Halloween swim frightfully good!

The last several days' flurry of e-mails reflected our anxiety and apprehension about this morning's planned Halloween open-water swim. Despite the summer-like temperatures of the past week, the thermometer had suddenly plummeted, and the forecast was for much colder weather. With colder weather comes colder water, and the fingers and toes of some of us were still tingling from last weekend's bone-chilling immersion. Friends' and family's uncomprehending comments and dire warnings added to our apprehensions -- as did my own laser thermometer readings from both the dock and the water's edge...The water was definitely getting colder, and a Halloween swim began to seem more and more scary....

So when we arrived at the beach at noon today in brilliant sunshine (having pushed back the start time to take advantage of the day's warming temperatures) and were met by a howling northwest wind and an endless vista of surging white-capped waves, it was enough to make us change our minds and head back home to wait for trick-or-treaters.  All of us, that is, except Rob Martell, who, mindful of the day, stepped out of his Honda Element-cum phone booth clad in his red and black wetsuit, blue swim cap, and long red cape flapping wildly behind him in the wind, looking like the superhero we all know him to be!

Of course, the rest of us couldn't resist (well, Gae could -- after dipping her toes in and bleating like a slaughtered lamb -- she stayed on the beach shooting most of the photos and videos you see here).  So Rob Martell, Bonnie Millen, Rob Todd, Nancy Aboff (here to earn her Pod swim cap!) and I threw ourselves into the onrushing waves -- which promptly tried to throw us back again. It was rough swimming into the wind and against the incoming tide (even the seagulls were flying backwards, beating their wings uselessly against the wind [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNg9T5ErkEM]), so we paid a hurried visit to the dock and then turned back to body surf our way back to the beach where our cheerleaders (Gae Polisner, Joan Valerio, Joye Brown, Evelyn Cruise, Bonnie's friend Jo, and HUMS blogographer Mike Engel) were waiting.  (See Mike's report and photos at http://hums.blogspot.com/2010/10/open-water-halloween-swim-west-neck.html and Joan's video complete with howling wind sounds at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTlnAqBxqsk.)

On the way, Rob Todd smashed head-on into a barnacle encrusted mooring ball, cutting his scalp through two swim caps -- but what's Halloween without a little blood and gore?

We emerged from the water exhilarated and smiling, and making plans to do it again -- in November!

See you in the Salt!

New 12-Step Program Forming for "Aquaholics"

Are you an open-water "Aquaholic"?  To find out, answer Yes or No to the following statements:

• You check the tide tables on a daily basis, even in the off-season.
• You usually know the air temperature, water temperature, wave heights, and wind direction and speed for your local beach.
• You made the above picture your screensaver.
• You have been the only one to show up for an early-morning swim, and you actually think about swimming alone even though you know it violates the #1 safety rule of open-water swimming.  
• You actually do swim alone when no one else shows up.
• You have posted at least one picture of you wearing your speedo or wetsuit on Facebook or Twitter.
• You own more than one wetsuit.
• You have taken a shower on the beach, using shampoo and/or soap.
• You want to swim farther and farther each time you swim.
• As you swim, you are mentally calculating when you will be able to get in your next open-water swim.
• You talk about "swimming to Connecticut."
• You have swum at least one long-distance event (5K/10K) and can't wait to do it again.
• Your friends are tired of hearing you talk about swimming.
• You crave salt.
• You are definitely not a morning person, but you get up at 5:00 in the morning, arrive at the beach in darkness, and swim for nearly an hour before you go to work.
• You do this more than once a week.
• Reading "The Water-Blog" or "The Water-Log" is the highlight of your day.
• You used to be afraid of the water, but now you love it when the water is really rough and you are tossed around by the waves.
• You are still swimming in the open water in October.
• You are still swimming in the open water in November.
• You are still swimming when the water temperature is less than your age.
• You are depressed at the thought of the open-water season ending.
• You have been binging on potato chips, pretzels, and salt water taffy.

If you answered Yes to five or more of the above, then you are almost certainly an open-water "aquaholic."  Fortunately, a confidential 12-step program is now available to help you and your fellow aquaholics resume a normal land-based life.  For information about meetings in your area, call 1-800-LUV-SALT, and tell the operator that you are a "Friend of Barnacle-Bill's."  An adjunct chlorine-maintenance program is also available to help get you through the long winter months.  Remember, the first step to recovery is admitting that you are powerless over saline....  See you in the Rooms...

October 24th: Still Swimming...!

 The morning clouds had nearly dissipated, the flag hung limply in a windless sky, and the water lay flat and calm -- much to the relief of the ten intrepid swimmers who gathered at West Neck Beach this morning intent on etching another OWS notch onto our goggle-straps.  

Rob Martell, just back from a 6-mile run, sat steaming on the bench in the 48-degree air as he donned his new full wetsuit, while Rob Todd pulled on his "long-john," leaving his arms and shoulders bare.  But when Tommy Capobianco arrived in his suit, fresh from church, and (having forgotten to pack his wetsuit) proceeded to strip down to his Speedo, the Pod gained a new hero! 

