Welcome to Butternuts!

The Butternuts, the 500+ butterfly club, is now nationwide! Team NASTI would like to extend membership to anyone “brave” enough (i.e., nutty enough) to try this! Please fill out this form and send it to the address indicated. ButterNut Club Members will receive a color certificate and custom full-color T-shirt to wear with pride!

Butternut Rules:
1. Continuous butterfly swim - 500 yard minimum
2. Swim duration must be USA/USMS legal (all regulation butterfly; no one-armed strokes or turns, fins, etc.)
3. A witness who’ll vouch for your success!

We have members ranging from nine to eighty years old, and we stretch from Maine to Texas, Montana, California and even Hawaii! And the Butternuts haven’t stopped at just 500 yards! Doug Strong, 80, from Bloomington, Ind., swam a 2,500! We wanted to share one of the comments we’ve received:

"On February 28, I swam a 1100 yard continuous butterfly. My witness is Jason Amos, our assistant aquatics director, here at the Penobscott Bay “YMCA” in Rockport. Since we don’t have any 50-meter pools in Maine, it had to be in yards. I’d set out to swim a 600 fly, but gee, it felt so good, I decided to see how far I could go before either getting bored or was too tired to continue. The former was the result. After about 40 minutes, I just flat got too bored to go for more. Since fly is my “resting and cool down” stroke, it wasn’t difficult, when taken slow and relaxed. I’ve come to believe that most people shudder away from butterfly because they try to “kill” the stroke and end up doing themselves in. To me, the key to butterfly, is to just stay relaxed and keep up a steady rythmn. ... I’ll gladly pay for the T-shirt and shipping. At 72, most other swimmers think that I’m nuts to swim butterfly distances, anyway. I might as well make it official!"
Dolly Slater, Maine Masters, Owls Head, Maine

Here's another amazing story, one that qualifies them as "Honorary Butternuts"!
Girl, 14, Emerges from Lake Erie as a Champion

Here are the inductees so far...

Laurie Alioto, 49 - WMAC
2/10/08 - 500 yds., pool, 7:03.8
Christie Anderson, 29 - NASTI
4/4/06 - 500 yds., pool, 7:40.72
Aaron Applebaum, 13 - COPS
2/22/07 - 500 yds., pool
Rodney Bailey, 55 - UA
500 yds., pool, 10:27
Dan Behr, BOZE
3/9/2006 - 500 M, pool
Marcia Benjamin, 50 - Walnut Creek Masters
5/13/07 - 500 yds., pool, 8:48
Miriam Benjamin, 10 - Walnut Creek Aquabears
4/25/07 - 500 yds., pool
Kat Boyer, 53 - MOST
7/15/08 - 500 M, pool, 10:12.28
Ann Brewer, South Texas
500 M, pool
Jim Budde, AMST
2/06 - 1000 yds., ocean
Linda Callaway, MOST
5/17/2008 - 500 M, pool, 13:08

