2015 Florida Senior Games Complete Wrapup December 5‐13, 2015 Clearwater, Florida Clearwater and Pinellas County Welcome the 2015 Florida Senior Games Over nine days of the 2015 Florida Senior Games, a total of 2,048 athletes competed in 24 sports in Clearwater and Pinellas County. The Games return to Clearwater for the 25th Anniversary Florida Senior Games, December 3‐11, 2016. The 2016 Florida Senior Games will be a qualifier for the 2017 National Senior Games, to be held in Birmingham, Alabama. During the course of the Games, individuals rise to the occasion to turn in impressive times, scores and performances within their sport. Here’s a look at some of the highlights of the 24th Annual Games, held in the Tampa Bay area for the first time in the history of the Games. Games open with Awards Ceremony Florida State Representative Kathleen Peters, Clearwater Mayor George Cretekos, Florida Sports Foundation Senior Vice President Stephen Rodriguez and National Senior Games Association CEO Marc T. Riker were on hand at the Long Center in Clearwater to officially open the 2015 Florida Senior Games. Besides the official welcome, the 2014 Florida Senior Games Athletes of the Year, Walt Deal, of Clearwater and Danuta Kubelik, of Crystal River, were presented with their awards. A crowd of senior athletes looked on, taking a break from the swimming and volleyball events going on at the Long Center, on Saturday, December 5. The National Senior Games also recognized 90‐year old Ryan Beighley, a swimmer and track and field athlete from The Villages as an addition to the NSGA Personal Best program. The Personal Best is a health and wellness Initiative of the National Senior Games Association to drive a healthy aging message as Senior athletes provide the best examples of Personal Best attitude. Their diverse stories reveal how they strive to overcome obstacles, meet challenges, inspire others and exhibit positive behavior to reach goals that go well beyond their athletic competition. PIckleball Ironman of the 2015 Games The Pickleball Ironman of the 2015 Games, Robert Welter, of Cape Coral, was one of the last people to leave the Long Center on all three days of the event after winning a men’s singles gold on Friday, a mixed doubles gold on Sunday and a men’s doubles silver on Saturday and. More than 35 hours of Pickleball was played from Friday morning through Sunday night and Welter was present for the majority of those hours. Down 7‐0 in the tiebreaking set of the Men’s Singles Gold Medal match in the 60‐64 age group, Welter called a time out. He leaned against the wall at the Long Center in Clearwater as if he was winded or injured. Upon returning to play, he scored the next 12 points and outscored his opponent, Michael Thaler, of Briny Breezes 15‐1 to win the third game 15‐8 after splitting the first two games. “I had to change the momentum,” said Welter. “He was dominating. I was just hoping something would open up.” It was Welter’s third consecutive gold medal in the 60‐64 age group and the third consecutive year he has beaten Thaler in the age group finals. It looked to be Thaler’s year to defeat Welter as he advanced out the elimination bracket and defeated Welter 11‐7, 11‐8 forcing an if necessary game and jumping out to the early lead. He teamed with Bobbi Little of North Fort Myers (pictured at left) to advance out of a 23‐team mixed doubles bracket in the 60‐64 age group for the gold medal. Playing together for the first time in the Florida Senior Games, Little and Welter defeated Nancy Meyer, of Fort Myers and Randy Hall, of Willmar, MN in straight sets in the championship match. On the final day in Men’s Doubles, he and his partner, Darryl Noble, of Hanover, PA, dropped their first match of the day to Gary Miller and Steve Wojcik. They held on for six elimination matches for a return match in the gold medal game but he and Noble came up short 11‐9, 11‐6. Welter played five singles matches Friday, to win the 60‐64 age group, five mixed doubles matches Saturday and eight men’s doubles on Sunday – 18 total matches. Fastest Man in Senior Games History Michael Fitzgerald, a sprinter from Mason City, Iowa, became the fastest man in the history of the Florida Senior Games on the final day of the Games, setting new overall best times in the 50, 100 and 200 meter dashes. The 55‐year old Fitzgerald began the day running the 50 meter dash in 6.59 seconds. In the 100 meter dash, he turned in the first sub‐12 second time in the history of the Games