Goodbye, June-uary...Hello, Summer!

"Welcome to ‘June-uary,’" my cousin posted in response to my recent Facebook lament that I was still wearing flannel pajamas to bed (thanks for the coinage, John Austin Totter!). It’s been that kind of a schizophrenic month weather-wise, as air temperatures repeatedly ping-ponged from the 50s into the 90s and then back down to the 40s. The water temperature never had a chance, and it held a narrow range between the low 50s and low 60s while Spring-minded Podders and triathletes with looming upcoming events blinked and shrugged as weekend after weekend they tiptoed into water that still felt like the ice floes that had thronged the harbor throughout the seemingly endless winter. One of the earliest events of the season, the Huntington Sprint Triathlon, held on May 31st, saw numerous swimmers pulled from the 52-degree water at Crab Meadow Beach, several of whom were taken to the hospital to be treated for hypothermia. Reportedly most of those were not wearing wetsuits, and I’m guessing this might have been their first venture into the open water since last season. (The best defense against hypothermia? Acclimate, acclimate, acclimate! – but not on the day of the event!)  

Happily, all swimmers recovered, and so did the temperatures, with this weekend of more "seasonal" weather and water temperatures in the mid-60s finally giving swimmers a taste of the Summer to come and, for those who are so inclined, an invitation to shed bulky full wetsuits for long-johns/janes or just bathing suits. Tony Alizzi kindly volunteered (i.e., was drafted!) to step in as "Podmaster" this weekend while I was away, and in addition to offering guidance on the tide and the suggested route, helped to orient a fresh batch of "newbies" and provide loaner "floaty-bags" for the unprepared.

More good news: Weekday swimming has resumed at 6:00 ("in the water") on Wednesday and Friday mornings and, for us lazybones, at 8:00 on Friday mornings. And of course our regular weekend schedule of 8:00 a.m. swims continues until...well, until ice floes return to the harbor!

Next weekend Summer officially begins, with the Solstice this year taking place on Sunday, June 21^st! As the water temperature continues to rise (look for temperature postings on the West Neck Pod Facebook page), we’ll look forward to seeing more and more of our "poolie" brethren joining us in the Salt, along with the "newbies" who continue to seek out the West Neck Pod for their first open-water experiences.

The following weekend, the Fourth Annual West Neck Swim will take place at West Neck Beach on Sunday, June 28^th. This highly acclaimed event offers 1-mile, 2-mile, and 5K events with both wetsuit and non-wetsuit divisions. If you’re registered for the Swim, you still have time to check out the venue and "test the waters" with the seasoned swimmers of the West Neck Pod.  If you’re not registered, what are you waiting for? Visit the West Neck Swim website at westneckswim.com for details and registration link.

Next Sunday, June 21^st, is also Father’s Day. Not to be a downer, but on Father’s Day 2010 I was nearly chummed by a speeding motorboat as I swam towards the south buoy with a bunch of fellow swimmers (see my blogpost at http://thewater-blog.blogspot.com/2010/06/happy-fathers-day.html?m=0). That close call (I mean, close: I could read the serial number on the boat’s Evinrude motor as the boat driver swerved to avoid me at the last possible second!) ultimately led me to discover and purchase the "SaferSwimmer" flotation buoy from the International Swimming Hall of Fame, which they developed to help protect open-water swimmers from boats and other hazards in the open water. Now, five years later, nearly 100 West Neck Pod swimmers have purchased "floaty-bags," which you can see dotting the surface of the water virtually any day at any time! That’s my long-winded and roundabout way of wishing everyone a Happy Father’s Day, and of doing my part to help ensure that those among us who are fathers, or who have or had fathers, always come home....
Speaking of families, all of us in the West Neck Pod family have friends, family members, colleagues or co-workers who have been affected by cancer in some way, or are themselves cancer survivors. That’s why for the fourth year in a row, the West Neck Pod is participating in the annual "Sound-to-Cove" Swim Across America to raise funds for local cancer research. Last year "Team West Neck Pod" raised more than $38,000.00 to fund the cancer research and treatment and family-support efforts of institutions and agencies right here in our own backyard, including Cold Spring Harbor Research Laboratory right across the harbor. This year, Tony Alizzi will be our Team Captain, and I urge you to join our team and help your fellow swimmers raise money to fight cancer, stroke by stroke by stroke. For more information about the Sound to Cove Swim (at Morgan Park in Glen Cove on Saturday, August 8^th, follow this link: http://www.swimacrossamerica.org/site/TR/OpenWater/NassauSuffolk?pg=entry&fr_id=3383

To register as a member of Team West Neck Pod, follow this link: http://www.swimacrossamerica.org/site/TR/OpenWater/NassauSuffolk?pg=entry&fr_id=3383

For more information, contact Tony Alizzi at anthonyalizzi@gmail.com.

