Taking the forecast with a grain of Salt...

As I sit here cozily ensconced in my favorite armchair writing this blogpost, the outside temperature is 34 degrees and a cold rain is falling, mixed with occasional sleet and even snowflakes, though it’s only late October. Mindful of the dismal forecast, I probably would have slept in this morning, but Annmarie Kearney-Wood’s urgent early morning text-message: "I’m coming but I might be late – don’t leave without me!" precipitated me out of bed and into preparations for yet another open-water swim – my 102nd of the season, yesterday’s late-afternoon swim with Annmarie having been my 101st. Happily, we arrived at West Neck Beach before the temperature plummeted and the first icy drops began to fall.  As the last several years have taught me, these late-season swims are often lonely affairs, and Annmarie and I now seem to be the only holdouts, Gae having passed up yesterday’s swim on receiving reports of the dwindling water temperature, Carole sidelined by her shoulder injury, Joye still nursing her broken ankle, and "the boys" having dropped off the radar altogether (Rob Martell, of course, excepted).

In this late-season, Annmarie has become my new Pod hero – having blossomed from a timid, tentative newcomer last year to a seasoned, fearless open-water swimmer, who adroitly finds the adventure in every challenge, whether it be whitecapped waves or 49-degree water...which she keeps assuring me "doesn’t feel that cold"! With my doubled-up bathing caps and insulated booties and gloves, I have to agree, but I am surprised to find Annmarie (who, by the way, is roughly half my size with no discernable body fat) so willing to push the envelope, and "to keep swimming outside as long as I possibly can." Humbled by Annmarie’s willingness to embrace the cold water, I’ve stopped shrieking like a girl when I first get in, so I too can focus instead on how, after only a few strokes, the bracingly cold water becomes supportive and invigorating and thrilling and beautiful, and I feel so lucky to be out here, one with the water and the waves and the clouds and the sky...Annmarie is right, this open-water swimming season is not over yet....not today, anyway...See you in the Salt!

100 Days of Open-Water Swimming

We of the "West Neck Pod," who swim in the open waters of Long Island's north shore (mostly!), in the northeastern United States, are forever lamenting what is, to us, an unfairly short open-water swimming season. Like all open-water swimmers, we are subject to the whims and vicissitudes of Mother Nature and The Old Man of the Sea, who ultimately determine the "outer boundaries" of each year's open-water season.  We never know when the heavy curtain of winter will finally part, and our open-water season will begin, or when it will descend again, forcing us from the water until the next curtain call....For some of us, it is the "inner boundaries" that determine when we leave the open water and return to our local indoor pools, but I am one of those "outies" whose last day of open-water swimming is usually defined by the weather....When the air temperature is in the low 40s and the water temperature in the low 50s, and the wind that's whipping across the harbor feels icy on my exposed skin, and I know that I will find no pleasure in immersing myself in the icebath and stroking through the face-numbing cold, that is my signal that the season is truly over, and I reluctantly consign myself again to the chlorine...But it is always with regret, and I always wish that I could have had "just one more swim...." 

This season, it occurred to me to count how many "just one more" open-water swims my season actually encompassed.  Inspired by downhill skiiers' concept of a "perfect" skiing season of 100 days, I decided to make that my goal for 2011, and started counting with my first swim on May 27th. Today, October 22nd, was Swim #100 -- marking the completion of my "Perfect 100-Day Open-Water Swimming Season"!  Bonnie, Gae, Karen, Rob Ripp, Rob Todd, and Tim Sullivan joined me in the water, while Ken and Joye tracked us from the beach as we made our way from South Buoy to North.  Our tentative plans for a "Big Swim Across the Harbor" were quashed by the persistent westerly wind and whitecapped waves, but the chilly, 58-degree water temperature and 46 degree air temperature were otherwise no deterrent to this determined pod-let of other "outies," who were equally determined to see me achieve my 100th swim.  With the unusual and even dramatic weather of this season -- from Hurricane Irene to the rain-drenched August to the precipitous cold of early September, followed by October's relentless westerly wind, that swim was never a certainty, and I think we all were a little relieved that I made it!  Of course, now that I have, that doesn't mean my open-water swimming season is over! Tomorrow will be a day off for me (as I embark on my first-ever "Ziplining Adventure"), but I'll be back in the Salt next week -- weather permitting! ...By the way, although I seem to have been the only Pod member consciously counting swimming days, rumored sightings suggest that the evanescent "Pod-Father" Rob Martell has substantially exceeded the 100 number -- and he will certainly take the prize for longest open-water season, as his first swim was posted on May 15th and, as history suggests, he will continue to swim into December....! 

