Stanford University’s Avery Aquatics Center was home to the International Gay and Lesbian Aquatic’s annual championship games this past weekend. Over 80 teams from five continents participated in the annual event. The international gathering of swimmers was hosted by the San Francisco Tsunami swim club and included swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming events.

“San Francisco Tsunami put on a wonderful event,” said John Rasmussen of the Cygnets water polo team, who finished 10th place in the tournament. “The facilities at Stanford University, there are probably nothing better in the world.”

World class is one way to describe the competition where 17 swimming world records were broken, and in the large team competition, the San Diego Different Strokes Swim Team took third place behind the District of Columbia Aquatics Club and West Hollywood Aquatics.

Swimmers competed in 55 events organized by age group (in five-year increments). San Diego’s man of gold was Mike Ahern, who took first place in the 100 Free, 50 Butterfly, 50 Free and 100 IM. He also raced on four gold medal-winning relay teams. Other strong finishers included Vinus Van Baalen, who came home with two gold, a silver and two bronze medals, as well as three relay golds. Mark Wussler captured a pair of golds and a matching pair of silver medals in individual competition and five more medals in relays.

In women’s events, Patricia Thomas had the golden touch with five golds in the 50, 100 and 200 Butterfly and the 200 and 400 IM. She also helped her relay team to four golds and one silver. Rebecca Lesher captured a gold in the 200 Butterfly and a silver in the 100 Butterfly, while Annette Bernier picked up a pair of golds and a silver in individual events and another pair of each in the relays.

In the Water Polo Stadium the San Diego Cygnets got off to a rough start in the tournament losing their first match to the Atlanta Rainbow Trout, 6-1, and then falling victim to the West Hollywood (WeH2O) B team, 10-3. The Cygnets bounced back in day two of the tournament with a pair of wins defeating the Toronto Triggerfish, 9-0, and the Washington Wetskins, 6-4. The 2-2 record left the Cygnets competing for 9th place against team Sydney Australia. In their final game, the Cygnets lost a heartbreaker, 6-4 , to finish 10th in the tournament.

“We were very happy with this team…. It was the first time some people had ever played in a real game before,” Rasmussen said of his team’s performance. “We scrimmaged a lot, but this official with refs and a shot clock and everyone was saying we did just wonderful.”

In the championship rounds of waterpolo, WeH2O proved themselves to be the gay water polo powerhouse with their A team defeating the San Francisco Tsunami, 5-3, to take the Gold and the WeH2O B team defeating the Seattle Otters, 7-5, to take the Bronze.

As always, the 2003 IGLA Championship came to a close with the Pink Flamingo event, a competition that is part comedy routine, part drag show, part strip show and part synchronized swimming. The Paris Aquatique proved they could play “Cowboys and Indians” to win the showcase event, which had a “Wild West” theme.

The 2004 IGLA Championship is already scheduled to be held next summer in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The San Diego Different Strokes Swim Team welcomes new members of all experience levels to join them for their weekly practices. For practice times and locations, refer to the sports calendar on this page.