New Mexico swimmers show mettle and bring home medals at National Senior Olympics

It wasn’t just the medal-winning swimmers from New Mexico who had a memorable time competing at the 2025 National Senior Olympics in Des Moines, Iowa, from July 24 through Aug. 4.

All 18 of the men and women, 50 and older, representing the state formed a bond at the Games and were the third largest swimming contingent among Western states, behind only Texas, which had 24 athletes. California had 19.

That’s a remarkable accomplishment considering New Mexico has a little more than 2.1 million in population. California and Texas are the most populous states with a combined 70 million-plus.

The ringleader of New Mexico’s group was ever-smiling 70-year-old Debra Klecan, who swam in the 50-yard freestyle, 50 breaststroke and the 50- and 100-yard backstroke. She didn’t take home any medals or ribbons, but just being able to compete and be around friends brought her joy.

“We bring banners, we’re always screaming and yelling for our swimmers and we have our T-shirts with our Zia logo,” she said. “Our swimmers happen to be competitive and good friends. Swimmers from other states would come over to congratulate us for our enthusiasm and bright garb.”

A lot of New Mexico swimmers overcame health issues to compete. One has cancer, another recently recovered from broken arm and leg after getting hit by a golf cart, and another will need hip replacement surgery.

And then there’s Klecan, the activities director for Highpoint Masters Swimming at the Sports and Wellness center in the Northeast Heights (six Highpoint members raced in Iowa).

Klecan survived a head-on collision with a drunk driver 25 years ago in northern New Mexico.

“I needed two hip and two knee replacements, a rebuilt hip, both feet have been rebuilt ...,” she said regarding 18 surgeries. She was in a hospital or rehab center for three months and a wheelchair for a year.

Yet that didn’t erase her desire to return to the pool.

“As soon as they took off the cast in my legs and right arm, and as soon as all my scars were closed, my husband pushed my wheelchair to the edge of pool at Highpoint and dumped me in, where I started swimming on my own.”

Top medal winner

At the nationals, 521 swimmers from across the country competed in the backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle and butterfly. They were among the more than 12,500 athletes who registered in the 25 sports, the second largest gathering in the 38-year history of the biannual Games.

Without a doubt, Las Cruces’ Phillip Djang, 71, was the most successful in the pool among New Mexicans, and he did so while grieving the recent passing of his mother.

In the men’s 70-74 age bracket, Djang earned gold in the 50-, 100- and 200-yard backstroke and in the 100 IM. And it was his time of 2 minutes, 33 seconds in the 200 backstroke that broke a six-year-old Games record. On top of that he had two silvers, those coming in the 50 freestyle and 200 mixed medley relay.

“Sometimes we’d have three races in a span of four hours,” he said in a phone interview. He served as a judge when not in the pool.

All told, New Mexico accumulated seven gold medals, 17 silver and four bronze. That silver total was tops among Western states.

Close, but no gold

One of the top Highpoint members at the nationals was 61-year-old John Witham, who has been fighting prostate cancer.

“I was fatigued a lot and didn’t know if I’d get to my seed time,” he said.

He didn’t do badly, though, garnering silver medals in the 200 mixed freestyle relay, 200 mixed medley relay and in the 200 backstroke in the men’s 60-64 age bracket. In one instance he was half a second from gold.

“It was in the 200-yard freestyle relay,” he said. “In the others the difference was four seconds from being first.”

Like Klecan, he’s happy to be part of the New Mexico team.

“It’s a crazy family at times,” he said.

Others who made the podium

• Colleen Burns of McIntosh, 76, earned gold in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke in the women’s 76-80 age group in addition to silver in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle and 500 breaststroke.
• Sandra Graves of Las Cruces, 62, earned four silvers in the women’s 60-64 age bracket, all in the freestyle (50, 100, 200 and 500 yards).
• Emily Preece of Alto, 70, in the women’s 70-74 age bracket, overcame golf cart injuries suffered nine months ago to get a gold in the 100 IM and silver in the 50 butterfly and 200 medley relay.
• Jessica Mills of Albuquerque, 55, won silver in the 200 medley relay and in the 50 butterfly in the women’s 55-59 age bracket.
• Elizabeth Milford of Albuquerque, 59, earned silver in the 200 medley relay and bronze in the 500-yard freestyle of the women’s 55-59 age bracket.
• Lynda Tiefa of Albuquerque, 66, another Highpoint member, earned bronze in 200 freestyle in the women’s 66-69 age bracket. She’s the one who will have hip replacement surgery.
• Maryanne Kemp of Albuquerque, 56, also a Highpoint swimmer, earned bronze in the 100-yard butterfly in the women’s 56-59 age bracket.
• Jayne Milavec of Las Cruces, 64, won silver in the 200-yard backstroke in the women’s 60-64 age bracket.
• Dawn Fisher of Albuquerque, 65, took bronze in the 50 breaststroke in the women’s 65-69 age bracket.