"Sound-ing Out a Channel Swim"

Honorary-Pod-member-and-no-longer-a-stranger John Collingwood handily survived his wetsuit-less introduction to the 53-degree waters of Cold Spring Harbor today, the two-foot chop kicked up by the northwest wind, and the jellyfish that did a face-plant (harmlessly, thanks to the "Safe-Sea" John had applied beforehand!) as he and Marc Leahy swam nearly to Fort Hill Beach and back, while Paul Coster and I brought up the rear and Bonnie Millen led the impromptu squad of cheerleaders from the beach.  John emerged smiling and happy (though shivering in the whipping wind), and ready to join up with our CIBBOWS brothers and sisters for some ocean swimming on the weekend, before he returns to Florida where he'll continue his training for his July Channel crossing. We'll be rooting for him, and looking forward to hearing the news of his success!

Cheerleaders Linda, Bonnie and Marian

John and Marc

"Channelling" Summer....

I claim "Mount West Neck" for the Pod...!

With this so-called Winter officially behind us, the West Neck "Polar Pod"* gleefully proclaimed "April" the new "June" and commenced regular weekend swims early last month. As the water continued to warm throughout the month (the temperature having climbed to the high 50s before the recent cold, rainy spell sent it plummeting again), we gradually shed layers of protective gear and lengthened our distances – first celebrating our return to the "yellow sign," then "nearly to the Sailboat." Now that May is here, it seems that others are starting to take notice of Summer’s approach. New mountains of sand recently arrived on the beach at West Neck, to be lavishly spread over the waterfront a day later to cover the myriad pesky rocks the winter’s erosion had exposed – dreaded nemesis of swimmers’ delicate feet! The bathrooms have now been cleaned and readied for business (ahem), and Lars Olsen from the Town’s Waterfront Management Division assures me that the showers will be reinstalled the week before Memorial Day (no sooner, he says, because of concerns about vandalism). It’s only a matter of time before the "Polar Pod" melts back into the Pod-at-large, and we declare the 2012 open-water swimming season officially open!

But the water temperature this week still has not edged above 53 degrees, which means that conditions are "perfect" for visiting stranger and gonna-be English Channel swimmer John Mqemane Collingwood, who announced via Facebook that he will be in the area from May 10-15 training for his July Channel crossing and is looking to join a group for a few "long swims"....After some extended e-mail exchanges, the first West Neck Pod "group" swim is now fixed for Friday, May 11^th, at 5:30 p.m., and stalwart Polar Podder Marc Leahy has promised to accompany John for at least a mile and a half of the four-mile training swim that John is contemplating, with Rob Martell and Paul Coster also "definite maybes." John, who’s been training most recently in Florida, in 78-degree water, will undoubtedly find our 25-degree-colder water helpful for acclimating to the English Channel temperatures, but his first immersion – in nothing but a bathing suit, cap and goggles per Channel rules – is bound to be a shocker! If you’re game, or curious, come join us at West Neck Beach on Friday afternoon – in the water or on the shore! (Wetsuits, double caps, insulated gloves and booties still recommended for the rest of us mere mortals...!) See you in the Salt!

White Cliffs of Dover 3 (Piotr Kuczynski).jpg - Wikipedia

* Annmarie Kearney-Wood, Carol Moore, Carole Wickham, Gae Polisner, Joye Brown, Kathy Wickham, Marc Leahy, Paul Coster, Rob Martell, Rob Ripp, Rob Todd

A "Sign" of the Season...

