Sports & Activities
Gay Team Spotlight: Team New York Aquatics
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Team New York Aquatics
A model teammate. Above, long-time team member Jack Mackenroth in various poses at Gay Games VII Chicago.
Competive But Inclusive
Some of TNYA's swimmers, like Mackenroth, swim competitively in several local masters meets per year and at national GLBT meets like those hosted by International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics (IGLA), as well as the less-frequent Gay Games and newer OutGames. TNYA was well represented at the Games in Chicago, and a good number of its members, like Mackenroth, medaled multiple times.
But not everyone on the team is on a quest for gold. While Mackenroth has successfully participated in five Gay Games (and even set a masters record at one), many of the other 300 swimmers don't join to race.
"We are not only competitive swimmers. We have swimmers at all levels," says Mackenroth. "Some people never swim in any meets at all, and they're just fitness swimmers, and some people are very competitive like me."
Competive But Inclusive
Some of TNYA's swimmers, like Mackenroth, swim competitively in several local masters meets per year and at national GLBT meets like those hosted by International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics (IGLA), as well as the less-frequent Gay Games and newer OutGames. TNYA was well represented at the Games in Chicago, and a good number of its members, like Mackenroth, medaled multiple times.
But not everyone on the team is on a quest for gold. While Mackenroth has successfully participated in five Gay Games (and even set a masters record at one), many of the other 300 swimmers don't join to race.
"We are not only competitive swimmers. We have swimmers at all levels," says Mackenroth. "Some people never swim in any meets at all, and they're just fitness swimmers, and some people are very competitive like me."
Danny wrote:
Finally took another look at this article and remembered to say, as a dedicated TNYA teammate, that some of us fall into the "middle ground" in a way; we are not the fasted or the youngest guys on the team, but we still do at least some competitions to motivate us to stay fit, do our best, and develop our social networks on the team and with other competing teams. In meets, you really compete against your self, so while you may not be a winner, you can never really be a loser. Go TNYA!
Aug 30 10:14 PM
gay123 wrote:
U'RE HOT
Dec 09 12:16 PM
gay123 wrote:
REALLY LIKE U
Dec 09 12:15 PM
bonkermix wrote:
do you guys have any divers? I'd love to try out, competed in college myself.
Dec 07 4:16 PM