Next season....counting mileage??  See you in the Salt!

 

* Thanks to Newsday, whose October 16th "Long Island Section" cover inspired the adaptation above, and to Kathy Wickham, who "Photoshopped" it into existence!

"The Tempest" meets "The Ides of October"...

Late-week rainstorms eventually gave way to brilliant sunshine, just in time for this mid-October weekend, but a wild westerly wind in their wake left Cold Spring Harbor roiling with whitecapped waves that tossed the weekend swimmers from pillar to post....No scirocco, this wind, but not a nor-easter either, so water temperatures remained comfortably in the low 60s, with air temperatures not far behind, and the late-season's holdout swimmers (Tim, Joye and I on Saturday and Annmarie, Bonnie, Carole, Eric, Gae, Rob Ripp, Rob Todd and I on Sunday, following in Rob Martell and Christine's wake) lingered in the churning waters, enjoying the rollicking ride and plotting the 2011 Season's last "Big Swim."  With boat traffic now virtually non-existent, the distant shore beckons, and a West Neck Pod "Cross-Harbor Swim" is now officially on the agenda for next Saturday, October 22nd, at 8:00 a.m.! (weather and water conditions permitting, of course).  We'll swim from West Neck Beach directly westward across the Harbor, a distance of approximately .8 miles, and then return to the beach (if you can't join us in the water, please bring your kayak and join us on top of it!)  If all goes as planned, this "Big Swim" will mark my 100th day of open-water swimming this season -- so there'll be bagels and coffee on the beach afterwards to celebrate!  See you in the Salt!

Heading Into the Post-Season...

It seems like only yesterday that I was bracing myself for the end of the 2010 open-water swimming season...The ache of that impending loss has only recently faded, and already it is nearly mid-October and – incredibly – I am facing the end of yet another season, and the pangs of another winter-long separation from the open water. The season’s end is forecast in the diminishing numbers of Pod members who turn out for the weekend group swims, and early-morning weekday swims (later and later every week in deference to the ever-dwindling daylight) are virtually solitary affairs, with Carole, Karen and I the only "regulars" (joined occasionally by Gae and Nancy Lipira). Both Nancy and Karen are training for upcoming Ironman Triathlons, Nancy’s in North Carolina at the end of October and Karen’s in New Zealand on March 3rd. Karen, alone of the Pod, is happy for the steadily dropping water temperature, as she attempts to acclimate to the 50-55 degree water temperatures she expects to encounter "down under." Interestingly, with but a few exceptions, this late open-water season has been owned almost exclusively by the women of the West Neck Pod, who continue to brave the unseasonably cool air temperatures and rapidly dropping water temperatures while most of their brethren have long since retreated to the pool...

This morning the air temperature had warmed up again to 56 degrees by 8:00, and the water temperature was still a tolerable though chilly 60-64 degrees, but only Gae, Annmarie, Bonnie, Sue, Joye, Liz and I, along with Rob Ripp (the sole representative of his gender!) were there to enjoy a blissful Causeway swim in clear, still water under a windless, cloudless, impossibly blue sky.

