Dan's Papers - September 26, 2008 - Future Olympians On The North Fork?

It has been over for several weeks now. Enough time for us to reevaluate our chances of becoming an Olympic gold medalist. If an occasional jellyfish scares us off, we'll probably not give gold-swimmer Michael Phelps any competition. And if we don't like sand between our toes, gold-beach-volleyball winners Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh don't have to worry.

But there are lots of people who are pretty darned active on the North Fork. Perhaps they're dreaming Olympics as they walk, run, and bike our roads. And how about the hundreds of North Forkers who work out in gyms on a daily basis? Surely there are gold medalists among them.

Let's just check out one of those gyms and a few North Fork athletes. Does ELIH Physical Therapy and Fitness in Southold train any future Olympians? Quite possibly. And don't concern yourself with the athlete's age. Every one of them is well beyond 13. Why, some of these muscle-people haven't seen 20 in decades.

For example, there's Frank Roland. Now this guy won some medals in World War II, but he's still working away on the lower body cycle. He's goin' for the gold as he pedals on, day after day. Generally he's at the gym early in the morning. The rest of the day he stays in shape gardening at his Southold home. Good luck, Frank.

And here's another Frank at the gym. Frank Liburt of Greenport is wearing dark blue sweatpants with white stripes down the sides. If I got him a red sweatshirt, he'd look every inch the U.S.A. gold medalist in treadmill.

Usually Frank sets the treadmill speed on 4. But listen to this (and this is why Frank will grab the gold). The woman on the treadmill next to Frank's said she could also manage 4. "OK," said Frank. "Then I'm going 4.1." That's the North Fork's gold-winning spirit.

I thought for sure the North Fork had a gold medalist in the Rev. Lorraine DeArmitt. Pastor of Southold United Methodist Church, Lorraine excels on the elliptical machine. She, too, comes to the gym early and except when she stops to chat or take a drink of water, Lorraine works hard. I mean she works up a sweat.

But lately Lorraine's attendance has been sporadic. That's not good if you want to be a medalist. Consistency is what counts. At least that's what they said on the TV when I tuned in Beijing.

So where has Lorraine been? Well, she's got a valid excuse for non-attendance. "I've been changing diapers for two weeks," she said. It seems Lorraine is a grandma again. This time little Gwen is demanding attention and that's fine with Lorraine. But get back to the gym soon, grandma. The U.S. is counting on you.

The U.S. is counting on Paul Connor III, too. A tall, slim guy who comes to the gym frequently, Paul looks like he'd be good for our basketball team. But no. Paul excels at weight lifting. So that's where his best chance for a gold medal seems to be.

Paul appears to have a medalist's self-discipline. He comes to the gym ready for a workout but over one arm he carries a suit and tie. After his workout, there's a shower, a change of clothes and then this Mattituck athlete is ready for work at Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport. Paul's no slouch, I'll say that. Gotta move if you want a medal.

I'll insert here, modestly, that I'm pretty good when it comes to pitching various-sized balls to a tilted trampoline. Those balls usually come right back to me. True, my right arm has more endurance and is more precise than my left, but with a little more work, who knows. And if I'm not a medalist, then "put me in, coach." I'm just about ready for the new Citi Field bullpen.

Here's one more guy for our side. He's Bill Moore and he's a lawyer who hails from Southold. You can tell Bill means business just by the way he walks into the gym. Fast, confident, full of enthusiasm for any machine he confronts. Bill goes from one piece of equipment to another, never losing stride. Decathlon gold, no doubt about it.

You've met them - some workout North Fork folks. May I make a suggestion? Remember their names. Bet you see 'em, straight from London - in all the newspapers in the summer of 2012.