Needham YMCA Masters Swimmers Complete Winter Endurance Swim

Eleven masters swimmers from the Needham YMCA swam “Miles for Marly” at the Harvard Blodgett Pool today! This memorial swim is 100x 100 yards, or about 6 miles, of an endurance challenge! The 100-x100 yard challenge is steeped in history as it was famously and routinely done by Bobby Hackett, 1976 Olympian, as a workout assigned by his coach Joe Bernal (former head coach of Gator Swim Club in Boston). Coach Bernal had Bobby Hackett complete the 100 x 100 yard set on the 1:00 minute interval, which is very fast!

Although the Needham Masters swimmers did not match Bobby’s interval pace, they trained mentally and physically to earn the badge of honor many masters swimming groups strive for by matching Bobby’s distance in a single workout.

The 100-x100 yard swim today called “Miles for Marly” was in honor of a coach of the Charles River Aquatics (previously known as Cambridge Masters Swim Club). Marlene Pineda, a competitive swimmer who set a record for distance freestyle at Smith College, was tragically killed in a bicycle accident in 2010 in Brighton, MA. The funds raised from the annual swim go to the Marly Pineda Scholarship Fund. Marly was the interim head coach of the Cambridge Masters Swim Club and the assistant coach of the Harvard women’s swim team when she tragically died at age 24 years old.

Swimmers from the Needham Masters club who swam are: Andrew Allen, Yasmine King, Scott McCue, Michael Mutter, Richard Partridge, Julia Pearson, John Pizzuto (coach), Richard Savage, Tamara Takoudes, Alexander Walley and Lisa Wentworth. The Needham YMCA masters swimmers are a hearty crew and had a blast in mid-winter endurance challenge.

By Tamara C Takoudes