2022 Michigan Masters Annual Awards
Corrin Buck
2022 Coach of the Year
Corrin Buck has been a member of Michigan Masters Swimming for over 23 years, and during that time she has held various board positions such as LMSC Secretary and Sanctions Officer.
But she has also been known for her work as a coach – for both Masters swimming and her age group teams.
Corrin coached age group swimming for 35 years, with the last 26 at Harper Creek High School. She celebrated her 100th coaching victory within last year and finished her final season with 115 wins for her entire career.
Corrin recently retired from her age group coaching after more than more than a quarter of a century and last month was inducted into the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
As she stepped away from age group coaching, she then had more time to devote to her Masters swimming teammates and moved into being the lead coach for the USMS Spring and Summer Nationals.
This year, Corrin took the lead on organizing the San Antonio and Richmond Virginia national meets where Michigan Masters came in 7th and 6th place respectively.
Her first meet as national coach was in 2021 at Greensboro, NC where Michigan placed 6th. And last summer, she coached Michigan Masters to a first-place win at the Summer Long Course Nationals at SPIRE in Geneva, Ohio.
So, for all her success in the past and in the future with Michigan Masters, we awarded the 2022 Coach of the Year award to Corrin Buck.
Denise Brown
2022 Open Water Swimmer of the Year
For the past 18 years, one Michigan Masters swimmer has excelled in open water competitions at both the national and international level.
Whether it’s a US Masters Swimming National Championship or one of the many other events that she enters, Denise Brown has outshined most other swimmers in her age group.
Although COVID stopped most large-scale international competitions over the past two years, right before the lockdown, Denise managed to make it to the 18th FINA World Masters Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, where she placed third in her age group for the 10K open water event.
Her open water winning streak is unmatched in our LMSC. In the past 18 years, Denise has won over 40 open water national championships.
Her most recent accomplishment was secured just seven weeks ago in Lake George, New York, where Denise placed first in her age group to become the 2022 USMS Open Water 10k Champion.
So, for all her success in open water competition over the years and her most recent win in this year’s open water nationals, we awarded the 2022 Open Water Swimmer of the Year award to Denise Brown.
Chad Steed
2022 Pool Swimmer of the Year
The past few years have definitely been a challenge for the swimming community. Whether it was a pool swim or an open water event, keeping in shape and doing well has tested the best of everyone.
For many of us, water and swimming has brought us countless hours of joy, friendship, comradery, and fun (plus, the occasional hard and exhausting practice.) Even though many of us missed the water, we all did the best we could under the circumstances.
Besides swimming for fun and fitness, swimming sometimes offers the chance to give back to everyone – swimmers and non-swimmers alike – in ways they may never have thought possible.
Chad Steed is a good example of all these things.
This year at the 2022 USMS Summer Long Course National Championships in Richmond, Virginia, Chad place 2nd in the 50-meter butterfly, 3rd in the 100-meter butterfly, 4th in the 50-meter freestyle and 5th in the 100-meter breaststroke. Overall, a great showing.
But because swimming is not just a one-way street, Chad gives back much more than he receives by also being an integral part of the Swim Across America Motor City Mile swim event each summer.
As a 21-year cancer survivor of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Chad has raised over $15,000 for cancer research at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center where he was treated at age 29.
As Chad himself said earlier at this year’s event, “Swimming allowed me moments to escape the worry, fear, and frustration during my entire cancer experience. It also let me maintain a level of normalcy; and, just like swimming, set goals as I moved through the treatment process.”
So, for all his success in the pool, and how he uses swimming to help others outside of the pool, we awarded the 2022 Pool Swimmer of the Year award to Chad Steed.
Bob Crosby
2022 Meet Director of the Year
For many years, Michigan Masters swim meets were not much different than most other swim meets. The swimmers showed up, swam their races, and then went home.
Then, about 25 years ago, someone had a different idea about how to put on a Masters meet.
Bob Crosby was that person. His vision of a post-meet social was a first for Michigan Masters. Likewise, his idea of having the high school swim team run the meet was also a newer concept.
As with all good ideas, many other meet hosts began to copy Bob’s model of using a Masters swim meet as a fundraiser and hosting a meal afterwards.
Bob is now getting close to hosting his 50th Masters swim meet and the tens of thousands of dollars that Bob has helped his age group teams raise, has sent them to meets all over the country.
So, for all his many years as a meet host and supporter of Michigan Masters Swimming, we awarded the 2022 Meet Director of the Year award to Bob Crosby.