MASTERS HISTORY
Holmes LumberJax (HLJ) becomes Jacksonville Area Warrior Swimmers (JWS)

“Whatever you do, do it well. Go hard. Go at it 100%.”
– Rogers “Tiger” Holmes

Holmes LumberJax (HLJ). What an odd name for a Masters swim team located in Jacksonville. But the above quote was the life philosophy of Tiger Holmes, a former University of Florida swim team captain, and the owner of the Holmes Lumber Company in Jacksonville. He organized HLJ in 1988, getting a group together to attend the 1988 World Masters Swim Championships in Brisbane, Australia. He gathered a group of 170 swimmers from across the state of Florida to fulfill his dream of competing on an international level. That team received local and national attention as several members of the group, including his daughter Mary, swept their age groups in their respective events. The team’s women’s relay teams swept every category and the men’s individual and mixed relay teams won almost all events.

And so, the Holmes LumberJax Masters swim team was born and has remained a competitive club since 1988, with team members attending Florida, regional, and national meets as a team and as participating individuals.

Tiger Holmes died in 2018 at the age of 97. Many of the 1988 team members attended his memorial, some wearing the original team jackets from the Brisbane trip. The Masters team has maintained the HLJ name and legacy through the years, but as the team has evolved and new swimmers joined, very few of us who swam with, knew, or remembered Tiger, still swim on the team. In 2024, the decision was made to change the team’s name to one more relevant to the current membership and to still reflect our foundation in Jacksonville. We are now the Jacksonville Area Warrior Swimmers, with the call letters JWS.

But we continue to remember Tiger’s devotion to Jacksonville and the impact he has had on the Master’s program in Florida. The team’s pool at Episcopal High School pool has a plaque that recognizes, and reminds us of, this legacy.

We, JWS, are committed to providing quality training now and in the future for all adult swimmers in the Jacksonville area no matter their goals -- competitive or simply fitness. We continue to follow Tiger’s legacy - “Whatever you do, do it well. Go hard. Go at it 100%.”