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by Team Austin Co-Captain Jim Caruth
AUSTIN, TEXASCongratulations Team And Row Team Austin
Austin is very proud of our own Gay Games Athletes as they returned back to Texas with medals and memories. Starting with Team Austin members, Clifford Ueltschey won the Silver medal in his weight class for Bodybuilding. In Bridge, Gerry Williams and Scott Humphrey won the Bronze in Class B Bridge. Track and Field presented Tino Calderon with Silver in the 100-meter men 35-39-sprint division. For Martial Arts, Gerald Penny captured the Silver for Martial Arts Weapon Forms.
Row Team Austin captured even more medals. Dan Lyons and Becky Clark won the Gold in the Mixed Double event, while Becky Clark and Norine Jaloway won the Gold in the Women's Double. Becky Clark continued again along with Denise Cavness, Julie Rhodes, Sue Johnsen and coxin Piper Becker earning Gold for the Women's Quad. "Coxin" is the non-rower who sits at the front of the boat and calls the boat. For the men, Steve Onken, Bernie Lofaso, Bill Weaver and Rob Ignatowski and coxin Sharon Smith earned the Gold for the Men's Quad. Silver was won for the Men's Quad by RTA members Dan Lyons, Doug Simmer, Steve Aubrey, Alen Thomas and coxin William Nguyen. Silver was also presented to the Men's Eight "B" Age category to RTA members Jeffrey Kraybill, Rob Ignatowski, Edward Schiller, Paul Hemmer, Paul Scripko, Steve Onken, Frankie Wallace, Doug Simmer and coxin Sharon Smith.
Scott Leapman won two medals, a Gold and Silver, as coxin to other non-Austin teams from Boston and San Deigo. Although not part of Team Austin, Lee Ingalls from Houston and his partner won a medal in Ballroom Dancing, a competition that was dominated by Europeans. From Team Dallas, Phil Johnson earned 10 Gold medals for swimming in the 70-74 year category, while teammates Mark Stori won three Gold, 1 Silver, and 2 Bronze medals in other swim categories. Also from Team Dallas, Brad Levinson earned 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze for swimming events. From Team Houston - the Houston Swims Dean Putterman earned one Silver and one Bronze. For all the results, check out the Gay Games Website, www.gaygames.nl and click on the "Results" link.
Going Dutch: The Gay Games, 1998
[The following is a feature on the Gay Games in Amsterdam by Row Team Austin competitor Brett Westbrook who wrote the majority of this feature with added insights by team member, Bart Loeser]
Security was tight. No one in or out of the main building in Friendship Village without a pass. The lines at the accreditation desk were long; the volunteers cooperative, helpful, and as efficient as possible. The flirting was already heavy-duty. Some games began before The Games began. Teams and spectators from all over the globe descended on Amsterdam recently, bringing with them a love of sports that builds community and shows the world we are athletes and artists proud of who we are. The Opening Ceremony's best highlight was when the Weather Girls performed "It's Raining Men" accompanied by some 100 athletes, and most stripped for the mass crowd in attendance. This number was so hot that it was repeated again as an encore performance for the Closing Ceremony.
The city of Amsterdam, especially the Mayor, Schelto Patjin, supported this international show of unity and elan. He appeared at both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and really enjoyed himself. When the International Skating Union refused to ratify the skating competition and threatened sanctions against participating skaters, the Mayor expressed his contempt in clear terms, saying, "people at the I.S.U. are bastards. Can you just imagine doing what they did?"
Rick van der Ploeg, the new Minister of Culture installed in his post on the 3rd day of the Games, attended a cultural event, Lesbians Unlimited, declaring that "culture and art can function as social cement. Just look at the Gay Games!" The Games this year were dedicated to Willem Arondeus, a member of the Dutch resistance during the Second World War. Executed by the Nazis in 1943 for acts of sabotage against the occupation forces, he is considered a hero by the Dutch. Willem Arondeus was Gay.
With the exception of the ice skating, the other events went off very well. From bowling to badminton to body building, there were 30 events and four demonstration sports. Most popular for the spectators were ice hockey, bodybuilding, swimming, skating and wrestling. A spectator at the weight lifting was overheard to comment on one of the competitors, "He was showing off 170 pounds of abs through that singlet!"
The U.S. athletes were the top medal-winners, despite much larger contingents from the Netherlands and Australia. Every athlete that attended the Gay Games were all winners and received a pewter medal for Friendship through Culture and Sports. Row Team Austin, the largest Gay and Lesbian Rowing Team internationally, did very well in a number of events, while teams from Seattle, New York, California, and Louisiana were among many U.S. teams taking home the shiny medallions. "Every time Row Team Austin members departed with their boats in the races, we all gathered together and sang the Eyes of Texas to our fellow Texans," commented fellow RTA member Bart Loeser. The competition was serious, however, and many records were set.
Peter Prijdekker from London set a new 50-meter freestyle time for men age 50-54 at 26.16 seconds. Women comprised 42% of the participants, thanks to diligent recruitment by the organizers in Amsterdam. And thanks to the Outreach Program, participants from some unexpected parts of the globe were able to attend, including war-torn Bosnia Herzogovinia, and several former Soviet republics, such as Kazahkstan and Kirzikstan.
Participants from those countries where homosexuality is illegal and very dangerous were ecstatic to be someplace, even if only for a week, where they could be who they are without having to look over their shoulders. Elizabeth Khaxas came from Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe justified his extreme homophobic comments by comparing homosexuals to drug addicts and "those given to bestiality." She risks everything to be out saying that she could never accept the "numerous attacks on our human dignity as Gays and Lesbians by some of the leading politicians of this country." Equally courageous were HIV-positive participants and those in the wheelchair competitions. Tjerk Zweers from Amsterdam competed in the grueling triathlon, while Wanda Slokker competed in ballroom dancing, where couples consisted of a handicapped and a non-handicapped dancer. Zweers declared his participation in the Games as the "proof that I live."
There were no protesters around Friendship Village, the heart of the Games. Imagine that at any city in the United States! At the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, 3 or 4 young people, looking very sketchy handed out a plain, black and white leaflet that read, "God created Adam and Eve." They looked sheepish and their attempts to hand out the leaflets were half-hearted at best.
The Games, of course, mean parties and the music blared out of Friendship Village every night, across Amstel Canal and down into Rembrandt Place where the bars were so full, the people spilled out into the alleyways, into the streets, into each other's arms and then to their hotel rooms. In Amsterdam, the sun doesn't go down until after 10pm and everyone seemed intent on putting the extra daylight hours to good use checking out every scene and every body in sight. Team Austin definitely had a great time.
As it turned out, the tight security was not necessary and 250 of the extra 500 officers posted were sent home by mid-week. Anticipated tensions among the various nationalities and ethnicitys never materialized. The Gay Games succeeded brilliantly in the goal of unity across such borders. Four years from now, the Games will be in Australia. All the sports, parties, music, culture-all those beautiful homos and dykes-will be Down Under. Amsterdam will be a hard act to follow. To date, rowing is not a competition sport for the Gay Games recognized in Australia. Protests and petitions have already begun, starting in Amsterdam where some 400 rowers voiced their opinions and signatures. Look out Sydney!
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