The 2016 OWS Season Begins...!

A dozen swimmers showed up at West Neck Beach this first day of the Memorial Day weekend to inaugurate the 2016 OWS season in near-perfect conditions: The sky was blue and clear, the air warm and nearly windless, the water relatively flat and calm, and its temperature comfortably welcoming even for those swimmers who were returning to the open water for the first time since last Fall (who, it must be noted, were all gratefully wearing full wetsuits). Polar Pod regulars Gae Polisner and I (giddily sleeveless) together with Jimmy Kwong were joined by the slightly-less-Polar Merry Lewin, E.J. Voss, Steve Albright and Brett Emsden, and even Scott Kessler forsook Chlorine for Saline today! Also joining us, from NYC, were Chris, Claire and Jean, who last swam with us in September 2015 (and another guy – who was that??). Since the tide was outgoing (though it felt suspiciously incoming), we swam south toward what would have been the South Buoy if it were in place, which it’s not yet – and wound up reconnoitering at the red, green and white buoys of the Lloyd Harbor Beach mooring field. Our round trip left us just short of a mile, and Gae and I (after stripping off our wetsuits) and E.J. tacked on an extra leg to the dock and back to give us a mile+ for the morning’s swim....Everyone agreed that it was a beautiful start to the 2016 open-water-swimming season....

Tomorrow’s supposed to be sunny and warm...I’m expecting an ever bigger turnout, and looking forward to seeing everyone again after this long winter hiatus....

There’ll be bagels and coffee on the beach on Memorial Day, compliments of the Fairy Pod-Mother...See you in the Salt!

E.J. Voss, Merry Lewin, Gae Poliser and Jimmy Kwong
in the foreground (and thanks to Bondy for taking this
and other pictures posted here!)

Gae Polisner and Carol Moore

E.J. Voss

Happy (*eeeeeek!*) New Year!

The annual New Year's Day open-water swim at West Neck Beach has become a hallowed West Neck Pod tradition, and the newly arrived 2015 was no exception.  Despite near-freezing temperatures, white-capped waves and a ferocious wind, three other mermaids answered the siren call of acting mermaid-in-chief Joye Brown on New Year's Day, and took the Pod's first plunge into the 2015 Salt (I was away on vacation and missed the swim, alas!). Gae Polisner, the only one of the four not wearing a wetsuit, stripped off boots and pants and ran in barefooted and waist-high, staying in only long enough to utter the high-pitched, pitiful scream you can hear distantly at the end of this video, taken from the dashboard of Gae's parked car. Sorry for the poor image quality, but it's worth sticking through to the end just for the audio! Gae was followed into the churning waves by Joye and her wetsuited cohorts Kathy and Carole Wickham who went for the full monty (no, not the movie kind!)...The icy rain that's falling now is predicted to last into tomorrow, so prospects for a reprise on this first weekend of January 2015 are dim...but we'll keep you posted!  Happy New Year -- See you in the Salt!

"West Neck Swim" 2014: Picture Perfect..

The Third Annual Huntington/Cold Spring Harbor Swim (a/k/a "The West Neck Swim") was a splashing success again this year, with nearly 250 swimmers participating in the 400-yard, 1-mile, 2-mile, or, for the first time this year, 5K (3.1-mile) events. Conditions were picture-perfect and all nine waves went off smoothly, thanks to the impeccable planning and coordination of the West Neck Swim Planning Committee and all of the many volunteers who helped get the swimmers off to a smooth start, stay on course and return safely!

John Coyle (#213) and Paul Coster (#212) at the start of the 5K with Michael Raspantini looking on

Jane McWilliams and Alice Rogers give the West Neck Swim a thumbs-up...

 

More photos (yes, you're in them!) available here (sorry -- attempts to embed the slideshow not working!): 

 https://picasaweb.google.com/101213847005616295077/WestNeckSwim2014?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCN7Fwv6I5oP5Qg&feat=directlink!

 

See you next year!



The Pod Is Back!!

