Swimming to New Zealand:

Ice Swim Training

2012-02-10T13:41:00.000-08:00

My lovely friend, and new grandma, Lynn Kubasek sent me this video about her traiining for an upcoming ice swim in arrowhead, CA.

Enjoy!

Karen Rogers & Cathy Delneo Lake Tahoe Ice Swim

2012-01-27T17:00:00.000-08:00

Okay before I pat myself on the back for averaging 45mins a day in sub 55F/12.7C water, that these two women put me to shame!

On 15 January, 2012, Cathy Delneo and Karen Rogers swam 1.12 miles in sub 41F/5C water! Yes that's right you heard me; sub 41F/5C water!!! I know Penguins and seals that can't handle that temp and these two swam it like it was a day in the park.

To my knowledge, this is the first official ice swim in Lake Tahoe and I am honored to know both pioneers. So join me in congratulating two staler athletes. This video proves my point that in the world of cold open water swimming, men can't hold a candle to women. Come to think of it, neither coul they since it would most likely get wet.

Ha ha ha!!! What a great joke!!!

(Sound of crickets)

Nothing?

Gees tough crowd.

Okay just watch the video and be blown away.

Great job ladies!!!!

What is Kaizen

2012-01-07T11:19:00.000-08:00

What is Kaizen?
by Terry Laughlin
Posted on December 22nd, 2011
Kyoko Tsukamoto, who has just taken over as editor of Total Swim Magazine, the e-zine published by TI-Japan, asked me to contribute an article for her first issue. I was so pleased to be asked, I volunteered to write an article for every issue. I’ll publish each of them here too. Here’s the January installment:

It feels slightly odd to be an American, writing for Japanese readers (and swimmers) about a philosophy – Kaizen – that originated in Japan. But Kaizen has changed my life, and for that I’m grateful to Japan.
When I started swimming, at 10, my vision reached only to the other end of the pool, and how I would get there.

When I joined a swim team, at 14, my vision extended to the end of the week, when I would swim my next race.

When I began coaching, at 21, my vision now stretched to the end of the season, when the hard work of six months training would be rewarded by new best times for my swimmers, and perhaps a championship banner for the team.

But at about age 40, when I began coaching adults—especially adults who were new to swimming–my vision began to extend to limitless horizons and possibilities. I didn’t realize this had a name, Kaizen, or was a widely respected philosophy in Japan that grew out of business, but became applied to ‘the art of living well.’

My horizons grew because my adult students had longer horizons themselves. When I coached younger people, their swimming goals were always to get through today, this week, this season. But adult students took up swimming in order live better, healthier and happier, with no endpoint in sight.
Kaizen is endless; Kaizen is this moment.

The paradox of Kaizen is that the way it helps you think in terms of limitless possibility is by focusing your attention on the potential of this day and this moment. Kaizen Swimming is not built upon any great or impressive action, but upon a very small action only you will notice—a single beautiful stroke . . . repeated with loving attention a few thousand times in the course of an hour.
You begin practice with a plan to find some almost-hidden aspect of your stroke that, during the next hour, you’ll perform better than you ever have before. No one else will notice your improvement, but you will feel it because you give it such keen and unwavering attention. Before you know it, an hour is over and it’s been the best hour of your day.

And that is the greater wonder of Kaizen. Before I embraced the Kaizen spirit, during each day’s practice I thought I was training for a happy moment three or six months in the future when my hard work brought a best time. But Kaizen, while showing me a life of boundless possibility, has also taught me to make each day special, and not wait for happiness sometime in the future.

Gar Woods is Coming!

2011-12-28T16:33:00.000-08:00

The most brutal 15 to 20 minutes of swimming on can endure in the Lake Tahoe area. More to come later. For now appreciate this promotional video.

Buddhism and Mindful Swimming

2011-12-24T17:48:00.000-08:00

I don't think anyone would mistake me for a fast swimmer. I see folks zooming past me all the time in Aquatic Park and at the pool where I - sometimes - train. I get advice constantly from those who say; "Naji, if you do X,Y, and Z you'll go much faster." While building speed would be a good thing for my Cook Strait Crossing, I feel swimming mindfully is just as - if not - more important.

The following article is by Kwin Krisdaphong of Thailand, a man who learned swimming via a Total Immersion ten-step video and a one day workshop in Southeast Asia. In the following, he tells of how TI swimming (mindful swimming) and Buddhism are linked. I think you might find the correlation very interesting.

Peace

1) How I practice meditation
Mindfulness is a skill I use in any kind of situation, but especially in stressful situations. Mindfulness is a difficult habit to acquire in normal living, where we encounter so many distractions. At my first training, I started with one day and night in the temple. My master monk brought me to an empty room as shown in the photo. There is no phone, nothing to read, nothing to take your mind away from your own thoughts.

Kwin (L), Tang (C), Jerome (R) at Royal Singapore Yacht Club

Someone leaves food at the door. I’ve been instructed that I’m free to do anything in that space – sitting, walking, cleaning, lying down — as long as I stay mindful, noticing my breath, my movements, my thoughts and feelings. The purpose of going to the practice room is that it’s easier to concentrate there than outside where there are so many distractions. My reason for being there is to train myself to just observe my thinking without judging it.
We hope that when we return ‘outside’ – with all its distractions – we are a bit more able to stay in the present moment. I spend a day at the temple once or twice a year. My wife sometimes stays for up to week.
Becoming a monk is the next step. As a monk you’re sheltered from external concerns. There are no bills to pay and thus no need for money. You receive one meal a day then return to practice. Monks train to stay present in every single moment throughout the day – walking, siting, eating, or performing chores – our main duty is to remain mindful.

2) Measuring improvement in Mindfulness
Continuous improvement is a goal in meditation training, just as in TI training. In TI, rather than focus on how far or fast we swim, we focus on how easily we can move through the water. In mindfulness practice, our goal is not how long we can remain in meditation posture. Sitting longer isn’t better. Rather it’s about how readily we can let go of a distraction and return our consciousness back to the present moment. My teacher told me that a good measure of improvement is how long I hold any negative or stressful thought or emotion. From Buddha’s word we practice until we can calm a stressful emotion in an eye blink.

3) TI Swimming / Mindfulness meditation
TI has taught me how to meditate while in motion. Because TI showed me how to swim with ease, I can now swim for long period, instead of one lap at a time. Swimming longer in a Buddhist sense isn’t about seeing how much distance I can cover, but rather to train myself to stay present with my stroke for longer periods. I’ve discovered that the rhythmic action of breathing, rotating, stroking, noticing – comes more easily to me than sitting in an empty room, watching my in-out breathing, or even walking. The only limitation is that we usually cannot swim for as many hours as we can sit or walk.

4) Why I feel grateful for swimming
After I read your blog “Why I’m Grateful for Swimming My Slowest Time Ever” I felt fortunate I’m not a competitive swimmer. I never need to be concerned with speed or time. My focus is how long I can concentrate on my present movement while swimming without letting my consciousness diverge to any feeling or thought that is not about swimming. It is a very satisfying feeling to seek harmony with the water and use constant focus to maintain it. After I leave the pool my body feels healthy and my mind feels refreshed. This is why I’m grateful for having discovered that swimming can be a form of meditation practice.

Happy Holidays From The South End Rowing Club!

2011-12-17T13:49:00.000-08:00

For all the frustration, head-banging, eye-rolling, non-stop nonsense, I have to admit I love this club. I wish everyone a safe and pleasant holiday season and bright hopes for the New Year!

Love
Naji

Swimming Tahoe in December 2011

2011-12-16T16:12:00.000-08:00

Two of my heroes in swimming, Karen Rogers and Cathy Delneo swam Lake Tahoe at an elevation of 6225 ft (1897 m) in 41.1F/5.05C water. To say these women are brave, fearless and a bit nuts is an understatement. And they wouldn't have it any other way!

and neither would I :-)

Enjoy

Swimming The Golden Gate Bridge

2011-12-12T13:02:00.000-08:00

My good friend and - sometime adviser,- Leslie Thomas, a noted open water swimmer, emailed me this cool video taken by one of her clients on an open water swim across The Golden Gate Bridge. The swimmer strapped a GoPro video camera to their wetsuit in the back and showed an angle that few get to see unless the have swum the Gate before. I hoe you find this video fun and motivating you to get out in the water!

Body Surfing in Fiji

2011-11-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

We here in The Bay Area have been blessed to have the Rip Curl Pro Search Surfing Contest featuring the likes of World Champion Kelly Slater. Today (Saturday Nov 5th) we had the honor of hosting a body surfing contest with more than 70 participants. Had I had known ahead of time that this was an open event, I would have strapped on some fins and joined the fray. Sigh...another opportunity lost. However, you can enjoy some great footage from Fiji and wait till I make my body surfing debut in New Zealand in one year!

South End Rowing Club's Golden Gate Swim 2011

2011-10-29T16:16:00.001-07:00

What’s wrong with Marathon Swimming? Pt 2

2011-09-15T17:18:00.000-07:00

NOTE The following article is a continuation of Scott Zornig's article; WHATS WRONG WITH MARATHON SWIMMING? The views that are expressed in the article are those of the author and are reprinted here for discussion and information purposes. Thanks and enjoy!

This past week, I released a newsletter titled "What’s wrong with Marathon Swimming I." I am pleased to report that I have received only 7 negative responses, 1 neutral comment and hundreds of emails, posts and blogs from marathon swimmers worldwide who have said things like " thank you from the bottom of my heart," "Well done," "Have you been reading my mind?," "Clear, concise, heartfelt and above all..honest," "You are right on," "Thank you 10 million times," "Thanks for attempting to keep marathon swimming pure," "Thanks for having the courage to speak up," "If it's impossible to do without a wetsuit, it's not worth doing with one" and a personal favorite "Swimming in a wetsuit is not swimming...it is floating period!" I had a feeling the responses would be positive, but I had no idea it would be so overwhelming lopsided. I could be wrong, but it appears that 2 of the 7 negative responses came from people who had never done a marathon distance swim, a 3rd was from the owner of a company which sells performance wetsuits, a 4th was from a open water race director who allows wetsuits in his event, and a 5th was from a disabled person who had used a wetsuit in a marathon distance swim.

It is clear that marathon swimmers from around the world, want the well established and defined rules of marathon swimming followed and respected. They want all newcomers to pay their dues and put in the time necessary to play our sport the way it was intended to be played....the same way it was played for nearly 100 years (1875 until the early 1970's). As one swimmer responded "I have spent years working to acclimatize for a swim in both very warm and very cold climates. I do not take short cuts!" Another swimmer wrote " I used to get easily hypodermic years ago, but with training, I came to love cold water. I am glad I put in the effort and stayed true to our sport."

I had a person from Ireland comment, "our water is much colder than yours so we sometimes need wetsuits. I say, no you don't! Lynn Cox proved to the world that the human body can even withstand temperatures in the mid 30's with the proper amount of training. Others have now followed her lead and have pushed their limits. Yours truly tried 36 degree water without a wetsuit and found that it is doable. So the correct statement from the Irishman should have been, "our water is much colder than yours and I do not want to take the time to train for acclimation. Therefore, I chose to wear a wetsuit."

Evan from Freshwater swimmer explained it much better than I did in my newsletter when he said "Marathon swimming isn't just about the distance. After all, people run and ride long distances, too. It’s the other stuff that makes marathon swimming unique and special in the world of endurance sports.
• The tradition. The knowledge that when we enter the water to begin a long swim, we're using the same simple technology (textile suit, cap, goggles) as those who came before us, as far back as the 19th century. What other sports can boast as level a playing field over time?
• The elements. Marathon swimmers face down large bodies of water, as they are on a given day. The water may be cold, choppy, perhaps even full of scary marine life. The swimmer is vulnerable, “naked” in the figurative (but almost literal) sense. But she faces down her fears and vulnerabilities, and jumps in anyway. Marathon swimmers overcome the elements through physical acclimation and mental fortitude – not technology.
• The possibility of failure. One of the foremost mental challenges of a marathon swim is the knowledge that you might not finish. You might get hypothermic, no matter how well acclimated you are. Rough seas or adverse currents might make it impossible to continue. Or perhaps your nutrition doesn't work out and you run out of energy. Failure is always possible, no matter who you are.
These are fundamental elements of marathon swimming. Remove any one of them and you have a different sport". Thank you Evan!

It is common knowledge that Captain Mathew Webb was the first person to "swim" across the English channel and he is regarded as the worlds first modern day marathon swimmer. What many people don't know is that a person by the name of Paul Boyton actually crossed the channel in 1875, a few months before Captain Webb's successful swim. Unfortunately, Paul Boyton wore a rubber suit that provided flotation. His costume eerily resembled today's wetsuits. He was also guilty of resting on the side of his support boat during his swim. As a result, his legacy is that of a showman, adventurer and frogman who was know for his water stunts. He is not credited as the first person to swim across the English channel and rightly so.

I also had people respond with personal stories and examples of others who ignored the widely accepted rules of marathon swimming including one from Hall of Fame marathon swimmer, David Yudovin. David mentioned that in 2010, he went to do a swim in the Madeira islands which are located off the coast of Morocco. It was necessary for David to obtain permits from the maritime port authority. He met with the port captain who initially responded with "how can I issue you permission when two years ago, three young men wearing wet suits and fins barely made the same swim? Furthermore, they are half your age!" After extensive meetings and a great deal of time and energy, David finally convinced the port authority and was granted permission to do the swim. David conquered the channel and completed it considerably faster that the three exhibitionists. As per the strict rules of marathon swimming, David finished on the mainland while the trio landed on an off shore rock. After much effort, the local press and general community finally came around and recognized David as the first and only legitimate swimmer to swim the Madeira channel.

It should not be so difficult folks, but unfortunately in marathon swimming, a few decide to make up, amend and follow their own rules and still call it a marathon or endurance swim. I wonder how these same people would feel if someone wanted to ride in the Tour de France with a motorcycle instead of a bicycle or desired to run in the Boston Marathon using a skateboard instead of running shoes? These examples may sound ridiculous to you, but this is equivalent to someone ignoring or changing the rules of marathon swimming. As Evan said, "It becomes a different sport" which is what the naysayers seem to have a hard time grasping.

Please understand that even though my preference is for people to closely follow the rules of marathon swimming, I would never say that a person cannot wear a wetsuit to navigate a body of water nor make their own rules for their endeavor. It is a free world...do as you please. My single, simple request is please do not label it a "marathon or endurance swim" because it falls into a completely different category which the word "swim" has no part of. Honor and respect the sport of marathon swimming by doing it the right way or call your endeavor something else. Please just leave the name "marathon or endurance swimming' out of it.
Since people will continue to do things their own way, we must all speak up...we must be loud and our voices must be heard. We cannot let up until our sport is purified and distanced from the sports which cause confusion. Please write our magazine editors, post on blogs, send emails, form policing committees. Do not let the accomplishments of true marathon swimmers be diminished by the "water stunts" of others. Stand up and be heard! Remember, we are marathon swimmers....we are use to a long fight!

Perhaps we can globally agree to adopt the name “Water Adventure” and “Water exhibition” and classify all non complying events into this category. This way, people still can still receive some credit for their endeavors, yet it stops them from raining on the parade of true marathon swimming accomplishments.

Thank you for allowing me to bend your ear one last time. Now, please go spread the word.

What’s wrong with Marathon Swimming?

2011-09-07T12:12:00.000-07:00

NOTE: The views expressed in the letter below are those of the author.

I have reprinted them here to begin discussion about the issues facing

those of us in the marathon swimming community.

What’s wrong with Marathon Swimming?
by Scott Zornig, SBCSA president

As the President of the SBCSA, it is time to write about some things which have
been gnawing away at me regarding marathon swimming. Please note that these are
just my personal beliefs and do not necessarily reflect those of our board
members. I do, however, believe that my thoughts overwhelmingly reflect the
beliefs of most marathon swimmers. I am prepared to have my inbox ready for a
few emails to the contrary.

Let me begin by saying it is wonderful to see the increased popularity that our
sport has enjoyed during the last decade. I know of no other sport which has
grown the way marathon swimming has. I did my first marathon swim in 1999
(Catalina) when only 3 of us made the crossing that year. Ten years later there
are approximately 25 successful swimmers completing the Catalina channel each
year. I swam from Anacapa Island in 2001 and was only the 4th person to
complete the swim during a 23 year period. During 2011, the SBCSA has already
had 4 successful Anacapa swims with at least 3 more scheduled for this season.
The net of it is that our sport has exploded, but with growth come issues.

The use of Wetsuits in Marathon Swimming – I will admit that I am guilty of
wearing a wetsuit in an open water swim. I probably have done a hundred
organized open water swims and even a few triathlons over the years, but there
were 4 or 5 times in my uneventful master’s career, where I went against my
beliefs and wore a wetsuit. I did it, because the race directors allowed it and
because most of the athletes in these particular events utilized them due to
cold water or for speed purposes.  I have never worn a wetsuit in a marathon
swim (anything over 10 miles) and never will.

Additionally, the organization which I am President of (SBCSA), allows the use
of wetsuits. This is primarily due to legacy issues that the new board
inherited. Our board did unanimously vote to adopt a policy which strongly
discourages the use of wetsuits and renders people ineligible for any records
or firsts.  These "Wetsuit assisted" or "performance enhanced" events are
labeled as such and are listed on our website separately from successful
channel swims. This provision was adopted primarily for the disabled and very
special circumstances. Of course, in order for a swim to be approved by the
board, a swimmer has to show they are prepared and have experience. A person
who requires a wetsuit does not give the board a great deal of confidence in
their preparedness.  I am happy to report that The SBCSA has not had one person
attempt a swim with a wetsuit since establishing this policy.

So I guess some might say that “not only does Scott have skeletons, but they
are doing summersaults in his living room” or they might call me a
“hypocrite”.  I would of course disagree and tell you that with the rare
exception (i.e., disabled swimmers), wetsuits do not belong in the sport of
marathon or endurance swimming. They should be limited to triathlons and
special circumstances.

Merriam-Webster defines swimming “to propel oneself in water by natural
means”. Encarta defines swimming “to move or propel yourself unsupported
through water using natural means of propulsion”  and Wikipedia defines
marathon swimming as “a class of open water swimming. Unlike the use of the
term for foot-races where the distance is well-defined, the distance of a
marathon swim varies from event to event. Tides, surface currents and wind-chop
are major determinants of finish-times. For a given course, these factors can
vary dramatically from day to day, making meaningless any attempt to draw
conclusions about athletic ability by comparing finish times from performances
undertaken on different days.”  In other words, these definitions clearly show
that swimming or marathon swimming, which is our concern, is man and woman
against whatever elements God or Mother Nature has decided to challenge you
with on a given day. It is not about putting on a five millimeter wetsuit so a
swimmer could stay warm or swim faster during their endeavor.

If you have not read the book “Winds, Wave and Sunburn” by Conrad Wennerberg,
may I suggest you do so. It provides a brief history of marathon swimming and
includes many fascinating stories of successful marathon swims. One thing you
won’t find in the book is a story of any swimmer using artificial aids.  I also
encourage you to read any of Lynn Cox’s books or Penny Lee Dean’s “Open Water
Swimming”, “Dover Solo” by Marcia Cleveland,  “Swim to Glory-The Story of
Marilyn Bell”, “The Great Swim” or “It’s Cold in the Channel”. I think you
would be hard pressed to find any book written about marathon or endurance
swimming which talks about using artificial aids. Is it because our forefathers
and mothers were just tougher than we are or was their goal to establish a
sport that was pure?

