 |
| 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
|
Annmarie Kearney-Wood was still dry behind the ears when she first came to swim with the West Neck Pod in the Summer of 2010, having been dragooned into exploring the open water by her friend and fellow lawyer Gae Polisner, who was herself still a newcomer to the Pod. Now, two years later, both are seasoned -- and insatiable -- open-water veterans who share the distinction of having pioneered year-round swimming in the 2011-2012 season with the rest of the West Neck "Polar Pod." So it was no surprise when Annmarie announced, back in December or January, that she wanted to celebrate her upcoming fiftieth birthday with an open-water swim, and was looking for other Pod members to join her in the Salt on May 14th. Of course we never expected that, with this incredibly mild Winter and summer-like Spring, we'd already have begun a regular weekend open-water swimming schedule in April so that a mid-May swim would seem somewhat anticlimactic, but nevertheless a small cadre of Pod-sisters assembled at West Neck Beach late this afternoon to help Annmarie realize her vision of an open-water swim to commemorate the 50th anniversary of her birth. 
Gae and I were the first arrivals, under a cloudy and threatening sky, and, when Annmarie -- a commercial real estate lawyer -- texted us that she was stuck at a closing and didn't know when she'd be able to get out, we suited up and headed into the water, hoping that Annmarie would arrive shortly and join us before the predicted rain began. Having sustained third-degree wetsuit burns (or so it seemed) in my first "Sailboat Swim" on Saturday wearing a full wetsuit, I was swimming sleeveless for the first time since last season, but found the now-up-to-56-degree water not only tolerable but exhilarating as Gae and I swam back and forth and back and forth between the dock and the end of the Town beach (so that we'd be visible to Annmarie when she finally arrived). Nearly an hour later, with Gae and I humming the tune to "Happy Birthday to You" in harmony on our exhaled breaths as we swam, she did, and, miraculously, so did the sun, which burned a hole in the clouds to welcome a bathing-suited Annmarie in a baptism into a new over-fifty life... 
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!
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 11th, 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!