Attendance has been sparse at weekend morning swims since the unofficial (and disappointing) start of the open-water swimming season on Memorial Day Weekend (see previous blogpost!).  An unusually cool Spring has kept both air and water temperatures low, keeping many erstwhile open water swimmers pool-bound, and it seems that the weather has not yet caught up with the calendar.  Last weekend the water temperature finally edged up to 67-68 degrees, but after a week of chilly, rainy weather the water temperature yesterday had dropped to 63, and by this morning it had dropped even further, to 60-61 degrees! But with just one more week of Spring swimming left, and the Third Annual "West Neck Swim" just a week away, West Neck Beach was thronged with returning swimmers this morning. Most -- even those without wetsuits -- made their way all the way to the Sailboat, undeterred by the still-ripping incoming full-moon tide and the uneven chop of a brisk northwesterly wind.  It looks like the 2014 open-water swimming season has finally begun in earnest!  Even weekday morning swims may resume shortly, with a first open water swim tentatively scheduled for Wednesday morning at 6:30 a.m. (check Facebook for updates and other info about ad hoc swims). 

Next Saturday, June 21st, marks the Summer Solstice and the official beginning of Summer 2014! It's also your last weekend chance to try out the venue and "test the waters" if you're registered or planning to register for this year's WEST NECK SWIM, which will take place Sunday, June 22nd, at West Neck Beach.  The deadline to register for the 1-mile, 2-mile, or new 5K event is Tuesday, June 17th, so time is running out! For registration and other info about the West Neck Swim, follow this link: http://www.westneckswim.com/.

See you in the Salt!

It's Open-Season for Open-Water Swimming!

After a l-o-n-g, brutal winter that kept even the West Neck "Polar Pod" out of the water since mid-November, and delayed by several weeks the telltale signs of Spring, the slowly emerging crocuses and tulips and daffodils began to give hope of an eventual return to open-water swimming. The Polar Pod optimistically scheduled a "Resurrection Swim" for April 19th, the Saturday before Easter. But when the temperatures were forecast to go into the 60s this week, Annmarie Kearney-Wood was quick to urge us into the water sooner -- just in case the weather decided to go south again.

Five Polar Pod members took up the challenge, and on Saturday, April 12th, Annmarie, Joye Brown, Carole Wickham, Sharon Hochberg and I tiptoed, with winter-tenderized feet, over the low-tide rocks that poked and bruised even through our insulated booties.  The booties kept the cold at bay, but not our necklines, and when, one by one, we lowered ourselves into the 40-degree water, our wetsuits filled with icy daggers that sheared our skin and stung and burned our unacclimatized faces.  But the sun was shining brilliantly and glinting on the flat, calm water that looked so inviting....Joye reminded us that we'd swum in worse conditions in November, and when she said, "We can do this," of course we did!  It was -- as our cold-water swims always are -- incredibly invigorating and energizing, and the Polar Pod is all fired up to do it again tomorrow!  See you in the Salt!

Carole, Joye, Carol, Annmarie and Sharon

Basking in the sun and drinking hot tea afterwards

 

Would you like that OWS straight up? or on the rocks?

Yes, those are frozen smiles on our faces...

Now that was refreshing! 
Gae Polisner's earlier Facebook plea for company in a mid-afternoon swim "if it gets sunny" (it did!), was met with a flurry of wistfully regretful declines, but Carole Wickham and I were able to answer the call, and a Polar Tri-Pod entered the "Oh-my-god-I-can't-believe-how-cold-this-is" water at about 2:45 this afternoon.... "How cold was it," you ask? According to my trusty laser thermometer -- employed at mid-thigh depth as it is every time -- and which most recently gave a temperature reading in the low (very low!) 40s -- the water temperature this afternoon was an unbelievable 35-36 degrees!  Just to put things in perspective, the coldest water the West Neck Polar Pod has swum in previously was a bone-chilling 37 degrees -- and that was in January! If it were not for the relatively warm (55 degrees) air temperature today, and a relatively sedate 4 mph wind, we probably would have opted to go out for cheeseburgers instead...But we were there, already half-suited up, and it would have been unthinkable to turn around and leave without even getting wet...So we swam -- with flash-frozen faces, hands and feet  -- not far (back and forth between the dock and the jetty), and not long (20+ minutes) -- but  enough to get our endorphins pumping and make the swim and the effort completely and utterly and unforgettably worthwhile....!

Naturally we'll be doing it again tomorrow!  See you in the Salt!

(By the way, salt water doesn't freeze until the temperature reaches 28.4 degrees Fahrenheit -- so we've still got lots of open-water swimming ahead of us!)