It seems that our sport was able to stay untainted for the longest time. I
could be wrong, but I don’t think it was until the 70’s when a few people
started using wetsuits. It may have even begun with the “Cuba to Florida” and
“Bimini to Florida” channel crossings.

Let me ask you this… other than the deceit part, how is wearing a wetsuit
different from the professional cyclists or baseball players who took steroids?
Don’t they both enhance performance? Wetsuits provide warmth, buoyancy,
protection from the sun, protection from jelly fish stings, protection from
pollution and confidence. I once had a person tell me that “when I have my
wetsuit on, I feel like I am swimming with a bullet proof vest.” Confidence is
huge in marathon swimming. Many times it is the mind which ends a swim as it
can break down long before the body does.

Let’s use Lake Tahoe as an example. If I am not mistaken, the generally used
marathon course is 21.3 statute miles (Camp Richardson to Incline’s Hyatt
Beach).  Unlike ocean or brackish water, a Tahoe swimmer cannot derive any
buoyancy swimming in the lake. The water temperatures in the summer can range
from the high 50’s to the mid 60’s at the absolute highest. The winds and
altitude can also be a contributing factor in a success of a swim. I think we
all agree that Lake Tahoe provides all the elements, with the exception of
scary marine life, for a very challenging marathon swim.  If you take two
people and put one in a wetsuit while the other has nothing more than a
swimsuit, goggles and cap, there is a huge advantage provided to the person
with the wetsuit. The assisted swimmer would be warm and toasty while floating
on top of the water with the added buoyancy provide by the wetsuit. Not to
mention the huge mental edge the wetsuit assisted person gains.  I would go as
far as saying that a person who made it across Tahoe with a wetsuit would have
an extremely difficult time making the same swim without the wetsuit. If they
were to somehow make it without the wetsuit, there would be at least an hour
difference in the finishing time if not more.  The bottom line is that wetsuits
enhance performance and increase the chance of success.

Here is the good news…..any person can learn to swim without a wetsuit. It just
takes time and practice. I have known plenty of people who used to get
hypothermic during a 1 or 2 mile swim, and then go on to swim 20, 30 and even
50 miles in the ocean without a wetsuit. For many years, I swam on weekends
with fellow SBCSA board member Lynn Kubasek who is 5’5” and maybe 130lbs. We
might do a 30 minute training swim and she would shiver uncontrollably
afterwards. Three years ago, she decided to get into marathon swimming.  She
added 10lbs to her frame and spent countless hours training in the ocean year
round. In 2009, she made it across the Catalina channel on her first attempt
spending almost 16 hours in 63 degree water. Then, only a few months ago, she
was part of a relay team that battled 48 degree water successfully swimming to
the Farallon islands.  So you see, it can be done! Don’t take the easy way out.

I will end with this: You would not enter a triathlon with a motorized
bicycle….You would not play baseball with a corked bat ….You would not play
golf with a loaded ball…You would not run in a marathon with roller skates.
Therefore, please don’t use a wetsuit in marathon swimming. It provides an
unfair advantage and goes against the spirit of our sport.

Bootlegging swims – The Bootlegging of swims is becoming a problem.  I define
“Bootlegging” as “Swimming or attempting to swim across a body of water without
utilizing the governing organization, where there is a prevailing body, to
sanction and ratify the swim.” Some marathon swimmers decide against paying the
governing organization and simply do the swim on their own. Race directors in
the sport of running and open water swimming have encountered this problem for
years. It is now becoming more commonplace in marathon swimming and in my
opinion, is not good for our sport.

Please understand that the ocean belongs to everyone and an organization cannot
tell you where you can or can’t swim. The purpose of the governing
organizations is to monitor the swims, preserve the history and ensure that the
swimmer has a safe experience. In order to do this, each organization needs to
collect fees and solicit volunteer help. Please note that the majority of these
organizations have a nonprofit status. In other words, the sanctioning
organizations are not doing it for the money, as there is little to none left
after paying insurance, observer costs and operating fees.  If every swimmer
were to do swims on their own, there would be no need for the sanctioning
bodies and then all the good they provide is gone as well.

First and foremost, bootlegging a swim is probably unsafe. If you freelance a
swim, you are out in open seas without a trained observer and boat captain who
is experience in escorting swimmers across channels.  Your escort boat should
be U.S. Coast Guard certified which is extremely important when crossing
shipping lanes and dealing with emergency situations etc.  A bootlegger may not
have an adequate support crew or someone in charge to make decisions regarding
safety. A governing organization can make the decisions necessary to ensure the
marathon swimmer has a safe experience.

Secondly, the swimmer is probably doing the marathon swim without the necessary
insurance provided by the governing organization. If something were to happen
during a bootlegged swim, the boat captain, crew, kayaker and support team
could all share some legal responsibility should the swimmer or family members
be litigious.

Thirdly, governing organizations such as the SBCSA, CCSF and CSA have worked
very hard to provide resources for interested marathon swimmers to peruse.
These organizations offer a library of advice on nutrition, conditions, courses
and historic data. I am willing to go out on a limb and say that anyone who has
ever bootlegged a swim has likely visited the governing organization’s website
to help them plan. It does not seem right that a person can utilize the
organization to prepare for a swim and then go out and do it on their own. I
attended a banquet a few years ago and was surprised to see someone present who
had bootlegged that organization’s swim earlier in the year. The presenters did
not recognize or announce the person as having been successful so I do not know
the person’s motivation for being there. It just seemed really odd and out of
place to me.

Fourthly, what happens if the person who bootlegs a swim sets a time record or
claims they set a time record? What if they involve the media? This puts the
governing organization in a very awkward position. What about the person who
correctly does a given swim and becomes the 5th person to conquer the body of
water according to the governing organization, but then finds out 2 people may
have bootlegged the swim? Does this mean he or she was the 5th or 7th person to
finish the course?

Finally, if a bootlegger were to have a serious or catastrophic situation, the
governing organization would not be legally responsible, but their reputation
would take a hit due to all the misinformation disseminated in our very small
community of marathon swimmers.

The only legitimate reason a person might provide for not sanctioning a
marathon swim through the appropriate organization is that the fees are high
and the economy is bad. I completely understand that times are tough and these
swims can be expensive when you include boat, gas, registration, membership,
crew, food, hotel and travel fees. Please understand however, that you still
incur some of these fees even when a swim is bootlegged. If money is truly a
problem, I would encourage you to talk to the governing organization and see if
there is anything they can do. Perhaps they have a slush fund they could donate
for a special situation or maybe they can access an observer who would comp
their time. You might also find a Coast Guard certified boat which would be
willing to contribute to your swim. On two occasions, I had a boat, crew and
fuel donated to swims because I simply went out and asked.  You will feel
better knowing you are doing the swim properly and safely while supporting the
organization who worked so hard to market the swim. My guess is your chance for
success will be better as you will have the organization’s full support and
resources.

If you still do not feel like paying the fees and supporting the respective
organization, I would kindly suggest finding another island to swim from.
There are approximately 180,500 islands and 307 million lakes in the world and
marathon swimmers have not made swims from even 1% of them. Why is it necessary
to bootleg a swim from Catalina for example, when you can drive 60-75 miles
south down the freeway and do a swim from one of four Coronado islands? You
could also go up to Northern California and swim across Monterey Bay or swim
the length of Lake Tahoe. There are no governing bodies for these waters (yet)
so you can quietly go about your business and be a true trailblazer.

I will finish with this….the governing organizations for the most part, are not
financially strong and many are just barely getting by. We all need a certain
number of swims to take place each year if we are to survive. As a marathon
ocean swimmer, you should consider how you can help strengthen organizations
like the CCSF, SBCSA and CSA, rather than dilute or diminish them by not
getting the appropriate sanctions.

The misuse of Media – I think the media is wonderful for our sport and I am so
happy to see the press that many marathon swimmers receive. I believe this is
one of the reasons why our sport has become so popular over the last decade.
Most of the press is well deserved, but I take issue with people who use the
media to promote a swim that they have done (or will be doing), but do not
follow the widely accepted rules of marathon swimming. I am talking about
people who wear wetsuits/fins or rest on boats/kayaks/land in the middle of a
swim or are physically assisted by another.  These same people then go to the
media and claim an accomplishment, a first or a record when they really did not
have one. As far as I am concerned, the swim did not occur if the person did
not follow the rules. They should not use the media to claim anything. Once the
media gets a hold of an erroneous story, the misinformation is on the Internet
or in print forever, which takes away from the previous and future swimmers who
legitimately complete the same swim.

Recently, there was a person who claimed to be the first person to do a double
across a large lake in the United States. Somehow the press picked up on it and
a few articles were written. However, what the articles did not tell you was
that this person wore a wetsuit and was helped out of the water at the end of
the swim.  Instead, the press used terms like “world record attempt”, “record
setting”, “historic” and “first”.  Guess what….this swim did not take place.
Perhaps an “event”, ”exhibition” or a “stunt” occurred, but a marathon or
endurance swim did not. Unfortunately, now it is ruined for the first person
that does come along and completes the double across this lake.

I just read an article about another person who purported to be the first
person from his state to swim a long distance across another lake. This person
claimed to be the first from his college to do this and even assigned an
overall placement to the accomplishment. This would be fine except for what you
don’t read which is, the person wore a wetsuit for the entire event.

There are also plenty examples of people who swam incredible distances down
rivers, but then you dig deeper to find out that they actually exited the water
several times (not to mention that they also wore artificial aids during their
exhibition). You will never convince me otherwise, but the distance of the swim
is finished once you put a foot on dry land. The people that claim to have been
the first to swim down the Amazon, Danube, Mississippi and Yangzte rivers were
really “the first people to swim down these rivers in stages” (provided they
were swimming sans wetsuit of course) In other words, that 500 mile river swim
was really ten, 50 mile swims for example. Unfortunately, the press is sold the
story completely unaware of the rules of our sport so the person gets credit
for completing a swim down an entire river. This is wrong, wrong, wrong!

So this is where you can help. As marathon swimmers, we need to coach the
people coming into our sport. One of the things I love about marathon/endurance
swimming is that it seems everyone has had a person who has mentored them. My
mentor was Mike Suttle who swam Catalina in 1986. In turn, I have mentored
people who have desired to become marathon swimmers and some of them have now
mentored swimmers. We have an obligation to let the "rookies” know what is cool
and what isn’t. We need to make sure that they understand the rules of the
sport and abide by them.

We also need to speak up. If someone informs you they are going to do a swim
with a wetsuit or you hear about a person who intends to bootleg a swim, please
encourage them not to. If you understand someone is setting their own rules for
a swim, please talk to them. If you see an article on a swim and something is
amiss, call the publisher and ask for an investigation. If you become aware of
someone who has cheated during a swim, notify the governing organization. If
you see an article in a newspaper or magazine which is half true, cry foul and
ask the publisher for a retraction or a correction. This is our sport and we
all need to band together to protect the sanctity of it. Remember the words of
William Safire who said “The right to do something does not mean that doing it
is right”.

At the end of 2010, a swimming publication had nominations for the “2010 World
Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year”. Somehow there was a person
nominated who had worn a wetsuit during their event. I guess it would have been
ok if the word “swimming” was left out and it was called the “2010 World Open
Water Event of the year”.  Remember, we have already established that using a
wetsuit is not swimming by the true definition…it is much closer to paddle
boarding. The point is that marathon swimmers should have spoken up and via
blogs letters.  Remember, the words of Napoleon who said “Ten people who speak
make more noise than ten thousand who are silent”.

I rest my case. Now, go ahead and fill up my inbox if you desire. Start a
conversation on our Facebook page. On the other hand, if you agree, then
please help me spread the word. Together, we can purify, redefine and
reestablish our sport the way it was meant to be played.

Scott Zornig

President

Santa Barbara Channel Swim Association

Why marathon swimming is so unique and rewarding

2011-09-03T12:08:00.000-07:00

Open Water Swimming enthusiast and coach Steven Munatones has written a book entitled OPEN WATER SWIMMING

Below is an excerpt from the book on marathon swimming. I've had my own feelings on trying to describe what it feels like to be involved in this unique sport, but I never quite came up with the words. Steven has succinctly described the joy, pain and exhilaration that drives those of us who strive to get from one point of land to another.

Preparing for Marathon Swims

With over 70 percent of the world covered in water, and stunningly gorgeous lakes, seashores, channels, rivers, and islands dotting the earth, it is not surprising that people eventually took to marathon swimming. The catalyst of marathon swimming was when Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to successfully swim nonstop from England to France in 1875. His exploit dramatically enabled endurance athletes to think the impossible was within their reach.

At its most fundamental level, marathon swimming is a daring personal challenge in which swimmers pit themselves against the elements and experience a wide range of emotions that fluctuates between despair and relief. Marathon swimmers vividly remember their final stroke in the water after swimming for hours and hours on end. Their first step back on terra firma after struggling in relentlessly difficult conditions is the point when exhaustion turns to exhilaration. This love–hate relationship with the open water—strange as it may sound—creates the allure that draws endurance athletes to the waterways of the world.

The Marathon Swimmer

Marathon swimmers tend to be doggedly persistent people who are also successful in other aspects of their lives. They ply their trade far away from the media attention in arenas where there are usually no fans. They often achieve their greatest success on a barren shoreline where only their support crew can witness their victory. But their sense of accomplishment runs deep; their inner satisfaction is empowering and uplifting – and will remain with them throughout their lives.

Among the world’s marathon swims, the most iconic and well-known waterway is the English Channel. Thousands of people have attempted the 21-mile (33.8K) swim since the first documented attempt in 1872. Yet the number of successful English Channel swimmers remains fewer than half of the number of people who have climbed Mount Everest since it was first scaled in 1953.

Of the 1,189 people who have crossed the English Channel through 2010, 33 percent have been women and 67 percent have been men, although the relative percentage of women who cross the English Channel has increased over time (41 percent during the 1990s).

The average one-way time is 13 hours and 31 minutes, and times range from the world record of 6 hours and 57 minutes to a patiently plodding 26 hours and 50 minutes.

The English Channel swimmers are a global mix, hailing from 63 countries. The average age of the successful channel swimmer is 31, but their ages range from 11 to 70 years, including 50 people who crossed it after their 50th birthday and are members of the Half Century Club. With a growing number of members in the Half Century Club around the world (25 in the Catalina Channel, 32 in the Strait of Gibraltar, 175 in the Rottnest Channel, and 51 in the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim), age seems to be no impediment nowadays in the marathon swimming world.

Marathon swimming requires discipline of the highest order, demanding long hours spent training often alone and under harsh conditions. But it is also a sport where the concept of team is paramount due to the essential roles played by the escort pilot, coach and support crew and where camaraderie and collegiality exist in abundance.

Marathon swimmers experience nature in the most tactile way possible: enveloped in water, surrounded by marine life, and interacting with a dynamically changing environment in nothing but swimwear and goggles. It is no wonder that marathon swimmers across borders and cultures often form profound friendships; they share experiences that are often difficult to endure and difficult to explain.

Marathon swimmers experience nervousness before a swim and a sense of accomplishment afterward. They know the sting of a jellyfish and of cold water. They understand problems with leaking goggles, removing lanolin, and breathing boat exhaust. They appreciate the feeling of swimming powerfully in calm, clear water in daylight hours and of being uncomfortably disoriented in rough water at night.

The collegial atmosphere in the marathon swimming world is a function of these shared experiences. As the athletes come out of the water exhausted beyond comprehension, punished into submission by the elements, some barely able to stand and some nearly unable to talk, they share smiles, looks, nods, winks, hugs, and handshakes that speak volumes about their mutual respect for each other and their escort boat crews.

Lynn Kubasek Completes Anacapa Island Swim!

2011-08-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

I'm pleased to announce that my wonderful friend Lynn Kubasek completed her Anacapa Island swim to the Mainland near Oxnard, CA in 7hrs 8min on August 21st, 2011. Supported by her mother, Gail, kayaker, Julie, pace swimmer, Rob, and Roni her feed mixer, Lynn made short work of the 12.4 mile swim in calm but occasional swells in the ocean.

As always, Lynn's disposition never drifted from her constant optimistic outlook as she kept a steady stroke throughout her entire journey.

Below is a video that Lynn compiled about her swim. I encourage you to check it out and join me in wishing her a hearty congratulations on a job well done!

Cheers Lynn!

2011 Newport Beach Pier to Pier Swim

2011-08-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

Faster?

2011-08-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

Over the last several weeks I have begun to notice something about my swimming. No I haven't swum for a 6hr stretch all at once. Nor have I been molested by a harbor seal, though a couple of days ago I could have sworn...ah anyway...

Lately i have found out that my time in the mile has dropped significantly. When I first began to time myself a few years ago my time was 45 minutes. Lately I have been clock amazingly fast as 36 minutes!!!

Woo hoo!

I'm flying now!

Well not really, I know I need to get better and keep a consisted pace in order to cover the 16 miles that is The Cook Strait. I also need to keep this in perspective that these times are in a more controlled environment. Grappling with currents, swells, choppy water, aquatic life, feeds and a host of other things will put all this to the test. But its nice to know that I'm getting somewhat faster. I still have other swimmers blow by me, but man it feels good to know that things have come such a long way for me.

Until my next adventure!

Ranie Pierce is Swimming The English Channel Today!

2011-08-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

My friend Ranie Pierce is swimming The English Channel today! You can track er progress here

Ranie during one of her feeds in The Channel.

Last year Ranie swam The Strait of Gibraltar Please send along good thoughts and wishes to her as I know that she can do it with all of us rooting her on!. Go Ranie go! Woo hoo!!!!!!!

New Training Swim

2011-08-03T14:51:00.000-07:00

I am luck to have off of work until August 11th. We have an annual Summer break from the soup kitchen so I am loading up on swims before having to go back. Yesterday was the first of several that I will write about here. I contacted a good friend of mine who has an inflatable kayak that we brought down to a place called Candlestick Point. For the uninitiated this is a strip of beach in the shadows of Candlestick Park - former home to The San Francisco Giants and current home to the five time Super Bowl winning 49'ers. Yeah baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, we decided to try a swim where would go into the current the whole time. In addition I would try out a new feed and see if it agreed with me. I've swum against the current many times but only a few that were outside Aquatic Park (heretofore AP). The swim, though not cold nor choppy, held its on sett of challenges. For one, I had nothing to defuse the current coming straight at me. In AP, I have ships, breakwaters, and piers, but in the big expanse...zilch. secondly, its hard to focus when your actually not going anywhere. Its as if I was in a giant endless pool. I kept thinking; "Isn't that the same piling I've been looking at for the last 45 minutes, why aren't I moving/"

As I neared the end of the 90 minute session, my friend and I went back to shore, put away everything and headed off for some well needed and well-deserved breakfast. as we sat munching on pancakes and eggs, I asked him why he chose this spot.

"I wanted to see how we worked together in training. If you responded to my signs on where to go and whatnot. Besides the currents were strong today and if we set off for some far off place, we might have a difficult time getting back in just a kayak rather than a Zodiac."

Good points.

Yesterday was the first of many swims that we have planned leading up to March 2013. My friend is cryptic about letting me know what swims lie ahead but I kind'a like that idea, keeps me guessing

Stay tuned....

WHITEWASH

2011-07-31T16:50:00.000-07:00

Coming October 2011. Don't Miss It!!!!

The Ladder

2011-07-25T16:29:00.000-07:00

Me under the Golden Gate Bridge before swimming across.

Someone once said; "Ask five different marathon swimmers whats the best way to train and y0ou'll get seven different opinions."

