Group Masters Swimming Techniques at JCC Pool Program
The next time you hear anyone complain about exercising or they find excuses to avoid physical activity, keep Roger Kahn in mind. Or for that matter, one of his swimming buddies.
Kahn, 58, helps lead a four-day-a-week Master Swim Program at the Jewish Community of Mid-Westchester in Scarsdale close by his home of nearly 30 years. He not only helped get the program off the ground nearly eight years ago, he can be found in the pool doing laps for the one-hour sessions, whether it be a Tuesday evening, at 6 a.m. on Thursdays or on Saturdays and Sundays and 8 a.m.
“I find that the activity is great and it helps to create a balance for my business life and my family life and it’s created a camaraderie that I really look forward to,” said Kahn.
Kahn, the owner of a Long Island-based company that rents office and meeting space, has long been an avid swimmer. He took up the sport at about 12 years old, continued as an all-state swimmer at Hewlitt High School and then competed at the University of Pennsylvania.
As a Master swimmer, he competes on behalf of a club team in Sarasota, Fla., where he posts some of the top times for his age group in the country, said John O’Brien, the sports and facilities director for JCC Mid-Westchester.
O’Brien said Kahn has been able to do well against swimmers from around the country in his age group for years mainly through his own routine that he devised at the JCC pool.
“It is an amazing story that Roger still is a nationally ranked age-group swimmer,” O’Brien said. “It’s great to see, people from all walks of life.”
For Kahn and a couple of the four to eight swimmers who regularly attend the Master Swimming pool sessions at the JCC, they agreed that the benefits of their aquatics regimen reach well beyond staying in good shape physically. Kahn recalled how during his school days it helped him
David Klonsky, 72, took up competitive swimming in his forties when he lived in Stony Brook when he joined a club team. The retired Social Studies teacher and football coach abruptly stopped after a few years but about two-and-a-half years ago discovered the Master Swimming class at the JCC and can be found in the pool up to three times a week.
The swimmers can work on their form, certain strokes, their breathing techniques or their stamina, said Tuckahoe resident Julie Fortier, one of the group’s regulars.
“It is terrific exercise,” said Klonsky, now of New Rochelle. “I was also going through a hard divorce and this is great for my mental health and is a terrific activity. I can forget all my troubles when I’m in the water. It’s a very nice group of people that enjoy swimming.”
Kahn said it’s not such a hardcore group that they force. If somebody gets tired they can stop and rest until resuming their routine.
Fortier, 43 has been swimming since her youth, although never competitively. She was a lifeguard as a teenager in her native Montreal and discovered the JCC program about four years ago.
“I really like the pool and the group is also just very friendly and it’s not super competitive, so I really like the community aspect,” Fortier said.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
