Evergreen Park Masters Swim Blooming to Life

Matt O’Rourke has his share of stories when it comes to swimming.

O’Rourke began swimming during his freshman year at Evergreen Park High School. By his senior year, he was team captain and off to Monmouth College to continue swimming. At Monmouth, where he graduated in May of 2010, O’Rourke started the school’s club water polo team, leading the team to nationals three times. One of his greatest capers was swimming from Alcatraz to the mainland in San Francisco.

Now, he can add the Evergreen Park Masters Swim Club to his list.

The club is in its infant stages, and O’Rourke is one of the proud members. The Masters Club is a program for swimmers (18-over) with a competitive background. The idea is to stay in shape and continue swimming in a relaxed atmosphere.

Coach Amanda Nolan talked the idea over with some of the other members and soon the program was launched. The club started in early May and slowly has been building steam as more join the group, which has about 12 members right now.

For the fall, the club will apply to be an official USA Swimming Masters Swim Team. With this status, club members will be able to compete in and host meets. For the summer, Nolan said the team is getting a feel for the program and who will be able to commit.

“I didn’t want to scare people away,” Nolan said. “I wanted people to come and I didn’t want to say, ‘We’re super competitive, we’re doing meets and you guys have to do it and these are the events you have to swim,’ because swimming’s hard.”

Nolan, who is a student at St. Xavier and runs the aquatic programs for the Evergreen Park Recreation Department, said the biggest obstacle moving forward will be getting swimmers to stick with it and gaining the official “Masters Team” title.

Those who are on the team now are already enjoying it. “It’s my main exercise at the moment,” Mark Panarese said. “It’s a good way to get back into shape.”

Panarese is 39 years old and works as a nurse anesthetist at Stroger Hospital. The team practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30-10 p.m. and on Saturdays from 3-5 p.m. at Evergreen Park High School. During the week, Panarese works 12-hour shifts, then heads over to practice after saying good night to his kids.

O’Rourke is excited for the team to continue his career. “Not swimming any more is strange,” he said. “When I heard about it, I was on board.”

He has taken a lot from swimming during his life, and the Masters Club will allow him to continue to benefit from the pool. “When you swim, you have a lot of time to think to yourself,” O’Rourke said. “It sounds kind of cheesy, but I really got to find myself and I’m really secure with the person I am.”

If you’re interested in joining, please e-mail Nolan at ep_privatelessons@yahoo.com.

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