Whoever said it might have been exaggerating - or not - but nonetheless many swimmers have their opinions about feeds, stroke technique, pilots, coaches, swimsuits, The 49ers...oh sorry got carried away with that last one.

For me being fairly new to the world of swimming and open water swimming in particular I have heard some great advice and some that makes me scratch my head and go; 'hmmmm.' But one thing that I have found that seems to work - that I am claiming as my own - is my own version of time in the water.

Now of course everyone agrees that your time in the water (i.e. being able to avoid moderate or extreme hypothermia) is of vital importance. After a certain time no matter what your body fat level is, we all begin to lose heat while swimming.

I have friends that go for five, six, and seven hour swims one after the other to push themselves onwards. I think this is great and amazing for them and how they train. But I've come across a different way that sseems to be working for me.

For the past month or so I have been training - what I call a "ladder system.' Basically it goes like this. On Monday I start off with a certain time that I plan on being in the water, when I exit the water and stop my stopwatch I note the time in. On Tuesday, before I recalibrate the stopwatch, I tell myself; "No fewer than 10 minutes from yesterday and you can go as high as you wish on time. But remember you cannot go lower than the time on Tuesday for the following day." By the time I get to Sunday, I am usually an hour or more beyond what I started with Monday. Come the following Monday I start all over again, only by the end of that following week, I have to go beyond what I did the previous Sunday (e.g. if i swam 2hrs the previous Sunday, I have to swim 2rhs 10mins the following Sunday.)

I've been amazed at how far my body has grown accustomed to the longer time in the water by just increasing time for 10mins or so each day at least. This isn't for everyone I know, but so far its yielded great results for me.

And I know what your thinking; "what about the winter smart guy?" Well there is another program I have set up for then and I'm looking forward to it. The reason why I'm so surprised at my progress has nothing to do with my swimming ability (I'm strong but slow), its about my body type (I'm skinny 180lbs), and I've been able to swim for more than 3hrs in 60F/15.6C and have no ill affects afterward, no shivers, no teeth chattering, no disorientation.

It may not be as scientific as other more accomplished swimmers might be into but it seems to work for me. I know I'm going to be in the water 10-12hrs when I make my attempt and I live by the old adage of "Plan for the worst and hope for the best."

And believe me I am planning I'm taking nothing for granted to prepare for this swim.

"Mad" Brad and the 8hr Swim lesson!

2011-07-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

I've done a lot of piloting in my nearly four years of open water swimming, most of it great a few times...not so much. But yesterday (7/16), I took on something that I had never done before. A buddy of mine from The South End named Bill Bradley (heretofore known as "Mad" Brad) did a 6hr qualifying swim for his English Channel attempt that he departs for on August 11th. But being "Mad" Brad, he decided to bump it up to 10hrs!!!

"Mad" Brad just before the swim.

To top it off I volunteered to kayak!!! So at am I shoved off and over the course of the entire swim I kayaked for not one, not two, not four but six-and-a-half hours!!!it was a true test of my own endurance but in all honesty I found it exciting and encouraging to watch Brad keep his stroke count up (60), his total number of strokes (28,800), his time in the water (he was able to do 8hrs in 55F/12.7C water), and overall his great attitude throughout.

As I watched Brad continue on in swells, chop, swimming against the current I could see the determination, dedication and heart that it takes to be called a marathon swimmer. I realized that to achieve what i want to achieve in making The Cook Strait that I have to have that same attitude and drive. That I have to want it more than anything. When folks tell me I can't do it (and they have), i have to believe I can.

This sort of extreme endurance sport is not for everyone but i know it is for me. Brad and I are about the same speed, no speed demons to be sure. But what Brad taught me yesterday you can't learn in a book, from a coach, or through encouragement. As the song from the musical "DAMN YANKEES" goes; 'You gotta have heart!'

Thanks Brad that was the best lesson that I could have ever learned in the period of 8hrs!

New Fuel

2011-07-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

Well after three years of using GU products for my feeds, I am moving on to a new product. A very kind and awesome swimmer I know, Michelle Macy, who swam The Cook Strait a year ago suggested Perpettuem

For most of the swims I have done I only needed to replace the electrolytes in my body. The GU would give me a quick burst of energy until the next feeding, but over time my carbs would be depleted with nothing to replace them. Since I'm fairly new to marathon swimming, I sought the counsel of those wiser than myself (i.e. everyone 'cause I'm not too bright), and Michelle brought up Perpetuem.

According to Michelle, this product can be a great benefit for swims over three hours, replacing carbs that I am going to need for fuel as my swims get longer in preparation for March 2013.

So on Friday, I plan on doing a two hour swim and using it to see how my body will respond. There is no set product that works well with all swimmers.

So keep posted to see what my progress will be.

Nobody gets in the water the first time and understands technique. Fish do that.

2011-07-10T07:58:00.000-07:00

by
Louis Tharp

Louis Tharp

Swimming is not intuitive. It rewards its practitioner with bursts of speed and infusions of satisfaction when it is studied carefully and its components are respected.

No sport is intuitive. Some people have natural talents which contribute to proficiency, like hand-eye coordination does for baseball or tennis, and this natural talent squirts enthusiasm into the learning and enjoying process.

If swimming asks for a natural talent in order to produce excellence, it is the talent to bring order to chaos through relaxation.

Nobody gets in the water, at any age, and understands technique. Fish do that.
The best swimmers get in the water with a kinship to it the way a certain grade school student opens a chemistry set on Christmas - there is excitement, respect and awareness that a unique experience will be forthcoming, despite little knowledge of the discipline.

We have thoughts or places we go that are in sync with our intrinsic selves. These places and thoughts produce intellectual, emotional and physical pleasure that converts into energy. When water and self are in sync we go to one of these places, and a great swimmer results, regardless of speed.
When water and self are in sync they broaden the definition of a great swimmer which has been too narrowly confined to those who are the fastest.

Restricting the definition of great swimmers to the fastest is like confining the definition of a great chef to someone who masters the art of barbeque.

Great swimmers, like great chefs, are the subset of people who allow themselves to be open to the possibility of achieving intermittent excellence while enjoying the trip there and back.
A great swimmer is a person who allows the lane lines, the pace clock, the water bottle, the tiles to be the catalyst in the process that produces the opportunity to create positive energy that fuels the swim as well as life. Great swimmers enjoy swimming's energy. Whether they are in the water or not, this energy keeps them in the moment of aquatic kinship.

Kinship is when chaos becomes order. When stress becomes relaxation. When speed and efficiency is accepted, not chased. When confidence allows curiosity. When physical exertion follows emotional commitment as well as logical mental process. When the elegance of learning meets the satisfaction of accomplishment. This is kinship and it is the center of contentment.
Kinship is the only way to free the mind and body from restrictions that create plateaus - that state swimmers define as the place where we can't get any faster.

Kinship keeps us from negotiating against ourselves and instead allows us to integrate ideas that float by into steps we climb to recreate ourselves into the swimmers we aren't yet but know we can be.
Getting in the water to become a better swimmer means not letting the water we knew yesterday get in the way of the water we can know today. We may look at swimming as an old friend in a comfortable environment, but swimming is not a dog. It doesn't love unconditionally. It quietly and continuously asks for change from those who feel a kinship with it, and returns frustration and boredom to those who don't.
As coaches we offer tactics - high elbows, aligned heads, two-beat kicks - but we want fusion without understanding how the fusion of kinship and tactics works. We don't even understand why someone has a 15 stroke count on Monday and a 19 count on Wednesday.

If we let this selfish need to understand the pathway between tactics and proficiency - the fusion necessary to produce a great swimmer - we'll hector our swimmers onto the couch where they will explore the special relationship between food and HDTV, bending that high elbow as their hand brings potato chips to their open mouth and crumbs fall on the TI T-shirt we gave them when they signed up.
All we can do is nurture the kinship and wait while muscles and nervous system run a million possibilities and finally align with their environment to produce a moment of excellence and a memory of accomplishment that will be used to build more moments and more memories that will become the speed they don't chase and the efficiency they don't dissect.

It's all we can do. That and wait for the smile that says it is worth it, and the energy that says continue.

Slam The Dam

2011-07-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

On October 1, 2011 in Las Vegas, NV at Lake Mead the annual Slam The Dam Open ater swim will commence..

I've thought about entering this swim not for the racing aspect but merely to test my skills in a lake setting. From what I understand there are various prizes given out. One of the top prizes is Ladies Discounted Gloves from K-Mart, some only missing one finger!!!

Check out the cool video and sing up. I'll see you in the water!

Slam the Dam 8km Open Water Swim Race from Mike Weintz on Vimeo.

2011-07-05T19:58:00.000-07:00

Here is a great article about a friend of mine Dave Barra that was published in The New York Times. Dave has offered me tons of advice on training for The Cook Strait and is a great ambassador for open water swimming. I hope you find the article interesting and inspiring.

SEVEN DAYS AND 120 MILES TO GO

by Suzanne Sataline

The journey of 120 miles begins with a single stroke, but the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu never swam in the mighty Hudson.

David Barra peered over the edge of a pontoon boat drifting north in the steady current flowing past the Rip Van Winkle Bridge here. His friend, Janet Harris, had jumped in to swim south. Her arms slid deep into the hazel murk. She stroked faster, but her body stayed in place, a 5-foot-10 minnow caught in the Hudson’s liquid net.

Dave Barra

It reminded Mr. Barra of when he was trapped in a similar aquatic treadmill for five hours when swimming from Catalina Island to mainland California. That was after his boat crew spied a shark. “All I was thinking at that point was, ‘Bourbon,’ ” he said.

Mr. Barra, 46, of High Falls, N.Y., has been testing the Hudson’s power for his newest adventure, what he’s calling the 8 Bridges Hudson River Swim. On Friday, he plans to head south from the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, finishing seven days and 120 miles later at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. He’ll be joined each day by other athletes as they paddle as many as 20 miles together, from one Hudson crossing to the next, before resting and restarting the next day. The swim is a fund-raiser for three nonprofit organizations.
During the last heyday of marathon swimming, the 1920s, newspapers offered prize money for channel crossings and swimmers wore costumes made of wool. Now, as open-water swimming enjoys a renaissance, amateur swimmers again are flooding the nation’s waterways. This year, 900 lake, river and sea swimming events will be held in the United States, up from 220 in 1999, said Steven Munatones, a California coach who is considered the top open-water-swimming expert. English Channel boat captains are taking bookings three years in advance for the best slots.

That wave of enthusiasm is rolling through New York City, where new or revived races are scheduled most summer weekends. In August, six competitors will try a 17-mile swim from the shores of Kips Bay in Manhattan to Coney Island in Brooklyn, a route that 17-year-old Rose Pitonof breast-stroked 100 years ago, to the cheers of 50,000 spectators, according to news coverage at the time. Deanne Draeger, the organizer of this year’s event, swam the course solo last year.

The Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, a 28.5-mile circumnavigation held each June, has sold out its spots in less than two hours the last few years, says Morty Berger, founder of NYC Swim, which organizes the event (and charges solo swimmers $1,775 each to race up one side of Manhattan’s isle and down the other). Thirty-four solo swimmers competed in this year’s race, held June 18. With demand high, NYC Swim created a second date in July mostly for relay teams.

Meanwhile, Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers — a nonprofit group also known as Cibbows, plans to offer a new 10-kilometer race in Brooklyn on Sept. 11. Money raised will help offset the costs of other races and future projects, including a beachside clubhouse where swimmers may shower and warm up, said Cristian Vergara, the executive director. Part of the 8 Bridges proceeds will go to the nonprofit.

What explains the revival of a sport last popular when couples danced the Charleston? Marathon swimming gained prestige when the International Olympic Committee included a 10K event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Many sports — including beach volleyball, tae kwon do and snowboarding — have seen a surge in amateur interest after gaining Olympic designation, said Mr. Munatones, who is helping organizers of the 10K swim at the 2012 London Games.

“There is a basic human need to challenge yourself in going from Point A to Point B,” he said. “Now there are events that challenge you. It’s basically putting chocolate cake in front of a hungry man.”
For Mr. Barra, the reason is more metaphysical. “The free spirits want to be outdoors, and have a relationship with a body of water,” he said. “You don’t have a relationship with a chlorine box.”
Another lure could be the sense that there is more clean water in which to swim. The nation’s Clean Water Act has rescued many harbors from toxic deaths. The Hudson is certainly healthier than during the 1960s and supports a wealth of fish and other animals. Mr. Barra and his 8 Bridges crew will pass cormorants, ospreys and bald eagles that perch in trees along the water. They’ll swim over blue crab, striped bass, river herring and huge sturgeon lurking deep below. “It’s every bit as much a wilderness as the Serengeti,” said John Lipscomb, patrol boat captain for Riverkeeper, a nonprofit clean-water advocacy group in Ossining that will receive some of the money raised by the swim. Launch 5, an environmental and boating safety charity, also will benefit.

Mr. Lipscomb said the Hudson’s cleanliness varies significantly, depending on the day, location and rainfall. A water-sampling study that Riverkeeper conducted in May, a particularly rainy month, found that 80 percent of the test sites did not meet federal clean water swimming guidelines because they were tainted with untreated sewage. “There are many days when the water quality is acceptable, in general,” Mr. Lipscomb said. “But on many days, it’s not.”

He said the organization does not make recommendations about swimming safety.
State officials ensure water quality for swimming only at designated public bathing areas, said Lori Severino, spokeswoman for the State Department of Environmental Conservation. The department tests the water in lakes, rivers and streams, but not frequently enough to ensure bathing safety, Ms. Severino said.
Mr. Barra is unfazed. As a teenager growing up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, he was a lifeguard at Manhattan Beach and met his wife at Coney Island. They moved to the New Paltz area in 1988 after what Mr. Barra calls “the alternate side of the street parking meltdown,” when he was unable to find his car for five days. He co-owns a marble and granite fabrication business.

After swimming in shorter races for 10 years, Mr. Barra decided he was “Channel ready.” Last year he circled Manhattan, swam the 21 miles from Catalina to the mainland, churned 24 miles across Tampa Bay, accompanied humpbacked whales during a 10-mile jaunt near Maui and freestyled for 17.5 miles from Battery Park to Sandy Hook, N.J. In September, he battled raging currents for 3 of the 14 ½ hours it took him to cross the English Channel, akin to a 30-mile journey. For each swim he followed English Channel rules: a traditional polyester suit, one cap and goggles. No wetsuits allowed.

His wife, Clare Kelly-Barra, does not find her husband’s goals odd. “Its like he’s getting a Ph.D. in swimming,” said Ms. Kelly-Barra, a swimmer of shorter distances. “He’s doing his doctoral work.”

To make it through the 8 Bridges swim, Mr. Barra and his team must master the unusual Hudson currents. Because the river is a tidal estuary, with water flowing both upstream and down, he said, “you have great advantages when the tide is with you and severe disadvantages when the tide is against you.”

At times, swimmers may plod at a half-mile an hour — or speed along at an average of 3 miles per hour. “That just makes it more glorious,” he said.

With the swimmer Rondi Davies, a Manhattan geologist and a winner of several city races, Mr. Barra has calculated ebb tides and flood tides against the speed of each of the 16 swimmers taking part. Mr. Barra said he had been reading “mind-numbing papers on tides and currents and sediment concentrations.”
“My brain hurts when I think about it,” he added.

To get in shape for the swim, Mr. Barra has been training up to 50,000 yards — about 28 ½ miles — weekly, mostly in the river and a local pool, but also at Brighton Beach in Brooklyn. One weekday, he joined other swimmers there for a two-mile jaunt.

When he is immersed, his stroke is supple and efficient. Broad and muscular, he does not crawl so much as stretch over the waves.

“The environmental part is important, but quite frankly, I would want to do the swim if it was a toxic waste site,” he said driving home from the beach. He is excited about traveling from fresh water to salt water, from his adult home to his boyhood haunts. And he is taken with “the whole idea of spending a week swimming toward the ocean.”

RIP Joe Michael

2011-07-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

This morning I decided to go to the club and have a nice early morning sunrise swim. The weather has been wonderful thee last several days here in San Francisco, which is rare in the summer (no seriously). anyway, when i got into the locker room I ran into a man I know and he asked if I knew about my good friend Joe. Joe has been battling leukemia, which he was recently diagnosed with back in April. Well to make a long story short, after going through aggressive chemotherapy and radiation, Joe passed away June 2nd.

Joe was one of the first "old-timers" of the club to welcome me in. An old-timer is anyone who has been a member for 25 years or more. Joe had recently turned 80 and I recall him sitting in the day-room each morning reading the sports section. When I'd walk in he look up at me and say; "Hey what took you so long lets get out there and swim!" So, off we'd go to get our bathing suits on and head out, year round, in good weather and bad.

It was Joe, who had a great stroke who use to chide me on how I needed to improve. He always did it with humor and grace but still I felt off put. Then one day I was coming up the stairs from a long swim. I had noticed before I went in that Joe was not there waiting for me, but by the time I got out of the shower and sauna he was sitting down reading the sports section;

"Hey" he said.

"Yeah?"

"The Giants can't buy a hit to win a game."

"I know it sucks."

I was about to head out to go to work when he said,

"Listen I've been watching you swim lately."

"Ah huh" I replied warily.

"Your stroke is really coming along. Its looking good."

He looked on at me and smiled and then went back to reading the paper.

This conversation happened several months ago.and shortly after it, Joe became sick. I never got out to see him in the hospital or at his house. Not that I couldn't I just didn't want to see him like that. he had lost a lot of weight and he wasn't big to begin with. I just...I just wanted to remember him like then last time I saw him, sitting in his chair, bifocals on the bridge of his nose, reading the sports section pensively muttering to himself; "Dangit Sandoval get a hit for once in your life!!!"

So as I was swimming around the cove watching the sunrise, I thought of Joe and how much time we spent together out in the water, how he made me laugh, and how we teased each other. Joe was a class guy, a good husband and father and I'll miss him.

I've been going through a very difficult time in my life and losing a rock like Joe makes it even tougher. But I do remember him telling me something once that sticks with me even in the midst of all the pain; :"It only hurts for awhile - just like going into the cold water for the first time - then it goes away and your a better person for having gone through it.

Thanks Joe, I'll keep that in mind.

Bay to Breakers Swim

2011-06-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, June 5th, I had the opportunity to pilot a good friend of mine Greg Kling on an 18K swim from The San Francisco Bay Bridge to Ocean Beach. For those who are unfamiliar with this area Ocean Beach is overlooked by the famous Cliff House restaurant. All 16 swimmers and their pilots had a blast as we waded past the Golden Gate Bridge out into the Pacific Ocean. Swells reached 15 to 20ft at times but I manged to not get swamped and made sure Greg got safely to the beach. A lovely young woman named Janet manged to put together a great photo display below of the entire excursion. On September 28th of this year, I will be doing the same swim only in reverse, starting from Ocean Beach and swimming to The Bay Bridge.

Six Swimming Mermaids Make History!

2011-06-08T13:31:00.000-07:00

On June 4th, 2011, six amazing women swam from The Golden Gate Bridge to The Farrallone Islands. I have the privilege of knowing three of them; Cathy Delneo, Melissa King and Kim Chambers. I tip my hat to you ladies on a remarkable achievement and know that those that follow may swim faster, but will never be the first. You can check out the video of this incredible swim here.

All About The Jellies

2011-06-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

Box Jellyfish

A friend of mine sent me this article about jellyfish and thought I'd pass it along. Though I would love to avoid these little - and sometimes not so little - buggers, they do serve a distinct purpose in aquatic world. You can read the article here.