 

With all swimmers wearing the new Pod swim caps bestowed on them by the "Fairy Pod-Mother," we posed for pictures on the beach (taken by Jim Imhof, who, along with Margot Edlin, Joye Brown and Greg Linakis came to cheer us on -- or administer CPR!). 

Then we all (Rob Todd, Rob Martell, Bonnie Millen, Ken Longo, Mike Paradise, Tommy Capobianco, Don Bond, Carole Wickham, Annmarie Kearney-Wood, and I) plunged into the 55-degree water with a collective scream.  After a dozen or so strokes, the nearly naked Tommy (well, really, how big is a Speedo?) still couldn't catch his breath, and wisely returned to the beach and relative warmth.  He said afterwards:

"It didn't feel as shocking as I thought it would and I really wanted to stay out there with all of you in just my Speedo but I was honestly afraid that once my slow moving brain realized how cold my body was I might be out too far and be in trouble.  Hope you had a good swim!!

The rest of us doggedly continued swimming, and as the initial shock of the cold water wore off, the bone-chilling pain in our exposed faces, hands and feet turned to a far more bearable numbness. (The water also warmed up somewhat once we got north of the dock and beyond the cold springs for which Cold Spring Harbor is so aptly named.)  As we swam, we experienced a growing sense of exhilaration, and kept extending our goals: first, "to the dock," then "to the end of the mooring field," and then "to the first sign along the Causeway" (all of us, that is, except for Mike Paradise and Rob Tobb, who kept swimming north, nearly to the sailboat mooring, before turning back!).  We all recognized that despite our initial discomfort, there was still something absolutely priceless and precious about what we were doing, and the awareness that this could well be our last open water swim of the season made us savor the exquisite beauty of the water, the sky, and our fellows all the more, and not want to leave the water despite the cold...

Rob Todd, who, having swum the farthest despite his skimpy "long-john" wetsuit, was the last one out of the water, shared his thoughts about the swim by e-mail:

"Today was a gift!

My feet hurt bad getting in, but the flat conditions made it too tempting
not to give it a real good try and I also felt like I had to earn the cap!
Once my feet were numbed as if shot with Novocain, the swim became quite
enjoyable. I did get a bit spooked from the pre swim chat about the shark
attack and the loss of Fran Crippen, but swimming is what we do.

The big question is, can the swim season really continue..................?

Not straight jacket conditions, but it is getting close."

Close, but not necessarily here yet!  Plans are afoot for a Halloween swim.... See you in the Salt next weekend??!

By the way, even though the open-water season is almost over, you still have to watch out for boats "out there"!



Boat crashes into car, Mill Dam Road, 10-24-10

Evelyn "Cruises" Through Her Last OWS of the Season!!

Despite the "warmish" air temperature of 48 degrees, the steady northwest wind made the prospect of plunging into the icy water at West Neck Beach at 9:30 this morning a daunting one, particularly to Evelyn Cruise, who was determined to earn her Pod swim cap -- a red one, she decided. After an earnest parking lot consultation, the tri-Pod of Evelyn, Carole Wickham and I decided to proceed with our open-water swim, but at a different venue, more sheltered from the wind. 


We rendevouzed at the new site a short while later, coffee cups in hand, and enjoyed a gentle, relaxing open water experience in the clear, calm waters of the Carol(e)s' hot tub!  With my ubiquitous camera swim mask in place, I documented the event for posterity (including capturing images of all of us proudly wearing our new brightly colored Pod swim caps!

There, Evelyn took her last few strokes of the 2010 open water season, demonstrating the smooth, effortless, high-elbow form she perfected over the last several months, and bid a sorrowful goodbye to the open water...until next year!

Meanwhile, some members of the Pod remain unconvinced that the open-water-swimming season is over, and will be convening at West Neck Beach tomorrow morning at 8:00 to prove it.  Of course I'll be joining them!  See you in the Salt!

"Capping Off" the 2010 Open-Water-Swimming Season...

"To the Sailboat and Beyond.....West Neck Pod" is the message emblazoned on the recently commissioned West Neck Pod swim caps (brightly colored for greater visibility in the open water and available in green, pink, orange, yellow and red). With air and water temperatures continuing their inevitable downward trajectory, closely tracked by the morale of the open-water "aquaholics" who are beginning to experience withdrawal symptoms in the waning days and weeks of the 2010 open-water-swimming season, the turnout for the most recent open water swims has been reduced to only the most hopeful, optimistic, addicted or cold-tolerant Pod members.  In recognition of those stalwarts, and of the extraordinary individual and group accomplishments of the Pod in 2010, free swim caps will be distributed to every Pod member who shows up this weekend to try to squeeze out another open-water swim (or to cheerlead their fellows!).

(Swim caps will be available at cost to anyone else, as long as supplies last!). 

Check e-mails for scheduled swim times (mid-day swims most likely to maximize warmth!)

See you in the Salt!