Santa Barbara athlete has CMT - news!

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/1/2003 12:14:50 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

liliwigg@... writes:

> A total of 34 official swimmers completed the race. Among them was Santa

> Barbara resident .

>

> was diagnosed with a form of Muscular Dystrophy called Charcot

> Marie

> Toothe that limits the use of his legs, among other things. But his

> physical impairment did not seem to dampen his enthusiasm for completing

> his fourth (almost) three-mile swim.

>

I have in my family. I wonder if we are related?

[Guest guest]

Local Sports News - from the Santa Barbara News Press, Santa Barbara,

California

(Note: This is about , see last few paragraphs. Also, I

would like to add CMT is NOT a form of MD - I hope to contact and

hopefully the reporter as well~ Gretchen)

Kostich, Yamahata travel a long way to win Semana Nautica 3-Mile Swim

6/30/03

By MIKE TAKEUCHI

NEWS-PRESS SPORTS

CORRESPONDENT

Distances were the hot topic at the Semana Nautica 3-Mile Swim on

Sunday. Kostich and Yamahata both overcame long trips just

to get to the starting line and went on to win the overall and women's

titles of the shortened race at East Beach.

Since Kostich flew in from Amsterdam the night before, and then made the

car trip from

his Los Angeles home Sunday morning, he may want to request bonus miles

in addition to

the plaque he earned for being the first swimmer to finish the race.

" When I got home, I was still on Amsterdam time so I just went to bed, "

Kostich said. " I really wanted to come here, but wasn't sure if I could

physically get up to do this. It wasn't until I woke up at 3 a.m. and

started cleaning the house that I decided to come up to race. "

Jet lag wasn't the only thing on Kostich's mind. The 33-year-old had to

contend with

Saturday's one-mile champions -- Yontez (overall) and Yamahata

(women's),

whose name was misidentified in Sunday's edition of the News-Press.

Kostich was up to the task.

Yontez, who admitted that Kostich was the man to beat following the

previous day's race, took the early lead. It was to be shortlived as

Kostich caught and then passed him 10 minutes after the start. Kostich

was unchallenged for the rest of the race.

The director of marketing for Warner Brothers International Theatrical

Division finished in 42 minutes, 38 seconds while Yontez came in second

in 44:29. The distance was actually closer to 2.5 miles than three.

(Kostich's time in 2002 was 57:26.)

Yamahata, 16, was the third overall finisher (44:33) and teammates

Korotkin

(45:23) and Darryl (45:28) rounded out the top five. Heidi

Christensen (48:19,

10th overall) was the second woman. The top local finishers were

Reid (sixth,

48:06) and Michalak (12th overall and third woman, 48:33).

The long and short of it had Kostich enthused about spending another day

in Santa Barbara next week for his first foray into Semana Nautica's

Six-Mile event next Sunday.

" I love coming up to do this race, " Kostich said. " I think I will commit

to next week's six-mile swim to come back to Santa Barbara ne more

time. "

Yamahata could also submit for mileage. She drove down from Sacramento

with her father

Wayne and an Arden Hills swim team contingent to compete in Sunday's

three-mile

and Saturday's one-mile races. According to Arden Hills coach

Nabeta, this is just the beginning of a lot of travel for Yamahata.

" will be going to the Texas Senior Circuit Championships next

month and then to

land for the 5k Open Water National Championships in August, " Nabeta

said. " She

is used to going long distances to race. Coming to Santa Barbara is a

short pleasant

trip. It has been really nice here. "

On the subject of short trips, two-and-a-half-mile swim director Rich

Hanna admitted that the faster times this year were due to a course that

was not properly marked. Hanna, tongue firmly in cheek, explained that

the cause of the problem was a

broken odometer on the lifeguard truck.

A total of 34 official swimmers completed the race. Among them was Santa

Barbara resident .

was diagnosed with a form of Muscular Dystrophy called Charcot

Marie

Toothe that limits the use of his legs, among other things. But his

physical impairment did not seem to dampen his enthusiasm for completing

his fourth (almost) three-mile swim.

" It was a great day to be out here swimming with everyone, "

explained. " What

better way to celebrate Santa Barbara by doing an event like this? "

© Copyright 2003 Santa Barbara News-Press