1608 7th Street South

WATER WATER EVERYWHERE. Invariably, I run into folks who suggest I write about life with swim lessons and competitive swimming, and would we (Suzy and I) be going one more year? Coronavirus put the Guppy Pond out of business, but not the memories. The Guppy Pond? What's that? It is not a novel. An autobiography is stretching it. A collection of short stories comes close. I taught English for 32 years, not sure what it is. Whatever, it's 50 years in the Guppy...
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WATER WATER EVERYWHERE.

Invariably, I run into folks who suggest I write about life with swim lessons and competitive swimming, and would we (Suzy and I) be going one more year?
Coronavirus put the Guppy Pond out of business, but not the memories. The Guppy Pond? What's that? It is not a novel. An autobiography is stretching it. A collection of short stories comes close. I taught English for 32 years, not sure what it is.
Whatever, it's 50 years in the Guppy Pond, standing around in warm, chlorinated water. Working with kids, one must stay alert, and appreciate water, have a good laugh.
Do I have water on the brain?
Yes.
For example:
As a student at the University of Montana on a swimming scholarship, my first summer I rafted in a rubber life raft from North Fork, Idaho to Jack London Square, Oakland, California, some 1100 river miles, Salmon, Columbia, Willamette, portage, Sacramento, San Francisco Bay, Jack London Square, Oakland. This trip was with the late Don Calfee. The second voyage was from Fort Benton, Montana, to Savannah, Georgia, in a 14 foot Crestliner boat with a Johnson motor. Bob Gornick of Kalispell and two coon dogs, Lead and Loud, 3200 miles, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, portage, and Savannah. A third voyage was with Crestliner Boats, Johnson Motors and Alcoa Aluminum sponsoring. This was the first boat to go up the Salmon River in Idaho, the "River of No Return." Bob's partners in this white-water trip were Hans Gudegast, now Victor Newman in The Young and The Restless, and a bloodhound by the name of Gabe. A film was made and produced: "The River Busters!"
Gus McKinnon, my dad, was a nationally recognized swim coach at the Portland YMCA and later at the Oakland YMCA. He retired from the YMCA to serve as assistant coach at the University of California, then moved to Great Falls, Montana, where he partnered with me to coach the Great Falls Swim Club, then, that led to the Guppy Pond, and ....
Gus' Guppies????
That's a swim team????
Gus' Guppies walked away with the Montana State Age Group Championship????
Guppies?
Correct.
Sharks? Barracudas? Dolphins? Piranhas? Seals?........Guppies?
Correct.
My dad Gus spent a lifetime coaching. He coached Chris McKinnon and Wendy McKinnon. Both swam NCAA, Chris at Cal Tech, and Wendy at Kenyon. And Suzy McKinnon took swim lessons and swam in United States master swim meets, holding Montana records in her age group.
Gus' brother, Archie McKinnon of the Victoria YMCA, was twice Canadian Olympic Swim Coach.
In high school, I swam for Castlemont High in the Oakland Athletic League (OAL) and lettered three years. The high school medley relay team of Lew Cook, Tom Bullock, and I set a record in the 100 yard medley relay. Back-breast-Free. No butterfly. Tom said the record would hold forever because they no longer build pools with such dimensions: 33-1/3 yards. After high school, Tom Bullock went to West Point, Lou Cook went to Indiana, and I went to Oakland JC, where I went Top Ten All-American in distance freestyle. I won the national YMCA 440 free in Tucson, Arizona and swam free on an Oakland Y relay that won the YMCA Nationals in Colorado Springs. I hold most of the Montana state senior swim records in my age group, short course meters. I am more chlorine than blood.
The Guppy Pond is, in its way, a history of competitive swimming in Montana and fifty years of lessons. Within the laughs, to the discerning reader, there are some nuggets, such as on how to go about teaching swim lessons...
As my barber Dave Dively and Guppy parent, (1944-2020) put it, as regards an away from home Montana age group swim meet:

"LOCK YOUR WINDOWS AND DOORS!
THE GUPPIES ARE COMING!"