Masters of the pool Masters of the pool (October 21, 2005)

Mountain View club rises before dawn for a refreshing dip

By Jenny Baer

At 5 a.m., Castro Street is deserted. The pre-dawn darkness engulfs downtown and there's not a person to be seen -- except the 200-plus individuals wearing swimsuits on the Eagle Pool deck.

These brave souls, members of a local swim and social club called the Mountain View Masters, roll out of bed before the crack of dawn in order to fit their love of swimming into their busy schedules. Swimmers of all ability levels, most of them Mountain View residents, gather for morning practices at 5, 6 and 7 a.m. every weekday. According to the club's Web site, they gain "year-round coached swimming workouts as well as open lap-swimming for adults" for their efforts.

That's not all they gain, according to swim coach Marcello Castro.

"I think Mountain View Masters swimmers have a different perspective on things," said Castro, who wakes up at 4:15 weekday mornings to lead practices. "They have lives too, they have jobs and families. Some other places, the people just get there, swim, leave and never talk to each other, but at Mountain View Masters they're more like friends who swim together. The friendship is stronger than any other program I know."

In fact, the Mountain View Masters program is so tight-knit that it draws many of its non-local members from places as far away as South San Jose, Los Gatos and Burlingame. Members meet at least once a month for drinks, and some couples are known to have started through the club.
For love of swimming

Friendships aside, Mountain View Masters swimmers refrain from hitting the "snooze" button each morning for one essential reason.

"They wake up because they want to swim," said Castro. "All the coaches know that it's something that has to be respected. Everybody has to wake up early because the swimmers are going to be at the pool waiting for you."

Masters practices are held about 360 days out of the year. "We try to go every day, especially holidays. Swimming is something they enjoy, and if the holiday is something that they want to enjoy then they start it out with an activity that they like," said Castro, noting that the club sometimes get its highest turnouts at holiday practices.

To qualify to join Mountain View Masters, all one needs is the ability to complete 25 yards of any stroke without assistance. Some members swim only for about 20 minutes each morning.

"Some have been swimming for years, some just learned a couple months ago, but we just take it one day at a time and we try to help them," said Castro.

Others try to push themselves. A handful of members are in training for triathlons or open water races, such as the Alcatraz swims. Mountain View Masters also has a presence at major swim meets, such as the Masters Championships held at Stanford University, which many swimmers spend years training for and travel from all over the country to attend.

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