"Coney Island" Comes to West Neck Beach

The white-capped waves were plainly visible from the roadway as I turned into the parking lot at West Neck Beach this chilly September morning, and as the rest of the morning swimmers continued to arrive, they joined the growing throng on the beach incredulously watching the rolling waves as they raced past us from north to south.  The wind driving the waves was from the northwest and though the still-high tide was already going out, the wind was clearly winning the battle, and howling its victory.  The madly pitching boats in the mooring field gave some clue to the bum's rush we swimmers could expect were we to venture out there. Of course we regulars were game, but two returning "newbies" from last week's introductory workshop, and a clutch of brand-newbies, stood wide-eyed and open-mouthed on the beach as they contemplated entering the turbulent scene in front of them. Incredibly, every one of them did, joining the rest of the Pod as we pitched and yawed and clawed our way over the tops of the biggest waves only to plummet to the bottom of the wave troughs -- like riding the roller coaster, the Ferris wheel and the drop tower all at the same time!  But the water was clear and clean and still summer-warm, and we'll be back tomorrow at 8:00 to see what the open water has in store for us...!  See you in the Salt!

 



 



 



Reconnoitering at the Yellow Sign



Stephanie's first OWS with the West Neck Pod

Sophia at the Sailboat





Helen at the Sailboat

"Open Water 101"....

Orientation on the beach (photo by Gae Polisner)

The West Neck Pod’s first formal "‘Newbies’ Intro to the Open Water" was a splashing success today, with nearly a dozen novitiates gaining or honing their open-water chops under the watchful guidance of seasoned Pod "mentors," who buddied up with newbies one-on-one and accompanied them as far as their skill, comfort level and endurance permitted. The newbies ranged in age from 10 to 60, and their bright yellow caps dotted the water all the way from the dock to the Sailboat (to which three of the newbies actually ventured with their mentors alongside!). The weather could not have been more accommodating, and the newbies were treated to bright warm sun, clear blue skies, and sparkling clear water, with just a light wind rolling in gentle waves from the west (and relatively few of the nibbling brine shrimp that had been plaguing swimmers earlier in the week – most of which were concentrated around Gae today, to hear her tell it!).

Congratulations to our new "newbies" Jonathan Zeit, Gina Foglia, Anthony Sarchiapone, Amy Baker, Chris Nugent, Miriam, Alexis Napoli, Sarina Napoli and Dana and returning newbies Peter Dennin and Merry Lewin; and many, many thanks to the Pod members who volunteered as mentors: Joye Brown, Gae Polisner, Annmarie Kearney-Wood, Bonnie Millen, Margot Edlin, Dana Termini, Will Spencer, Jamie Scholfield, Joan Addabbo, Tony Alizzi, Nancy Reycraft, Karen Barbosa, Rob Todd, and Rob Ripp (with special thanks to Dana Termini for providing the delicious tea and snacks afterwards, and to Rob Todd for his early morning deployment of the foot-saving Floating Pod Sandal Station!).

The morning’s activities were documented and photographed by Sylvia King-Cohen and Heather Walsh of Newsday, which is planning a story on open-water swimming (though it probably won’t appear until next April, they warn us). Their unobtrusive presence, thoughtful questions, and obvious admiration for what we do "out there" made them welcome visitors and earned them both honorary Pod-member status (though we’re hoping that Heather, a swimmer herself, will eventually come out and join us in the Salt as a full-on member of the ever-growing West Neck Pod).

There are still two weeks left of summer and plenty of open-water swimming time left in this 2013 season....Hope to see today’s "newbies" in the Salt again soon! Next group swim: tomorrow morning at 8:00!

Heather Walsh captures Carole Wickham in the morning light

 

 



Sylvia King-Cohen of Newsday

"My" newbie, Chris Nugent



The 2013 "FPSS"

Newbies Miriam and Chris

 

"Newbie," or not "Newbie"...That is the question...

Dana Termini

As with every open-water season, 2013 has brought a fresh crop of "newbies" to the West Neck Pod. This year’s group – the largest yet – is a diverse lot, with, as always, different levels of swimming skill and experience as well as different reasons for seeking the open water and the company of the Pod. 2013 "newbies" Dana Termini and Will Spencer have become Pod regulars, helping to fill the gaping hole left when Karen Ruth moved back to Cleveland. Dana, a surfer from the South Shore, is an accomplished open-water swimmer who exhibits the same calm equanimity whether she’s pushing the envelope with the rest of the "Big Dogs" or hanging back with the "Pokey-Pod." Will, who had only recently taught himself to swim by watching YouTube videos (!), was already registered for his first Iron-Man Triathlon in Louisville on August 25^th -- but his swimming was slow and laborious and he was afraid he wouldn’t make the swim cut come race day. He found the West Neck Pod through an internet search – and after several months of dogged training with the Pod – and being mentored by our multi-time Iron Man veterans Karen Ruth and Nancy Lipira, among others – Will made the swim cut in plenty of time...and now he’s ready to mentor the next crop of Iron-Man-wannabees. 