Looking for a sign that the 2012 open-water swimming season is officially "open"? Here it is!  Four members of the West Neck Pod's "Polar Pod" took advantage of the 65-degree air temperature and 55+-degree water temperatures (!) today to swim all the way to the infamous "yellow sign" for the first time since...well, since it got too cold to stay in the water long enough to get to the yellow sign!  At dead-low tide, the water was a little murky and decorated with copious amounts of sea jewelry, but that was no deterrent for Annmarie Kearney-Wood, Gae Polisner, Paul Coster and I, who were sweating in our wetsuits in the hot afternoon sun as we assembled ourselves on the beach for the swim.  The water felt distinctly warmer than last time, and we all eschewed the extra layers that had protected us throughout our so-called-winter immersions (except for Paul Coster, who declared himself perfectly comfortable in his sleeveless wetsuit and single bathing cap -- though he employed ear plugs under his cap to avoid "brain freeze").  Ludymila, an already wetsuited stranger whom we met on the beach, nearly joined us, but found the unusually miry water conditions too distasteful.  She prefers to swim in the early mornings, she says, when the water is at its clearest and the beach is not as crowded.  Explaining that "she is Russian," Ludymila said that she's been swimming at West Neck regularly throughout the winter! (and the Polar Pod now has a new prospect!)  Ludymila-less, we four struck off along the Causeway, and forty minutes later, we emerged from the water into a still beautiful, picture-perfect day, with more of the same predicted for tomorrow (after a possible morning shower).  The soon-to-be-extinct Polar Pod is planning to take to the Salt again on Sunday afternoon at 3:00.  See you then!

Paul demonstrating his gloveless "happy hands" 

'Twas a "Good Friday" for an Open-Water Swim!

The air temperature on this first Friday in April was slightly cooler than the last several days', but by 3:00 the thermometer had edged up to around 53 degrees, and with the sun blazing brightly in a nearly cloudless blue sky, an afternoon open-water swim seemed the perfect beginning to this Easter weekend, at least for the five swimmers who suited up in the almost-crowded West Neck Beach parking lot.  Gae Polisner, Annmarie Kearney-Wood and I were there, of course, for our first April OWS, but so were Rob Ripp, who last ventured into the Salt in January, and, to my great surprise, Paul Coster, who showed up in the same sleeveless wetsuit he wore when he last tasted Salt in -- well, I don't even remember when that was, but I know that he was almost as cold then as he was today!  Paul was game, though, and he jumped in with the rest of us and started swimming strongly, but his exposed skin and lack of acclimatization quickly took its toll and he was forced to bail before we reached the dock....Barefoot and sleeveless is still a tad ambitious for early April -- especially when the water temperature is still below the 50-degree mark, but kudos to Paul for trying -- he is definitely a Brit with Grit!  The rest of us swam northward nearly to the yellow sign, but a swift outgoing tide and sudden northerly wind that pushed up a stiff chop persuaded us that an earlier turnaround would be wiser -- though we still stayed in for more than half an hour.  It was a glorious swim, in water that is easily ten degrees warmer than it was a month ago, and we were heartened to realize that with Spring in full swing it will only get warmer from here on in!  Some of us are planning on testing that theory tomorrow, with an afternoon swim at 1:30-2:00-ish.  I'll be there -- and not only because this first April swim marks the completion of my first-ever 12-month season of open-water swimming, having swum at least once in every month since May of last year! I just love it out there -- and love sharing it with all of you!  Happy Easter, Happy Passover...See you in the Salt!

This Brit has grit -- notice the short sleeves on the wetsuit...!

Paul Coster and Robb Ripp

Gae Polisner and Annmarie Kearney-Wood

Bonnie Millen met us on the beach and went in as far as her knees -- this time...!

Spring Marches In....

The official arrival of Spring on Tuesday, March 20th, was somewhat anticlimactic this year, as the last several months' unseasonably warm weather made it seem as though Winter had never fully arrived.  I returned to Long Island on March 24th from a week's vacation in the Caribbean -- where the air temperature was barely warmer than that of New York! -- and was astonished to find my forsythia and rhododendron in full bloom, with my lilacs already in leaf and budding, and my hostas, irises and day lilies pushing their way up through the never-frozen ground.  The West Neck "Polar Pod" took full advantage of the warm weather, as Gae Polisner and Annmarie Kearney-Wood added March notches to their Winter swimming belts, already decorated with the scalps of December, January, and February, with open-water swims at West Neck Beach on March 12, and again on March 22nd for the first OWS of the 2012 Spring season. For the latter, Gae reported that "the water, though a bit rough, and cold getting in, easily felt 6-7 degrees warmer. Our fingers and toes didn't numb one bit after 25 minutes in." She went on to speculate that "If it stays like this, which it seems it is, our regular daily season could start easily by mid-April. Imagine that?!"  Yes, I can -- See you in the April Salt!