Dear City Council. I have been an active member of Menlo Masters for roughly 15 years. I first came to know Tim Sheeper about 30 years ago when
we were both young triathletes. Once I no longer needed childcare at Peninsula Covenant Community Center I immediately changed masters swim teams to have
Tim as my coach. What Tim has created within Menlo Masters is a community of people that I call extended family as do the others who are dedicated to the team.
Tim’s has an ability to write unique and creative workouts as well as build a community of people that “do life together”, go to coffee weekly, go on vacations together, call each other
when ill, bring meals to one another, etc. Many of the members on the team are doctors and many have walked along side members of the team and helped with advice, or more.
One day a 70+ year old swimmer had a stroke while pulling pool covers but didn’t realize it. He got in the pool and swam, got out and headed to Barone’s Coffee shop. I was worried so I asked Dr. Paul if he was close to Bill to which he replied, I’m about to meet him for coffee. When he got to the coffee shop Bill was sitting there unable to know what to do next… within a minute they were driving to Stanford where Bill was admitted. Thankfully, Bill is still swimming and active to this day.
We have had members of our team unexpectedly die and their wives have joined our team and become part of this community for support. Many members of our team have suffered through cancers such as
Metastatic Myeloma, breast cancer, hip replacement, heart transplant and on and on I could go, and they all return to Menlo Masters with a smile on their face knowing they are returning to people who care about them and will welcome them back to the pool they call home. (Tim created this environment)
It is because Tim Sheeper is our Coach, it is his leadership that has created such an amazing team of people. Masters swimmers range in age from 19 - 99+. We have two members on our team who are 87 years old! Both Jon and Anne are swimmers who come daily to the pool. They both still race in swim meets! It’s an amazing thing to watch these fit seniors who have bodies that look like they are 50, come to the pool, hop in and swim as hard as humanly possible with us. Most of the members on the team range in age from mid 40’s to late 70’s. I don’t know what the average age is but I would guess it’s around 60. We have new members joining all the time, some are young but most are people who have gotten older and can no longer do what they used to be able to do. Swimming is a sport we can do as long as we can float and move our arms.
Tim has grown Menlo Swim and Sport to what it is today. I don’t think you will find anyone with his talent to not only create thriving programs but create communities within the community, from the Triathlon team, Youth Swim Teams and our Masters Team. I drive from Woodside to swim at Menlo. As others have said, within the surrounding area there is no other public pool that has a masters program. The next closest city is Mountain View.
Anyone who knows Tim knows he has a heart of gold and he cares deeply about the people he works with and shares his life with. I hope you will renew his contract for years to come! Menlo Masters is a huge part of my life and it would dramatically negatively influence my life if Tim was not in charge.
Thank you!
Stephanie Couch