See you in the Summer 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!

"There's no sun up in the sky....Stormy weather..."

This past week's swims were notable for a couple of reasons: The large number of swimmers showing up for even our weekday early-morning swims (as many as 20 last Tuesday); and Rob Martell's introduction of "Cross-Training On the Beach," with a handful (so far) of game West Neck Pod members grunting and gasping through sets of situps, burpee pushups, jump-over burpees,  sprints, weighted squats, step-ups, and conditioning rope exercises before we stumbled into the water for our morning group swims.  As I write this post I am so sore it hurts to smile (ow...) but the soreness is a good indicator of  how not-in-shape I am, despite almost daily swims of 1 to 2 miles. So I'll keep showing up for the cross-training sessions, which will likely be scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings at 7:30, before the 8:00 group swims.  Now there's even talk of pre-swim yoga on the beach on weekday mornings....Stay tuned for more news about that!




Saturday morning's post-cross-training swim (ow...) drew a big crowd of 20-plus swimmers, including not only the long-absent Paul Coster, who usually eschews swimming in favor of his first -- I mean, second  -- love, soccer (sorry, Elisa!); and the-never-before-seen-in-the-open-water-when-the-YMCA-is-not-closed-for-a-national-holiday Paul Nugent, a devout "Poolie" whose schedule allowed only a quick West Neck swim as he was enroute to a family function.  (See you on Labor Day, Paul!)  Also joining us -- or re-joining us -- were a number of alumni of our recent West Neck Swim, as well as a number of newbies.  We swam to "New Beach" and back, but this once-novel swim, which by now has become almost de rigueur, gleaned an asterisk as Joye Brown, Annmarie Kearney-Woods, Paul Coster and I left the main pack on the beach while we swam out and around the jetty to survey the route for the Pod's next "Expotition" (thanks, Christopher Robin).  Just 'round the corner is another little beach with a shack-like structure on it ("Shack Beach"?), and beyond that, a long stretch of open water with no apparent places to make landfall -- but not many boats, either! Late arrivals Carole and Kathy Wickham, who came slicing across the waves "like twin goddesses" (as Paul said) on their stand-up paddleboards (now re-christened "Pod-dle boards"), met us as we approached the south buoy on the return trip, and continued the exploration south almost to Cold Spring Harbor Village. We'll plan to retrace that route sometime in the near future -- even as we continue to make plans for the big 5-Mile Swim north around Lloyd's Point towards Caumsett on August 25th! 

Cloudy skies and the threat of thunderstorms did nothing to deter the even bigger throng of 30-odd swimmers who headed into the water Sunday morning, even as a gentle rain began falling. Some of our returning West Neck Swim veterans were joined in Sunday's swim by our Meet Directors, Rob Ripp and Colleen Driscoll (who will both be part of a relay team swimming around Manhattan on Saturday, August 4th!).  "Pod-dle" boarders Cammy DeRosa and Kathy Wickham, armed with whistles to warn us of the onset of thunder or lightning, accompanied the main pack as it raced from the north to the south buoy then on to New Beach, trying to stay ahead of the seemingly imminent cloudburst. The skies darkened, lightened, then darkened again as the sun ducked in and out of the clouds, and a thin fog drifted in from the south and settled over the harbor.  As the swimmers began making their way back to West Neck Beach, the rain again began falling, but by the time everyone was showered and dressed, the sun was out again...But by late afternoon, the threatened thunderstorms arrived with a vengeance. Tommy Capobianco and his wife Laurie were there at West Neck Beach to capture these amazing photos of the gathering thunderclouds and a dramatic lightning strike directly on the water....a sizzling reminder of why we GET OUT OF THE WATER AT THE FIRST SOUND OF THUNDER!!

The thunderstorms over, and any runoff issues remediated by the several intervening tides, we'll be swimming again this week at 6:30 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings, and at 8:00 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings....See you in the Salt!

