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!

Carol Moore's "Swim Across America"

On Saturday, August 13th, I will be participating in the "Swim Across America" in a 5K (3.1 mile) open-water swim from Long Island Sound to Morgan Park in Glen Cove to raise money for cancer research. If, like so many other families, you and yours have been touched by this plague, please consider making a donation to help support my effort and this cause. You can make a donation online via the attached link: http://www.swimacrossamerica.org/site/TR/OpenWater/NassauSuffolk?px=1057120&pg=personal&fr_id=1186, and I promise to swim my heart out!  Thanks for your support! -- Carol

  "The cure for anything is salt water -- sweat, tears, or the sea." -- Isak Dinesen   

"Dry Run" for "The Big Swim"

Anticipating next weekend's "Big Swim," a dozen Pod members took a preview this morning, swimming northward past our usual "Sailboat" destination to Fort Hill Beach for a two-mile roundtrip (Margot Edlin, Evelyn Cruise, Gae Polisner, Annmarie Kearney-Woods, Nancy Reycraft, Sue Robinson and I), or all the way to the dock before the point for a three-mile roundtrip (Cathy Kabat, Rob Ripp, Rob Todd, Todd Rowley and Mark). Yesterday's blistering heat had abated somewhat by the time we entered the water, and conditions were perfect for a long swim. The water was clean and clear and relatively calm despite a steady northerly breeze, and its coolness was a welcome antidote to the sun still baking the beach. Approaching the mouth of the harbor, the water felt distinctly cooler, and big underwater swells rolled and lifted us, auguring the “big water” just beyond the point where the harbor meets the Sound (next season’s “Bigger Swim”?).

Reconnoitering at the Fort Hill Beach floating dock, we caught our breath and chatted, then set off in the direction of the Sailboat for the l-o-n-g swim back to West Neck Beach, swimming hard against the outgoing tide that had propelled us northward. Happily (and not by accident), next Sunday’s “Big Swim” will be on an incoming tide, for a tidal assist on the return trip! (For details about the “Big Swim,” see the West Neck Pod Facebook page at  http://www.facebook.com/pages/West-Neck-Pod/128827940504281#!/event.php?eid=231555000200139. ) As for tomorrow’s swim, we’ll see you in the Salt at 8:00! 

Sunday, July 10th Open-Water Swim at West Neck Beach

Here are photos and videos from Sunday's swim:



More pictures (by Mike Engel) are posted on the Huntington Masters Swimmers ("HUMS") blog at http://hums.blogspot.com/2011/07/some-pictures-from-sunday-july-10-2011.html! (Don't forget to join HUMS and "Swim for the Home Team"!)

"Boobs to the Buoy": Bonnie's Back!

Just five weeks after a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery for breast cancer, West Neck Pod member Bonnie Millen returned to the Salt today for the first time since her surgery! Showing the indomitable spirit she has evinced since her devastating diagnosis (particularly poignant since Bonnie’s mother died of breast cancer at the age of 49) and throughout her amazingly swift recuperation from this major surgery, Bonnie swam all the way to the southern buoy! There she posed in triumph, as Pod members celebrated and enthusiastically welcomed her back to the Salt. No doubt Bonnie’s remarkable healing had something to do with those vegetarian meals lovingly cooked up and delivered every night for a month after Bonnie’s surgery by members of the West Neck Pod’s "Support BRA" – Bonnie’s Recovery Assistants! The BRA stands ready to continue to support Bonnie and her partner Tim when the final pathology reports come in and Bonnie’s treatment protocol is finalized. In the meantime, Bonnie’s glad to be back in the Swim, as her e-mail to the Pod, delicately captioned "Boobs to the Buoy," reflects:  "Swimmers: Wonderful to see you all in the Salt on my return to OWS! Thank you Joye for watching my back, swimming at my manatee-like pace, even with flippers. Anyone interested in a leisurely Tuesday morning swim, say at 7:30 or 8 a.m.? Next goal, Boobs to the Boat -- Bonnie"

Indeed... Welcome back, Bonnie!  See you in the Salt!