For those of us who continue to swim in the open water in September and October and even November (and, for our crazy Canadian, Rob Martell, in December!), the Fall is unquestionably the best time for open-water swimming, and it just keeps getting better and better! Aside from the astonishing crispness and clarity of the water, the exquisite oblique light, the dramatic kaleidoscopic skies, the emptiness of the vast horizon, and the stillness and quiet of the nearly deserted beach and harbor, we embrace the bittersweet awareness that each swim might be the season’s last. So every stroke in this late-season is precious, as we try to burn every image and sensation into our memories, to sustain us through the long, Saltless winter. For me, this season’s memories will include some "firsts": the Pod’s several exhilarating forays south to "The New Beach," choreographed "circle-dances" and a beer-toast out at the South Buoy, an armada of orange "floaty-bags" trailing behind a sea of swimmers; and (I hope) some "lasts": Bonnie’s breast cancer, Joye’s broken ankle, Chris Vasallo’s neck surgery, and Frank Fiore’s bike accident....But, this is only October 9^th, I still have 8 more days of open-water swimming to achieve my "perfect" 100-Day Open-Water Swimming Season (and beyond!), and there are plenty more memories to be made before we say goodbye to this 2011 open-water season. Next on the list: The West Neck Pod’s first-ever Columbus Day "Road Trip" to Long Beach in Sag Harbor – honoring the "explorer" in all of us....See you tomorrow in the East-End Salt! 

A memorable swim on a never-to-be-forgotten day...

9-8-11 Heart above Empire State Bldg

This morning's blue sky and brilliant sunshine was itself a tribute to the memory of that terrible day, whose 10th anniversary we commemorated today....The dozen or so swimmers gathered on the beach at West Neck stood together for a long moment of silence, as we remembered those who were lost, honored those who survived, and thanked those who continue to serve and put themselves in harm's way. Rabbi ("The Rabbit") Steve Moskowitz (our resident Man of God) said a few well chosen words of hope and healing, and then we eased ourselves into the Salt for a cleansing, clearing Causeway swim.  Rob Todd had thoughtfully provided us with a brand-new floating Pod Sandal Station (thanks Rob!), so our feet were happy even if our hearts were not....We headed out to the Sailboat mooring against a rip-roaring incoming tide, which had us clinging to the mooring for dear life as we waited for our fellow swimmers to arrive, lest we be instantly flushed all the way back to the beach! Carole, Kathy and Joan decided to forgo swimming for an easy ride back, heads cushioned on their orange flotation buoys as they kicked along lazily while the tide whisked them beachward, prompting Nancy Lipira to threaten to revoke their Pod membership cards and take away their buoys...!

Rob Todd's new Pod Sandal Station

When we returned to the beach, it was still the 10th anniversary of September 11th, a day that will always feel like it happened "only yesterday," but in the Salt, and in the fellowship of the Pod, there is comfort and healing and peace....

 

We're Back in the Swim!

After seemingly endless days and nights of relentless rain, it was wonderful to finally see the sun -- and to taste the Salt again! Carole, Gae, Nancy Aboff and I reveled in our return to the open water this morning, enjoying a leisurely, invigorating, s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g-out kind of swim along the Causeway and a silly, giddy, noodling-swim back, in water that already has the crystal-clarity of Fall though the calendar tells us it's still Summer -- at least for a little while yet. But in this post-Labor Day landscape, the new season has already begun...The lifeguard station is shuttered and locked, the swim lines are gone, and the showers are already disconnected, leaving us to mourn not only the end of our ritual ablutions on the beach but our MIA floating Pod-Sandal Station (Rob Martell, we need you!). But the water temperature is still comfortably in the low-70s, you can see all the way down to your feet no matter how tall you are, and the best of this season's open-water swimming is still to come! See you in the Salt!

Swimming in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene...

The ravages of Hurricane Irene, and the resultant Health Department "advisory" that closed 131 Long Island beaches – including West Neck Beach – had Pod members itching and twitching to get back in the Salt by mid-week. Mindful of the Health Department recommendation that "bathers" wait 48 hours and four tidal flushes after a heavy rainfall, by Wednesday morning five of us deemed the water "safe enough" for swimming, even though the health advisory had not yet been officially lifted at 6:30 a.m. (though it was later that day, much to our relief!). But as I pulled into the parking lot at West Neck Beach that morning -- for the first time since Irene swept over our Island -- and viewed the altered landscape, I felt oddly sad and disoriented. The parking lot – which had been underwater days before – was still filled with sand, the beach was littered with logs and branches and other debris, the concrete bench lay broken where the surging tide had dumped it, and the swim lines were cast up on the beach, along with the buoy that demarcated the "Swim Area." The empty boat moorings – too soon for the season -- amplified the sense of strangeness – and this place that was so familiar to me now felt vaguely foreign. As I waded into the water, I felt somewhat apprehensive, not knowing what hazards Hurricane Irene may have hidden there....