Diana Nyad Prepares to Swim From Cuba to Key West!

2011-05-26T16:40:00.000-07:00

61-year-old swimmer, Dianna Nyad, is preparing for her second attempt to swim from Cuba to Key West, Florida.

You can read about her in an interview conducted by The Washington Post's Sally Jenkins here.

I've said it once and I'll said it a thousand more times the greatest swimmers who dare to dream big and do what others won't are almost always women. My hats off to you Dianna and I do hope you succeed!

An Interview with Marathon Swimmer Charles Chapman Part 4 of 4

2011-05-19T15:55:00.001-07:00

In this fourth and final segment, Charles talks about that historic day back in 1981 when he stepped into the cool ocean waters of Dover Harbor and began his quest .to swim The Channel. With humor and grace, Charles recalls the events in vivid detail and about his dream to have young children of color learn to swim...

An Interview with Marathon Swimmer Charles Chapman Part 3 of 4

2011-05-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

In part three, Charles talks about the difficulty in raising the funds for his Channel attempt, his set back in an Atlantic City swim, and his training in Dover Harbor and meeting fellow African American marathon swimmer Mike Johnson.

An Interview with Marathon Swimmer Charles Chapman Part 2 of 4

2011-05-17T16:14:00.000-07:00

Continuing on in part two, Chapman talks about his quest to be on the US Olympic Team, meeting Mark Spitz, and the seed that was planted in his mind by a friend to swim The English Channel.

Enjoy!

An Interview with Marathon Swimmer Charles Chapman Part 1 of 4

2011-05-16T16:36:00.000-07:00

Charles "Tuna" Chapman became the first African American to swim The English Channel in 1981 in a time of 12hrs 30mins. In the first of this four part interview I spoke with Charles about how he first got started in swimming as a boy.

Enjoy!

Race in The Water

2011-05-09T09:03:00.000-07:00

Photo Courtesy of Jim Ellis

From Swimming World Magazine, by Jenny Wilson, Swimming World Intern:

A recent University of Memphis study commissioned by USA Swimming investigated swimming ability in minority youth. The study reported that nearly 70 percent of African-American children don’t know how to swim, compared to only 40 percent of white children. Similarly, the non-swimming rate for Hispanic children is close to 60 percent.
Despite efforts in the past few years to assuage this reality, high fatal drowning rates in minority children remains a serious problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fatal drowning is the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14 years.
How can the swimming community solve this problem?

In 2006, USA Swimming named John Cruzat as their first National Diversity Specialist. Cruzat tells Swimming World that he had been working at a local urban program when he received a call asking him to take on the role.
“They had been looking for an opportunity to expand the sport into non-traditional swimming communities and we started discussing how that was going to be possible,” he says. “Something I had always known because I’m African American was that swimming is not powerful in our community.”
Cruzat explains that he and his colleagues noticed “disproportionate drowning numbers” in cities. His findings revealed a startling fact: water safety resources don’t always translate directly into a water-safe community. A non-swimming culture often leads to an inherited fear of drowning in minorities residing in urban areas.
“The only way you can get people to change behavior is if you can convince them their current state is unacceptable,” says Cruzat.
Gail Ito, an assistant professor at Chicago State University, completed her dissertation on African-American water safety, mentions a girl she met at a USA Swimming Diversity Camp one summer who had to sneak out and not tell her mother that she was going to swim. That fear of the water contributes to the problem.
“Parents deny kids access to the water because they think it’s dangerous,” she says. “That actually makes it more dangerous.”
Arthur Lopez, an inner-city swim coach in the D.C. area, tries to create a water-safe community by insisting that a parent or guardian accompany a child to every practice he holds.
“A lot of children come in having been told the water is bad,” Lopez says. “We celebrate so much when they put their face under you would think they won an Oscar…we’ve broken generations of stigma and changed their life.”
Ito cites historical precedent as the reason that minority parents never learned to swim themselves and thus don’t insist on lessons for their kids.
“Because they weren’t allowed to learn how to swim they did not, and over time they became very afraid of the water,” Ito says.
She explains that when pools began to be used for recreational purposes they were not built in poorer African-American neighborhoods.
“Blacks were not allowed to swim in these pools,” she says. “If a black person touched the water, they would drain the pool and clean it out. It’s a long history of lack of access, and abuse when they attempted access.”
The racism persisted into the sixties. Ito mentions Jim Ellis, a legendary figure in the African-American swimming community who served as the subject for the biopic film, “Pride.”
“He wasn’t even allowed to swim races in the south,” she says.
Undeterred, Ellis formed the first African-American swim team in Philadelphia four decades ago.
“A lot of kids don’t know how to swim because their parents don’t,” says Ellis. “That creates an attitude of fear towards the water.”
PDR, which stands for “Pride, Determination, Resilience,”—exactly the traits that Ellis himself possesses—was the first team to reach out to minority communities.
“I grew my own program from scratch,” Ellis says.
He’s had a swimmer at every Olympic Trials since 1992 and in 1998, Michael Norment, a former PDR swimmer, became the first African-American to make the U.S. National team. But Ellis, who has always aimed high, hasn’t let success faze him.
“I’m not done yet,” he tells Swimming World. “I haven’t had a swimmer make the Olympics yet.”
Ellis’s main goal is to swim at the highest level possible—and that makes safety inevitable.
“I tried to create a culture of swimming,” he says. “Safety is automatic for someone who grows up in a competitive swimming program.”
It is Ellis’s competitive instinct that allows him continued success today.
He exemplifies the extent to which investing time and energy in urban youth can yield results, even forty years later. He recently upgraded from his longtime location, a city-owned pool to a state-of-the-art facility: the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Philadelphia.
“Kroc, the owners of McDonalds, partnered with the Salvation Army, the most efficient non-profit organization in the country,” he says. “I convinced them to put a competitive swimming pool here, and took over as head coach and aquatic director.”
His mission remains the same, but the setting in which he accomplishes it reflects his casting off the rags in favor of the riches.
Ellis found that giving national exposure to his program improved the team, built his swimmers’ confidence, gave them a sense of purpose, and assimilated them into the swimming community. He explains that when the team was formed, it was 100 percent African-American. In the 80s, more white members started trickling in but when the New York Times Magazine wrote an article about the program in the 90s, it diversified even more according to Ellis.
“We got faster too because a higher quality of swimmers started coming to the program,” says Ellis. “My team was about developing a sense of pride that high level swimming could be done in an inner-city urban area.”
The sport created unimaginable opportunities for some of his swimmers who lived in housing projects and became the first in their family to go to college.
“Their goals and aspirations changed as they realized that the faster they swam, the more it was to their advantage,” he says. “That enhanced their perspective on life and raised the bar on what they thought about—they didn’t look at themselves as second class citizens because of the color of their skin.”
College was never on Warren Lambert’s to-do list. He attended a vocational high school and had several job offers when he graduated. But after Coach Ellis told him the only way to continue swimming was to pursue higher education, Lambert decided it was worth it.
Lambert learned how to swim through a summer sports program at Drexel University and met Ellis in the early 70s, when as a young teenager he was swimming for a recreational team in Philadelphia.
“Coach Ellis brought his team over to our pool and they destroyed us,” Lambert recalls. “One swimmer said to me, ‘if you want to get better, you need to come see our team.’”
Lambert approached Coach Ellis that day and switched teams shortly after.
“I think swimming in the inner city kept me on the straight narrow path,” Lambert says. “I grew up in a pretty rough neighborhood in West Philly and had I not been involved in swimming I could have gone a number of different tracks in my life.”
Ellis understood the everyday challenges his swimmers often faced but continued to set high standards.
“I had to work hard at practice every day, but also in school. Coach Ellis would make us show him what our grades were,” said Lambert. “He made me realize that there was a big world outside my neighborhood, and as long as I worked hard I would have access to it.”
Lambert attended Penn State and swam his first year but quit after that to focus on academics. He maintains that what he learned in swimming still applied however, and he mentions that even now, three decades later, his days at work seem easy compared to the two-a-day practice schedule he endured throughout high school. In fact, he still attributes much of his success to Ellis.
“I’ve had so many friends who have taken different turns in their life, but because I was exposed to swimming early it has helped me to have a successful career and raise a family,” he says.
Lambert’s fairytale ending can’t be achieved without a significant shift in way of thinking, as recognized by anyone who studies the issue. In urban communities, the attitude to the water is flawed, Ellis thinks.
USA Swimming does make an effort to change this attitude. Nadar Por Vida (Swimming for Life), the non-profit team that Arthur Lopez founded, receives funding from USA Swimming’s “Make a Splash” Foundation, a national child-focused water safety initiative. The Foundation’s goal: teach every child in America how to swim and do so by establishing “local partners.” Ito coaches at one of Chicago’s local partner programs called Cougar Sports Academy—a team that teaches swimming to inner-city children with physical disabilities.
Cruzat helped form Make a Splash and says it arose because he and his partners “wanted to create a bridge into the swimming community for kids in urban centers.” Perhaps more than anyone, Lopez understands the significance of such a bridge. He was a club coach until four years ago when he experienced a startling realization after examining his group.
“I looked around and saw it was all white kids, which made me a little depressed,” he says. That realization inspired him to, “start inviting the minority kids,” in order to make a difference in his community. He founded Nadar Por Vida to serve minorities, specifically Hispanic children.
Pat Hogan, the Managing Director for USA Swimming Club Development, has described Nadar Por Vida as, “the best bridge program in the country,” Lopez tells Swimming World. By that he means that Lopez’s program doesn’t exist to take children to the national level as Ellis’s does. Rather—and Lopez acknowledges this as his goal—the team aims to bring children into the sport and feed them into more established nationally renowned club teams.
“I don’t want to be a Latino swim team,” Lopez says. “I’m really good at bringing kids into the sport and pointing them over to other teams.” After all, he says, “the bottom rungs are where we get our future athletes from.”
As a result of sponsorship from local club programs, every child on Lopez’s team becomes a member of USA Swimming, which makes them feel a part of the nationwide swimming community. That idea is crucial to Lopez who makes it a fundamental necessity that “when every swimmer walks in the door we give them a brand new suit” so they feel they have a place in the sport. He’s able to do so primarily through partnerships with sponsored local club teams.
But even when people are willing to invest time and energy, the process to a safer swimming culture can be frustrating as there are countless obstacles along the way. Though Cruzat believes that pool access is available and the main problem relates to attitude and outreach, this is not unanimously the case—especially in the city.
Ellis actually cites pool time as one of the biggest problems, saying that when he started in 1971 he had access to a pool but it was only built for recreational use.
“Inner city children need to have swimming pools that are operating properly and safely,” he says.
The Memphis Study reaffirmed this sentiment and listed “availability of a comfortable and safe pool in which to swim,” as a main reason for the high percentage of children with little or no swimming ability.
Lopez particularly understands this problem as he insists upon an entire pool to teach because at any given practice he will have 40 to 50 swimmers and that many parents as well.
“We now have the entire pool to ourselves for each practice,” he says.
He explains that the amount of money he had to raise to accomplish that indicates the importance of financial support through programs like Make a Splash.
“Swimming is basically an upper-middle class sport,” says Ellis. “I used to do grants and fundraisers in an effort to try and find a way to make it workable to stay without digging into people’s pockets.”
At his new facility, Ellis says he’s more adept at fundraising because he can reach out to large corporate entities and is in the process of putting together a scholarship program. But despite any financial opportunities that may arise for him, Ellis will never make his program entirely free because he wants children to truly value their swimming.
“They have to put some chip in the game as well,” he says.
Lopez believes that the answer to diversifying swimming lies in breaking the cycle of poverty. He charges $10 a session to families, but does not enforce that by any means.
“If they can’t pay that, we ask for what they can pay. If that’s nothing, that’s fine too. The income isn’t something we count on.”
Lopez says that for bridge programs like his to succeed coaches must understand that it’s not a revenue-based endeavor.
“There’s a lot of people with good intentions, and the first thing they have to understand is they can’t make money doing this,” Lopez says.
Last month, South Carolina Representative Wendell Gilliard proposed a state bill that would mandate swimming instruction in state-funded schools. Gilliard explained to the press that his reasons were to offset the high number of drownings statewide in recent years. Ito agrees that a similar plan could work in Illinois.
“Most of the high schools in the city of Chicago have swimming pools,” she says. She also believes that partnerships between schools and local YMCAs could be another solution.
“Lots of preschools are connected to YMCAs. That connection could be used to get everyone involved in swimming,” she says.
Improving swimming opportunities in urban areas creates a safer community, improves quality of life for residents and enriches the sport as a whole.
“We really have to make swimming available for the kids,” says Lambert.

Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen "High Elbow Catch"

2011-05-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

Over the last several weeks I have been experimenting with different "catches" in my stroke with little success. But recently, I remembered an article that famed swimmer Karly Pipes-Neilsen wrote for SWIMMER MAGAZINE about creating a faster freestyle. One of the tips that she offered involved a high elbow catch. Here is what she said;

"Imagine you are swimming over a very shallow coral reef. Because you don't want to scrape the rough surface, you automatically lift your elbow high to prevent your fingertips from touching the coral."

In the video below Karlyn shows just what she means and to my own surprise it has worked out well for me! Before I never gave much credence to a high elbow but now I can see the benefits. I hope others find this information useful and - as always - happy swimming!

Night Train Swimmers Attempt To Swim The Faralon Islands

2011-04-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

Check this amazing video of The Night Train Swimmers attempt to swim from The Faralon Islands which are located 30 miles outside of San Francisco. In case your wondering, The Faralon Islands are where Great white Sharks go to breed in the fall.

Yeah, I know, total nut-jobs.

And I love that about'em!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Untitled from vito bialla on Vimeo.

Jim Ellis and His New Swimming Hole

2011-04-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

As many of you may or may not know, Jim Ellis - the long standing coach of The PDR Swim Club located in Nicetown, Philadelphia - is sort of a hero of mine. For over 30 years Ellis has trained age group and Olympic hopefuls to reach their goals. And for most of those 30 years, those kids swam in a pool that was in dire need of being replaced. But come January 1st, 2012, Ellis will coach his kids in a new natatorium. Check out the video below and wonder at what kids in the Philadelphia area will have the opportunity to swim in. Gee it almost makes me want to be a pool swimmer...I said ALMOST.

Enjoy!

Black Herritage Swim Meet

2011-04-22T15:24:00.000-07:00

2010 Black Heritage Championship Swim Meet Participants

On May 28th and 29th, Memorial Day Weekend at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Gary North Carolina, the 9th Annual Black Heritage Swim Meet will be held.

The Black Heritage Championship Swim Meet brings together some of the finest age group swimmers in the country to compete. The meet has grown from 10 teams and 104 swimmers in 2003 to more than 29 teams and over 758 swimmers in 2011. While all are welcomed to compete, the meets emphasis is to reduce the drowning rate of black children and encourages children to swim competitively.

So, if your in the area over the Memorial Day Weekend or feel the need to pack yourself and you family, or even your kid's age group team and head back to Gary, I'm sure there is a lane waiting for them.

Check out this video (click here) of the 2010 meet and see what all the fuss is about.

Caution: It may get you and your kids hooked on going up against some really good competition.

Detroit Swimmers Mingle with Heroes

2011-04-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

The following story was written by Mike Gustafson, a frequent writer of USA Swimming.

Do you remember your first time meeting a sports hero? When you walked down the street and saw Tom Brady? Maybe you were a kid. Suddenly, up close and personal, your favorite sporting superstar looked somehow different.

More human. More approachable. More like you.

Every four years, television brings the world’s greatest sports event – the Olympic Games -- into our homes. Kids see Olympians and say, “That could be me.” But seeing sports heroes on TV is quite unlike seeing heroes in real life. Live interaction affects you. Positive interactions can be inspirational.

It can be a life changer.

Last weekend, at the Eric Namesnik Michigan Grand Prix, inner-city kids from Detroit had the opportunity to see Olympians up close and personal. Thirty-seven swimmers from the Detroit Tiger Sharks (a USA Swimming club) and the Detroit Rec. Dept. Swim Team saw swimmers like Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, and Natalie Coughlin in action.

“For me, it’s an adrenaline rush,” says Tiger Sharks head coach Larry Nunnery. “We’re closer than TV. These kids get to see swimming up-close.”

The subtext in this story is a business giving back to its community. Domino’s Pizza helped make this happen. Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Domino’s learned that Michael Phelps and others were coming to the neighborhood. They helped spearhead an effort: “Let’s get these kids to this meet.” Domino’s paid for admissions, and even gave the kids free pizza.

“In the preliminaries, some of the older kids get a chance to be timers,” Nunnery said. “They’re excited. They’re practically touching these Olympians.”

He added: “It’s inspiring.”

When I asked Coach Nunnery (who’s been coaching the Tiger Sharks since ’96) about the problems he faces to get minority kids into swimming, he talked about opportunity. “A lot of kids aren’t familiar with USA Swimming,” Nunnery said. “They’re familiar with the money-making sports. Football. Basketball.”

Scan any pool deck – you don’t see many minorities. But small initiatives like this one, getting these kids to local swim meets and letting them see National Teamers race and compete, is important.

“Swimming is a challenge,” Nunnery said. “I tell these kids that swimming is the hardest sport. It’s not the roughest. But the hardest. They respond when I tell them that.”

More efforts need to be made to get these kids, kids from urban environments, to swim meets. More corporations like Domino’s need to step up, give to their community, and embrace the positive effect meeting an Olympian can have on kids. After all, many people remember meeting a sports hero.

But what if you never get that opportunity in the first place?

Fortunately, a group of great kids had that very chance last weekend. The chance to see Olympic swimmers with their own eyes. The chance to meet them – to get pictures. The chance to see top-notch international swimming in their own backyard. What did Coach Nunnery hope these kids took away from the meet?

“I hope these kids realize the will, desire, and technique it takes to reach the Olympic level,” Nunnery said. “These swimmers give it their all. As coaches, we never want to hear, ‘I can’t.’ We want to hear, ‘I’ll try.’ You never know what can happen.”

Meet Lynn Kubasek!

2011-04-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

Steven Munatones of Open Water Source interviewed Lynn Kubasek.

Lynn Kubasek is a member of the Half Century Club -- people over the age of  
50 who have done a major channel swim around the world.

Lynn is an extraordinarily cheerful and dedicated open water swimmer from  
beautiful Laguna Beach in California.  She volunteers hundreds of hours  
each season as an Observer with the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation  
and Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Federation.

She acts as a confidante, observer and support crew for dozens of swimmers  
tackling marathon swims between the channel islands off of Southern  
California.  Her enthusiasm, passion and 24/7 commitment to the sport knows  
no bounds.

Day and night, weekday and weekend, she and her circle of open water  
swimming friends discuss where they will swim in the ocean -- year-round --  
and what next marathon swim they will do, kayak or observe for.

Her smile is contagious and her love for the sport and its athletes is a  
pleasure to see.

A Water Professional in More ...

You can check out the interview by clicking here.

Enjoy!

"The Black Star Surfers" Documentary

2011-04-06T08:05:00.000-07:00

Check out Frankee an African surfer, co-founder of The Black Star Surfers, and surf shop owner who - with the help of his co-owner Peter - teaches the Ghanaian locals to surf. This story is inspiring not just for the ingenuity of it but that the importance of water safety and swimming have on a person's life. Enjoy!

Do What you love; Love what you do

2011-04-04T14:24:00.000-07:00

The following article was published by my coach Terry Laughlin from his website; SWIM WELL
I hope you all find it as beneficial as I have.

