Don Tatzin, left, with Council colleagues Brandt Andersson and Mike Anderson at the 2008 Moraga Treeline Triathlon Photo Doug Kohen

Not only is Lafayette City Council Member Don Tatzin a long-distance civil servant, having served a total of 24 years on the Council and five terms as Mayor, he is also a long-distance swimmer. At the end of December Tatzin became the 2009 United States Master Swimmer (USMS) "Go the Distance" champion. Tatzin (55-59) out swam Ray Cottom (60-64) of Florida for the title. The two had been battling for the lead the entire year and by the end of November Cottom was in the lead with 1398.03 miles while Tatzin was behind with 1375.71 miles. Tatzin increased his distance in December, recording 167.5 miles for a total of 1543.21 miles for the year, pushing him into first place. Tatzin averaged 4.23 miles per calendar day for the year. Tatzin and Cottom are the only two swimmers in the nation to exceed 1,500 miles.