Sedona Masters swimmer and Swordfish coach Lauren Robinson won her age group in three different Short Course Yards State Championship freestyle heats April 2 and 3 to lead three local swimmers.

“The technique has changed since I coached and swam,” she said. “But if you like to swim at all, it’s the best activity for people: It’s easy on the joints [and] it’s an overall body exercise [for] cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, endurance and strength.”

Her husband, Tim, has lost close to 50 pounds since starting to swim at meets once a month.

“I get into it for physical conditioning and weight loss,” he said. “Swimmers in the water could be 90 years old and slow as molasses. But it brings everybody in the crowd to their feet, cheering them on.”

Jeffrey Feerer has been swimming with the Masters for the past 18 months after he retired to Sedona another 18 months prior.

“I’m still slow, but I just started, too, compared to some people,” he said. “I could barely swim. I wasn’t a swimmer in high school or college — even as a kid.

“I was a runner, and I just kept getting injured. I said to myself, ‘I’ve got to find something else to do.’”

While the Robinsons are getting into the double digits in terms of meets they have swum, Feerer estimates he attends four to five meets a year.

“I’m slower, but [getting] slowly better,” he said. “It’s like a retirement hobby.”

They swam the State meet in Tucson last spring. They will next swim the Paul Cate Invitational at the pool Sunday, June 19.

“I’ll probably give that a shot,” Tim Robinson said. “See the pain.”

According to his wife, nationally, about 40 percent of Masters Swimmers participate in meets.

“We’re pretty close,” Lauren Robinson said. “We have about nine members right now.”

For more photos and full Sedona Masters swimming results from State, please see the Wednesday, May 11, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.