My friend Steve called the other day to wish me a happy 60th birthday. Steve will soon observe a milestone himself, turning 50 in August, which he plans to celebrate by doing an Ironman. I coached Steve in the mid-1970s when he was a finalist at YMCA Nationals. In his 30s and 40s, he has regularly been a nationally ranked Masters swimmer.

Steve’s friends have affectionately called him “Bear” since his teens, so his build isn’t ideal for triathlon, much less one that includes 112 miles of cycling and a running marathon. He could lose 30 lbs and still qualify as a Clydesdale. but he’s solidly built with little excess, so losing weight isn’t an easy task, though he spends many hours each week running and cycling.

When I asked how his training was going, Steve grumbled about a 60-mile bike ride he’d taken a day or two earlier, describing it in terms that made it seem like a distinctly unpleasant ordeal. The weather was cold and raw, the traffic harrowing and the scenery uninspiring. When I asked – given how little he enjoyed it under the circumstances – why he didn’t do something else that day, he replied “It was on the schedule.”

I shared with him that one of the most important — and liberating — lessons I had learned in my 50s was to cast off the rule of rigid, imposed or canned schedules and follow intuition instead. Triathletes, more than most endurance athletes, tend to be guided by schedules, sometimes from a book, other times by a coach. It’s not surprising given how daunting it can seem to prepare physically for an endurance event, while also trying to combine three disciplines in a complementary manner. That seems like a job for a professional.

As a professional coach myself, I was inclined to plan and follow relatively structured schedules to train for Masters meets from my late 30s through late 40s. My plans were well-designed physiologically but at times my workouts felt more like an obligation than a pleasure. Still, my results were pretty solid. Twice I placed as high as 2nd in mile races at Masters Nationals, once in the pool and once in open water.

But my experience coaching the varsity sprinters at West Point, in my late 40s made me consider that a more organic approach could be more enjoyable and still produce better results. At West Point I planned sets to practice skills that win races, rather than as conditioning exercises. Skill Mastery (such as maintaining a specific stroke count at a precise pace) requires powerful engagement and exacting execution. Conditioning simply asks that you keep moving at a certain heart rate for a certain duration.

Some days, whether from physical or mental fatigue, my Army swimmers couldn’t execute at the level I was seeking. I would stop the set, remind them of the objective, state my conviction they were capable of meeting it, and start again. If they still fell short, I’d stop them again, scrap the set — sometimes the entire practice – and give them a task I felt they were capable of doing well. I ‘edited’ sets or practices at least once a week. That group of swimmers improved as much or more as any I had ever coached.

When I entered my 50s, I applied the same thinking to my own training. Sometimes that meant scrapping a set of 100s I had planned, perhaps because of fatigue — a reality of middle age — but just as often because I couldn’t maintain the intense focus the set required. At times it meant ending a planned 60-minute practice after 40 minutes because I sensed myself practicing struggle. And sometimes it meant skipping a planned swim in favor of a mountain bike ride simply because it was too beautiful to be indoors.

Ever since I’ve tried to plan practices that I could get excited about, even as I wrote them earlier in the day. Some days I head to the pool without a plan, and make one while warming up, tuning into signals from my body about what it needed or wanted. It’s hard to argue with the results. I’ve won national titles and broken national age group records in my 50s, achievements that seemed inconceivable when my trained was guided more by external formulas.

While my times are respectable for a 60-year old, it’s reasonable to ask whether training by intuition, rather than formula or schedule can truly produce high performance. Matt Fitzgerald in his book Run: The Mind-Body Method of Running writes that elite runners are “more serious about enjoyment” than recreational runners. Olympic Gold Medalist and 27-time world-record-holder Haile Gebresellasie says that happiness isn’t incidental to his success; it’s the secret to his success.
According to Fitzgerald “Geb” doesn’t perform intervals to create a particular physiological adaptation, he plans workouts – and adjusts them on the fly – to ensure that he feels his best, physically, mentally and emotionally.

At the end of our conversation I suggested to Steve that he remember why he chose to pursue an Ironman. Ultimately it’s not to do it in 14, or 13, or 12 hours. It’s because he expects that the satisfaction of completing the journey – the race and the training – will make him happier. Since the real goal is to be happy, I asked why defer happiness for 5 or 6 months. Why not be happy now and every day?

Be conscious of physiological principles and fitness requirements, but at the same time make each day’s choices based on tuning into your body and your psyche and use free choice to intuitively plan, and when needed modify, that day’s program.

New Respect

2011-03-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

I have to hand to all you fresh water swimmers. I don't know how you do it. I'm impressed!!!! Exactly what am I talking about? Well for the past couple of weeks my lovely San Francisco Bay has been inundated with fresh water from nearby reserves. We have had a very prosperous rainy season and are well above our normal rain fall. So much so that our reservoirs and dams are releasing rain water to avoid overflow. This has caused a great amount of fresh water to come surging into the bay creating a giant lake like effect.

What do I mean?

I have no idea.

Actually I do know what I mean. This fresh water makes the water taste funny. Don't laugh! I'm use to salty water and I happen to have grown fond of the taste, you know like some folks and caviar, only I'm sane because I don't eat anything from the sea. I figure if I don't eat them maybe they wont eat me, but I digress. Like I said, I like the taste of salt water and I love the added bonus of being more buoyant in it as well. Not so with this fresh water stuff.

Man talk about swimming uphill!! This morning I went for a long swim of 1 hour my longest this winter. For the first 45 min or so I felt great and was in control, but the last 15 were just plain torture! My arms felt like they weighed fifty pounds, my legs and hips began to drop and my fingers were beginning to claw up, but I mustered on and did the workout. As I was warming up in the sauna of my club, I spoke with another member about the feel and taste of the water. Neither of us like it but both of us felt we needed to workout more in these conditions in order to challenge ourselves.

So hats off to you fresh water lake swimmers! I gotta hand it to you. I know many folks who have swum in lake Tahoe, Donner Lake, I have a good ow friend in Arizona (KatieK) who is a great fresh water swimmer. Further you guys have to deal with a biting cold that I have a bit of relief from in salt water. There has been a debate amongst ow swimmers about whether or not fresh water is colder than salt water. i'm in the camp that it is. So, once again, you all are the bomb.

I do admit that it is a challenge but I miss my old salt water pool. It appears that the snow runoff and more wate from dams and reservoirs will continue to be released for the next several weeks. Maybe I'll just bite the bullet and move up to Tahoe in the meantime, then agaan maybe not!!!!!!!!!!!

An Interview with Dr. Penny Lee Dean

2011-03-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

Dr. Penny Lee Dean, English Channel World Record Holder, Catalina Channel, Manhattan Island and many other marathon swims, speaks with Steven Munatones about her extraordinary career in the world of open water swimming.

The Winter of Discontent

2011-03-19T07:37:00.000-07:00

I haven't been in the water since last Friday, the day the Tsunami and earthquake in Japan hit. Now that's not to say that I haven't been swimming I have....just not in open water. It's been raining here all week in the Bay Area, I don't mind that so much in fact I'm happy that we've had the precipitation. But ride my bicycle down to the club and I hate riding in the rain. Don't get me wrong I can ride in the rain, I just make up lame reasons of why I shouldn't or won't to be honest.

'Pool is closer and indoors.;

'Didn't get enough sleep last night because my Golden Retriever snores.' Seriously she does!!!

'Need to wash my hair.'

You know the common reasons. Well now, I've determined that it is time to kick things into high gear. I am going to dedicate myself to getting down to Aquatic Park and working out at least five times a week till June.

Why June?

Keep reading this blog and find out.

Rottnest Channel Swim 2011

2011-03-11T11:44:00.001-08:00

Nice Compliment Today

2011-03-10T11:30:00.000-08:00

I don't get many compliments, mainly because I don't deserve them :-) But this morning I walked up to the Day Room of my club a few of the "old timers" were sitting around. one of them who has been a good friend to me said;

"Hey I saw you swimming out there."

"Oh yeah."

"Yeah. You know your stroke has come along way since I first saw you three years ago. Its like night and day."

"Thanks.."

Now don't get me wrong I'm happy with where my stroke is at, but not everyone gets Total Immersion and the stroke that founder Terry Laughlin developed over 20 years ago. Certainly not the guys that I know at the club. And it certainly felt nice to know that people who once questioned what I was doing with my stroke have now come to appreciate it, that makes me feel good.

Okay so the praise party is over.

What else have I got?

Well for starters I was in the water for about 50 minutes today and it was still only 52F (11.1C). Not awesome but I'm getting closer to my goal of two hours non-stop by the beginning of June in preparation for a big swim.

Anywhoo, I hope to one day have the grace of my good total Immersion buddy Shinji Takeuchi while I'm doing my marathon swims.

Hey I can dream can't I? Check this out and see what I mean

Here are the answers!

2011-02-25T19:12:00.000-08:00

Okay folks pencils down and turn in your papers. Well, I know your all anxious to find out what the answers are and we'll get to that in a minute. But first who ever parked his or her Ford Perry Winkle Blue Pinto in front of the loading zone please move it. Your creating a fire hazard and a potential terrorist threat.

Thank you.

Now here are the answers your waiting for!

!. Who was the first Black swimmer to score in an NCAA final?
Answer: Nate Clark, Ohio State, in the 200 yard butterfly.

2. Who was the name of the former US Ambassador to the UN to receive a scholarship in swimming?
Answer: Andrew Young, Howard University, 1952-56. Dr. Young was U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in 1976. He was also mayor of Atlanta. He remains active in the Georgia swimming community.

3. Who was the Black hall of fame baseball player that loved swimming more than his sport of choice for his career?
Answer: Negro League catcher and home run hitter Josh Gibson. Gibson was said to have hit more than 880 home runs during his career for The Homestead Greys and Pittsburgh Crawfords among other teams.

Josh Gibson

4. Who was the first Black swimmer to make a US national team?
Answer: Chris Silva, UCLA (yes, boys and girls, UCLA used to have a men's team), World University Games in Edmonton, Canada, 1982. Shortly thereafter, Chris died tragically in an auto accident.

5. Who was the first Black swimmer to set an American record?
Answer: Another easy one. It was Sabir Muhammad, Stanford University, 1997, 100 meter butterfly (short course meters).

6. Who was the first male Black swimmer to win an Olympic Gold Medal?
Answer: Anthony Nesty, Suriname, won the 100 fly at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, clocking 53.00 -- .01 ahead of the USA's Matt Biondi.

7. Who was the first female Black swimmer to win an Olympic medal?
Answer: Maritza Correia won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Games on the US Women's 4x100m relay in the prelims.

Maritza Correia

8. Who would have been the first Olympic swimmer to win a Gold Medal had she not been cheated out of it by the East Germans?
Answer: The cheated swimmer was Holland's Enith Brigitha. At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Brigitha placed third in the 100 free (56.65) behind East Germany's Kornelia Ender (55.65 WR) and Petra Priemer (56.49). Both East Germans were doped.

9. Who was the first Black marathon swimmer to cross the English Channel and what was the year and time of the crossing?
Answer: Charles "Tuna" Chapman in 1981 in a time of 13hr and 30mins.

10. And finally, who was the first female Black swimmer to final in the NCAAs?
Answer: Sybil Smith, Boston University, 1988, 100 yard backstroke.

Well how did everyone do? I hope you all enjoyed these fun and educational factoids as much as we loved putting them together. tune in next time when we'll be having a pop quiz on celebrity dogs who are afraid of the water. Exciting stuff!!!!

The Black Swimmer Quiz Show!

2011-02-18T14:02:00.000-08:00

So, you think you know so much about Black History do ya? Well it might be Black History Month in The US, and many of you may know who Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and The Freedom Riders were, but how many of you out there can answer the following ten questions about Black swimmers in history?

The answers will appear in my next post. And to spice things up, the winner of the quiz gets a brand new car!

note: License and make of the car to be determined later on that evening!

Good Luck folks!

!. Who was the first Black swimmer to score in an NCAA final?

2. Who was the name of the former US Ambassador to the UN to receive a scholarship in swimming?

3. Who was the Black hall of fame baseball player that loved swimming more than his sport of choice for his career?

4. Who was the first Black swimmer to make a US national team?

5. Who was the first Black swimmer to set an American record?

6. Who was the first male Black swimmer to win an Olympic Gold Medal?

7. Who was the first female Black swimmer to win an Olympic medal?

8. Who would have been the first Olympic swimmer to win a Gold Medal had she not been cheated out of it by the East Germans?

9. Who was the first Black marathon swimmer to cross the English Channel and what was the year and time of the crossing?

10. And finally, who was the first female Black swimmer to final in the NCAAs?

The gar Woods polar Bear Swim is approaching!

2011-02-12T17:38:00.000-08:00

In the true psychotic vain that I seem to keep journeying down the path of, I have decided to enter the Gar Woods Polar bear swim. What exactly is that you ask? Gar Woods is a bar (not going for the drinking just the swimming) located near lake Tahoe. For those of you uninitiated Lake Tahoe ia about 5,000 ft above sea level, a fresh water lake and very cold this time of year (hovering around 41F!!!! Gar Woods is no better in temp and exactly the same with respect to being fresh water, clear and very very cold!

I've wanted to do this swim for some time the last few yeas but have not been able to for one reason or another. This year i determined that I would try. As near as I can tell you swim out to a buoy that is about 125 yards from shore and swim back. you can use a wetsuit but come on...for a polar bear swim? That's just rude!!!!!!!!!! Only the brave and mentally ill need apply (I fit the later category for sure). So if your in the Tahoe area on March 5th, 2011, come on out and cheer me on or laugh at how I'm gonna look afterward whatever floats your boat. Below is a clip from the 2008 event.

Enjoy!

Crossing Hell's Mouth

2011-02-04T15:47:00.000-08:00

Lately it has been a struggle for me to focus in my workouts. There have been a lot of things on my mind lately and my swimming has suffered as a result of it. Then the other day I received an email, or rather a group email, from someone wanting contact information on Charles Chapman the first African American to swim the English Channel back in 1981. the person who was requesting the information was Frank Chalmers.

Who's he you ask?

Frank - a successful English Channel swimmer - attempted to become the first person to swim the Pentland Firth a strait of water that separates mainland Scotland from the Orkney Islands. The BBC documented his undertaking and below is the first of a five part youtube video of what happened. After seeing this movie I re-dedicated myself to do the very best that i could in preparation for my own little shot at history.

Thank you Frank for your inspiration and dedication to reaching for your dreams! You are one of my heroes!

Fly Fast Eddie Peinado towing kayaks!

2011-02-02T16:04:00.000-08:00

No words are needed just enjoy!

Geoff Carter to swim The Cook Strait This Week!

2011-01-24T12:13:00.000-08:00

Geoff Carter

State New Zealand Ocean Swim Series put out this news concerning Geoff Carter's upcoming attempt of The Cook Strait.

Geoff Carter is a courageous man. He is

hoping to be the oldest person at 60 years
old to ever successfully swim the Cook Strait.

"I was at the Chelsea swim (Herne Bay
to Chelsea Sugar Works) and a couple of ladies

were planning to swim the Cook
Strait, and I realised they weren't

that much quicker than I was and I thought - if
they could do it, then so could I,"

Carter said.

Geoff Carter lives and trains on
the North Shore of Auckland and has been

putting in some huge mileage in to help
prepare him for his huge goal. Currents, tides,

wind and the 13 degree water
temperature are just some of factors that

must be taken into account when a swimmer
attempts the crossing. Geoff has teamed up

with Channel crossing legend Phillip Rush to help him navigate his way across

the Strait. Weather forecasts for later this week have determined his journey will

likely start this Thursday.

Best of luck Geoff, I'm rooting for ya'!

Back to Reality

2011-01-21T15:54:00.000-08:00

I knew before I left on my trip to Perth what was going to happen. I knew that I should have been swimming at least a few more times in late December before I embarked upon my journey down under. I knew that that water would be around 72-75F (22.2-23.8) in OZ and that when i returned to San Francisco I would have to face a cold harsh reality.

But I never expected what I got this morning (1/21/11).

So here's the deal. I got up around 6:30am and hopped on my bike to ride down to the club. All week I had said to myself, 'Listen you know its gonna hurt the first time after being out for a month so just hop in for 20 minutes and get the first one out of the way.'

As I neared the front door of the club I reached for my wallet to get my key. The door flung open and their stood my friend Angelo. "Hello your back," he said as he shook my hand, "you bet," came my reply. "Your first time in the water since you returned?" he asked, "yup," as I moved my bike passed him and went inside.

I didn't see anyone else around as I walked my bike from the upper boat house to the lower one. This isn't too surprising. During the winter a lot of folks drift off to the pool and return in the spring when the water is relatively warmer (60F/15.5), but not me. I usually trudge on through the whole year. Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall I'm normally swimming. That's the beauty of living in San Francisco you can swim year round unlike New York or Chicago where everything is usually frozen over in the winter.

So I go up to the Men's locker room and stow away my gear that i brought on the trip back in my locker. A few brave folks who swim year round were just walking through finishing up their swims followed me in and greeted me.

"Hey Naji your back!"

"You bet Ken."

"How was it?"

"Great just great!"

"Well I've got the cove all warmed for ya out there."

"Thanks buddy."

As I put on my bathers, cap and goggles I kept telling myself, 'you don't need to be a hero, just go in for a bit and you can get out after 10 minutes or so.'

I went over to the sauna and hung my towel on a hook then took a few moments to get warm.

Yeah you heard me its a ritual I do so stuff it!

After five minutes I exited the sauna, then the Men's locker room and took the walk down to the beach. Its funny what was happening as I walked down, the soles of my feet were cold and stinging from the pavement. The morning air was chilly and being gone so long was effecting me even now. 'Oh boy,' I thought, 'this can't be good.'

As I neared the shore of the beach right behind the club I saw a few other swimmers from the Dolphin club either coming in or heading out. As is my usual way I kept going towards the water. Everyone has his or her own way of getting in, mine is to just keep walking until you can't feel the bottom anymore and swim. But as I neared the water's edge and the first small breakers nipped my toes, i felt a sensation that I had not felt in years.

All at once both legs seized up and wouldn't move. No lie! I couldn't move the darn things. Sharp pain ran through two lower limbs as if someone had a long dagger and was stabbing me with it.

'Holy cow!' I thought to myself, 'Whats happening?' I knew exactly what was happening the cold air was causing my brain to go into survival mode releasing all the blood from my arms and legs and shooting it straight to my core to protect the vital organs. I knew this was going to happen. I've been through it many times before., I'd been swimming out here long enough to know that but there was one thing this time that made it so different for me. I had taken a few days off from swimming, heck one time even a whole week, but never had I gone a whole month and just come back to swim again. This was my brain basically saying,;

"Hey knucklehead what the heck are you doin' get outta there'!"

My legs continued to not move and I went to my knees. Cold water began to rush over my core and flood my bathers. I sat on my bum and told myself; 'Whatever you do don't get out this will pas you know it will. Stay in it'll pass.' But it wasn't passing the sensation continued. A friend of mine named Pete was just coming into shore and noticed me struggling, "Naji you okay?" I waved him off and assured him I was.

"Were not okay" cried out my brain to Pete, "Hey buddy we are not okay its freezing out here!"