We set out towards the Sailboat mooring – Gae, Evelyn, Karen, Cathy Kabat and I – marveling at the comparative cleanliness of the water, even as we dodged the occasional tree branch or other floating remnant of the storm. It was wonderful to swim again – and by the time we reached the mooring, I was starting to feel "normal" again....On the return trip, Karen, Cathy and I were roughly pacing one another (Gae and Evelyn having turned back earlier), and I knew it was Cathy swimming to my left because I saw her orange flotation buoy trailing behind her. So when I stopped to sight midway to the dock, saw Karen to my right, but found that Cathy was nowhere in sight, I became alarmed – especially when I looked back toward the Sailboat mooring and saw an orange flotation buoy in the distance just off the mooring, but moving rapidly northward. My alarm turned to confusion, especially when I saw an unknown, lone swimmer (with no flotation buoy) heading north along the Causeway at a rapid pace. I consulted with Karen, who at first was equally confused, but we finally came to the realization that the orange buoy was Cathy’s, which had somehow become detached from her waist belt, and that she was chasing it down, hell-bent for leather!

Dara Torres certainly has nothing on our Cathy Kabat, who was skimming along the top of the water like l'Hydroptere in full sail, and who caught up with her buoy before it reached Fort Hill Beach! Karen and I swam back to meet her, and we all swam back together giddily, all the tension of the morning now lifted, and glad to be back home in the Salt for this last, wonderful swim of August 2011!

Me, Myself & Irene

For the second time in as many years, the West Neck Pod (along with the rest of the eastern seaboard) is anxiously anticipating the arrival of a major hurricane. Last year’s Category 4 "Hurricane Earl" turned out to be a major non-event, bringing Long Island none of the threatened heavy rains and dangerously high winds, and cheating Pod members out of not even one good open-water swimming day as it passed harmlessly north and east of us (http://thewater-blog.blogspot.com/2010/09/hurricane-schmurricane.html) ....The story is likely to be different with "Hurricane Irene" – indeed, as I write this, the television news is reporting that already six people have died as Irene lurches her way northward along the coast. But early this morning, Irene – and those deaths – were still far to our south. With Irene’s arrival seemingly inevitable and imminent, and the immediate future of open-water swimming in its aftermath being something of a cipher, it was perhaps no surprise that a total of 16 somewhat trepidatious swimmers showed up at West Neck Beach for this morning’s swim – to see what Irene might have been stirring up and to get in one last swim before "Armageddon." (Regrettably, the Tobay Triathlon and Tri-Relay must be denoted another of Irene’s victims, having been cancelled early this morning – though Don Bond still managed to claim his commemorative shirt, if not a trophy!) Even Frank Fiore, now fully recovered from his horrific biking accident, rejoined the Pod for his first open-water swim of the season! 

To the great surprise of all of us, Cold Spring Harbor showed no overt signs of Irene’s approach, other than the overhanging clouds. The water was eerily flat and calm, an effect that was exaggerated by the expansive vista of the harbor, now virtually devoid of boats and floating docks -- all moved to safer water in anticipation of the storm. Despite its surface calm, though, there was much stirring below, as we watched wave after wave of snappers leaping from the water in a desperate flight to escape the bigger fish hunting them below. Huge underwater swells, invisible on the still only lightly rippled surface as we began our swim to the Sailboat’s now-empty mooring, swept and lifted us, and in the strength of the incoming tide we felt Irene’s power for the first time. The return trip, though, was no less onerous, with an inexplicable outgoing current holding us as if in place. But despite the challenge, we felt privileged, swimming as a body in the vast, uninterrupted expanse of open water that touched the sky at the horizon. The swim was awesome, in the truest sense of the word – inspiring awe as we contemplated the majesty of Nature, her beauty, and her enormous and sometimes terrible power...

It’s evening now, the air is dense and thick, and a steady rain is falling, signaling Irene’s relentless approach. I’ve done all the preparing I can, I’ve had my "last swim," and, like most of my fellow Long Islanders – swimmers and otherwise – I am waiting....Be safe everyone!...I’ll see you in the Salt! (but probably not tomorrow!)