Will "Iron Man" Spencer

Merry Lewin

Merry Lewin – whose personality matches her name – is a newly minted sprint triathlete, but with limited open-water experience, Merry was apprehensive about taking on other challenges...Her swims with the Pod have been about exploring and expanding her comfort levels, and increasing both her distance and her sense of confidence. Merry still has "The Sailboat" in her sights – and in due time, with the support and encouragement of the Pod, Merry will add that notch to her swimming belt...just like Ian Todd did last weekend! Ian is the 12-year-old son of long-time Podder/Polar Podder Rob Todd, who decided to introduce his "poolie" progeny to the open water this season. Ian has taken to the open water like, well, his Dad, and I definitely see some "big swims" in his future!


Rob Todd and Ian Todd
 

Rebecca, center, with Joan, Dana, Joye, Larry & Bonnie

Rebecca Cooney – a Newsday colleague of long-time Podder Joye Brown, had been wistfully following the Pod through Facebook and The Water-Blog for eons...but it was a cancer diagnosis that finally brought her to West Neck Beach in mid-July for her first swim with the Pod before undergoing surgery and then chemotherapy/radiation....Wishing Rebecca a speedy return to the healing Salt and her newfound Pod!

Jimmy Kwong is another self-taught swimmer – whose first challenging venture in the open water two weeks ago – safely sandwiched between me and Joye Brown -- brought him as far as the "recently-repainted-building-formerly-known-as-the-‘Blue-House’-but-now-known-as-the-‘White House.’" His second outing last weekend proudly took him as far as the yellow sign – twice! – and Joye informs me that Jimmy made his first South Buoy swim this Labor Day weekend!


Other newbies to the West Neck Pod this season include Bill Byers, Marco Papaleo and Pam Algier, Eliana Themistocleous-Feldstein and "Sidestroke" Matt, Frank Caponi, Kathy Coletti (and her neighbor Gina Foglia, who still hasn’t ventured outside the lines, but promises to soon!), Joe Maccaro, Gavin Poole, Carrie Alexandrowicz, Tony Alizzi, Denise Defazio Cooke, Henry Ivarsson, Brandon Garrett, Greg Nieratka, Peter Dennin, and others whose names have escaped me at the moment...! Many of these have also become Pod "regulars," and even as the official summer season is drawing to a close, "newbies" keep showing up to swim with the West Neck Pod, Long Island’s largest open-water-swimming group!


Bill Byers

Eliana and "Sidestroke" Matt (you'll have to ask him!)

Kathy Coletti and Gina Foglia

Gavin Poole

Tri-Buddies Lorraine, and ?? (Dan?)

Tony Alizzi

Eliana and Denise DeFazio Cooke

Henry Ivarsson



Peter Dennin



Brandon Garrett



Anthony

Greg Nieratka

But for all the "newbies" who came out to join the Pod this season, there are others out there who are still holding back...waiting, for...what, a special invitation?? WELL, HERE IT IS! The West Neck Pod is extending a Special Invitation to those West-Neck-Pod-wannabees who’ve been hovering on the fringes, but who’ve not yet gotten up the nerve to come out and swim with us (you know who you are!). Take the plunge and join us on Saturday, September 7th at 7:30 a.m. (before the regularly scheduled 8:00 group swim) for a one-on-one introduction to the open water! No pressure, no expectations, and no goals other than to help you get unstuck if the open water is what you’ve been yearning for. If you’re a strong, competent swimmer who wants to expand your horizons and, well, start swimming towards the horizon, email the Pod at westneckpod@verizon.net and let us know you’re coming on the 7^th! Wetsuits are recommended – if you don’t own one you can rent one from Runners Edge in Farmingdale or other local runners/cycle shops. We’re also looking for seasoned Pod members to volunteer to mentor our latest crop of "newbies." Sign up on Facebook (https:www.Facbeook.com/WestNeckPod/events or email westneckpod@verizon.net.

See the rest of you in the Salt – finally!