Monthly Archives: October 2014

Splash Bash Swimmers Raise $4,000 for CSU Swimming & Diving

Thanks to all who helped make the 5th Annual Cleveland State Splash Bash in the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium a huge success. 150 swim team, alumni and O*H*I*O masters swimmers raised over $4,000 for the CSU Swimming and Diving team.Splash Bash - Full House

CSU coach Paul Graham and his assistant coaches Kate Inozemtseva and Kevin Rapien get the first round of thanks.  They organized the event, publicized it and took care of registrations and seeding.

The meet officials were on the line for the entire event.  Thanks Tom Fattlar, Jim Starrett and Kat Torok for your volunteer effort.  With 150 swimmers there were plenty of stats (results here) and starts; Tom Gorman and Ron Ezzo ably handled that job along with Daniel Cox and other members of O*H*I*O Masters Swimming.

With 45 CSU swimmers on hand we were also able to tap into our superb core of  team parents and friends of the CSU program who served as our volunteer timers.  Thank you all.

The meet offered Paul Graham, the new CSU Swimming and Diving Coach, a chance to meet friends and alumni in and around the pool. Gerry Meyer introduced Paul and thanked Wally for his 39 years of service to CSU. Splash Bash - Gerry Wally Paul

CommunityCorner_3_AllFilledWally has been outstanding in his support of community events in the Busbey Natatorium.  One of the features of the Heritage Graphics that will be installed next year will be a “Community Corner” to acknowledge and thank the many community organizations, volunteers and supporters who have both used the pool as well as given back to CSU through volunteer efforts and financial support.  If you have suggestions or ideas about the best way to utilize the soon-to-be-installed Community Corner or if your organization’s name should be on on the poster please let us know (heritage@csu-swimming-diving.com)

For many, especially out-of-town CSU alumni, this was the first visit to the pool since installation of the new video board, record boards, and championship banners.  The video board adds state-of-the-art capabilities to the fast pool.new scoreboard

The Championship Banners add visual history to the pool.banners waving high

The Record Boards replaced aging displays that could no longer be properly updated – oopps, does that white cap seem to be getting a little jump on the field?New Record boards backrop a fast start

The date for this year’s Splash Bash was selected to overlap with the CSU 50th Anniversary.  Here’s a link to the first CSU Swimming Team, 19645-65.  You can see all the teams, men, women and co-ed, from 1932 – 2014 HERECSU 50th Anniversary

Thank you (again)  Champions Campaign friends and alumni who enabled us to keep the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium in competitive shape.  We’re looking for the same level of  “team is forever” support from all our alumni and friends as we enter the fund raising phase of the Heritage Project.

Regards, and thank you Jim Starrett, Kevin Rapien and Paul Graham for contributing to this post, Dave G

In the splash zone:

Here are a few more pictures from the Splash Bash.  If you have pictures you’d like to share send them along to heritage@csu-swimming-diving.com

Tom Fattlar, Chris Kantorak, Jim LaMastra and Mike Lehto getting ready for the 5th annual Splash Bash at the 50th CSU reunion.

Tom, Chris, Jim and Mike

Jim LaMastra, Brad Burk, Chris Kantorak, and Wally Morton teamed up for the opening medley relay.
Splash Bash - Jim Back at itChris flying along

Spash Bash - Wally Jumping Right In

Meet officials Jim Starrett and Tom Fattlar  watch as Gerry Meyer congratulates Wally and introduces Paul Graham.Jim and Tom backstop Gerry Meyer

Wally and I shared a lot of text messages preparing for Heritage Weekend.  Many of them were swapping tips and stats from our daily workouts.  John Parry was kind when he later said that “Wally touched out Dave in the 50”.  It wasn’t that close.Wally won the race

Splash Bash was only one of many races for John McCreery on Saturday.x IMG_3119