Big Weekend for a "Big Swim"

The West Neck Pod bid a fond farewell to July this weekend, commemorating this glorious month’s-end with two "Big" open-water swims. Saturday, as guests of the Greenlawn Beach and Swim Club, and joined by the Huntington Tri-Masters Swimmers, the Pod enjoyed the peaceful, natural beauty of Makamah Beach and reveled in the crystal-clear "big" water of Long Island Sound, which lulled us with an effortless eastward swim on a calm, flat incoming tide, then churned and slapped us from side to side as the wind picked up on the westward return. Despite the waves and chop, the bottom was clearly visible throughout the swim and seemingly close enough to touch even in ten-foot depths, its apparent proximity an illusion induced by the astonishing cleanliness and clarity of the water.



On Sunday, July 31^st, the Pod returned to West Neck Beach for the long-awaited day of the "Big Swim," the season’s first organized collective effort to increase our swim distance and push beyond our usual boundaries. Scores of Aquafit swimmers also heeded the call to adventure and joined the throng of Pod swimmers headed "to the Sailboat and beyond." Though an unusually strong incoming tide and a disconcerting jellyfish insurgence dimmed the group’s enthusiasm for a 3-mile jaunt, a substantial number voted "yes" for 2 miles and continued north to Fort Hill Beach. After the obligatory stopover at the floating dock where Sal Romanello demonstrated his "cannonball" technique and others followed suit, the still-rapidly-incoming tide all but flung us down the Causeway and back to the beach....and the beginning of a new swimming month. See you in the Salt – in August!

Safety First: "No-see-'ems" in the Water?

Despite the overnight rain showers and some naysayers' dire warnings of possible coliform-laden runoff, a baker's dozen of hard-core (and hopefully iron-stomached!) swimmers took to the West Neck Salt this morning in conditions that were macroscopically, even if not microscopically, perfect! A swift outgoing tide nosed up against a steady northerly wind to stir up just enough wave-chop and underwater movement to make the swim interesting and exciting, and the water, under a brilliant sun in a cloudless sky, was remarkably clean and clear, for all the fretting of the nautical nabobs of negativism...!

All of the fuss and flurry about the runoff issue reminded me that I used to be one of those cautious swimmers who would wait for two tidal "flushes" after a heavy rain, but after years of swimming in this harbor without any intestinal ill-effects, I've become satisfied that the close proximity of West Neck Beach to the wide-open mouth of Long Island Sound keeps this harbor cleaner than most on Long Island -- and unlike other local beaches, West Neck Beach has almost never been closed due to a high coliform count...So I've become willing to take my chances on the "no-see-'ems" in the water and not pass up an otherwise perfectly good swim...!

There's a difference, though, between risking those "no-see-'ems" in the water, and being one of those "no-see-'ems" in the water -- hence those brightly colored orange buoys you see floating along behind several of the swimmers in these pictures!  Having come "this close" to being hit by a speeding powerboat last Father's Day while swimming (see my blogpost at http://thewater-blog.blogspot.com/2010/06/happy-fathers-day.html), I'm acutely sensitive to how relatively invisible, and how vulnerable, we open-water swimmers are to the many boats that traverse this busy harbor -- a problem that's not adequately solved by our brightly-colored caps on our tiny little bobbing heads, which can barely be seen by other swimmers at the water's level, let alone by speeding boats in a heavy chop when their drivers are not expecting us to be there!  So when I first learned about the new swimmer safety device being promoted by the International Swimming Hall of Fame, I ordered one online and tried it out, then ordered a dozen more more for the Pod!  These inflatable floating dry bags enable swimmers to carry personal items with them (including medical supplies like asthma inhalers or Epi-pens, or the camera I took these pictures with!), provide flotation assistance if needed, create virtually no drag, and are highly visible to boaters and other watercraft. (They're apparently even visible to people on the shore -- Carole and Kathy said they saw our buoys way out in the harbor today as they were walking our dogs on the beach!)

