Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 29, 1990 TAG: 9007290179
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MONICA DAVEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The old house was a 15-minute drive to the Lancerlot.
The new place put the Schmaltzes within three miles.
Shortening the distance between their family and the pool was, quite seriously, a factor in their decision to move.
"It's important," Kathleen Schmaltz said. "You have to have water all the time."
That family edict was followed especially well this weekend at the Roanoke Valley Aquatic Association's city-county championship swim meet.
All four of the Schmaltzes - Kathleen, Tom, and their children, Jason and Gretchen - competed in the two days of races.
More than 1,000 competitors from 20 teams in Roanoke and Roanoke County, Blacksburg and Radford swam in the nearly 300 events.
The RVAA's 26-year-old event included adults older than 45 all the way down to a younger-than-6 category.
Gretchen Schmaltz definitely fell into the last group.
At 4, she carries her "NO-nee" (a favorite scrap of blanket) with her and keeps her thumb well-wedged in her mouth while she waits for the next race.
Her innocent looks belie her competitive drive.
"She's an animal," her father said.
In the 25-yard freestyle race, the first-time competitor came in 45th out of 57 kids.
"She looked over at somebody near the end, and she cranked it up," he said. "She doesn't hold onto the rope or anything."
In the Schmaltz family, it was a race just to keep up with whose competition was happening when.
As 8-year-old Jason lined up to swim a heat, the rest of the family raced from the waiting area - where hundreds of resting swimmers filled a room covered with a checkerboard of towels and blankets - into the pool to root him along.
The Schmaltzes' love for swimming started in their college days.
At James Madison University, Tom Schmaltz swam and his wife was a diver.
The couple, now in their mid-30s, have drawn their children into it.
"We have to force ourselves to get away from Nintendo," Tom Schmaltz joked.
They had their children in water by the time they were 2 months old.
By age 3, the kids swam their first length in a pool.
Talk of the sport that has already crossed a generation in the Schmaltz family brings a smile and a giggle to Gretchen's lips.
She doesn't have all the names down, but she's got her favorite strokes: "froggy-froggy" (known as breast stroke to some) and "big circles" (also called the backstroke).
Her favorite part of swimming?
"Drinking the water."
by CNB