View all

Get your own

The "5K in the Bay" is BACK!

After a one-year hiatus, the "5K in the Bay" (Huntington Bay) is back...and on-track to resuming its former status as THE most exciting and challenging 5K open-water-swimming event on Long Island! Long-time race organizer Bea Hartigan, now joined by organizers of the highly successful "West Neck Swim" at West Neck Beach, is pleased to announce that on Sunday, July 15th, long-distance swimmers will once again ply the spectacularly beautiful waters of Huntington Bay -- and face its maddeningly challenging currents -- on a newly reconfigured rectangular course just off "The Head of the Bay Club," which is once again hosting this historic race. Sanctioned by USA Swimming, this year's event will also, as it has in the past, include championship age-group events (1000M for 10 and under; 2000M for ages 11-12; and 3000M for ages 13-14).  This is a non-wetsuit competition, but wetsuit-lovers are welcome to come and test their mettle in a non-scoring capacity.  Registration forms and event information are available on the website at http://www.huntswim.org/, or contact Meet Director Bea Hartigan at bea10k@yahoo.com for further information.  The registration deadline is July 5th -- so don't delay!

Race-day volunteers, lifeguards and kayakers are also needed to help make this event a success -- contact Bea Hartigan at bea10k@yahoo.com or Carol Moore at westneckswim@verizon.net if you're able to help out -- and thanks for supporting open-water swimming on Long Island!

See you in the Bay!

...Go!....(with the Flow!)...: The 2012 "West Neck Swim"!

Despite the careful and meticulous months-long planning by the organizers of the 2012 Huntington/Cold Spring Harbor 1 and 2 Mile Open Water Swim, none of us could have anticipated that our passage to West Neck Beach at 5:30 on the morning of the race would be blocked by a massive tree that had fallen across the road, just outside the beach entrance! Lloyd Harbor police quickly responded and cleared a narrow path just wide enough for organizers' vehicles to squeeze through on the right (thank you, Lloyd Harbor police!), and Officials Coordinator Joye Brown masterfully directed traffic and guided our vehicles through to the other side, where brilliant sunshine, a freshly-striped parking lot, a recently re-sanded beach, and massive amounts of organizing and setting up awaited us!  Town of Huntington road crews arrived in astonishly short order (thank you, Town of Huntington!), and West Neck Road was completely shut down for a time before a huge bulldozer finally nudged the fallen tree to the side of the road and carloads of volunteers were freed to swarm the parking lot and commence converting the beachfront into an athletic arena. 

Like the fallen tree, we also did not anticipate that the iron buoy anchors that secured the race buoys last year would not be enough to hold the buoys fast against the surging outgoing current this year, so our sponsor SeaTow, who, with Race Co-Organizer/Meet Director Rob Ripp on board, had towed the buoys from the beach and set them in position shortly after the gates had opened, was forced to chase them down and reposition them while our Logistics Co-Coordinator Marc Leahy attached additional anchors to hold them firmly in place (all but the southern turn buoy, which, despite three anchors, may have shifted slightly north  to shorten the course and quicken everyone's times). 

But "going with the flow" is the essence of the open-water swimmer's experience, and despite these glitches and our late start, by the time the first swimmers began to arrive, the "Start" and "Finish" chutes were in place, the registration tables were set up, the numbered caps were matched with corresponding electronic chips, and refreshments were being served. With a few adjustments, Swim organizers were able to basically hold to the timeline, and the first of five waves of swimmers -- ranging in age from 9 to 84 -- headed for the start buoy at or close to the scheduled start time.
 

By the time the last wave left the start buoy, there were more than 200 swimmers in the water, churning the surface of the half-mile-long course like bluefish on a bunker chase! As the swimmers gradually spread out across the water, a flotilla of volunteer paddleboarders, kayakers, and lifeguards on rescue boards maintained a careful watch, while the Huntington Harbormaster and Oyster Bay Bay Constable kept boat traffic at bay and the Cold Spring Harbor Fire Department and Huntington Community First Aid Squad ambulances and crews manned the beachfront, ready to handle any emergencies that might arise (though none did, thankfully).  By the time the last wave of 1-milers were rounding the first turn, the lead 2-mile swimmers had already caught up with them, and just minutes later 14-year-old Ian Bidwell bested the field by sprinting out of the water in a phenomenal 29:47.4!

