Willard Lamb "Wink" celebrates his 100th birthday at the Masters swim meet in Hood River on November 12. Lamb is a celebrity among swim fans and in 2018 he won World Master Swimmer of the year.
Willard Lamb "Wink" celebrates his 100th birthday at the Masters swim meet in Hood River on November 12. Lamb is a celebrity among swim fans and in 2018 he won World Master Swimmer of the year.
Willard Lamb "Wink" celebrates his 100th birthday at the Masters swim meet in Hood River on November 12. Lamb is a celebrity among swim fans and in 2018 he won World Master Swimmer of the year.
Hood River was the location of the recent Masters meet on November 12, where 99-year-old Vancouver resident Willard Lamb competed with his friend and training partner Valerie Jenkins.
Competitors travel a great deal to swim in Masters’ races — the 115 racers visiting Hood River for the master’s short course were from Washington, California, Arizona, Washington, D.C., and Ireland. They ranged in age from 18 years and up, with Lamb being the oldest — he turns 100 in early December.
“Willard is a poster child for Masters Swimming,” said Head Coach Shelly Rawding of Hood River. “He exemplifies the qualities that masters swimming is. You can start at any age — and find camaraderie with people of all ages. You don’t have to know all the strokes or ever swam in a race. You can learn to be a competitive swimmer if you wish, but the real beauty of masters swimming is the friendships and people you meet along the way — while you are keeping fit and staying in shape.”
The Masters swimming organization, or USMS, is part of a global organization that encourages organized swimming workouts and competition. Competitions are at the state, regional, national and international levels. It is all about their tagline, “Swimming for Life.” Some swimmers have been swimming all their lives, some are just learning to swim as adults, and some, like Lamb, are returning to the water for competitive swimming after college.
Lamb used to swim in high school, and he will forever have the state swimming record for the 220 freestyle at Long View High School — years later, it was modified to the 200 in competition. Lamb also fondly remembers leading his high school team to the swimming State title in 1939. Lamb caught the eye of the University of Washington swim coach, and although he did not have the money to pay for the university, he knew how to work hard. He saved money to attend and continued to work on campus while swimming for the university. His competitive swimming was continuing to progress as personal records continued to break, but the draft reached all eligible young men in 1941. World War II and the attack on Pearl Harbor changed plans for his swim career.
Willard Lamb "Wink" celebrates his 100th birthday at the Masters swim meet in Hood River on November 12. Lamb is a celebrity among swim fans and in 2018 he won World Master Swimmer of the year.
Chelsea Marr photo
Lamb went on to fight in World War II as a paratrooper in the Army as the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and he received several medals and badges for his heroic work. He is a well decorated war veteran who fought for his country.
When Lamb returned from serving in the war, he worked at a plywood mill in Longview, Wash., retiring at 80 when the mill closed. He married in his lifetime and had two sons. It was after his retirement when an old school friend Lamb ran into one day encouraged him to get back in the water. He was 83 years old.
Lamb returned to swimming competitively in his 80s shortly after his retirement. Lamb has set 82 world swimming records.He has the most title records in the 25m or 50m pools in Masters for his age group.
Lamb swims three days a week and says he swims three miles at the YMCA in Vancouver. He was inducted into the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame when he was 96. He swims freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and relays. He is the model for their tagline, “Swim for Life,” since it has clearly kept Lamb swimming strong and healthy. This was evident at the Masters swim meet in Hood River as I witnessed attendees and friends alike wanting to get a photo of Lamb, shake his hand and wish him a happy birthday. The master organization planned an early birthday celebration for Lamb while he competed at the event with a cake big enough for everyone to enjoy with him.
“At our meet, he had friends from Spokane come and cheer him on, and everyone at the swim meet was inspired by him swimming in races and competing in the 100-104 year old age group,” Rawding said. “Everyone at the meet sang him happy birthday, and shared in the huge sheet cake to celebrate — that was really something everyone will remember.”
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