Finally after what seemed like forever I rose to my feet. I looked out over the cove and decided that I would just tread water near the docks for about ten minutes. Surely I could handle that. I began to regain the feeling in my legs and they in turn responded to my command to move - though with infant like steps. as I moved further out, I could feel my toes and fingers going slightly numb but still function. I told myself that this was normal (and it is in these conditions) but keep moving ahead. Finally I got to a point where I could no longer touch bottom and pushed off and swam for about 50 strokes. Afterward, I stopped and check.my core. Still warm. I decided that I would swim to the first cigarette buoy (and yes they do look like cigarettes) and see how I felt. I arrived with no ill affects and went to the next landmark - a round ball like buoy - no problem. On down the line I swam stopping every landmark staying close to shore in case I had to get out quickly. And before I knew it I was down to a place called the flag, a quarter mile from where I started. I tread water for a moment then swam back on a nice flood tide and exited the water with no signs of distress.

So here I am back to reality waiting to see how 2011 will treat me as I prepare my base training for 2013. And in spite of this morning's episode, I'm glad I got back in the water although I doubt my brain would agree.

Until next time...

Whatá Trip!!!!!!!!!

2011-01-15T23:06:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm nearing the end of my trip to Perth, Australia and I must say it was blast! The great welcome from the residents, the warm waters of Warnbro Beach (minus the dang stingers!) The incredible swims at Leighton Beach and the 27th Cottesloe Classic Mile at Cottesloe Beach (next year I'm shaving off two minutes on my world record time bet on that!) The Aqua Jetty 50M outdoor pool where I swam at times to work on my technique and speed...ha fat lot of good that did me on the Cotteloe mile swim huh?!

But most importantly I want to thank the love of my life, Carmen and her great kids for welcoming me into their home and lives. I have never had a more pleasurable time on holiday and can't wait till next time.

Of course now I hve to face the harsh reality of going back to San Francisco and training in water that is hovering around 49F, still swimming in the dark till April, and shivering in the sauna for forty-five minutes or so to get warm.

A dose of reality that I knew wouldone day come.

Well gotta go and catch a lovely 20hr flight back to San Francisco. Hope I'm not stuck in the middle seat between a smelly old guy on my left and 79-year-old grandmother who is constantly showing me photos of her grandkids on my right, but knowing my luck...

Write more when I'm back in S.F.

G'day!

Naji Ali Sets Record at Cottesloe Classic!

2011-01-07T23:29:00.000-08:00

Ali views the scene before race.

Perth, Aus (13:34 PM) - In a blazing time of 54min 42sec, the South End Rowing Club's own Naji "Doesn't matter
how fast you are but whether or not you swim naked and finish!" Ali
completed the 27th Cotteloe Classic Mile Swim held on Cottesloe Beach in Perth,
Australia. Event organizers said it was the fastest time ever by a Yank of
African descent and, since no others have ever done it to date, the slowest.

Swimming through swells that averaged four feet and stung numerous times
by jellyfish, Ali mustered on and was well-recieved at the finsih line with a
rousing round of applause. Not because of his speed, determination and -
of course - fablous good looks, but simply because everyone wanted to go
home and were getting pretty bored of waiting for him.

Said, Jim Snookers of Mandurah, Western Australia, " I saw the bloke
swimming out there like a wounded seal. and I says, 'there's no way he's
gonna make it just take out a gun and shoot'em now and get it over with alread!'" Luckily for Ali guns
are banned on Cottesloe beach, but had he had swum this event at Warnbro

Waiting for the start of the race.

beach instead...

Ali, emerged from the water no less the worse for wear. The sky was
crystal blue with highs in the 90s and the water clear for at least 12
feet and a balmy 72F.

Asked about his swim Ali remarked, "Sure I thought about packing it in but if I
did, my girlfriend would have been pissed for having to get up so early
and driving me to the race. More than likely I would have had to walk home
and that would have been a long walk."

Ali crosses finish line in record time!

Ali plans on returning to Perth in January 2012 to defend his
crown. No word as of yet if the event organizers will let him back in if
he doesn't speed up his time. According to Niel Chalmers one of the event organizers, "We can't let this happen again next year, mate. He almost ran into our tea time and thats not right!"

The L.O.S.T. Polar Bear Dip of 2011!

2011-01-06T16:17:00.000-08:00

A good buddy of mine, Rob Kent, sent me this video of his swim club Lake Ontario Swim Team or L.O.S.T. and they're first cold dip of the season. Rob writes;

"We had a great turn out for the Polar Bear Dip at Coronation Park in Oakville on New Year’s Day! The water was a balmy +2C / 35F and the air temp was +10C / 55F!!! Apparently the LOST swimmers (and several Burlington Masters as well!) made up about 20 of the 700+ swimmers and were part of the fund raising for water wells in Tanzania which raised over $150,000!!! Several of the LOST Swimmers came back to Rob and Joanne’s house after for the “Wet and Chili Party” too. I could tell you more about it, but the video pretty much says it all!!! It was a great time and we’ll get even more of you out for it for next year’s dip and ”Wet and Chili Party” too!!!

Gotta love the yellow LOST caps!"

You can check out the video here.

Enjoy!

The Jellies Are Coming!

2011-01-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

Waiting on Leighton Beach for the start of a 5K race

You know there are a lot of things to enjoy about Perth; friendly people, clean streets, hot sun, and of course gorgeous beaches. I've been having the time of my life down here with Carmen and her family. Every day I've had the opportunity to enjoy great food, lively conversation, lovely hospitality and warm ocean waters.

But this morning while I was swimming at Warnbro Beach near the house, I had an unpleasant experience. I was swimming close to shore and making sure that I didn't get caught up in a rip tide, when all of a sudden I felt an intense burning sensation near my right armpit.

"Holy cow!" I thought in my mind while I screamed out something profane in the water, "what the heck was that?!" I swam quickly back to shore and noticed that there was a considerable welt, or should I say, welts that curled around from my right armpit towards my right bicep.

Of course I had been stung by a Jellyfish (or stinger as they're called here). I tired swimming on but the annoying pain began to get to me. I got out and walked back to where I had left my backpack. As I approached my things where I had left them, a woman with her dog was gettng ready for a run on the beach.

"G'day" she said.

"Morning. Boy I really got stung out there by a Jelly."

"Öh I'm so sorry they are nasty little things. You must not be from around here, it doesn't bother me I'm use to them. But they are a bit to get use to."

First off, I want to make clear that swimming in clear water is amazing. Seeing aquatic life like stingrays, fish, and dolphins is amazing. But I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of the jelliies. I've been stung before in San Francisco, and stung bad to the point where thye draw blood and lave scar), but this was a constant irritation that wouldn't go away. In fact, as I write this, I can still feel the irritation.

Oh I know I'll live, but still its a bit much. I'm on holiday for crying out loud!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As I was walking back home I thought of my marathon swimming friend - Penny Palfrey - who lives in the Eastern part of Australia. She's swam through scores of Man of War in Hawaii on her epic swims and never uttered a peep, likewise when she swam the Cook Strait. While I get a couple of stings and cry out for God to rain down retributuion on these floating plastic bags (they do look like them you gotta admit).

But I do have to get use to them, the Cook Strait website makes note that they will be one of the hazzards. And as much as I don't want to go out tomorrow and brave the workout, I will. Folks like penny, Lynne Cox, Karen Rogers, and Ned Dennison - to name a few - have been doing it long before me and I can't expect anything less from myself.

So get ready folks, the jellies are comin'!!!

Happy New Year from Australia and lets learn to swim!

2010-12-31T22:26:00.000-08:00

While most of you are still a few hours off from celebrating the New Year, I had the opportunity to ring it in with a bang....literally. Last night I went out to a place called the Foreshore with my girlfreind and her handsome teenage boys to enjoy fireworks and the warmth of the night air. The place was packed but we managed to get a good spot and enjoy the show.

Early in the evening I was sitting down watching television, waiting for everyone to get ready, when a comercial came on that caught my eye. It was an ad not for a new car, face cream, food, or womens hygene products. No this ad was selling swimming'lessons! Like so many couch potatos when I see an ad in between show, I tune out. But I perked up as this ad was selling swimming I tuned in. And it wasn't a one off ad, throughout my time here down under I have seen a constant stream of such ads and others warning about the dangers of not knowing how to swim and encouraging to learn.

This past week as Carmen - my girlfriend - was showing me around her Perth, I mentioned that I had never seen an ad for swimming ever in the US. Çarmen looked on with bewilderment. She assumed that many countries wiht as many beaches and resorts like the US has would saturate the tube with swim ads and anti-drowning notices. But I informed her that it was just not a priority. Nevermind that 10 people drown in the US a day. \Nevermind that the myths about Blacks not being able to swim still persist. And nevermind that swimming is still viewed as a sport first and life-skill second in the good ole'USA. No we just don''t seem to have the sense of urgency like the Australian government and folks who live here.

So folks lets make a New Year's resolution that we can keep. Lets all try and teach one person how to swim. that's not too difficult is it/ I'm just talking one. And while we're at it, lets put pressure on the local, state and federal government in America to make leaning how to swim a mandatory thing. Who knows, maybe we'll have our own ads saturating the airwaves soon. now that's a commercial that I would pay attention to.

Oh and by the way, Happy New Year to all!

Farewell Chris

2010-12-29T15:26:00.000-08:00

I have been enjoying my three days of fun, sun ansd swim here in Perth, Ausralia. For a time I haven't bothered to look at my emails. But today I read with sadness of he passing of Chris Walsh an English Channel Swimmer who completed his swim this past September. Chris was in an auto accident by a hit and run driver, his girlriend - Rosie was also in the car and receive some injuries but should be alright physically.

I never met Chris and we have never communicated via email even though we are both members of the Google Group, Channel Swimmers. However, I always feel sorrow for someone who has such a passion for swimming that he/she tackles sucha monumental task as the English Channel.

I am deeply sorry for his family's loss and hope that, over time, they're grief might begin to heal. As 2010 draws to a close, let us reflect and remeber that we are only on this earth for a short time. For those that have a passion, a dream and a desire to do more, I would encourage you to take a chance. Its never to late to reach for the moon and grab a piece of the sky. Chris showed usit can be done. Should we nt follow his lead?

Go well Chris, you have set an exanple for all of us to follow. If you would like to support the charity work that Chris dedicated his Channel swim, you can give at ths link.

I wish you all a blessed New Year and may all your swimming dreams come true.

Naji

Off to Perth!!!

2010-12-25T08:24:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! I do hope that you all had a great time with family and friends. As for me, well I am of to Perth, Australia this evening. I have the great fortune of knowing a wonderful and kind friend who purchased the ticket for me in order to see the one that is dearest to my heart.

But there's more! In addition to going to see my beautiful girlfriend and her charming kids, I get to the opportunity to do what I love - SWIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And man what swimming awaits me. Merely a 10 minute walk from her house lies one of the most gorgeous beaches in Western Australia - Warnbro Beach.

I've been swimming in open water for two years - mostly in San Francisco Bay - throughout that time I have never been able to see anything underwater besides my own forearm. But for the first time I will be able to see not only my own body but large swaths of the ocean floor! Oh boy this is gonna be fun!!! I'll be providing more frequent updates while I'm away including a detailed account of a 5K race that I will be in come January 2nd. Stay tuned and have a great New Year!

Season's Greetings!

2010-12-22T08:16:00.000-08:00

As 2010 winds down - and I get ready for my trip to Perth, Australia on December 25th WOO HOO! - I want to say a couple of things about this pass swimming year. First off, I'd like to thank the many friends out there that made my open water swim year a great success; Carmen Delgado, Bob Roper, Karen Rogers, Kat Filley-Brown, Andy Fields, Byrce Goeking, lloyd Clarke, Dewey Chambers, Lisa Serbian, Raine Pierce, Lynn Cox, Penny Palfrey, Jackie and David Cobell, Mr. Louie, Ginger, Sam, Bella, Morty, Joe Michael, Jean Amos, Scott Handleman, Wanda Jean-Butts, Shaun Anderson, Jayson Jackson, Jim Ellis and of course my favorite club in the world, The South End Rowing Club where swimming naked has become an art-form. I salute you and all swimmers. May you have a joyous Holiday Season and good wishes for The New Year. Now get out there and swim darnit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh and here's a little something that a buddy of mine put together on you tube. Enjoy!

December Birthday Swim

2010-12-13T11:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday at The South End Rowing Club, myself and eleven other folks born in December had our 2nd Annual Birthday swim. Usually when the club has these sorts of swims in other months it is held on or near the day of individual people. But since it tends to get a little cooler in December and - of course - with the holidays coming up and all, we decided to have one swim for all of us who were born during this month. Now keep in mind, those of us who are born on the last month of the year get the shaft from the rest of folks.

That's right you heard me fella!!!!

No one remembers us. And man some of the excuses we've heard over our lifetimes have really been dosies. We've all heard the classic; "Gee its your birthday? I'm so sorry I forgot. You see I've been getting ready for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa and Festivus that I forgot."

Yeah right!

Or this bogus nonsense; "Dude, I'll make it up to you at Christmas...well Christmas next year I mean."

Ah huh....

Or how about this classic; "Naji, I know I forgot but there was a sale Lady's Gloves on at K-Mart some only missing one finger! You understand don't ya sweetie?"

Actually that one I understand you gotta jump on those deals when you get the chance.

Anyway my point is that we December babies have been getting the raw deal for eons and now its time to right those wrongs! So for those of you who are born in December, might be in San Francisco, and may want to take a cool dip with your fellow Decemberites, drop on down to the South End next year and join us.

There will be cake I promise!

Peace and Peaceful Swimming!
Naji

Winter Swimming - The Film

2010-12-10T10:27:00.000-08:00

In this film we meet the members of 1.PKO, a swimming club based on the banks of the Vltava river in and specializing in swimming outside through the winter in near freezing water temperatures. It isn't just a few crazy people but an organized sport with frequent races through the winter season. In fact in the Czech Republic it is some of the most extreme winter swimming in the world due to the long distances and excellent organization. We come across various characters including Tomas and Tania who prove that the power of ice cold water is the power of life itself.

Swimming as Art

2010-12-05T09:24:00.000-08:00

There are many reasons why people swim; some for fitness, some for competition, some for life-skills and so on. Although I am interested in many aspects of swimming, one of my chief reasons is to make swimming an art-form. Just like a Balanchine ballet, or a Picasso painting, or Coltrane sax solo, swimming can be an art form with its own grace and beauty that is a wonder to behold. Be low you'll see what I mean when you watch this youtube video of Total Immersion Coach Shinji Takeuchi demonstrating swimming as art. Enjoy!

Former NFL Great Marcellus Wiley Learns to Swim!

2010-12-01T18:26:00.000-08:00

Bob Roper's 72nd Birthday Swim Across The Golden Gate Bridge!

2010-11-28T14:00:00.000-08:00

Bob flanked by Lisa Serbian (L) and Karen Rogers

At approximately 9:48am on Friday November 26th, Dusty "Who wants
Starbucks I'm buyin'" Nicol and Bob "Get my Fins off!" Roper swam from the
south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge to Lime Rock in 55F waters, in a
time of 38min 2secs, just falling short of his early 1970s record of the
same swim done in 17mins 21secs...oh so close Bobby!!!

The two intrepid swimmers were accompanied by Naji "Hey quit spittin' on
me Roper!" Ali and the Paddy Wagon.

The seas cooperated on this glorious morning and at the start of the jump,
a loud "WOO HOO" was heard. Unaware of where this sound was coming from I
glanced up to see a Golden Gate Patron - on the west end of the Bridge
where no one is allowed mind you - waving down at us. I took this as a
positive omen. To my knowledge, no one tried to jump on that day so I think
we're all good.

With a steady stroke Nicol and Roper made quick work of the swim and were
met at horseshoe cove by my buddy Pete Mc Cloughlin's wife, Patty and their

kids. Roper received dry towels, hot tea, and the company of beautiful woman

on the warm car ride back to the club.

Darn you Roper!

Though a bit cold and constantly spitting - mostly on me - Roper said he
had a blast on the swim as he heated up in the Mens sauna. "I was doin'
great out there till I got in the water. By the way where's my comb?" he
said.

Afterward, Bob, myself, Dusty, and a few other members of The South End,

Susan "Yes Yes Yes!" Petro, Jon Meyer, Trudy Molina, Cathy Bump and South

End legend J.B. Sullivan dined at Capurro's and feasted on a beautiful carrot

cake created by Ms. Bump that a Bay colored Green sea frosting adorned with,

mermaids, white capped sprinkles and candy flavored rocks at the base.

A good time was had by all and Roper purposes a round trip Pt. Bonita next
year for his 73rd. I'm sure he'll be able to do it...or at least give it a
shot, or maybe he'll just sit back and do a dock to dock swim like
sensible swimmers, you know like myself :-)

Dave Barra's 2010 Marathon Swims (Interview)

2010-11-21T12:37:00.000-08:00

Check out the amazing accomplishment of my good buddy Dave Barra, The swims he accomplished were truly admirable. Enjoy!

The Long Awaited 2011 Swim Schedule

2010-11-20T11:39:00.000-08:00

Finally after several months of back and forth, and a lot of procrastination on my part, myself and my coach Bob "You Don't get out of the water until I say you get out!" Roper have devised my 2011 long swim schedule.

This is the second year that Bobby and I have sat down and gone over what swims he wants me to do in order to prepare for The Cook Strait. Bobby is sort of Bay Area swimming legend. In the early 70s he swam across the Golden Gate Bridge in a time of 17mins 22secs, the fastest time ever posted by a solo swimmer and has yet to be broken! Bobby knows the Bay Area tides and currents better than anyone I know and, in addition, he knows a number of folks who own their own boats and kayaks that can help me get the swims done.

There are are various swims of various lengths each with their own varying degrees of difficulty. So, without further adieu, I give you the 2011 Naji Ali swim schedule.

1) March 5th Kirby Cove to Aquatic Park: The Kirby Cove swim is a 4.5 mile swim from a small strip of beach just west of the Golden Gate Bridge back to Aquatic Park. For a short period of time I'll have to swim cross current in a section of water known as "The Potato Patch." This is where waters from the Pacific ocean, the bay and a strip of water know as The Raccoon Strait converge and stir up the seas. Add to this that the water will be hovering around 54-56F/12.2-12.7C) at this time of year. The swim should take approximately 2-2.5 hrs to complete on a 2.82 Flood current.

2) March 18th Bridge 2 Bridge: This is a fairly easy swim on a 3.63 Flood Current. The Bridge 2 Bridge swim is a swim that I did over a year ago when I swam from The Golden Gate Bridge to The Bay. The distance is 6 miles. This swim is a straight shot with minimal issues. However, there is considerable boat traffic that comes through and the water will be about the same as Kirby Cove. Estimated time of finish is roughly 2-2.5hrs.

3) April 22nd Candlestick Point to Aquatic Park: This swim is going to be a challenge for me. Not because of the distance itself, but rather the psychological challenge it poses. An issues that I have battled the whole time in open water has been with the mental challenges. I am approaching this 10.2 mile swim in the wisest way, 'just get to the next feeding in 30mins, don't think about the entire swim.' Boat traffic, jellyfish, cold water and and at least 3-3.5 hrs in the water will make this 3.2 Ebb current swim a challenge that I have not faced before. But as Bobby says, "It's gotta be done Naj!"

4) May 4th pt. Bonita to Aquatic Park: I've done this swim in a sense when I swam from Pt. Bonita to The Bay Bridge back on July 13th of 2010. Pt. Bonita is the west of the Golden Gate Bridge and is the last point of the bay before you reach the ocean. Pt. Bonita has a very small, rock and slippery stretch of beach that I will start at. I've always enjoyed swimming from this place because, thus far, it has been my biggest swim challenge. I'll get help from a 3.12 Flood current along the 6 mile swim, but will still have to conquer The Potato Patch," curious harbor seals (man they can get frisky), jellyfish, and large swells. The estimated time for this swim would be about 2.5-3hrs.

