Kathy Spencer (left) and Emily Griffin at Canyonview Pool.

 

Finding their Lane: Fitness and Community with Masters Swimming

'My advice to anyone is to give it a try. You might not realize how much you’ll love it until you do!'

By Shawn Cyr
Assistant Marketing Director

It was the spring of 2022 when she decided to dive back in. A swimmer in high school, Emily Griffin hadn’t been in the pool much for about a decade. 

Then she decided to sign up for UC San Diego's Masters Swimming program.

“I thought I was just signing up for a workout class,” says Griffin, an alum who earned her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from UC San Diego in 2023.

Little did she know she was heading headfirst into a new community that would blossom around her, enveloping her like the heated Canyonview Pool waters during the Masters morning swim regimen.

“It started as a workout, but has really become a huge part of my life and the highlight of every day,” she says. “​​Pretty much anyone I meet that lives in the area and swims recreationally I spend a minimum of about 20 minutes talking their ear off about joining Masters.”

Comprised of swimmers of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds, the UC San Diego Masters Swimming program has become a beacon for those seeking community and fitness family in San Diego. Driven by a commitment to health and a love of swimming, Masters offers hour-and-a-half programs six days a week year-round to help its members reach their goals, whether that be to improve their form, train for a race, get fit, or simply enjoy the water.

But if you ask any member — whether they’ve been with the program for a week or a decade  — what makes UCSD’s Masters Swimming, they all point to one thing.

To one man, rather.

“Then of course there’s Sickie,” says Masters Swimming participant Kathy Spencer. “ How do I explain what a fabulous environment he has created to welcome new and experienced people alike? Any coach could provide a workout, but Sickie makes you want to do HIS workouts because they are FUN!”

“Sickie” is Masters Swimming Head Coach Ronald “Sickie” Marcikic, who has deftly guided generations of swimmers for more than four decades. Sporting a wide smile and wavy hair that is a mix of gray and its blonde echo, Sickie has coached world-class triathletes, Olympians, world champions — and plenty of normal folks who just thought they were “just signing up for a workout class.” He’s done it all with humor, a vast array of floral shirts, and a time-honed mix of playfulness and expert guidance. 

“Sickie makes workouts so fun, always mixing it up with new drills and challenges,” says Sean Wiggins. “Even after 40-plus years of coaching us, he has never given the same exact workout. He is so dedicated to the program and keeping it fresh and going strong — we are lucky to have his never-ending efforts.”

Wiggins — who, legend has it, was thrown into the swimming pool when he was just a few months old and says his “life has revolved around the water ever since” — has been with Sickie’s Masters group since around 1988 and even met his wife at the noon workout. He has graduated from UC San Diego three times: in 1988 (Bachelor of Science), 1990 (Master of Science), and 1995 (PhD). He now works here as an oceanographer/scientist/engineer down the hill at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

During his time as an intercollegiate swimmer at UCSD, he remembers seeing the Masters Swimmers in the shallow end of the pool and wondered if one day he would join them. “The answer is a resounding ‘Yes’,” he says.

“Over the years, my core group of swimming friends has come from the program and we spend a lot of time together outside of the pool, including ocean swimming, swim vacations, surf trips, parties, sharing meals, post-workout coffee discussions, poker, and general fun life experiences,” Wiggins says. “The culture is the best I have experienced and keeps me and my friends coming back for more.”

But make no mistake, there is effort required. While there’s no specific age or skill level required, swimmers need to comfortably swim 200 yards freestyle and at least one other stroke to join. (Not there yet? REC offers several levels of swim classes to get you there, from introductory levels to more advanced Swim Conditioning.) And though the Hawaiin shirts and mismatched socks may seem disarming, Sickie and his coaching staff — who boast 150 years of combined experience — expect the swimmers to show up and do their best.

But for the swimmers who do, the results — like the friendships — follow in the wake. 

For Spencer, that meant being able to complete a triathlon. Her first completed tri was the San Diego International Sprint in 2012 While she was always comfortable in the water, she never considered herself a swimmer, resulting in a weak link in her swim-bike-run training.

Masters changed all that.

“I never could do a lap in the 25-yard pool without stopping at the other side to rest,” says Spencer, who has completed 30-plus triathlons, including Ironman 70.3 World Championship in France, and twice representing Team USA in Olympic Distance World Championships in Spain. “Now, I consistently come out of the water near the front of the pack. This is all due to Sickie’s coaching and UCSD Master’s Swimming.”

The workouts are designed to improve their participants' swimming capabilities and physical fitness, yes, but the bonds and community they help forge between each other have the biggest and most lasting impact.

“Masters Swimming has provided support for me in difficult times, and celebrated with me several milestones in my life,” Griffin says. “I even battled an injury that kept me out of the pool for several months, and despite that, I was frequently bombarded by fellow swimmers to go on coffee dates and beer outings to stay in touch. 

“My advice to anyone is to give it a try. You might not realize how much you’ll love it until you do!”