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!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Christopher Columbus, what a fabulous swim!!!

Whatever one's personal/political feelings might be about Christopher Columbus'  purported "discovery" in 1492 of the already inhabited "New World," which "discovery" is celebrated today, it's still nice to have the day off! Although the Pod's plans for an 8:00 morning swim were aborted for various reasons (including exhaustion from the last several days' exhilarating but draining swims in ever-colder water!), swimmer's remorse set in a few hours later as the temperature climbed into the 70's and it turned out to be an absolutely glorious day.  Fortunately, Gae was the first to come to her swimming senses and call for reinforcements.  Carole and I joined her for a 2:00 high-tide swim at West Neck Beach, which was liberally sprinkled with beach chairs and sunbathers as if it were a mid-summer's day!  There were even bathing-suited swimmers in the water! -- and we (wetsuit-clad) unhesitatingly plunged in for an exquisitely sublime Causeway swim on this most perfect of all days ever in the history of the world!  If yesterday's open-water swim was a "10" (and it was!), then today's was a "12"!


Autumn is truly the best time of the year to swim, and it just keeps getting better and better! 



See you in the Autumn Salt!
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9 comments:

  1. AnonymousMonday, October 11, 2010

    Jealous!! I know we are going to have more days like this. Maybe its a once in a long time warm winter. Fingers crossed ( and most of my toes :)

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  2. gae polisnerMonday, October 11, 2010

    Yay! Only checked twice before the blog was here. ;)

    And, in retrospect, the day was at least a 14.

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  3. EvelynWednesday, October 13, 2010

    beyond jealous

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  4. rtoddWednesday, October 13, 2010

    Hey Gae, that stroke looks pretty good.

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  5. gae polisnerFriday, October 15, 2010

    thanks, Robb! I thought it looked better, although my fingers look a little apart and sloppy... :)

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  6. gae polisnerFriday, October 15, 2010

    (if it looks better, it's thanks to Rob Martell who worked with me on keeping my head "downhill" and my stroke stretching more from my lats...)

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  7. Mike EngelFriday, October 15, 2010

    Carol, thanks for the great posts. I am with you in spirit and may have to break down and get a full wetsuit for 2011. Rob was at the Y this morning but refused to break the "salt-water-swimmers" code by swimming in chlorine! The last I saw of him, he was sweating to the oldies on a treadmill!

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  8. AnonymousFriday, October 15, 2010

    Sweating yes, oldies no. For swimming , 9 toes were willing but the tenth is still a hold out. I wish it was some ancient code :(

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  9. Carol L. MooreFriday, October 15, 2010

    Mike, I'd be happy to chip in on that full wetsuit! I've missed seeing you -- and your camera -- out here! As for Rob and the "oldies," they were probably from the 90's....I think WE'RE the only "oldies" he's listening to these days...I plan to follow the "salt-water-swimmers' code" and head on down to West Neck Beach tomorrow (Saturday) for an 8:00 swim -- but that northwest wind may have other ideas...! -- Carol

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