LATITUDE MARGARITAVILLE RESIDENTS TAKE HOME THE GOLD AT 2023 MINTO US OPEN PICKLEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Thursday , April 20 , 2023 was a very big day for Latitude Margaritaville Daytona Beach residents Kathy Whartenby and Cindy Brackett . That ’ s the day they won the gold medal at the 2023 US Open Pickleball Championships ( USOPC ) in Naples , Florida . The USOPC is the largest and most prestigious pickleball tournament in the world . The Whartenby / Brackett team took the gold in the 65 +, 3.5 division .

“ This was just like a bucket list thing for us in our retirement ,” says Cindy . “ I never thought I would be playing at the age of 65 ! It was so much fun . I don ’ t know that we were nervous . Maybe only at first and then we kind of settled in .”

Kathy played pickleball about five years before moving to Latitude Margaritaville Daytona Beach from New Jersey . Her aunt and older sister had moved to the community and she came to visit . “ I went to the courts and met some wonderful people there and said , ‘ This is my retirement plan !’”

Cindy followed a similar path . She was living in Iowa and wanted to get out of the cold . Her sister and mother were living in Daytona so she looked in the area and found Latitude Margaritaville Daytona Beach .

She played pickleball in Iowa and describes the pickleball set up at Latitude Margaritaville as “ awesome .” “ I was instantly drawn to pickleball and took a class from Mary Burns who runs our pickleball program . She hooked me up with Kathy . Our games just blended ,” says Cindy .

The new pickleball partners set a goal : to play together at the USOPC . This year they played in five tournaments and medaled in all five . According to Cindy , they worked hard , drilling , practicing and getting out the “ Lobster ” ball drilling machine . “ Working , working , working and taking lessons , and it all paid off !” she exclaims .

What was their strategy for competing at the USOPC ? “ We did a plan on how we were going to approach the game and we stuck with it the whole time . We were quite overwhelmed that we won !” exclaims Kathy . “ We thought we would do one game ,” says Cindy . “ Now two games . Now three games . And we ’ re thinking this is going good ! Holy Toledo , we ’ re going for the gold !”

“ We peaked ,” says Kathy . “ Yes , we peaked !” agrees Cindy with a laugh .