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“TAKE
YOUR
MARK.”
The
three
most
revered
words
in
competitive
swimming
command
silence
from
swimmers
of
all
ages
and
orientations,
and
at
the
recent
Intern
ational
Gay
and
Lesbian
Aquatics
championships
(IGLA),
they
sparked
record-setting
performances
from
a
strong
South
Florida
contingency
of
both
gay
and
straight
adult
swimmers.
Team
Florida
broke
three
U.S.
Masters
Swimming
records
in
relays
on
its
way
to
placing
second
overall
at
the
IGLA
championships,
held
near
Washington,DC
in
June.
With
75
swimmers
competing,
Team
Florida
represented
the
largest
group
of
masters
swimmers
from
Florida
ever
in
an
out-ofstate
meet.
Another
local,
but
non-IGLA
affiliated
team,Fort
Lauderdale
Aquatics,
won
the
IGLA
small
team
division.
The
three
national
relay
records
for
Team
Florida
came
in
the
men’s
400
freestyle
relay
for
the
cumulative
age
bracket
of
160-plus
(combined
ages
of
all
four
swimmers),
and
in
two
women’s
relays
for
the
age
bracket
of
200-
plus:
the
800
freestyle
and
the
400
freestyle
relays
(see
sidebar).
The
competition
also
featured
official
competitions
in
diving,
water
polo,
and
(coed)
synchronized
swimming,
plus
an
unofficial,
Ester
Williams-
inspired
“Pink
Flamingo”
finale.
Team
Florida
is
comprised
of
two
local
teams:
Hammerheads
Aquatics,
based
in
Broward
County,
and
the
Nadadores
Swim
Club,
based
in
Miami-Dade.
Both
teams
practice
at
area
pools,with
occasional
forays
to
swim
in
“open
water”
challenges
in
the
ocean.
The
separate
teams
were
fo
rmed
in
2004,
when
the
Nadadores
hosted
the
IGLA
competition
in
Fort
Lauderdale;
enough
members
joined
for
the
Broward
County
swimmers
to
split
into
their
own
club,
the
Hammerheads,
which
quickly
grew
into
the
larger
and
more
competitive
team.
Although
a
friendly
rivalry
exists
between
both
sides,
the
teams
first
combined
again
in
2006
as
“Team
Florida”
at
the
Gay
Games
in
Chicago,
in
order
to
participate
in
more
relays.
Several
swimmers
on
both
teams
are
straight,
but
that
doesn’t
seem
unusual
to
Jon
Olsen,
South
Florida’s
national
delegate
to
U.S.
Masters
Swimming
and
a
member
of
Hammerhead
Aquatics.
“It’s
really
because
they
are
our
teammates
and
workout
mates,”
says
Olsen.
He
also
sees
swimming
in
terms
of
a
gay-
straight
alliance.
“Some
of
the
straight
people
think
it
[IGLA]
is
one
of
the
best
meets
they’ve
been
to.
That’s
what
makes
it
such
a
great
sport.
Masters
swimming
transcends
homophobia.
There
are
very
few
bigots
in
this
sport.
They
don’t
care
about
your
sexual
orientation;
they’re
just
happy
to
see
you
swim.”
Drew
Stoudt,
captain
of
Miami-Dade’s
gay
swim
team
the
Nadadores,
concurs
with
the
open-pool
philosophy.
“Some
people
like
to
keep
it
separatist,”
says
Stoudt,
referring
to
other
GLBT
teams.
“We
welcome
anyone
of
any
orientation
and
any
ability.”
The
next
international
competition
for
Team
Florida
will
be
the
World
Outgames
in
Copenhagen,
Denmark
in
July
2009,
where
swimming
will
be
the
largest
event.
It
has
also
been
the
largest
at
most
Gay
Games
competitions,
which
arrive
next
in
2010
in
Cologne,
Germany.
These
meets
will
replace
IGLA
championships
until
2011.
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