The record that really never was

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COLUMN The record that really never was
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STEVE SOLLOWAY August 5, 2009

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Susan Wiemer

Being competitive and curious, Susan Wiemer went online last month to see if anyone broke her American heptathlon record while she was sidelined, giving birth to her daughter. Someone had.

Wiemer noted the name, Caryl Senn-Griffiths from Massapequa, N.Y. She noted the points, 4,540, which were more than the 3,810 scored by Wiemer at the U.S. masters decathlon/heptathlon championships in the late spring of 2007.

Then Wiemer, of Freeport, saw the year of Senn-Griffiths' record-setting performance: 2003.

"I was crushed," wrote Wiemer in an e-mail. "If it turns out I'm not the record holder after all, I can only offer a huge apology. As soon as someone explains it to me, I'll explain it to you."

We live in a world of enhancements, from body parts to accomplishments to personal histories. Stretch the truth, embellish the story of whatever got away. That's why Susan Wiemer feels horrified at "having been made into a fraud."

She was 41 in 2007 and competing under a hot Alabama sun in the seven-event heptathlon when meet officials told her she was approaching an age-group record held by Caren Ware of Hacienda Heights, Calif. Wiemer asked them to check the numbers again.

Somehow, Senn-Griffith's performance from four years earlier was overlooked. Or it wasn't in the database. Or whatever.

Wiemer won the event. After it was verified and ratified, Wiemer found her name on the USATF site as the age-group record holder. On masterstrack.com, Bill Murray, the USATF chair for the meet, noted Wiemer's American record. Now it's never mind, the record was not yours to have.

Wiemer need not apologize. She earned her points in Alabama with sweat and maybe a few tears from the pain.

Last month and not quite a year after giving birth to Avilene, she competed in the U.S. masters outdoor track championships last month in Oshkosh, Wis., and won the pentathlon in her age group.

Next week she leaves for Washington state to compete in a decathlon sanctioned by the USATF.

At 43 she's added the pole vault, working with the University of Southern Maine's champion vaulter, Bethany Dumas, among others.

"It's so funny," Wiemer said Tuesday. "They're all younger than my (son) and they've been so supportive, telling me I'm really doing well."

Her laughter is light, lilting. Even when she says she's angry it's hard to feel the heat. Understand that the record was her payoff. No one handed her prizes or prize money.

Dara Torres, the Olympic swimmer and two years younger than Wiemer, cashed in her silver medals last summer for endorsements and a book deal, but that's different.

"No one watches old ladies run on the track in prime time," said Wiemer.

"I know that, but I put a lot in having an American record. That was all the reward I needed."

Her travel expenses are paid out of pocket or through the generosity of friends and strangers at garage sales. She's checked on $22 campsites near Shoreline, Wash., where the decathlon will be held, just north of Seattle.

"I've slept in a van the night before I compete. I wouldn't recommend that."

She's a personal trainer who lost half her clients when she became a mother again. She's an instructor at the Maine Academy of Gymnastics and her husband, Scott, is an architectural designer, but the cost of competing is expensive when the dollars aren't coming back.

She's tried contacting the USATF for an explanation but hasn't gotten a response. I left a voice message Tuesday to the person who oversees Masters records, but it wasn't returned.

"I'm just as angry that a woman who had an incredible score got buried for four or five years," said Wiemer, who certainly understands that Senn-Griffiths' performance trumped hers.

"She's got my respect."

Wiemer was once Susan Ertha, the champion hurdler, jumper and cross country runner at Maranacook High. For one reason or another, she let opportunities slip away after high school. She got her second wind nearly 20 years later and doesn't want to feel cheated.

"I'm trying to get answers and I'm trying to get another record."

She wonders if the next one will be hers to hold.

[Bubba PV]

Sorry to hear of such a story. Of course Bill Murray is the new world decathlon champion and his endorsement is gold as the USATF Chair of the meet. She sure sounds like the kind of girl who is going to get many more records and deservedly so. All the best to her and all of the competitors at multis. Bubba