Winning Relay

One of the advantages of being an older swimmer is outliving the competition! Since only two ecuadorian women over the age of 55 were competing, the DAM 55+ women won the 4x100 relay. Although 3 of us are 60+, we had to compete in the age group of our youngest swimmer, Nancy. Pictured are Betty, Nancy, Leslie & Me.

Brass Band

Did I mention the brass band? Yep, they had a brass band play a few numbers. It was either a police brass band or a transit police band, don't remember which. Ecuadorians do like their ceremonies! This is the only swim meet with a live brass brand that I can recall in my entire life. The Ecuadorians certainly know how to make things special!

The Swim Meet

This trip to Ecuador was a Swim Team Trip (Davis Aquatic Masters), so naturally, at some point, we had to compete. In fact, we had two competitive swims on this trip, a pool meet in Guayaquil and an open water swim in the Galapagos! The first open water swim ever in the Galapagos!

Our host was an Ecuadorian swim team located in Guayaquil. Our swim coach was a peace corp volunteer in Ecuador back in the 1960s and his job was to coach young ecuadorians. The fruit of his labor, adult swimmers, hosted us and put on the swim meet.

We were not very wide awake when we arrived at the swimming pool. The lack of decent coffee (Ecuadorians, like many Latin Americans, love their instant Nescafe. Good, freshly brewed coffee was difficult to find in Ecuador) was taking its toll. All of us could have used a double shot expresso. As could the Ecuadorians since they were not moving very fast either. The meet was suppose to start at 9 a.m. but didn’t start until almost 11:00.