Brad Jones figured once his collegiate career at Penn State ended with his graduation back in the late 1980s his days of swimming competitively were over. It appears, however, that once that chlorine gets into your system, it’s tough to shake no matter how long you’ve been out of the pool.
Jones, a Bellingham resident, won six events and was the high-point award recipient at the Northwest Short Course Meters Championships in Federal Way, November 19-20.
“I actually thought I had hung up my Speedo for good,” joked 50-year-old Jones, who has been the head strength coach and assistant swim coach for Bellingham Bay Swim Team for the last six years.
Competing in the men’s 50-54 age group against swimmers from the West Coast and Western Canada, Jones competed in six events at the King County Aquatic Center and took gold in each one. He captured the 100-, 200- and 400-meter individual medley and the 50-, 100- and 200-meter butterfly.
Outside the 50 fly, Jones, who is also a certified advanced Rolfer with a practice in Bellingham, posted times that ranked in the top 10 this year nationally for swimmers in his age group. His top performance at the meet was in the 400 IM when he stopped the clock in 5 minutes, 20.98 seconds, placing him fifth in the event’s U.S. swimmers. Jones also ranked sixth in the 200 fly, seventh in the 100 fly and 200 IM and eighth in the 100 IM.
“I think my time in the 400 IM and 200 fly were the most surprising for me,” Jones said. “I didn’t really know what to expect at the meet, but I am really happy with those times.”
A lifelong swimmer growing up in Maryland, Jones began competing in his early teens, eventually earning a Division I scholarship to Penn State.
The Nittany Lions finished a solid third at the Eastern Championships during Jones’ senior season in 1987, placing behind traditionally strong Brown and Harvard, after finishing 8-1 in dual meets with the team’s only setback to powerhouse Southern Methodist.
Jones initially believed that would be his last competitive meet. “Swimming in college at such a high level was fun, but there was also a lot of pressure doing it,” Jones said. “By the time I graduated I was just burned out with swimming and became interested in other things like skiing, mountain biking and lots of outdoor activities that had nothing to do with being in the water.”
One such activity was kettlebell lifting. Jones would later compete at four Kettlebell Sport World Championships, finishing among the top 3 in his weight class at each event.
Graduating with a bachelor’s degree in speech communication, Jones also became certified in Rolfing through the Rolf Institute in Boulder, Colorado – the lone certifying agency in the United States. This massage practice focuses on the vertical realignment of the body. He moved to Bellingham in 2008 and opened his practice, Rolfing Bellingham.
Shortly after his arrival Jones began coaching for the Bellingham Bay Swim Team. Once word got out about his past swimming experience, the invites to come swim with the local master’s swimming program began steadily coming in.
“I had always declined, but about a year ago I finally decided to give it a try,” said Jones, who swims for the Puget Sound Masters. “I’m glad I did. It’s such a supportive community. It had been about 25 years since I last competed, but it felt like I was able to get right back into it.”
His performance in Federal Way more than backs that up.
Jones plans to continue to compete in upcoming events with one of the nation’s bigger meets taking place in Riverside, California with the 2017 Nationwide USMS Spring National Championships, April 27-30.