5) June 3rd Reverse Bay 2 Breakers: For those of you familiar with the Bay area, don't confuse this Bay 2 Breakers with the running one. This swim will be the culmination to the year and be the hardest as well. Why? For starters I will have to swim from Ocean Beach and battle the breakers for about .5-1miles. From there, I will deal with swells for the next 2hrs till I reach, you guessed it, "The Potato Patch," Then after that's over with I will more than likely have to really dig deep and finish this swim touching the Alpha Tower of The Bay Bridge. Once again, this swim will test my mental state and my desire to keep going. Cold waters, jellies, nosy seals, and fatigue will all play a factor on this 10.2 mile swim. The estimated time for this swim is 3-4hrs.

Well there you have it, the 2011 Naji Ali swim schedule. Now for those who are asking if others are in store the answer is yes, though they have yet to be determined. I will let you know what happens after each swim and hopefully post video of each so you know what I was up against, or not.

To be continued...

A Moving Meditation

2010-11-17T13:15:00.000-08:00

Recently I have been having an email exchange with Terry Laughlin the founder of Total Immersion Swimming. I asked Terry about building a comprehensive training program for the next two years. Since I'm new to all this marathon swimming stuff, I figured the best way to go about it was to ask people tht had taken on mammoth tasks to offer up advice.

I've been very blessed to have received help from folks like Lynne Cox, Karen Rogers, Penny Palfrey, Michelle Macy, Dan Kennedy, Lloyd Clarke, Rob Kent, Bob Roper, and a laundry list of others. They all said that building up the yardage, good technique, speed, and the right feeds were essential, but what all of them emphasized over every thing else was the mental aspect.

One of the people that I spoke with, Dave Barra, spoke about the need to get doubt out of your mind,

"I tell myself, before each swim, that I will not resign. if things go south and I get pulled, so be it, but I will not initiate it. I spoke with quite a few swimmers that resigned during
their EC attempts this year, and one thing they all had in common was doubt. they started questioning their crew and pilots.... How far? Are we making progress? , etc etc. I think pilots know that once the poison of doubt enters the equation, its over. None of these swimmers were as slow as many who have made a successful crossing, And none had swum to exhaustion."

Good words to follow, but the thing that stuck out in my mind the most was what Terry wrote to me, last week. Below is a portion of what he said. I do hope others find it appropriate for your own training whether in the pool or open water,

"IMHO, the mental training is equally, if not more, important to the physical
training.


"On my trip around Asia, I've given quite a few talks. Some have been more
achievement-oriented, but most have put greater emphasis on seeking
heightened experience in your swimming, both practice and performance. We've
long described TI practice as a moving meditation. If you can turn any
marathon swim into a moving meditation, the swim will be far 'shorter.'
One key technique is not to swim the distance - i.e. while swimming the
24-mile Tampa Bay Marathon last April I really tried NOT to swim Tampa Bay,
but rather to swim from one feed to the next. That worked quite well as long
as I didn't have landmarks. It broke down after I swam under two bridges at
approx 18 and 21 miles. Afterward the finish came into view - and conditions
became much more challenging. From that point I really yearned to be done,
rather than just swimming to the next feed as I had previously.  Not fun.
I think Dave particularly learned and applied this lesson in both his
Catalina and EC swims because the final miles took quite a long time and
required - and I think he will agree -- more patience, forbearance and focus
than physical endurance. As long as you've trained sufficient miles and
hours and calculated your feeds correctly, the physical endurance will be
there. Training for the mental endurance is far more of an art.

"How does one turn swimming into a moving meditation? First you need a
mantra. Your mantras start with Stroke Thoughts. Then move to Stroke Counts.
Then to Tempo. You can train all three in the pool. From there the emphasis
in open water returns to thoughts and sensations. Your Stroke Thought
categories include Balance Thoughts, Streamlining Thoughts, Propulsion
Thoughts. The first two are the most important in completing  a marathon
because they keep you relaxed and your stroke economical."

Run, Jump, Swim!

2010-11-08T11:44:00.000-08:00

On Saturday November 6th myself - along with 39 other slightly demented South Enders - participated in an event to raise money for a new Zodiac motor boat for the club.

Muni Pier #3,4, & 5 are the pier side.

The 1st annual Run, Jump, Swim event took place at 9AM at Aquatic Park. Essentially how it worked was thus, you run to the end of Muni Pier, jump off, and swim back to the beach. The person who does this the most within the span of one hour is declared the winner. Since I'm not that competitive I decided that I would do two loops of the course. But as the time to start neared, I began to negotiate with my brain about this whole thing,

Brain: Okay dumbass what in the world do you think your doing?

Me: I'm about to do this race.

Brain: Really? And who allowed this to happen I never got the memo.

Me: Look don't bust my chops its gonna be fun.

Brain: Fun? You call this fun? Jumping off a dilapidated old pier into murky green cold water is your idea of fun?

Me: Yeah so shut up and get ready big boy!!

So after that lengthy conversation - the two of us haven't been talking much so that is the longest one - I stood outside my club. The horn sounded and we were off and running, jogging, stumbling, walking, crawling and more or less living up to the crazy South End Rowing tradition of being kooks!

The Kooks Photo by Allan Luong

As I neared the end of the pier I looked out over the cove and thought, 'Man, I'm lucky,' then I crawled over the side screamed like a little girl and plunged into the 58F waters below.

Me jumping off the Pier Photo by: Jenny Hoffman

The plunge was so pleasant that I decided to take another afterward! All in all it was a blast to do and I'm glad I did it. In fact, I may make it a part of my training regimen to shake things up, though I would ask that you not let my brain know....

Brain: I heard that!!!!

Me: Shoot! I gotta go!!!

This Should be Interesting

2010-11-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, while I was at work, my swim coach - Bob Roper - popped in to have a bite to eat. Don't fret, just because I work in a soup kitchen, and the economy is in the tank, and we're not sure when it will recover, doesn't mean that Bobby was in dire straits. He had just come to share lunch with my close friend and swim buddy Susan.

Susan, is part of a group called "Faithful Fools" Each year members of the group have an annual retreat. But this is no mountain top experience, the group lives on the streets of San Francisco's Tenderloin district and lives with the homeless, gaining a better understanding of how marginalized this segment of society has become.

Faithful Fools Street Retreaters

In fact this was how I met Susan, through one of her groups retreats, as they often come to Martin's (the kitchen that I work at), to eat, take a shower, and just relax.

But I digress.

So, I see Bob and I say;

"Hey Bobby hows it goin'?"

"Hey Naj whats new?"

"Nothin' much just workin' away."

We chatted on about various things and then he tells me we have to sit down and sort out next year's long swim schedule. I told him that I was looking forward to really pushing myself and getting ready for 2013. But then the conversation turned a bit odd for me. Bobby asked;

"You know about February 9th right?

"Of course," came my reply.

Oh yeah, I know all about February 9th. That is considered the coldest day of the year around these parts. But I suspect that is more folklore than fact, but I'm not a meteorologist so what the heck do I know.

February 9th is the first Bay to Breakers swim of the long distance swim season. It begins at The Bay Bridge and ends 10.2miles or 18K at Ocean Beach among swells that can be as high as 7-8ft depending on storm systems that are in the area.

I've never swum this course before but had it down as one of the long swims for 2011, maybe in the summer.

Not anymore.

"I want you to do the 9th Naj."

"What?"

"I want you to do the 9th."

"Bobby, it'll be no more than 50-53F/10-11.6C. Do you think I can make that?"

"Do you," he Socractically answered. I stopped and thought about it. I poured over things in my mind rapidly,

'Can you do it?'

'Are you fast enough?

'Did I leave enough water out for my dog this morning'

Well I wasn't sure about whether I could or I couldn't but one thing was for sure, I wouldn't know unless I gave it a try and isn't that what it's all about? I told Bobby that I was going to swim that 18k and give it all I had 'cause in the long run you've got to go out there and try or you'll never know.

This should be interesting and a lot of fun to.

To be continued....

How Far can a swimmer swim?

2010-10-28T16:04:00.000-07:00

Steven Munatones, of The Water is Open penned this interesting article about endurance swimming. For those who are familiar with Steven, I'm sure you'll appreciate his insights. And for those who aren't, tough...no seriously, I hope that you'll get some insight into what it takes to accomplish a marathon swim.

Theoretically, how far could a marathon swimmer swim in one non-stop ultra marathon swimming effort? Practically, swimmers like Susie Maroney an Diana Nyad have come close to finding out with their swims in the Caribbean Sea. The Daily News of Open Water Swimming believes the longest distance and time an adequately trained marathon swimmer could travel is based on the following factors:

1. Water Temperature
2. Sleep Deprivation
3. Watr Salinity
4. Third Spacing
5. Swimmer's Speed and Pacing
6. Swimmer's Personality
7. Speed of the Current
8. Marine Life
9. Equipment
10. Nutrition
11. Body fat index
12. Conditioning
13. Elevation of Residence
14. Age of the swimmer
15. Gender
16. Support crew
17. Luck

1. Water Temperature
Water temperature is important because the water temperature, ideally, would be at least 28°C (82.4°F). However, when the water temperature is in this range, it usually means that the air temperature is at least this warm. This amount of warmth can be a detriment to the swimmer in the middle of the day, but quite welcomed at night.

2. Sleep Deprivation
Sleep deprivation is more of a safety issue in the water than it is for endurance athletes on land. On land, you can wobble and crash if you fall asleep or even move in a bit of a slumber, but in the open water, this is not possible. Once the swimmer's vision becomes narrower and things appear dark or tunnel-focused, they are entering a danger zone. Additionally, in warm water, a swimmer would tend to get sleepier faster than in cooler water, another limiting factor.

3. Water Salinity
The salinity of the water is a major factor because the skin's pores and orifices (especially in and around the mouth) become severely irritated.

4. Third Spacing
There is also the factor of Third Spacing where your body naturally expands after being submerged for lengthy periods of time which will affect your physiological performance over time.

5. Swimmer's Speed and Pacing
The speed of the swimmer is another factor. An individual with an efficient swimming stroke has an advantage over others. But more importantly, it is important that an athlete be able to pace themselves well.

6. Swimmer's Personality
Swimmers who do marathon swims are a special breed who can mentally remove themselves from the task at hand. Because their vision and hearing is impaired due to their position in the water, a steely type of personality is required.

7. Speed of the Current
One reason why swimmers like Diana Nyad swim FROM Cuba TO Florida is because she rides the Gulf Stream. The reason why Martin Strel swims down rivers is because he has taught himself to dose off while floating (while his support team closely follows). A swimmer looking to set a distance record would be wise to select the location wisely.

8. Marine Life
Marine life is a consideration. Swimmers will definitely want to avoid jellyfish, sharks, Portuguese Man-o-War, sea nettles, sea snakes or the like.

9. Equipment
Use of a wetsuit, hand paddles and fins would obviously be easier than swimming under the traditional rules of the sport. Equipment also includes illumination that is required for night swimming.

10. Nutrition
Most distance swimmers eat well enough during their swim. Athletes can choose scientifically formulated foods (e.g., gel packs) or normal food (e.g., bread, fruits, chocolate). While swims can be limited by not eating or hydrating enough, it is less clear that swimmers can extend a swim because of nutrition. The fact is that when swimmers are in the water for extended periods, especially salt water, their taste buds are shot and nothing tastes like it does on land.

11. Body Fat Index
Ultra-endurance athletes of any discipline usually have significantly higher body fat percentages than elite marathon athletes (runners or swimmers). Body fat insulates the body, is more buoyant than muscle and enables the body to last longer in the open water. While some endurance athletes lose significant weight in their marathon efforts, carefully monitored marathon swimmers rarely lose significant weight during a swim because they refuel and hydrate often. Because the water temperature of even the warmest oceans is more than 10°F (l2°C) lower than the normal core body temperature, a generous body fat percentage is helpful in the world of ultra-marathon swimming.

12. Conditioning
It is inevitable that the athlete is very well-prepared physiologically to complete an ultra-marathon swim. Training for a 30+ hour swim takes serious training. At the elite level, the athlete's mental outlook is so strong that their body generally gives up before their mind does. This is why seriously committed marathon swimmers - if allowed to by their support crew - are fished out of the water; their mindset allows them to reach their physical limits.

13. Elevation of Residence
Living at high altitude may help; however, it is also true that the higher an athlete lives, the less likely they are to have access to good year-round open water training venues. Training exclusively in a pool at high altitude is not optimal for an ultra-marathon swim.

14. Age of Swimmer
Maturity is most definitely a necessity for ultra-marathon swimmers. While there are always exceptions (Lynne Cox, Susie Maroney), maturity usually comes with age and life experiences. It is much ore likely that the better ultra-marathon swimmers will be over the age of 25 than not.

15. Gender
Many marathon swimming world records are held by men (e.g., Philip Rush, Petar Stoychev, Abo-Heif, Kevin Murphy). But many women have been successful in ultra-marathon swimming (e.g., Diana Nyad, Susie Maroney, Yuko Matsuzaki, Penny Palfrey). However, many scientists state that the female gender are better physiologically at marathon swimming distances.

16. Support Crew
A successful ultra-marathon swimmer will have a support crew with a high navigational IQ. The best escort pilots and teams can get an athlete across an ocean or a lake or down a river much better, safer and faster than an inexperienced crew. The positioning of an athlete relative to the boat and currents, the date of the swim (taking into account full moons and tidal flows), knowledge of the swimmer's abilities and training, and a deep well of knowledge of the body of water are absolutely critical to success.

17. Luck.
Every open water swimmer needs luck in the dynamic environment. The ocean never remains the same and the elements can change the conditions for swimming in a river, bay, lake or estuary. If luck is on the athlete's side, the conditions are conducive to a longer swim. If the conditions deteriorate during the swim, then the chances of doing the ultimate ultra-marathon swim are significantly reduced or eliminated.

We estimate the outer limits of swimming non-stop without sleep in a dynamic environment is 60-80 hours and would best be done swimming/floating downstream in a warm-water river that starts in the highlands (not the mountains) and flows out to the ocean in a non-industrial area. Ideally this fresh-water river would be wide enough where rapids are not an issue (and therefore rocks) and in a location where boat traffic was minimal. Salt water locations would be more challenging, but the tidal flow may be more conducive to a longer swim in the ocean. There are several rivers in the temperate regions of Africa that fit this bill, although several people have swum very long distances down the Mississippi and the rivers in central Europe over the past 150 years.

In an ongoing research project, we are identifying the number of people in the world who have purposefully swum longer than 20 hours non-stop, longer than 30 hours non-stop and longer than 40 hours. From what we have found, the number is not surprisingly small.

This data, of course, does not include all the thousands of sailors, soldiers and slaves who have been unmercifully or accidently caught in the open ocean due to war, accidents, mutiny or cruelty. There are many instances of military personnel who have floated for days before being picked up. General information does not tell us how far these men traveled, but recorded data from American, British, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian or Spanish naval history could shed some light on the most harrowing feats of endurance.

Meet Coach Hosea Holder

2010-10-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

Hosea Holder, is a Pittsburgh area swim coach - of the

Kingsley Stingrays - whose strong philosophy of dedication,

commitment and hard work has created successful competitive swimmers

for more than forty years.

Coach Holder teaching on the pool deck.

It's folks like Coach Hosea Holder, Jim Ellis (Whom the movie

PRIDE is based on), Shuan Anderson,  Jayson Jackson and a number

of others that have helped thousands of young swimmers - not merely

kids of color - to be the best they can be in not only swimming,

but also life. You can check out a great profile on Coach Holder here.

I hope everyone enjoys it.

Keep Swimming!

Go Well Fran Cripen

2010-10-23T09:32:00.000-07:00

FUJAIRAH, United Arab Emirates, October 23. SHORTLY after the FINA Open Water 10K World Cup swim today in the UAE, United States swimmer Fran Crippen, 26, passed away after falling unconscious during the race.

With the water in the mid-to-high 80s, the competitors all finished and noticed that Crippen had not crossed the finish line. Meet management brought in deep sea divers, who found Crippen unconscious just before the final buoy nearly two hours later. He was transported to the Fujairah Hospital and later died according to information provided to Swimming World. Conflicting reports state that he was found dead on the course.

Crippen had shown signs of slowing down during the third lap of the five-lap race. When Crippen did not immediately finish, a fact noticed by teammate Alex Meyer who screamed for help, the competing swimmers rushed back into the water to help with the search.

Information provided to Swimming World demonstrates that the water was likely too hot for the event as several swimmers were treated for heat exhaustion after the race.

This was the last open water swim of the year for Crippen, and he had planned to take a vacation to Italy.

Born in Philadelphia, Pa., Crippen was a member of the illustrious Crippen family who grew up at the Germantown Academy in Fort Washington. Crippen's top finish in the sport came at the 2009 World Championships when he finished third in the 10K swim in Rome. He also won a pair of Pan Pacific silver medals in the 10K at both the 2006 and 2010 editions. In the pool, he won two silver medals at the 2003 Pan American Games in the 400 and 1500 freestyle events. Overall, he has won six U.S. national titles with two in the 800 free, two in the 5K and two in the 10K.

After prepping at Germantown, Crippen swam for the University of Virginia and was an 11-time All-American and two-time Atlantic Coast Conference Swimmer of the Year. More recently, Crippen swam for the Mission Viejo Nadadores.

All three of his sisters have had their own success within the swimming community. Maddy was a 2000 Olympian who swam for Villanova, while Claire in an NCAA All-American for the University of Virginia. Teresa is an NCAA finalist who currently swims for the University of Florida.

Crippen's Facebook page has turned into a memorial today as friends post condolences and memories of how Crippen touched their lives

Happy Anniversary!

2010-10-18T18:19:00.000-07:00

Under The Golden Gate Bridge

October 17th marks two years since I first learned to swim. Did you get that folks? I'm on year number two of my quest. Its been a curious road so far and I've had some great triumphs along the way. For instance, swimming my first Alcatraz with Pedro Ordones - one of a handful of swimmers that has swum Alcatraz more than 500 times - and being given his baseball hat with the the Alcatraz Centurion logo on it. Swimming my first (10k/6miles) marathon swim, from The Golden Gate Bridge to The Bay Bridge on the one year anniversary of learning to swim. And of course my most recent success of swimming from Pt. Bonita to the Bay Bridge (13.4K/8.5miles) back on July 13th of this year, raising over $800.00 for The Josh Project who teach low income and at risk youth how to swim.

But none of this would have been possible without the constant encouragement of friends and family who helped me along the way and for that I am eternally grateful. So, even though i never have been able to say thank you enough, I hope that the mere mention of some of the many people who made my dreams come trues and continue to help me achieve my goals will suffice for now. Below (in no particular order) is a list of the the many peo,ple who have helped and continue to help me come closer to swimming The Cook Strait;

Karen Rogers - My swim coach, friend and swim girlfriend who always greets me with a smile and encouragement in all my endeavors on the water. I love you and thank you and your family for all you do for me.

Bob Roper - My other swim coach and a Bay Area swimming legend. You always are eager to help me on all my swims at any time for absolutely no money. Your generous nature and constant encouragement have kept me in the water on many occasions when I wanted to quit.