These swimmer safety devices are a relatively easy and inexpensive way to enhance our safety and the safety of our fellow Pod members, as well as the peace of mind of our friends and family who love us, as we pursue our passion for this wonderful but dangerous sport of open-water swimming. I urge every Pod member, and every open-water swimmer, to get one -- and look forward to seeing a flotilla of bobbing orange buoys every time we hit the Salt this season! (For more information about the device, go to http://www.ishof.org/safety/faq.htm.)

As for the other "no-see-'ems" in the water today, dysentery may yet set in, but if it doesn't, most of this morning's crew will be doing it again tomorrow morning at 8:00 -- See you (safely) in the Salt!

Fourth of July Weekend -- 2011

It's hard to believe that this 2011 open-water swimming season is already more than a month old, and that another major holiday weekend -- the Fourth of July -- has come and gone since the season "officially" opened Memorial Day Weekend! It seems like only yesterday since – after the winter’s long, chlorinated confinement – I first tentatively edged myself into the still-chilly water of West Neck Beach, fully encased in a long-sleeved wetsuit, and struggled to make my way as far as the yellow sign, let alone the Sailboat (which I finally reached for the first time several weeks ago – broken ribs now well-healed, thank you very much!). The intervening First Annual Huntington-Cold Spring Harbor 1 & 2 Mile Swim at West Neck Beach, which took place on Sunday, June 26th, is undoubtedly responsible for much of this sense of being caught in an accelerated time-warp, as I and many of the other West Neck Pod members were busily engaged in helping to plan the event, which consumed much of our time and energy for the last several weeks and months. Those efforts paid off with a wonderfully successful first-time event in which 181 swimmers participated, and which introduced dozens of newcomers to the Cold Spring Harbor/West Neck Beach venue and to the Pod of open-water swimmers that habitually plies its waters! Many of the competitors came back to swim with us this Fourth of July weekend, some more than once, and the Pod is now enhanced by new members Sharon and Jason and David and Karen and Cristina and others whose names I didn’t get...

Jennifer Rocke, a marathon swimmer from Colorado who was on Long Island to visit relatives and found us on the internet through"The Water-Blog," swam with us Friday morning and again on the 4th of July, partaking in a casual "Sailboat chat" with the rest of the Pod before heading back to start her journey home (with a new, bright yellow "To the Sailboat and Beyond -- West Neck Pod" swim cap in her bag!). Jennifer, who swam the English Channel in a relay, and is training for a relay swim across Lake Tahoe ("only 11 miles"!), says she’ll be back next year – when she plans to swim in the Second Annual Huntington-Cold Spring Harbor swim!

Bob Miller’s Huntington Tri-Masters Swimmers also joined us on Saturday for their first open-water swim of the season, and will be back next Saturday morning for another stint in the Salt.

More and more newcomers – experienced open-water swimmers as well as "newbies" – have recently been seeking out opportunities to swim in the group open-water environment offered by the West Neck Pod, and more and more open-water prodigals have been returning to the Salt (Sal Romanello and Lynn Perzetsty, to name a few!). The Pod itself has grown from a handful of swimmers a few years ago to a cohesive community of several dozen swimmers (with an e-mail list of more than 80 names) – and this extraordinary growth coincides with an explosion of interest in open-water swimming in the larger athletic community. Joye Brown and I, who were fortunate to be able to attend portions of the 2011 Global Open Water Swimming Conference in NYC in June, met scores of open-water swimmers from around the world who are passionate about open-water swimming and about sharing their passion – and their knowledge – with others. (Read more about the conference on Steven Munatones’ blog, http://dailynewsofopenwaterswimming.com/.)  More and more people are taking to the open water – and falling in love with it, as I did so many years ago, and do again every time I swim!

I envision that by the time the next major holiday weekend rolls around (Labor Day weekend), the swimmers of the West Neck Pod will be as thick as moon jellies in the harbor – and that when we set out on our group swims, we’ll hear what Carole Wickham described when she lifeguarded for the June 26th 1 & 2 Mile Swim: "As the largest wave of swimmers approached, I heard a sound that was like a flock of swans flying low over the water, beating the surface with their wings...I could hear the swimmers coming before I could see them...It was an amazing sound....