According to tradition, Linda's workout group celebrated her birthday poolside when she turned 55 and they did a special challenge set - 55 laps all the same stroke. She swam butterfly while everyone else swam other strokes. When she finished, they sang "Happy Birthday" and gave her a goofy B'day cake (Clif Bar with a lighted candle). Also, in January 2007, she did the One Hour Postal Swim all butterfly, 2,180 SCY! At the end, some age group kids (12-15 years old) in the pool that day clapped and cheered her when she finished, their coach citing her as a real role model for them. Now we know why she is known among her teammates as the "Butterfly Queen".
Anna Castle,
3/7/2007 - 500 yds., pool
Doug Church, 62 - NASTI
Summer '05 - 500 yds., pool
Bill Crowley, 67 - Plano Wetcats
5/4/06 - 500 yds., pool, 10:11
Eric Dybahl, 46 - PNA
1/24/07 - 3740 yds., pool, 1:00:00.00
Julie Eakle, 48 MOST
6/27/08 - 500 M, pool, 11:59
Tittia Elias, South Texas
500 yds., pool, 8:50
Todd Erickson, 53 - MOST
7/15/08 - 500 M., pool, 9:51.3
James Evans, 59 - Virginia Masters
2/10/07 - 500 yds., pool, 10:39.50
Michael Fox, 57 - Plano Wetcats
2/10/07 - 500 yds., pool, 7:40.09
Jim Gibbs, 65 - Plano Wetcats
2/10/2007 - 500 yds., pool, 11:39
Peter Giustra, 67 - Maine Masters
500 yds., pool
Henry Hallf, Masters of South Texas
600 M, pool (SCM), 12:58
Jenny Hodges, 34 - PMST
6/18/08 - 500 yds, pool, 9:55
Vic Holove, NASTI
Summer '05 - 500 M, pool
Doug Jelen, 34, PNA
500 yds, pool, 6:48
Craig Kercher, 46 - MOST
7/2/08 - 500 M, pool
Raena Latina-Lawson, 34 - NASTI
Summer '05 - 500 M, pool
Matt Laughlin, 19 - Baldwin Wallace
1/5/2007 - 500 yds., pool, 6:03
Alex Leer, 11 - NSC
500 yds., pool
Ethan Leer, 9 - NSC
500 yds., pool
Ellen Lipolis, Vacaville
500 M, pool, 9:24
Lindsay Longest, NASTI
4/4/2006 - 500 yds., pool, 9:24
Jerry Lourigan, Madison Area Mstrs.
2/11/2007 - 500 yds., pool, 7:35.22
Chris Massonneau, 49 - Winchester Masters
8/6/2007, pool (LCM), 10:53
Chris Mayhew, 54 - Masters of South Texas
6/27/2008, pool (LCM), 10:51.61
Kathy Morrell, VSCM

Scott Mortenson, South Texas
600 M, pool, 14:02
Stephanie Patterson, 27 - Omaha Masters
3/27/2007 - 500 yds., pool, 7:51.92
Tim Patterson, 49 - Omaha Masters
3/27/2007 - 500 yds., pool, 7:47.79
Judy Paukert, 60 - MOST
7/15/08 - 600 yds., pool, 14:45
Allen Raver, 38 - NASTI
4/8/2006 - 500 yds., pool, 9:13
Eric Rawlings, 25 - Charlottesville
3/14/2007 - 600 yds., pool, 6:03
Ryan Reynolds, 18 - Baldwin Wallace
1/5/2007 - 500 yds., pool, 6:06
Elizabeth Robinson, 54 - Plano Wetcats
1/31/2007 - 500 yds., pool, 10:17
Jeanine Sanford, 48 - Plano Wetcats
1/18/2007 - 500 yds., pool, 11:05
Porter Schiavone, Winchester Masters
3/1/2007 - 500 M, pool, 10:12.88
Dolly Slater, PBM
1100 yds., pool
Mary Span, 16 - Millbrook High School
8/8/2007 - 500 M, pool
Doug Strong, 80 - DOC
1/14/2006 - 2500 yds., pool
Sonja Stroot, Tri City Sturgeons
2/11/2007 - 600 M, pool, 13:57
3/4/2007 - 1000 M, pool, 23:33
Theresa Thompson, NASTI
Summer '05 - 500 M, pool
Robin Walker, NASTI
12/8/07, 500 yds, pool
Dan Welklin, NASTI
Summer '05 - 1000 M, pool
and 7/6/2008, 4000 M, pool

It was a beautiful Sunday morning at the Forest Park Aquatic Center and one of the Butternut Founders, Dan Welklin decided to go for a swim. 4000 Meters of Butterfly later, Dan got out of the pool to the applause of his Nasti teammates with a new Butternut record distance!! Said Dan: “What’s for breakfast?!”
Gayle Wichman
3/5/2006 - 500 yds., pool