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"A Family Tradition for 128 Years" E------ ROI RIDIN ES YY ALR DOWN AND OUT: This kid took a wallop from his little brother and wound up on the mat when they stepped into the jousting ring Saturday while in Port Perry enjoying the Festival Days goings- . JEFF MITCHELL/PORT PERRY STAR on. We've got more photos from the weekend- long event on page 8, and have plenty more in reserve for Friday's edition of the Weekend Star. heat? Trying to beat the Try a swim a Birdseye tonight Trying to beat the heat on hot summer nights? Port Perry's Birdseye Outdoor Pool offers a cool solution. The heated municipal pool is located beside the li- brary on Water Street. Public swim hours have been expanded to offer eve- ning hours. Take advantage of swimming on Mon- day, Wednesday, and Friday nights from 6 - 8 p.m. These hours will be offered through July and August. Adultleisure swim is offered Tuesdays in July from 7 - 8 p.m. For fitness enthusiasts or those who are simply trying to get in shape, the pool will be running an aquafitness class Tuesdays in July from 6 - 7 p.m. A new program offered this year is the Youth Activ- ity Night. Kids who enjoy waterplay can participate in activities such as Waterpolo, MarcoPolo, Scaven- ger Hunts, and Mini Olympics. The program is of- fered every Thursday nightin July from 6.- 8 p.m. The costis $3 per child. Also beginning in August, a Bronze Medallion course is available for those pursuing instructional qualifications. The class will run Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. For information on these and other programs, please contact Birdseye Pool at 985-4952. By Jeff Mitchell Port Perry Star It's never too late. That could well be the motto of Port Perry's Jim Geer, who at age 41 has rediscovered a long-lost love -- track and field -- and has met with remarkable success since starting intensive training again last year. Since he began in earnest last November, Mr. Geer, of Honey's Beach, has attended several meets in Canada and the U.S. as a Masters track and field competitor, and has recently started placing in the medal standings. Most recently he was at the USA Track and Field National outdoor competition in Lansing, Michigan July 5 to 9, where he took a bronze medal for his 66-second time in the 400 metre hurdles. He also competed in the 110-metre hur- dles and the 200 and 400 yard dash events. Two weekends prior to that he was in Hamilton June 24 and 25, where he grabbed silver medals in the 100 and 44 metre hurdles events and the National Masters track and field competition. And earlier in June he com- peted in the Ontario champi- onships, winning a gold medal in the 200 yard dash and taking three silvers. This past weekend he was off to Buffalo, New York for the World Masters competition, where he's entered several events and hopes to do well in the 400 metre hurdles, his spe- cialty. It's an event that's not for everyone: It's a 400-metre run with 10 hurdles standing three feet tall and spaced about 35 metres apart. It's gruelling, and the competition in his 40 to 44-year-old age group is stiff. The competition is lean com- pared to some of the other sports," he said. At Buffalo -- the world event will see some 5,520 athletes from 74 coun- tries taking part -- he'll see the fiercest competition yet. He's now training hard, try- ing to shave seconds from his times in all events. "If my time goes down anoth- er two seconds -- which is pos- sible -- it might squeak me into the final," he said. "But I'd be ecstatic if I got to the semi- finals, because that's the final 24 (competitors)." High school athlete Taking to the track once more has been something of a homecoming for Mr. Geer, who was a track competitor in high school. After school other events took precedence -- getting mar- ried and raising a family, enter- ing the workforce -- and ath- letics were forgotten. A few years ago, though, he started training again, and entered a few area triathlons, including the now-defunct event in Scugog. One thing led to another, and he began train- ing with a view to competing in the pentathlon. "Now I don't know why I didn't start sooner," he said. It was last November when he started training in earnest, using the fitness centre at GM -- he's a worker at the Motors' truck plant -- and setting up hurdles for practice after shifts. In addition to clearing 30 to 40 hurdles, he does repeats -- sprinting 400 or 450 metres several times over, and finish- ing with a leisurely, seven- minute mile run to build up his stamina and muscle capae. ity. "It's kind of hard after a shift," he said. "But if you want to do it..." 'My nemesis' Now that he's back in the world of track, Mr. Geer is lov- ing every minute of it. The feeling of fitness is great, as is the camaraderie among participants -- and the competition. In his last several events, Mr. Geer has been up against Horace Hudson, a tough 41- year-old hurdler and sprinter from Syracuse, New York. They're pretty evenly matched, but so far the American has the edge. "When I work my time down a little bit, he works his time down a little bit," said Mr. Geer, who referred to his opponent as "my nemesis". They've met up quite a bit lately. It was Hudson who won the gold in the 110 and 400 hurdles in Hamilton. And when Mr. Geer finished second in three events at the Ontario meet in Till..sonburg, it was behind -- sometimes within the blink of an eye -- Hudson. "Once again my good friend Horace gave me three silvers," said Mr. Geer. : 'Maybe I'll see him in Buffalo." Whatever the case may be, Mr. Geer will be among a con- tingent of 295 Canucks in Buffalo, who arrived Friday Masters athlete sets sights on world event Jim Geer of Port Perry has met with success since rediscovering his love for track and field. The 41-year-old has been collecting medals at Masters track and field meets in Canada and the U.S. night for opening ceremonies and will take part in events until next Sunday (July 23). Accompanying him will be Scugog Township's John Pickard, who's entered in the very tough steeple chase event after taking bronze in the USA nationals in Lansing. And medals notwithstand- ing, a victory will have occurred for a man who saw a goal, then worked with all his heart to achieve it. "It has its rewards," said Mr. Geer of his rigorous train- ing schedule. "You get back what you put into it."