Two Village of Pinecrest police officers really brought home the gold last month.
The two — Officers Phillip Martin and Robert Noyer — journeyed upstate to participate in the 2011 Florida Police and Fire Games, and both came back with handfuls of gold medals for first place finishes in the swimming events they entered.
Martin, 27, won all four individual events that he competed in – 50-yard freestyle, 50-yard backstroke, 50-yard butterfly and 25- yard freestyle — and copped another gold medal for swimming a leg for his victorious team in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
At the same time, Noyer, 60, took home two gold medals for victories in his age class in the 25-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle, breaking the state record in both events. Noyer also finished second in the 50-yard butterfly and 50-yard freestyle.
Martin, who learned to swim when he was three years old and pursued the sport through middle school and high school, and Noyer, who began swimming competitively when he was in high school, also won overall high-point trophies for their age groups.
The Florida Police & Fire Games are modeled on the Olympic Games and have been held annually since 1985. About 5,000 police officers and firefighters from around the state converged on the Treasure Coast area this year to participate. Both active and retired Police and firefighters are eligible to enter the games, as well as military and National Guard personnel.
The games are staged at various locations around the Treasure Coast area and the Indian River State College was the central registration site for this year’s games. The Treasure Coast Public Safety Training Complex hosted the handgun shooting competition and the firefighters’ Challenge of the Fittest. Swimming events were held in the Sebastian North County Aquatic Center.
“The games include every event you can think of,” said Noyer. “Track and field, softball, football, swimming, bowling, chess, shooting, archery, just about anything you can think of. There are just so many different sports to compete in. It’s really quite an event.”
The Florida Law Enforcement Games were established in 1985 and they are usually are rotated to different cities around the state, but they have been held in the Treasure Coast area for the last three years. Miami-Dade County hosted the games for two consecutive years back in 1992-93.
Hosting agencies for this year’s games were the Treasure Coast Sports Commission; the Martin, Indian River and St. Lucie County sheriff’s offices; Port St. Lucie, Fort Piece and Vero Beach police departments, Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office and the St. Lucie, Indian River and Martin County tourist development councils.
For more information, go to www.lawgames.org.
