David Painter: “…..I feel like I am racing against people around the world.”

Story by MARY ELLEN THOMPSON
Photography by John Wollwerth

Stylishly clad in striped swimwear, 76 year old David Painter slides into the pool and swims at least half a lap without bothering to take a breath; he moves through the water like a seal. The economy of motion is expected in someone so accomplished, as if he’s somehow proving that the human body is approximately 65% water. It’s clear how comfortable he is in that element as he jokes with the photographer about swimmers not recognizing people when they are wearing clothes instead of swimsuits.
Dave grew up in Norristown, PA  – a suburb of Philadelphia. He started swimming when he was in high school and was on the swim team at Norristown High. In the summer after tenth grade, the world of swimming opened up a bit when summer swimming programs began. Dave’s summer team, the Penn Square Swim Club, was in the suburban Philadelphia league, which had twenty two competing clubs. Swimming for Penn Square led to a summer job coaching the club for three years. “That was a tough league, there were a lot of future Olympians in those clubs.”
He went on to  attend Lehigh University where he majored in mechanical engineering and was captain of the swim team in his senior year. After graduating from Lehigh, Dave moved to the New York City area, working for a company that manufactured industrial equipment. In 1971, he started his own business as a manufacturer’s agent, focusing on water and waste water treatment. He got contracts with small companies to sell their products in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area. “Over the years,” he says, “I got more into the manufacturing end of the business and now I have a manufacturing company, North American Filtration, that manufactures equipment to filter water and industrial fluids and also to treat waste water. We have five plants up and down the East coast; Massachusetts, New Jersey, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida which we just opened. Overall we have 120 employees.”
Beaufort appealed to Dave and his wife, Carol, when they came to live at Dataw while he sorted out some problems at his South Carolina plant. They liked the weather, the coast, and this area, so they decided to move here, and bought a house on Bay Street. Dave and Carol were junior high school sweethearts; they have two daughters, Wendy and Stacey, who both live in New Jersey with their respective families.
The Masters swim team here was an attraction for Dave and he swam with them until 2004. At that time he decided the mandatory three meets a year were too much for him with his work schedule and other commitments, so he started swimming unattached until he joined the Florida Gold Coast Masters about four years ago. Although that team is centered in Florida, the commitment wasn’t as strenuous; he doesn’t practice there, but does go to meets when his schedule allows.
In Dave’s competitions there are two courses/distances – the 25 meter short course, and the 50 meter long course, which is the Olympic distance. His preference is the 50 meter freestyle. “I like the long course, where I can get going, lock into a stroke, and just keep going without the turns. Because it is a world standard pool, I feel like I’m racing against people around the world.”  Last year’s world rankings are now in; and for the record, Dave was #1 in the 50 meter freestyle short course and number two in the 50 freestyle long course.  “There are four guys who are closely competitive in my age range in the Americas, me, and one each from California, Florida, and Canada. There is a man in Japan, Hiroshi Matsumoto, whose times are very close to mine, within 0.2 seconds. We change places in ranking pretty regularly. I would love to meet him; I know he knows who I am.”
What is Dave’s exercise regime? “I work out in the water for an hour twice a week and do weights and stretching twice a week.” Last year he was at the bottom of his age group where he had a strength advantage. His birthday was at the right time for him to swim in the 75 – 79 category. “You slow down about 1/2 % per year until age 45 and then get closer to 1% per year after that.”
This August, Dave is off to the University of Maryland to again compete in the Nationals. “This year I am the number one seed in the 50 meter freestyle and the 200 meter individual medley; I will swim on some relays with fellow Gold Coast team mates. This meet draws about 2000 swimmers, mostly the top men and women in their respective age groups. It takes four days to complete.”
What does he do for fun? “ I work around the house, it’s an old wood frame house and there’s always something to do.” While Dave is working around the house, Carol, he explains, is the support system. “She takes care of things, she pays the bills, makes sure things get done; she likes to read, socialize and decorate the house.”
A serious man with a charmingly deceptive sense of humor, Dave kids about his friend, fellow swimmer and carpenter, Phil Neubig. “If one of our swimming group does something of significance, we refer to it as “Neubigian.” Phil Neubig is sure to be complimented by that; what Phil has to say about Dave is, “If you imagine a totem pole, Dave Painter is at the top and the guy digging the hole around the bottom is Neubig. I look up to Dave, he’s been my ideal.” The lean and lithe Dave Painter cuts quite a figure, both in and out of the water.