Hepp’s times in all five events were fastest at meet

Pen Bay Y masters’ swim group introduces secret weapon

Wed, 03/27/2019 - 1:15pm

FREEPORT — Officially, PenBay Y’s masters’ swim group is a co-op of people over 19 who take turns helping each other get better.

Unofficially, there’s always a leader.

In this case, it’s U.S. Coast Guard officer Chris Hepp, the expert who runs Saturday morning practices.

When his official duties permit, Hepp, stationed in Rockland, is a triathlete and a swimmer. Duties do not often permit his participation in meets, but the 12th annual Toughen Up Challenge at the Freeport Y on Feb. 23 served as a spectacular introduction. 

Every year, Freeport Y’s one-day Toughen Up event prepares adult swimmers from Maine and elsewhere for the challenges of the annual March New England championships at Harvard University. Results from the New England championships will be published later when they are finalized. 

In a single day, the Freeport competitors swim a pentathlon, either the short for sprinters or the distance for the tough — 200 yards of each of the four strokes, plus the 400-yard individual medley (100 of each), virtually back-to-back. Times are adjusted to account for differing ages.

Hepp, naturally, swam the distance pentathlon and won. His times in all five events were the fastest at the meet, both absolutely and after adjustment for age.

The only other local swimmers to win the distance challenge were Doug Roth of Warren (2014) and Jenny DeHart of Thorndike (2013). No local swimmer has won the short pentathlon. 

Hepp’s Results
400-yard individual medley — 4:51.84
200-yard freestyle — 2:07.08
200-yard breaststroke — 2:39.56
200-yard backstroke — 2:34.81
200-yard butterfly — 2:18.66


Reach the sports department at: sports@penbaypilot.com