Mary Beth Windrath (Inducted 2014)

Mary Beth Windrath started her swimming career with lessons, then joined a swim team and competed in swim events and synchronized swimming beginning at 9 years of age. She continued the dual participation through her freshman year at Michigan State and then specialized in just syncho until college graduation.

Getting back in the pool as an adult started with practicing with the high school girl’s team where she was teaching. This eventually led back to competition as a Masters Swimmer a couple years after college graduation. She met her husband, Paul, and worked out in St. Charles, IL prior to moving to Ohio and then to Minnesota. Mary Beth continues to swim regularly with Paul where they currently live in NY.

Her favorite workouts are 75s and IMs. Kicking is not a favorite. Her favorite pool is anyplace that is clear and not crowded. I would assume open water is not a favorite. “Leave that to Paul”, she says. Her favorite event is the 100 IM, described as “short and sweet.”

Her most memorable Masters event was helping to host Long Course Masters Nationals in 1993. It was a huge job and only a small number of people helping. Overall, the meet went great, and they heard lots of good things afterwards. On a personal level, winning the 800 Free at summer USMS Nationals in 1994 was a crowning achievement. Humbly, she states that all the fast people were at Worlds in Montreal that year.

She also helped with the 1997 Pan Pacifics in Hawaii and got a few swims in there as well. Another great memory is the recollection of early Masters meets that were held on weekdays. She drove to Woodbury one evening in the beginning of a snowstorm. Being unsure of exactly where the pool was and signage being covered with sticky snow led to a slower than expected trip. No matter, she arrived at the school just in time to put her suit on, and literally jump on the blocks for her first event. She finished and later found out that she had set a LMSC record.

Warms ups really are overrated. As a volunteer, in the days before computers, Mary Beth was involved in compiling meet results. Back in those days, swimmers would enter events by filling out cards with their name, the events and a seed times. Cards were organized by times, and lane assignments were made. Swimmers would pick up their cards before their events and carry such to the timers behind their lanes. After the race, the stopwatch times would be written on the cards.

Mary Beth remembers Roger Bosveld and Ann Groskopf asking her (and Paul) to do the results for a state meet. The times were taken off the cards, written on a sheet of paper, and then posted on the wall. No one ever complained about results taking too long to be posted.

Records indicate Mary Beth Windrath was an active Minnesota Masters Swimmer from 1993 – 2007. During that time she attained 23 National Top Ten individual times. These results are all confirmed via computer and Mary Beth knows. She currently serves as the Top Ten Recorder for the National USMS organization.
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About Minnesota Masters Swimming

Minnesota Masters Swimming LMSC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to a healthy swimming lifestyle for adult swimmers within 87 counties in Minnesota and 3 in Western Wisconsin. It is the local governing body for United States Masters Swimming (USMS).

There are 1,172 registered swimmers in the Minnesota LMSC and over 60,000 nationwide. Anyone 18 years of age or older is eligible to join. No prior competitive swimming experience is necessary.

Minnesota Masters Contacts

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