West Neck Pod's 2018 "Swim Across America"

On Saturday, August 4th, the members of Team West Neck Pod will once again be participating in the "Sound to Cove" Swim Across America event to raise money for local cancer research and treatment organizations. This is the eighth time our West Neck Pod family of Salt-ophiles has participated in this event, and together over the years we West Neck Pod teammates have raised more than $100,000 to support the cutting-edge research of the SAA beneficiaries, which again this year include our neighbor across the harbor, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, as well as the newly minted Swim Across America Laboratory at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the Feinstein Institute of North Shore, and the University of Texas MD Anderson Children's Cancer Hospital.

This ongoing fight against cancer is personal for all of us who swim in these events. Some of us are cancer survivors ourselves, and all of us have lost friends, family members, colleagues, co-workers or body-parts to this disease: Joanna Grossman's father. Paul Coster's "Mum." Joan Addabbo's brother. Tony Santomauro's mother. Tom Sherman's wife. Alice Rogers' mother. Bonnie Millen's breasts. Evelyn Cruise's father-in-law. Annmarie Kearney-Woods' best friends. My father, aunt, grandparents, and a rapidly increasing roster of dear friends...and just last month, even my beloved French bulldog Daisy Mae.

On Saturday, August 4th, Team West Neck Pod will once again dive into the Salt in honor and in memory of all those whose lives have been impacted by cancer...Whether we swim one mile, three miles (5K) or six miles (10K), we know that we won't be curing cancer that day...but every stroke we take will be bringing us closer to the cure, and we dedicate our swims to those for whom our efforts may be too late.

For those of you who are already members of the 2018 "Team West Neck Pod," thanks for joining (or rejoining) the fight. For those who've swum with us in the past, please consider "re-upping" this year -- and for those of you who've never participated in this event, come join our team as together, stroke by stroke, we continue our naval assault on our common enemy, cancer. See you in the Glen Cove Salt on August 4th! -- Carol (a/k/a "The Fairy Pod-Mother")

 

To join the Team or donate, follow this link:

 

http://www.swimacrossamerica.org/site/TR/OpenWater/NassauSuffolk?team_id=19894&pg=team&fr_id=4761

What Do April Showers Bring...?

JELLY FISH! Lots of 'em, their brown, translucent bodies pulsing and glistening on the beach in the brilliant morning sunshine..."Ew," you may say, but that's actually good news for us open-water swimmers: When we see lion's mane jellyfish this early in the season when the water's still cold, it usually means they're too small to sting, and that they'll be gone by June and we can enjoy the rest of the swimming season! (No promises, though!)

 

 

SAILBOATS! Yes, the races have already started, which means our beloved North and South Buoys can't be far behind!



TUNAFISH?? This may be the first time anyone's found tuna washed up on the beach at West Neck! Usually it's bunker, bluefish or bass -- and not usually in cans!

 
KAYAKS

SPRAY PAINT?? NO, darn it! The tide was so low Daisy and I were able to walk along the beach from West Neck to the White Rock...It would have been a great opportunity to "freshen up" the...(*shhhh*). Next time!

AND ME...!

Hope to see you all in the Salt again soon!



 

West Neck Pod News

THIS JUST IN: Lider Raynor! — whose ten-minute immersion in the 41° water of Cold Spring Harbor today confirmed him  as the winner of the until-now-nascent "First-In" competition for the 2018 Open Water Swim season! Fortuitously there at West Neck Beach to bear witness to Lider’s feat was long-ago Pod member Annmarie Bishoffberger, who announced her plans to re-join us in the Salt this year if (*ugh*) wearing a wetsuit helps her avoid the allergic reaction to unseen sea critters that has kept her pool-bound for lo these many years! (Fingers crossed, Annmarie!)

Still to come, the "Last-Out" competition – and, as not-quite-Polar Pod-member EJ Voss urges (perhaps sensing a competitive advantage), the "Last-In" award as well!

Looking forward to seeing some of you in the Salt very, very soon, and the rest of you, well...I guess I’ll see you when I see you!

Happy Spring, and Welcome Back, West Neck Pod!