Our West Neck Pod made a brilliant showing, too, of course, with Pod members Lou Carminati (who placed 3rd overall), Ken Longo, Liz Perlstein, and Nancy Aboff taking 1st place age-group medals, Tim Sullivan taking a 2nd place medal, and Elena ("E.J.") Voss and Jamie Scholfield taking 3rd place age group medals in the 1-Mile Wetsuit Division; and, in the 2-Mile Non-Wetsuit Division, Andrea ("Ani") O'Brien and Bird Norton taking 1st place age-group medals; while in the 2-Mile Wetsuit Division, Michael Wright (3rd place overall!), Joanna Grossman and Karen Ruth took 1st place age-group medals; Brett Emsden took a 2nd and Bonnie Millen a 3rd place medal! Mindi DeLeary, Tom Sherman, Vinny O'Shaughnessy, and David Marino also did the Pod proud!

Like mother... (Meghan O'Brien, age 10, 400M)...

Like daughter...(Andrea O'Brien, age 42, 2-Mile)

When the last swimmer had passed through the finish gates, to the cheers of everyone on the beach, Joye and I -- no longer "on duty" -- exchanged jubilant high-fives followed by grateful bear-hugs, which we then shared all around with as many equally proud and happy Swim organizers and volunteers as we could get ahold of!  After the last of the awards were handed out and the swimmers had departed, we all set about dismantling and stowing the equipment, clearing the beach of any Race-related debris, then suiting up for our reward -- a relaxing and much-needed swim in the calm, beautiful, and now nearly empty waters of West Neck Beach. 

Barry Goldblatt (Kayak Coordinator) and me (Safety Director)

Sometime in the coming weeks we'll get together for a post-Swim debriefing, to discuss the Swim, review what we did right (great new timing company -- thanks, Nikita Dorcinvil and Just Finish, Inc.!) and analyze what we could or should have done better (definitely "Porta Potties" and extra toilet paper next year -- and a chain saw in the truck!).  We are hopeful that the Second Annual Huntington/Cold Spring Harbor 1 and 2 Mile Open Water Swim will have raised lots of money to support the Huntington YMCA's scholarship program to teach underprivileged children to swim (many, many thanks to our generous sponsors) -- and perhaps in the years to come, some of the graduates from that program will be experiencing their first open water swim event in the annual "West Neck Swim" here in the beautiful, sparkling waters of Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island Sound!

Town of Huntington Lifeguard Julia and YMCA Director Eileen Knauer

See you in 2013...!

(Huntington Masters Swim Team ["HUMS"] Blogographer Mike Engel used my camera to take most of the pictures of the race while I was otherwise engaged; and Carole Wickham took the post-race in-the-water pictures from her kayak! Check out Mike's other fabulous photos on our Facebook page [https://www.Facebook.com/WestNeckPod] and the HUMS Blog! {http://www.HUMS.blogspot.com])

Results of the 2012 Huntington/Cold Spring Harbor 1 & 2 Mile Swim at West Neck Beach!

Overall and Age-Group results from the 2012 West Neck Swim are available at the following links:
http://justfinish.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/WNS-Overall-20121.htm
http://justfinish.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/WNS-agegroup-2012.htm

Blogpost and pictures coming soon (Mike Engel's fabulous post and pictures are already online at http://HUMS.blogspot.com and https://www.facebook.com/WestNeckPod).

Thanks to everyone for your support of this incredible event!

Get Ready, Get Set....!

Friday morning's flock of swimmers were disappointed to find pockets of "yuk" coalescing around the swim lines at West Neck Beach as we entered the water for a low-tide early morning swim. The air was hazy and heavy, and the past days' torrid temperatures had cranked the water temperature up to an almost uncomfortable 75 degrees.  But once out past the "yuk," the water largely cleared, with only an occasional seaweed encounter, and Carole, Marc, Kathy, Susan, Karen, Brett and I enjoyed a lovely swim between the north and south buoys, with our faithful companion Cammy accompanying us on her paddleboard. 

Brett

Sue (a/k/a mother of the bride-to-be Kaitlyn!)

