Happy Fathers Day to all you dads out there... and especially to my dad Ole Larson.

Now 86 years young, my father continues to impress and inspire me with his determination and focused attention to staying healthy and fit. Now entering the later half of his eighties, dad swims nearly two miles a day, atleast five times a week. He also lifts weghts several times during the week. And just around every corner is another competition. With the Masters national meet in Austin, TX now two weeks behind him... his eyes are now firmly focused on the Huntsman World Senior Games in St. George Utah coming up this fall.

From his recollection my father has always been a competitor. The youngest of four boys from Wausau, Wisconsin, it was always a competition just to keep up with the gang. In high school and the United States Navy and in college, dad competed in a vast variety of sports. Swimming, of course. Then there was tennis, basketball, boxing.

He was a college coach as well. He was the head basketball coach a small school in Montana. (Montana State Northern I belive) An assistant football coach at Valparaiso University... where he was also head swimming coach. And for more than a decade as head swimming coach at Appalachian State University.

Hard work and determination never seemed to be lacking in my father. Watching his youngest son (Me) wander aimlessly through high school with less than stellar results was I'm sure painful. But even with all the teenage bad attitude, my dad never stopped coaching me, mentoring me and gently trying to guide me down a path of my own choosing. Never yelling or coercing... just emphatic cajoling that it was up to me. That I'd have to decide for myself what I wanted to make of myself. Now that I look back at my teenage past from the vantage point of my early forties, my father suceeded in guiding me in the right direction. A gentle nudge... where I'm sure sometimes he rekoned a swift kick might do a bit better.

To this day he worries about his sons. (There are three of us) Worries about our careers... our health, our welfare and well being. Tries to defend us against the cruelties of the world. Shakes his head in disbelief at the way some people operate. Dreams out loud about what he would do for all of us... were he to win the lottery.

So on this Fathers Day I say thank you. Thank you for always believing in me. Thank you for always encouraging me to work hard and play fair. Thanks... well just thanks.