Until last week, Georgia Eberhart McDaniels had never even thought about competing in the National Senior Games.
Not that she was afraid of a little competition or anything. After all, Eberhart McDaniels is a known commodity on the U.S. Master’s swimming circuit, with a consistent string of top-10 finishes and several national championships along with a handful of state and national records to her name. That’s usually where she devotes her time and focus when it comes to the sport these days, but with the 2023 National Senior Games taking place from July 7-18 in Pittsburgh, she couldn’t pass up on the chance to return home.
“It’s kind of like no time went by,” said Eberhart McDaniels, 77. “But on the other hand, it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, how did 48 years go by?'”
As a sophomore at Pitt back in 1964, Eberhart McDaniels got together with a group of fellow swimmers to convince university administrators to start the first women’s swim team at the school following the opening of Trees Pool. By her senior year, Eberhart McDaniels was captain of the team and a clear standout among her peers. After graduating, she spent one year in grad school, then immediately got into teaching at Bethel Park and coached the Black Hawks girls swim team for six years before going out on top with back-to-back WPIAL titles in 1974-75.
Eberhart McDaniels then moved away to Illinois, and although she returns home every year to visit family, she hadn’t been back to Trees Pool since guiding Bethel to that WPIAL title almost 50 years ago — until making a triumphant return to her old stomping grounds last weekend.
With a group of her former Bethel Park swimmers enthusiastically cheering her on — most of whom she hadn’t seen in 48 years — Eberhart McDaniels dusted the competition on her way to five gold medals and one silver in six events, winning three gold medals on Saturday in the 200 backstroke, 100 individual medley and 50 freestyle, plus two more on Sunday in the 200 IM and 100 freestyle.
Although she narrowly missed out on a perfect six-for-six performance after getting out-touched by a fingertip in the 50 backstroke, Eberhart McDaniels was unquestionably the star of the show in the aquatic portion of the events over the weekend. Oh, and she also set another senior national record for the 75-79 age group with her ridiculous time of 1:35.04 in the 100 IM on Saturday, shattering the previous record of 1:38.05 by more than three seconds.
Not bad for a 77-year-old grandmother.
“I’m very fortunate,” Eberhart McDaniels said. “My body is hanging in there. I kind of won in the genetic pool. … I kind of tell people, I just wait people out. The longer I swim and stay in shape, people start dropping out.”
Beginning with about 2,500 athletes competing across 15 different sports at the first NSG event in St. Louis in 1987, the biennial competition for men and women 50 and over — originally known as the National Senior Olympic Games — has rapidly evolved into the largest multi-sport event in the world for seniors. This year’s event featured about 10,000 athletes competing across 19 different sports, with the Games reaching a peak of 13,882 entrants in Albuquerque, N.M., in 2019.
This is the second time the Games have come to Pittsburgh, and the first time since 2005. According to a 2021 article in the Pittsburgh Business Times, the event was projected to generate upward of $35 million in economic impact for the region, with approximately 30,000 visitors coming into the city from all over the country during the two-week period.
For Eberhart McDaniels and her former swimmers, it also represented the perfect opportunity to organize a special reunion almost 50 years in the making, while also giving her pupils a chance to watch her do what she does best. The group gathered for a special ceremony at PNC Park on Friday, where they joined about 3,000 NSG athletes in taking the field for the Parade of States before the Pirates’ game against the San Francisco Giants.
A few of them even competed in the 50-69 age division over the weekend and collected some of their own hardware — including Lynn Ahearn Riggs, who won a pair of silver medals in the 50 and 100 backstroke and two bronze medals in the 200 backstroke and 200 freestyle, and Tina Hasselberg Keisling, who finished with one gold medal and two silvers. Both were standout swimmers under Eberhart McDaniels at Bethel Park in the 1970s, and they’re arguably her two biggest fans.
“Georgia was the young, pretty coach. We all kind of looked up to her,” Hasselberg Keisling said. “We had male coaches, and they were wonderful coaches. They taught us what we needed to do. But it was really nice to have a feminine touch.
“We learned about Title IX, and all of a sudden, there were some opportunities for young girls to get scholarships. … Because of that, my life is changed forever.”
After graduating from Bethel Park in 1975, Hasselberg Keisling went on to swim at The University of South Carolina as one of the first female student-athletes to earn a scholarship under Title IX, and Riggs joined her there two years later. After college, Hasselberg Keisling became a high school swim coach at North Penn High School in Lansdale, Pa., just outside Philadelphia.
When she wasn’t busy winning the 100 IM and taking home a pair of silver medals in the 50 and 200 butterfly, Hasselberg Keisling was front and center right by the pool, cheering loudly for her former coach during each of her championship heats. The two share a noticeable bond, and although they both had plenty of success over the weekend, they’ll both cherish the rekindled friendships and new memories made more than any races won.
“She was one of those people who taught us that there was life after high school. Because we didn’t have that,” Hasselberg Keisling said. “Every girl that has come to see Georgia has a story to tell her about how their lives have been changed because of the lessons we learned at Bethel Park and her example for us.
“To reconnect with her 48 years later. … It’s just been a blast from the past.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