Hope you all had a wonderful and safe 4th of July weekend....See you in the Salt!


(Follow this link for more pictures of the 4th of July Weekend at West Neck Beach: https://picasaweb.google.com/101213847005616295077/FourthOfJulyWeekend2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink)

Tick...tick...tick...Registration Deadline for June 26th 1&2 Mile Swim at West Neck Beach is Approaching...!!

The West Neck Pod is excited and proud to be hosting the first-ever HUNTINGTON-COLD SPRING HARBOR 1 and 2 MILE SWIM at our home beach, West Neck Beach, on Sunday June 26th! (There are both wetsuit and non-wetsuit divisions for you Tri-types, as well as a 400-meter event for athletes 10 and under.) Pod members joined in the planning of this first-time event with local members of sponsoring organizations US Masters Swimming (go, HUMS!) and USA Swimming to make it as organized, safe, and FUN as it can possibly be!  More than 150 swimmers have already registered -- and the deadline to do so is fast-approaching!  On-line registration closes at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, June 21st, so if you're one of those last-minute types, tick...tick...tick...!  Follow these links for more detailed information and to register for the USMS, Open, and USA Swimming divisions:
US Masters Swimming:
https://www.clubassistant.com/club/meet_information.cfm?c=1743&smid=3166 (register as a member of the Huntington Masters Swim Team ["HUMS"] and swim for the "Home Team"!)
USA Swimming:
https://www.clubassistant.com/club/meet_information.cfm?c=1743&smid=3182
Open:
https://www.clubassistant.com/club/meet_information.cfm?c=1743&smid=3183

The Swim is a benefit for the Huntington YMCA's Swim Scholarship Program for kids in need, so come on out and do some good while having fun in this exceptionally beautiful open-water venue!

See you in the West Neck Salt on the 26th!

A Not-So-Memorable Memorial Day

 Violent early morning thunderstorms dashed the Pod’s plans for a Memorial Day swim – for everyone, that is, except Tony Santomauro, Mike Paradise, Greg and Magda...Undeterred by the raging tempest, they headed for the beach, waited the requisite time until the last of the thunder and lightning had died away, then entered the water, despite the glowering skies and the steady rain that continued to fall. Also undeterred by the rain, as reported by Tony, were the jellyfish, whose early arrival had been noted by the weekend’s swimmers, and additional throngs of which had apparently been driven into the harbor by the storm and the incoming tide. As with the weekend’s group, today’s swimmers passed harmlessly through the gelatinous invaders, whose tentacles appear to have been rendered innocuous, perhaps by the water that’s still chilly by jellyfish standards. Whatever the reason, Pod swimmers are grateful to be spared close jellyfish encounters of the painful kind. As every open-water swimmer knows (and will soon undoubtedly be humming as they swim), when it comes to jellyfish, "It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that sting [doo-wa, doo-wa, doo-wa, doo-wa, doo-wa...]"!!

Weekday swim schedules this week – the first week of June! – will be posted on Facebook and/or e-mails; weekend swims will be at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. See you in the Salt!

Day Two of the 2011 Open Water Swimming Season

Well, the thermometer still read 66 degrees, but the squeals of the swimmers as they entered the water this morning said otherwise....With the sky still overcast and the sun having not yet burned its way through the clouds, the water felt significantly colder to this morning's flock of 16 or so swimmers, especially those like Peter and Rob Ripp who swam sans wetsuits! The southwest wind had kicked up overnight, too, to throw a pesky chop in the faces of the returning swimmers, but neither that, nor the jellies that dotted the water (still no stings reported!) dampened the spirits of the swimmers in this second official swim of the 2011 season.

Returnees from yesterday Gae, Annmarie, Carole, Margot, Brett, Steve, Joye and I were joined today by Coriander, Rob Ripp, Pete, Rob Todd, Nancy, and Joan (Rob Martell and Christine having taken an earlier dunk before their run -- beware, parking outside the still-locked gate got them both tickets!), and the sun was shining brightly by the time the last swimmers returned to the Beach.  Hopefully it will be again tomorrow,  when the West Neck Pod reconvenes on the Beach at 8:00 a.m. for a Memorial Day Swim!  See you in the Salt!