U.S. Masters Swimming Open Water Service Award

Recipient:	WIlliam Reeves
Year:	2020
LMSC:	Utah

William was an enthusiastic Swim Coach for decades and he arranged weekly open water swimming training workouts on Saturdays in the summer at nearby Deer Creek Reservoir, which was an hour away. The workouts were scheduled for 7am before wind and boat traffic picked up, and the distance was a goal of about 3-5K. Will was very welcoming to swimmers of all abilities. The swims were posted on social media and the USMS swim club pages and attracted many of the area’s college athletes. Will increased the OW workouts to 6 days a week this year, when the pools were closed because of Covid, and the group swam even in April when the water was 54 degrees. So far in 2020, Will held 60+ days of OW workouts (April-July). Will also helped to create a USMS sanctioned virtual Pool VS Cool Swim Challenge that allowed Pool and OW swimmers to swim head to head in a fun virtual competitive event. Will twice completed the Utah Triple Crown event which was a series of 3 open water marathon swims, totaling 25 miles, and he held the record for the Great Salt Lake from Antelope Island to Black Rock (8.12 mile) swim. Will shared his love of swimming outdoors and he gladly gave tips and hints to improve stroke efficiency to many swimmers which helped them swim further and faster than they ever thought possible.