the
faster guys on the team,” Rahill admits. “But I was on the squad.”
It would
not be his last victory.
Rahill has managed to find some modicum of success
in nearly all of his endeavors. Triathlons, he said, are now his primary focus.
He competed in his first IronMan in 1982. But you can also find Rahill trudging
through ocean waters in various “rough-water swims.”
On Labor Day, Rahill
will be offshore at Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, engaged in a rough-water event.
“Five years ago, I placed third in my age group in that swim.”
The
following weekend, Rahill will return to his childhood home of San Diego for
the 70th-annual La Jolla Rough Water Swim, the largest event of its kind in the
country.
“There is something special about swimming,” Rahill said. “It
really has no time frame, you know.
“At the event in Maryland, there were
age-group swimmers who where 19 years old, and some that were 91. It’s not an
activity that is especially hard on the bones and joints, so you can do it for
a long time.”
A t-shirt Rahill noticed at the national championship is
something the swimmer said will stick with him indefinitely.
“Carpe Aquam,”
Rahill enunciated. “Seize the water.”
A motto Rahill lives
daily.
Rahill’s
Exploits
Jeff Rahill’s finishes at the
Long Course Nationals (all events in meters)
800 Free: Bronze
medal, 11:31.77
200 Free:2:36.03 (11)
400
Free:5:37.02 (12)
100 Back:1:27.66 (8)
400 IM:
7:04.99
(6)
By Dennis Fujimoto, Staff Photographer