with a sprint of 11.98. He ended the day with the Games first sub‐25 second 200 meter dash when he crossed the finish line with a time of 24.94. Fitzgerald (pictured at right) is ranked third in the U.S. among Men’s 55+ sprinters by World Masters Rankings, the official rankings for Masters Athletics. His 11.98 time at Clearwater High School was the second time he ran the 100 in under 12 seconds in 2015. He had a time of 11.93 at the USATF Masters Outdoor Track and Field Championship, in St. Paul, MN in June, 2015. Sportsmanship at the Florida Senior Games On a lighter note showing the sportsmanship of the Florida Senior Games, Dorothy Jarboe and Patricia Fincannon, both of Key Largo, who competed in shuffleboard in the Games first weekend of play, decided to register for croquet on a whim. Upon their arrival at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater, they learned their backyard croquet mallets did not meet competition standards and the two were loaned equipment by fellow players. Jarboe’s mallet, given to her by Karla Rueck, of Palm Beach Gardens, was a commemorative mallet sold as a fundraiser celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the New York Croquet Club in 2007. Rueck serves on the management committee of the U.S. Croquet Association, based in West Palm Beach, as the recording secretary. She is documented as playing in the most tournaments of any woman in the U.S., playing an average of 21‐25 tournaments a year. “It’s all about getting out and doing things,” said Fincannon. “If you don’t learn something new you’re just wasting brain cells.” Florida Senior Games Top Croquet Couple Sarasota’s Peter Carlin was the lone croquet player at Jack Russell Stadium to go through two days of competition without a loss. Carlin had five wins on Saturday to win the singles gold medal in the 75‐79 age group and teamed with his wife, Judy, in doubles for four wins to take the 70‐74 age group doubles gold medal. Judy nearly mirrored her husband’s feat of going undefeated but finished with a tie in one of her singles games Saturday. She won the gold medal in the 70‐74 age group. One of the All‐Time Greats In the Florida Senior Games records and results the name, Ethel Lehmann, Largo (pictured at left), has been a track and field fixture since 1993. In 2015, with the Games being held in her own backyard, at Clearwater High School, Lehmann, etched her name in the Florida Senior Games record book 11 times competing in the 85‐89 age group for the first time. Her performances in the high jump, long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus and javelin set records by a little and by a lot. Her javelin throw of 41 feet topped the previous record by more than 20 feet and her discus throw of 39 feet broke the previous mark by 10 feet. She recorded record setting times in the 50, 100, 200, 400 and 800 meter running events. Lehmann was named the 1997 Florida Senior Games Athlete of the Year and after today’s performances, her name appears in the Games record book 19 times. Over the years, she has played for the Freedom Spirit softball team that traveled to the 2015 National Senior Games and has won numerous medals in national competition. Worthy of the Namesake Award After the 1500 meter race walk, Donna Graham, of Lowell, Ohio, was awarded with the annual Bob Fine Award for Race Walk Excellence. While Graham’s award was for her performance at the 2014 Florida Senior Games, she won the 2015 gold medal in the 65‐69 age group with a time of 34:19. Lowell also played singles pickleball prior to her race walking competition. On the Bike with Many Levels of Experience By winning the Cycling 20K and 40K Road Races in Oldsmar, Luigi Fabbri, of Hallandale, (pictured at right) added the 12th and 13th Road Race gold medals to his collection from the Florida Senior Games dating back to 2000. He has won medals in four age group categories from 65‐69 to 80‐84. Kathy Petrillo, of Jupiter, was the top female finisher in both races giving her four 50‐54 age group gold medals in the 2015 Florida Senior Games cycling events. Also winning medals in all four events were Dave Lewis of Sarasota and Eric Marc Lippens, of Naples. The roads and scenery of Fort DeSoto Park must have provided inspiration for a trio of Florida Senior Games cyclists who set age group records in both the 5K and 10K Time Trials. Cheryl Cherry, of Clermont, Patricia Beam, of Caledonia, IL and Dave Lewis of Sarasota all raced to record setting times in the both races.