April Monthly 2021

April Monthly 2021

The current MAC swim practice schedule is on our website:  MilfordAthleticClub.org

MAC “State Meet”
Sign Up / Registration
is NOW OPEN! 

April 24th – 7:00-9:00 am at MHS

Join the fun!  Register and sign up now, for MAC’s end of the season “State Meet”. The meet will be during regular Saturday Practice 7:00-9:00 AM at MHS. This “fun” meet will be just for the MAC team, and will adhere to current Covid 19 restrictions (social distancing, mask wearing, etc).

SIGN UP for your events NOW.  Registration closes Friday, April 23 at 6pm. All heats will be seeded Fast to Slow. There are a limited number of events, and heats, so don’t delay! SWIMMERS MAY ENTER UP TO 4 EVENTS:
To sign up  – CLICK HERE

SAVE THE DATE!

Sunday, June 20, 2021


In a combined effort – the MAC and Penguin coaches are working on the 1st Annual Irene Pawley-Kennedy Open Water Swim.  Not only will this event be a memorial swim, it will be a non-profit swim where all proceeds will be used for swim scholarships for swimmers of any age.   The open water event will be held at Pontiac Lake Recreation Area – State Park.  There will be 3 distances: 5K, 2K, and 1K.

In addition to swim participants, we will be looking for volunteers for many positions. We will have a sign up available soon.

One additional position we need to fill ASAP is a Medical Officer. They will responsible for handling any non life-threatening first aid emergencies on the day of the event. We will also have emergency personnel and lifeguards on staff during the event. Please email Coach Kris if you are interested:  macswimgoblue@gmail.com.

Please stay tuned for more information about this event – COMING SOON!

Swim to the Moon 2021
Registration is NOW OPEN!

Join the MAC Swim to the Moon Team when registering for this event.

Select “MAC (Milford Athletic Club)” when as your team when your registering.

To register – CLICK HERE

Questions? Contact Coach Melissa at jrichardson90@comcast.net

Featured MAC Swimmer of the Month:

Dirk Overdick-Roth

My name is Dirk Overdick-Roth and I am 55 years old. I was born and raised in Frankfurt, Germany, and lived there until I was 31. The reason I moved to Michigan was meeting my wife Melissa whom I met on a business trip/assignment  which I met during my first Business trip to Detroit, me working at General Motors and she at the time for EDS. That was in 1996 and today we are married 21 years, have 3 kids (Max 19 @WMU, Emily 18 @MSU, Jack 13) , 2 birds (Charly & Bruno), 2 Goldfish (no names) and 1 dog (Wesley our new Puppy).

My interest in swimming came from a history of different physical activities in my past.  I used to play Handball during my teenage years and 20s and ran. The running began with a bet from my best friends Dad during a Christmas Dinner. At this time he looked at his 4 sons and me and asked if we would be ready to run a Marathon in Munich by the end of March. This gave us basically 3 month time, and if we completed it we would get a bottle of Champagne. That motivated us to train, run and actually finish. This was one of the best feelings I ever had in my life. This sparked in me the long distance running, but soon after I had my first issues with my knees in the age of 20. Too much running, and playing Handball was hard on my knees and had to end my running for the time.  In the next years, I remained active with weight training, cycling, and trying to be as fit as I could without the running and handball.  I always belonged to a gym and made sure to stay fit.  These were also the years we were raising our kids and busy with life but tried to make sure to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Swimming did not seriously come into play until I was 45.  My nephew in Germany was really into training for Triathlon and was becoming a top leader in his age group in Germany.  His dream is to go to Kona and win the race, mine is a little less. I always asked my brother about his son and how he is doing Triathlon.  On a trip to visit my family to Germany I was planning to watch my nephew in a local Triathlon.  Upon my arrival, I learned that my Brother signed me up as well. I literally got off the airplane that morning at 7 am, 1 hour drive and here we go. I was in a Speedo getting ready to jump into a lake. I was overly optimistic started fast the 500m swim, and after half the distance my freestyle was gone and I had to cruise to the end in Breaststroke.

All this gave me a boost to learn swimming, and maybe do another Triathlon. My knees are still an issue so I realize it will be only Swimming and any other sport which is gentle on my knees. For the next 5 years I swam at Lifetime Fitness in the morning at 4 or 5 am coached by YouTube and by what people say. All this made me eventually sign up for Swim To The Moon for a 5 and 10k eventually. However swimming was a lonely thing, and my wife recommended that I sign up with the MAC team.

And here I am, listening to Coach Melissa, Jim, Diane, and sharing a Lane, hitting the lane markers and torturing me swimming all Strokes. Why Why Why. Actually I enjoy it. I always dreamed about me being able to swim Butterfly, now I try and I still remember my first 200 Butterfly, I believe Jim had this on his Agenda, I felt like a Submarine. I took on so much water.

What I like most at MAC are the people, the Coaches, the good mood, being able to swim with people which have the same passion, and of course getting motivated by people left and right which are doing things I have a hard time with. Flip turns are my killer, or kicking, those things make my swim practice so hard, and then I see people next to me doing it so easily, pushing off the wall doing 15 dolphin kicks, or kicking casual with kick board while I can barely breathe. However this all makes me come back, to be a better swimmer.

MAC Swimmers are the greatest advertisements of all! We love how you share your stories on social media, with friends, etc. We would like to share your stories as well. Each month we will highlight a MAC Swimmer so we can learn more about the team.

Michigan Masters Scholarship:


As a USMS member, you are also a member of Michigan Masters Swimming.  Michigan Masters offers an annual scholarship.The purpose of this annual $1,000 scholarship is to provide financial assistance to eligible Michigan Masters swimmers and family members who are attending college as undergraduate or graduate students. Consideration for this scholarship is given to those students attending full or part-time undergraduate or graduate programs in day or night school, with at least a 3.0 GPA who demonstrate potential for outstanding success in their respective field of study. Financial hardship and need may also be a criteria for this scholarship. Entries for this year’s award should be submitted by June 30,

For additional information and detailed instructions on how to apply, visit the Michigan Masters website or  CLICK HERE

As we are slowly coming back to normal life…and back to swimming…MAC is a great place ease your way back into the water.  Don’t hold yourself to the swim standard you were at before the pandemic but think of this as opportunity to reset.  Remember that MAC can accommodate you – wherever you may be right now. Then before you know it, you’ll be back on track with your swimming and ready for open water or triathlon events this summer. Currently most practices generally have 1-2 people per lane and we have the option to rent more lanes as practices start to get more crowded.  MAC offers MANY different membership options; including 1-day memberships which can be purchased in multiples and never expire. Complete membership details are on our website at:  www.MilfordAthleticClub.org.

Comeback to MAC we can’t wait get back in the water!

Team Communication:

We use REMIND app/website, to send out last minute schedule changes, or messages. To sign up, and for more information – CLICK HERE

Coach Contact Info:

Dianne: h2oranger@hotmail.com
Kris: macswimgoblue@gmail.com
Jim: jimjtg@icloud.com
Melissa: jrichardson90@comcast.net
Janette: coach_janette@yahoo.com
Maria: carpelacusnatavi@gmail.com