DISCLAIMER: Open-water swimming is inherently dangerous. Open-water swimmers risk drowning, hypothermia, hyperthermia, heart attacks, panic attacks, cramping, jelly fish stings, fish bites, boat or jet-ski collisions, collisions with floating or submerged objects (including other swimmers), and other calamities that can be injurious, disabling or fatal! The "West Neck Pod" is an informal association of open-water swimmers who swim "outside the lines" with no lifeguard protection, it has no formal membership, organizational structure or legal identity, and its participants, including the author of this blog, make no representations and assume no liability with respect to its group open-water swims. All swimmers who participate in West Neck Pod group open-water swims do so at their own risk. Be careful out there!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Real "Aquaholics" Are Starting to Think About Open-Water Swimming Again!

It may still be the middle of Winter, but some of us aquaholics are already starting to think about open-water swimming again, and are just waiting for the water temperature to creep up a couple of degrees...! One of the earliest open-water events this year (Sunday, July 11th) is the annual Fran Schnarr 5K Memorial Open-Water Swim in Huntington Bay, which this year will also include a 10K event. A lot of the "usual suspects" and a couple of "newbies" will be signing up for the 5K race this year (me, Joanna Grossman, Steve Albright, Chris Vasallo? Margot Edlin?), and our heroes Rob Martell, Anne Marie Bischoffberger and Ken Longo are doubling their bets and going for the 10K! For anyone out there who’s been thinking about doing it, maybe 2010 is your year! The "West-Neck Pod" will be getting back into the water probably sometime in June, so we’ll be able to get in a few weeks’ open-water training before the swim. If anyone is interested in getting on the e-mail list for "The Water-Log" to get updates on our swimming schedule, e-mail me at CLMooreEsq@verizon.net and I’ll add your name to the list. You can also check our open-water swimming schedule on the Huntington Master’s Swimmers Blog at humsblogspot.com, or the usopenwaterswimming.org/OpenWaterSwimPlaces.htm website.

If you’re not feeling ready for a 5K or 10K open-water swim, maybe you’d be interested in volunteering on July 11th as a kayaker to help guide your fellow swimmers and keep us from swimming off to Connecticut! Kayakers are desperately needed, and your participation would be enormously appreciated! Please contact Bea Hartigan, the race organizer, at 631-271-3349 or check out the website, www.huntswim.org. Hope to see you either on the water or in it on July 11th!