In the Winn Family, Swimming Success Is a Real Tradition

Kristin and Dana Winn were unimpressed with their first experience with competitive swimming. But they were only 5 and 3 years old, respectively.

Their parents, Robert and Sue Winn, had been asked to compete for a masters’ team in Mission Viejo, and almost every day, the entire family would go to the Marguerite Recreation Center.

“We really didn’t know what our parents were doing,” said Kristin Winn, now a senior at Mission Viejo High School. “But we’d go nearly every day. Mom and Dad would train in one pool, while Kristin and I dawdled around in another pool.”

Still, it was almost inevitable that Kristin and Dana Winn would become swimmers. You might say it’s family tradition.

Their parents were standout swimmers in the early 1960s. Robert Winn competed for Fallbrook High School and later for the University of Idaho, and Sue Winn once held an age-group national record in the 50-yard breaststroke.

The Winns’ grandfather, Doug, competed for Washington State from 1939-41. At 67, he still swims regularly.

But Kristin, 17, and Dana, 15, are going beyond the accomplishments of their parents and grandfather.

Both swim for the Mission Viejo Nadadores and are considered top swimmers for their age groups. And both are important parts of the Mission Viejo High School team.

They’re looking to take advantage of the opportunities for swimmers that were not available 20 years ago.

“There are more scholarships being offered to swimmers now,” Kristin said. “I look at it as a way to go to college. My mother never got a chance, even though she was a good swimmer.”

Kristin finished third in the 100-, 200- and 500-meter freestyles at the Southern Section meet last year. She hopes to attend Stanford or California next year on a swimming scholarship, which would give the family three generations of collegiate competition.

And, though just a sophomore, Dana also is looking toward college.

“I’ve already noticed that I can get into a better college than some of my friends just because of swimming,” she said.

Sue Winn never swam for the Fallbrook High School team, but she started competing for the Fallbrook Swim Club at age 11. When she was 12, Winn set the 11-12 age group record in the 50-yard breaststroke (39.0 seconds).

But Winn didn’t compete again after she graduated from Fallbrook in 1965.

“There were no opportunities then for women swimmers,” she said. “There is such a big difference now.”

Robert Winn did have an opportunity, but it was a slim one. After he graduated from Fallbrook in 1963, he went to Idaho as a walk-on.

“There were no scholarships, and I didn’t even know they had a swim team,” Winn said. “And the pool was underground, beneath the gymnasium floor.”

As a freshman, Winn was part of a 400-meter relay team that qualified for the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. championships. However, freshmen were not allowed to compete in NCAA finals, so Winn and his teammates stayed home.

“The next year, a couple of the guys on the relay team had graduated, so we didn’t qualify,” Winn said. “After college, Sue and I kept swimming for the exercise.”

Kristin and Dana were not pushed into swimming by their parents. It began innocently enough with swimming lessons at the Marguerite Recreation Center.

“They had a program for kids 4-8,” said Robert Winn. “It was a great deal, $20 for 20 days of lessons.”

At the end of the lessons, there was a friendly swim meet, in which Kristin competed. What she didn’t know is that scouts from the Nadadores regularly watch the swimming classes for potential athletes.

It didn’t take long for Kristin to be asked to swim for the novice team. And a year later, her coach asked if she knew any 5-year-olds who were talented swimmers.

At that time, Dana was 5.

“It’s quite a system they had going,” Robert Winn said. “They start with swimming lessons, then the novice team. Pretty soon they’re swimming year-round and you wonder how it all happened.”

Not that Winn is complaining. He and his wife are pleased that their daughters have chosen swimming.

The parents attend the high school meets regularly and even make some of the cross-country trips with the Nadadores.

“If they had gone into soccer, we still would have been involved, as a coach or something,” Robert said. “But swimming is much more enjoyable to watch for us. We understand it more, so it’s fun.”

Said Kristin: “They know what advice to give us, whether we need to kick more or how to improve our strokes.”

Dana was the first of the sisters to succeed.

When she was 10, she held the fifth-fastest time nationally in the 200 freestyle and the 100 freestyle for the 10-11 age group. She also had the 12th-best time in the 200 individual medley and 15th-best time in the 100 backstroke.

For her, the competitive drive was natural.

“When Kristin was younger, I don’t think she really understood that winning the race was important,” Robert said. “I told her one time that the idea was to get to the other end of the pool first and beat the other swimmers. She said, ‘I don’t want to beat them. They are friends.’ I figured this kid would never make it.

“Dana never lacked that killer instinct. She wanted to beat them from the start.”