Dive in Time
Swimmers set an amazing 22 records. US Masters, FINA, and European records were all broken, according to IGLA '99 organizers. Many masters swim records were broken by adult aquatic champs from as far away as Florence, Italy.

Lorenzo Benucci, in the 100 meter Individual Medley, set a US Masters 30-35yo record. "I did well the other day, too," he said."Got second, and I think missed the world record by a hundredth of a second. Oh well." Benucci is living in Atlanta as a student and swims with Rainbow Trout.

Water polo saw the top gay teams in North America bump capped heads for the gold. America's most aggressive team and five-time champs, West Hollywood's WH2O, took the gold with their notoriously aggressive style, defeating the Seattle Otters in a final match. Team New York and Washington DC also came in at silver and bronze, respectively.

In diving, half a dozen men competing in platform, springboard and synchronized duo events. Mike Shriner of Cleveland snagged some gold, Altantan Drew Cockrell (silver) and Mike Adams (bronze) offered each other tips between dives.

Olympian David Pichler, one of several now-openly gay divers, was also on hand for some demonstrations, courtesy of his gay-friendly sponsor, Speedo. He commented on the freedom of competing in 1996 as an openly gay diver, and overcame the difficulties that prevented his qualifying in 1992. "In diving, you can't have something like (being closeted) distract you." Pichler will compete in the Sydney Olympics in 2000 as one of the first to compete after coming out. May the gods be with him.

Although outreach to women continues at IGLA, only 20 percent of competitors were female (114 women, 602 men), but all made strong showings in individual and relay events. A pick-up match of water polo between Seattle, London and other US women proved to be an IGLA highlight, and a first in the history of IGLA's tournaments.