By the time we returned to the beach, a cadre of Town workers had finished raking the sand, clearing it of all debris in preparation for Sunday's race, and the floating sludge at the swim lines had vanished with the outgoing tide.  The haze and heat remained, though, and by afternoon, a wave of thunderstorms settled over the Island, rattling windows and dumping torrents of rain on and off throughout the day and night. 
Saturday morning dawned crisp and clear, the heat and humidity gone and the air brilliant and sparkling. Even the water seemed scrubbed clean by the storms, and the temperature had dropped to a comfortable 72 degrees. A dozen-plus swimmers converged on the beach for the 8:00 group swim, unabashed by concerns about runoff contamination, although the lifeguards informed us that a health advisory had been issued for all Suffolk County beaches because of yesterday's rain and that West Neck Beach was officially closed. We swam anyway, though a stiff northwesterly wind made the swim to the Sailboat harder and slower than the outgoing tide might have suggested. It was a fun, rollicking swim, though, and a bunch of us lingered for a long time at the Sailboat chatting before we headed south for the relatively swift trip back.

"First-wave" swimmers Frank, Tony, Larry and two friends whose names I'll get next time

The West Neck Pod dressing room

Steve

Magda returning from the Sailboat

Tonight, West Neck Swim organizers will be convening on the Beach to begin setting up for tomorrow's Swim -- carting in tables and chairs and hospitality supplies, blowing up turn buoys, testing radios, filling sandbags, etc. The rest of the setup will be completed early tomorrow morning, when the gates are opened at 5:30 to welcome our officials, lifeguards and kayakers and the rest of our many volunteers, and -- by 7:00, our 238 swimmers and their supporters and friends. The Second Annual Huntington/Cold Spring Harbor 1 and 2 Mile Open-Water Swim is on its way to becoming even more successful than last year's inaugural swim!  Ready, set...See you in the Salt!

The Countdown Begins: The 2012 "West Neck Swim"

With the registration deadline for this year's Huntington/Cold Spring Harbor 1&2-Mile Open Water Swim a little more than 24 hours away, and the Swim itself just six days hence, the volume of text messages and e-mail exchanges between and among Swim organizers has suddenly increased, as final details are addressed and looming problems resolved, while the number of registrants creeps steadily upward toward the 300-swimmer cap...Meanwhile, back on the Beach, it's been "swimming as usual," though the Sailboat and North and South Buoys have received more than their usual number of visitors as Pod members and Swim organizers rinse away their stress in the healing Salt, and "newbies" come to preview the Swim course and conditions in advance of Sunday's race. Registration closes tomorrow (Tuesday) night at 11:59 p.m., so if you haven't registered yet, tick...tick...tick...!  Group swims are planned this week for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings at 6:30 (in the water!) and Friday and Saturday mornings at 8:00. Sunday morning's group swim is cancelled because of the Race, but feel free to join Pod members and Race organizers and volunteers in a celebratory post-Swim swim after the last award is handed out and the Beach is set back to rights....!


The view north from the Beach -- may Race day be as calm!



"The Sailboat" aglow in reflected early morning light

The Sailboat mooring

Flying back toward the mooring field on an incoming tide

Registration links for procrastinators can be found on our website at http://www.westneckswim.com. Also visit the West Neck Swim's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=815520298&ref=profile#!/WestNeckSwim.

See you in the West Neck Salt!

 

Register Online Now: The 2012 "West Neck Swim"!

The Huntington/Cold Spring Harbor 1- and 2-Mile Swim at West Neck Beach (a/k/a "The West Neck Swim") has now become an annual event at this exceptionally beautiful open-water venue on Long Island's North Shore -- the home beach of the eponymous "West Neck Pod." Last year's inaugural swim was hugely successful, with 189 swimmers competing, and in anticipation of a greatly increased number of applicants for this year's event, to be held at West Neck Beach on Sunday, June 24th, registration is limited to 300 swimmers!

On-line registration is now open for US Masters Swimming ("USMS") and USA Swimming. Follow these links to register now before the June 19th deadline:

USMS Members: https://www.clubassistant.com/club/meet_information.cfm?c=1356&smid=3956

USMS One-Event Registration: https://www.clubassistant.com/club/mr.cfm?c=1356&smid=3956&ngb=oevt

USA Swimming: https://www.clubassistant.com/club/meet_information.cfm?c=1743&smid=4065

For more information about the West Neck Swim -- and for pictures of last year's Swim, visit our website at www.WestNeckSwim.com!