What kind of walking pace did The Idiot set when he reunited with former Stanford University swimmers who, among other aquatic achievements, won the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship in 1967?
The Idiot joined three dozen swimmers from the 1962-72 era at a 50th reunion at the Stanford Sierra Camp on Fallen Leaf Lake (California) last week. The group got together to catch up, tell lies and share memories of past victories and defeats while honoring Jim Gaughran, the Hall of Fame coach who took Stanford to its first-ever NCAA swimming championship.
Now 84 and in better shape than some of his younger paddling protégés, Gaughran was an Olympic water polo player in 1956, Stanford’s swimming coach from 1960 to 1979 and a mentor/friend to scores of former Stanford swimmers.
What keeps Stanford’s award-winning swimming coach looking so young at 84 as he encouraged his former swimmers join him on a hike or jump off a dock into frigid Fallen Leaf Lake?
“Keep swimming and have sensible eating habits,” says Jim Gaughran.
Participants at the 50th reunion of Stanford’s first-ever NCAA swimming champions wore appropriate T-shirts.
A rear black-and-white view of the official 50th reunion T-shirt reading “Stanford Aquatics – Coach Jim Gaughran.”
Did The Idiot, who no one ever mistook for Johnny Weissmuller, flaunt his long-distance MedTrekking skills during the reunion? Try to prove that he could walk further and faster than other aging swimmers? Or….?
The Idiot made a shrewd decision at the outset of a hike above the Stanford Sierra Camp at Fallen Leaf Lake.
He went last.
The Idiot happily brought up the rear.
(Photo: Liz Chapin)
The Idiot frequently stopped to take nature shots.
The Idiot had a relaxed conversation with swimmer/teacher Jim Laney.
(Photo: Liz Chapin)
The Idiot posed with partner and ardent MedTrekker Liz Chapin.
(Photo: George Stransky)
And The Idiot ended the hike by enjoying meditative views of Fallen Leaf Lake and falling asleep in a gigantic swing set.
The Idiot, occasionally mentioning that he swam across the Hellespont to gather material for The Idiot and the Odyssey II: Myth, Madness and Magic on the Mediterranean, pondered a brisk swim in Fallen Leaf Lake but…
…instead of jumping in the lake, the slow-walking Idiot fell asleep in a swing set.
Before the reunion ended, The Idiot invited fellow Stanford swimmers to join him on the November MedTrek in Egypt where they can take daily dips in the Mediterranean Sea.
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