While on a post graduation California surf trip in fall of 1977, Tom happened upon Wham-O em ployees and friends playing a casual after- work game of Ultimate at Lacey Park in San Marino.  

Having no idea the game even existed MacNiven asked to play and was immediately schooled…  early and often…. mostly by barefoot California girls.  

 In love with the game, and a few of those women, the former SMU swimmer returned to Dallas  and taught the game to his circle of friends, many of them collegiate athletes: swimmers, divers,  football, basketball soccer and track athletes.  

Pickup games got very competitive and almost immediately Mustang Frisbee was born.  

“At first we really couldn’t throw very well but that didn’t matter because nobody could score on us.  A normal ultimate score might be something like 21-19. Ours were more like 4-3. “ 

Mustang Frisbee hosted and won the first Texas Ultimate Championships in 1978.  That same fall MacNiven travelled to  

Penn State to witness the national championship game between the Santa Barbara Condors and  Glassboro State.  

Returning to Dallas with a vision MacNiven merged Mustang Frisbee with a young upstart crew  from North Dallas and the Sky Pilots of Texas were formed. The Pilots were Southern Regional  Champions and played in the National Championships in 1980, 81, 82 and 83.  

Tom served as Southern Regional Coordinator for the Ultimate Players Association for those years  and was an editor and frequent contributor to the UPA Newsletter.  

MacNiven moved back east in 1984, playing one last season at Nationals for New Jersey legends:  The Gang.  

Always active MacNiven body boarded big surf year-round on the east coast and the Hawaiian Is lands.  

A good runner with a swimming background, MacNiven won a ten speed bike in a raffle and de cided to try triathlon. Years later he won the United States Sprint Triathlon Championship in his  age group, finished 7th twice (1999, 2000) at the Triathlon World Championship (Montreal, Perth,  Australia) and was awarded triathlon All-American status in 1999. Along the way he also enjoyed  24-hour team mountain bike racing and won a New York State Masters Cyclocross Championship. 

The now-retired 35 year Hamptons real estate broker is the proud owner of TWO 2.5 pound, chro mium cobalt Birmingham hips.  

“This entitles me to five pounds CREDIT on the scale,” he jokes.  

Considered by many to be an authority on traditionally made, additive-free tequilas, eastern win ters are now spent visiting various Mexican tasting spots.