Willard (Wink) Lamb (1941) - Swimming

Willard Lamb's first experience with swimming was to master the dog paddle in Lake Sacajawea at the age of 12. He competed on the R.A. Long swim team from 1937 - 1941(spent 4-1/2 years in high school due to illness. In 1938 he won the state championship in the 220; he placed second in 1939 and won the 220 yard freestyle again at state which still stands as a record, because in the 1940's they switched to the 200 distance. He was part of the 1939 State Champion team. His twin brother, Millard, was the diver on the swim team. The R.A. Long pool was completed in the 1940, but he practiced and competed in meets at the YMCA in the old 20 yard pool. After high school Wink attended the University of Washington and was on the relay team which set conference records frequently. Wink returned in the fall of 1942 to work as a journey carpenter for Puget Sound Bridge in Longview; helping to build wooden floating dry docks for 1,000 & 10,000 ton ships during WWII. Wink was drafted in the Army in early 1943; he served as a paratrooper in the 11th airborne, 511 regiment until 1946 and saw action while stationed in the South Pacific.  After the war he came back to Longview and married Jean McDonald, who is also an alumni of R.A. Long, and together have raised two sons. He worked a short time as a longshoreman and three years for a Yakima contractor building a pulp mill. In 1951 while working on the construction of the Linnton Plywood Mill in Portland, he paid $5000 to become an owner/employee. He worked there 51 years retiring in 2002 at the young age of 80. Wink began lap swimming in 2005, with his friend Wally Holden, as his coach, Wally encouraged him to join the US Masters Swimming, which was formed in 1970 and now has more than 50,000 members, with competition races divided according to age group. Wink has competed in the 80-84, and 85-89 age groups, he holds 30 national record certificates (18 of them individual and 12 on relay teams, competing primarily in freestyle but also has some records in the backstroke), In 2010 Wink competed at the nationals in Atlanta at the age of 87 in the 85-89 age group winning 6 gold medal certificates. He also holds 10 world record certificates through the Federation International. Wink holds the freestyle world records for 85-90 in the 200, 400, 800 and 1500 meter swims. Wink practices 5 to 6 days a week swimming 72 laps, usually in less than an hour and plans to continue competing in master events. He collected 8 gold medals and one silver medal at a national meet in 2008, he enters about a half dozen master events each year. Wink plans to compete in the 90 to 94 age group this year.