Kathleen Finley-Brown - My pacer, motivator and swim buddy stalwart. What can I say, Kat? Your the best...oh and by the way, you are swimming from Stinson Beach to Pt. Bonita next year with me, sharks or not!!!!!

Lynne Cox - One of the greatest open water swimmers in history. Thank you for always being available to answer the many inane questions I pester you with. Your humble spirit, encouraging words and all around giving nature make me proud to be a part of the open water swimming community.

Fast Eddie Peinado - An amazing swimmer, human being and supporter. Eddie, you have always been there to encourage me in whatever way you can. With all you've done (like swimming The English Channel), and other amazing swims, you always manage to be available to talk and offer advice. Thanks buddy, I'm not done tugging your ear!

Susan Petro - he woman most responsible for me swimming in open water and staying with it. Susan you are one of my main inspirations. Thank you for your spirit, love and dogged determination to be a better swimmer and person. You will cross the Channel one day and I will be right by your side the whole way!

and lastly....

Maria Carmen Delgado - Mi amor, my soul-mate, and best friend. You never waver in your support for my dreams. Never have I been so fortunate to have such an amazing woman by my side rooting me one and picking me up when I'm down. I love you more than life itself and feel so deeply honored to call you my lover and dear closest friend :-)

and just a few more thanks,

Lloyd Clarke
Penny Palfrey
Phillip Rush
John Lynch
Rudy Sadleberger
Joe Michael
Ron Chism
Wanda Jean Butts
Jayson Jackson
Shaun Anderson
and - of course - my Sunny girl

Thanks everyone and here's to a new start and more goals achieved!

Welcome

2010-10-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

This past week I attended a screening of a film called, Welcome. The movie was about Bilal, a 17 year-old Kurdish boy from Iraq, who treks across Europe to reach his love in England. When the young boy reaches Calais, France, he begins taking swim lessons from Simon Calmat so that he can cross the English Channel. Things get complicated for Bilal, struggling to survive as an illegal alien in France, and for Simon as he tries to keep authorities from learning about the boy he harbors.

Although the film mainly centers around a humanistic look at illegal immigrants in France, I was struck by the central character, Bilal and his desire to be with his girlfriend. So as not to ruin the film for those who might be interested in seeing it, I will only say this, Bilal had a ton of heart to try and swim The Channel in order to be with his love.

The reason I bring up this movie is for a very simple reason. Every since I first sent in my money to book my spot to swim in 2013, I have continually had images race through my mind about what the conditions might be when I get there and when I am actually swimming? Can I stay in the water for up to 12, 13, 14hrs to accomplish the task? Will I get seasick? Will I be repeatedly get stung by jellyfish? Or - the most I fear - finally begin to believe what others have thought all along that I am not a fast swimmer, and my technique needs help, and its far to difficult a task, and quit?

Every day I have had to battle those thoughts. Every day.

But this morning I woke up and resolved that rather than slink away from those feelings, that maybe I should embrace them. Maybe I should look at all those thoughts as motivators to overcome not only my doubts bu others that doubt me as well.

There is a moment in the film where Simon (Bilal's swim coach) is standing on the pool deck watching his charge struggle to get across a 25 meter pool, arms flailing legs churning water. Finally Bilal gets to the wall and looks up and Simon - exasperated - says to him,

"You know even the best swimmers must be in the water for over 10hrs to cross the channel, right?"

"Yes" Bilal replies with a wide-eyed look and proceeds to swim another length and then another and another, all the while not so much improving his stroke as improving his drive to simply get across to be with the one he loves.

As I watched that scene and then replayed it in my mind this morning, I told myself one thing,

'Buddy, you can make this crossing. You can do it. Just keep working hard.'

You can see the trailer for the film here and I would encourage you to see it if you get the chance. IF I have half the heart that the character Bilal has, then conquering The Cook is achievable.

Project Detroit

2010-10-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

Its been a couple of weeks since I last posted. Hey don't blame me I had an excuse. I was busy hanging out with a gorgeous young woman from Perth, Australia and couldn't tear myself away.

So now I'm back and I just received a wonderful video from Diversity In Aquatics about USA Swimming helping out some local swim clubs in the Detroit area. Though I'm not a fan of USA Swimming I commend them for setting up this program and working with the local coaches and parents to promote the sport of swimming.

Things like this make me smile for the simple fact that it keeps me motivated to pursue my own dream of getting more kids not just in the water but in open water. I hope everyone enjoys the video (watch it here) and that it might spur some on to get involved in their communities with water safety for children.

The Ugly Truth

2010-10-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I never gave much credence to that simply because I could never apply it to something that involved me directly.

However, recently I found out a very harsh reality.

This past Wednesday (September 29th) I had lunch with a swim buddy of mine. While we sat eating our delicious chicken curry we spoke about - what else - swimming and next year's swim schedule. I approached Kat (that's my swim buddy's name for the uninformed) about my "long swim" schedule for next year. We agreed to do the swims together in order to get me more prepared for 2013. And all the while I was quite excited about the whole prospect. That's when reality hit me square in the face;

"Naji?" said Kat.

"Yes sexy girl." I replied.

"Look here moron I told you to quit calling me that!"

"Sorry just thought I'd add some spice to this post. Now what were you about to ask me?"

"I'm excited to train with you, but can I be honest?"

"Of course," I said while gripping the table edge.

"You need to work on your stroke."

"I see."

"You need to get faster so I don't have to slow down as much to let you keep up with me. I hope your not upset with me saying that"

"Of course not. No problem Kat thanks for telling me, Frigginbuttlishflabberwok!"

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

'My stroke? My stroke is fine,' I thought to myself. I know that most folks don't get the Total Immersion method, but it has really helped me out. Granted I didn't know how to swim but at least I didn't have any annoying bad habits to break.

Right?

Wrong, oh how wrong I was!!!

The next day I decided to head to the pool an do some work. I brought along my Flip Video recorder to record my stroke in a controlled environment to get a sense of what I needed to work on.

'Can't be much to work on. I have a good feel for the water. How bad can things be?'

Very bad.

Well not horrible but enough to make me cringe with frustration when I looked at the video. My right arm swung way wide of my body on the recovery phase of my stroke and landed with a thunk in the water rather than piercing it. Every time I rotated my core, I could see my legs serpentining behind rather than streamlining, my head was tp far out of the water when I breathed on my right, my glide was too short, and it appeared as if I struggled to get across the water like a dying man scratching, struggling for his last breath.

I left the pool heartbroken, dejected, angry and humbled. 'How could this happen,' I thought to myself. 'Why was I swimming so poorly?' For the rest of the day I remained in a deep funk, thinking back to the video and what I saw.

A picture is worth a thousand words and this one could be multiplied by ten million. But that night I laid in bed pouring over all that I saw on the video trying to figure out how to correct these things. I determined that no matter what, when I went back to the water I was going to make it my utmost effort to come out a little better swimmer than when I went in.

The next day, Thursrday, I went back to the pool and began to correct some of my mistakes. I brought the video recorder again to monitor my progress. I told myself right of the bat that Rome wasn't built in a day so don't try and do it all at once, just go at a pace where you can focus on one or two tings and ingrain them in muscle memory.

So far there has been moderate improvement, but still more to go. I have decided not to post any videos as of yet until things have improved to where I can show a before and after. Hopefully, by the end of this year, you all will be impressed with the results.

Its hard having to accept that you are not the swimmer you thought you were, but its even harder if you lie to yourself and then find out the hard way after spending countless hours developing bad habits instead of good ones.

This journey that I have embarked on is an eye opener to be sure but I figure in the long run it wouldn't be worth doing if there wasn't any struggle to it.

To be continued...

Darnnit I've Got Some Competition!

2010-09-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

You see this is what happens when you interview "seemingly" harmless young woman. They act all nice, pretty, sweet and and humble about they're accomplishments and then, WHAMOOO! They throw something like this at you. Take a look at the video below.

I'd better get back in the water and train! Darn you Jackie!

Swim Angels across America

2010-09-26T11:58:00.000-07:00

"So your an angel?" asked an inquisitive woman in her wetsuit. "Well, some may debate that but I suppose today I am." I replied. "I hope you'll stay near me I'm a it intimidated by all this." she said motioning out towards the San Francisco Bay as we passed under The Golden Gate Bridge.

Swimmers jumping into the Bay.

We were two of more than 150 swimmers who were taking part in a fundraiser for an organization called Swim Across America. The organization raises money for cancer research by holding various swim events around the US. And on this amazingly postcard perfect day on the Bay, I was asked to be a swim angel and help these some folks who were venturing into open water to swim a mile-and-a-half or one-half mile back to shore.

Essentially my job was to swim alongside those who were a bit unsure of the sea and help them get across. I'd been looking forward to this day for weeks now. I recall the first time I did a swim in open water outside of the cove and how a buddy of my from the club - who is much faster than myself - stayed with me the whole way. He made me feel very safe and really made the swim fun. So, it was only right that I return the favor for someone else.

As the boat moved slowly towards the bridge the race coordinator asked folks to come up and share why they were swimming. Some spoke of friends who had cancer, others of loved ones who had lost the battle, and others to raise more awareness. But all of them had big hearts and no matter why or who they were swimming for, I felt honored to be in their presence.

Finally, the boat swung around and angled so we could step out on the railing for the jump. I'm not afraid of heights, but I'll admit I'm no fan of jumping off boats, but I couldn't let the others down. So when it came time to jump I jumped in with the others.

I felt the water overtake me as I plunged down down down into an abyss. Then, as suddenly as I descended, the sea spewed me back to the surface. As I looked around I didn't see the woman who asked me to swim with her. In fact, no one was around me. "Huh" I said to myself, "what the flim flam is going on around here?" Then, as I looked over to my right I saw a gentleman floating along - and no he wasn't a jumper - bobing up and down in the water.

"Hi" I said, "you okay?"

"Fine" came the reply.

"You wanna swim together?" I inquired.

"Sure" he said as he looked about uncertain as to where he was.

I informed him that we were going to sight off the Palace of Fine Arts, a reminder of The World's Fair that was held in San Francisco back in the 20s.

As I made my way along I looked over to him. He wasn't so much swimming as he was bobbing. I couldn't tell if he was doing the breaststroke or dog paddle but in any case he looked to be a bit uncertain still.

Again I asked if he was ok and again he said he was fine. But his pace and distance never really improved. Finally I asked if he could do the crawl and he said that he had an issue with his shoulder and couldn't. Breaststroke? No. Back? Nah ah. Side? No chance. That's when a motor boat came by and asked if he wanted to be repositioned and he eagerly agreed and got hauled in.

As I looked on the man turned to me and said, "You are an angel. Thanks."

That was the nicest thing anyone's ever said about my swimming thus far.

Jackie Cobell Escapes From Alcatraz!

2010-09-20T12:52:00.000-07:00

I had the absolute thrill of my short swimming career when I received the chance to meet and swim with Jackie Cobell from Alcatraz back to the mainland of San Francisco!

I'll be honest I don;t get star struck but this young woman won my heart instantly. She is a humble, gracious, intelligent and funny woman who can make anyone smile. I don't have to discuss her athletic prowess because that has been proven for the ages.

Here is an interview that a buddy of mine did with Jackie just prior to jumping off a boat and escaping from The Rock;

And here she is getting ready to take the plunge,

Over the course of this past weekend I spent a considerable amount of time with Jackie and her lovely husband David. On Sunday the 19th we rode out to the Golden Gate bridge where she would be swimming the entire span of what is know as "The 8th Wonder of The World," in these parts.

While in route she and I chatted a bit and I asked if at times she felt like quitting the swim due to the rough conditions, shoulder pain, and the constant changing of the tides. She told me that those thoughts did enter her mind but that she would have felt terrible if she didn't give her all and try and finish.

A true athlete in my book.

She even inquired about how my training was going for The Cook. I told her that I would be sitting down with my coach, Bob "Napa" Roper and mapping out the two year plan for taking it on. Jackie listened patiently and then said, "Naji, if I can swim The Channel, you can swim The Cook Strait."

How can I not try and give it my all? How can I not try and make it? If this lovely mother and wife of two daughters, blown out shoulder, who fought against six tide changes, swam the equivalent of 64 miles, in rough water for 24 hrs can do it, then I can't let her down. I can't let Wanda Jean Butts down, whose son's drowning has made me dedicate myself to promoting water safety amongst at risk youth, and I can't let myself down.

As I always tell myself and others, "You'd be amazed at what our bodies and minds can do when we are pushed to our limits and beyond. I think Jackie is proof of that.

Thanks again Jackie, I promise I won't let you down.

Penny Palfrey #41!

2010-09-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

On September 14th & 15th, Australian marathon swimmer Penny Palfrey recently completed the third leg of the triple crown in marathon swimming, becoming the 41st person to do so.

The three legs are, The English Channel, Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, and The Catalina Channel.

Penny has been very gracious in helping me with advice on how to prepare for The Cook Strait - of which she has swum - and has never ignored one of my inane emails bugging her for guidance. Likewise her husband Chris has also been very supportive in my endeavors.

Below is a video that was done of her remarkable 10hr 36min swim in the chilly waters of the Pacific Ocean. Congratulations Penny on another fine swim and good luck with your next adventure!

The Young Woman and The Sea

2010-09-15T17:00:00.000-07:00

I'm a student of history...well not really, I got kicked out of high school, but I still like history. Any time I venture into a new field, in this case swimming, I like to research the achievements of those that have gone before me. Recently I picked up a copy of Glenn Stout's, The Young Woman and The Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered The English Channel and Inspired The World.

Over the last year I have read many accounts by well-known marathon swimmers like Lynne Cox, Penny Palfrey, and explorer swimmer Louis Pugh. And I have been impressed by what these and many other great athletes of the sport of long-distance swimming have accomplished. But there is an advantage that these and many other modern day athletes of the water have had that Ms. Ederle didn't that just astounds me.

In 1926, when Trudy became the first woman to swim The English Channel, and the one to hold the fastest time - man or woman - she did not have the luxury of support that others who regularly attempt The Channel have.

As Stout writes,

"To fully understand the Channel itself, which is unlike any other body of water on the planet. The waters of the North Sea and those of the Atlantic, brought together in a vicious collision taht first created the Channel, have yet to rest. They grasp and pull at everyone and everything that breach their waters. One does not cross the Channel as much as one learns its intricacies and then tries to sneak across before they turn violent and deadly.

"Today, those swimmers who choose to test the waters of the Channel do so for the same reasons that Sir Edmund Hillary chose to climb Mt. Everest - because 'it is there,' a well-defined challenge and a way to test oneself. If the weather cooperates and the swimmer is in adequate physical condition, psychologically prepared to swim for upward of half a day, and can avoid hypothermia, the path across the Channel is well known. Over time the captains of escort boats and swimmers have managed to decode the complicated tides and currents, and modern sports medicine is adapt at preparing swimmers for the challenge through diet and exercise and assisiting them along the way with proper nutrition and fluids.

"None of this was the case in 1926. A true pioneer, Trudy Ederle enjoyed none of those advantages. She did not choose to swim the Channel as some kind of complicated existential test, but for reasons that were both larger than herself and intensely personal. She wanted to swim the Channel, but - at least at the beginning - she did not need to do so."

When some hear that I am planning to swim The Cook Strait, I get a lot of surprised looks as well as words of admiration for taking on such a mammoth task. And to be fair they are right it is a huge task and should not be taken lightly. I need to approach this the same way that Lynne Cox approached swimming in Antarctica, or how the way Penny Palfrey took on the waters of the Hawaiian Islands, taking on jellyfish, sharks and other aquatic life that made the task dangerous and deadly.

Like Trudy, this is not a swim that I "need to do." But the more that I look at the drowning rates of young African American, Latino and Native American children in this country, it has became clear too me that it is something that I "want to do" and it is something that I believe I can do.

So thank you Trudy for paving the way for not only women and inspiring a nation, but also inspiring me to carry on the tradition of pioneering new trails and hopefully leaving a mark so others can go forward.

Not bad for a guy who never graduated huh?

Never The Same Way Twice.

2010-09-08T13:16:00.000-07:00

Every now and again, or rather constantly, I get asked about where I swim. When I tell folks the usual reply is, "So for some reason you lost all your sense of intelligence and decided that swimming with sharks is a fun thing huh?"

First off let me be clear, I didn't have any sense in the first place! And second, it is fun swimming with sharks, dolphins, seals, seeing starfish up close in their natural environment (by that I mean stuck to a piling below a pier), but I'll be honest I'm not wild about the Jellies. Man those guys can leave a mark, at least the big brownish Sea Nettles that are out there some time.

But every since I was young I have loved being near the ocean. True, as I've stated in previous posts I didn't learn to swim till I was 43, but that didn't stop my total intoxication with everything about the sea.

When i was 13-years-old, my first job was working with a Marine biologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, CA. Here I learned all about sea turtles, sea lions, dolphins, albacore (Tuna), and of course sharks. In fact, one of my jobs at this facility was to clean the shark tank every Friday with the sharks still in it! Okay they were bottom feeders and wouldn't bite unless you held them up by their tails and they took a snap at ya, but still...

Under The Golden Gate Bridge Fixing to Swim Across

Often, my boss would take me on sea expeditions to bring back albacore to study in captivity. I would always marvel at the water as we drove further and further from shore. I imagined myself jumping off and diving down deep into the abyss and looking at a new world that only a few of us could imagine exists. But sadly, those opportunities passed me by in my youth.

But luckily, I'm not the sort of person that gives up on a dream, so I took a workshop from Total Immersion Swimming and learned the foundation for an effortless, efficient and fun front crawl, I'm still working on two of the three elements but I've got the fun down pat!

Every morning when my alarm goes off and I crawl out of bed, I realize that the first thing I get to do in the morning, well the thing after I feed my dog, is to go swimming in the Bay! It doesn't matter how cold, hot, windy, rainy, or foggy it is, its always an adventure getting into the water. Someone once said no swims in open water are ever the same ( That might have been me who said it, but I'm not sure, could've been my buddy Leo). Each time I get in I get that same sense of exhilaration that I got the first time I went in. It happens when I pilot as well. I love looking at how the current moves whether its an ebb or a flood. Seeing swimmers look up and smile at me as they experience the sheer joy of being one with the water and nature. Watching the pelicans dive bomb for fish from up high like descending rockets crash landing into Earth with a tremendous splash as I swim alongside them.

Being awed at the emerald blue-green of the water in Santa Cruz as I round the pier from the Santa Cruz Rough Water swim. Even reading about great marathon swimmers like Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel, Lynne Cox a pioneer of open water swimming and good friend who has helped encourage my dreams in long distance open water swimming.

I love the solitary moments when I swim along and stop and look around at the beauty of my fair city and the great views it has; The Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Angel Island, Treasure Island, The Ferry Bldg, and so much more.

I'm sure many will say that swimming in a fresh water lake, estuary, lagoon, or river is just as thrilling, but for me the sea is the place to be. There is no limit to the amount of swims that I can come up with in the ocean. Its fun trying to understand tides, currents, slack water, riptides, and back eddys. What a sight to see a harbor seal rise up and look on at you as you swimming more than likely thinking, "What in the world is that thing doing way the heck out here in my neighborhood?"

I recall a swim I did out near a place called Pt. Bonita which is the furthest part of the San Francisco Bay west of the Golden Gate Bridge. As i was swimming along I noticed a black object rise and fall in the water only showing its curved back and dorsal fin, for a brief second I thought that it might be a visit from a disgruntled resident of The Farallons, but it wasn't it was a porpoise who accompanied me a good portion of the way on my swim. Later I thought to myself, 'Where else can you get that sort of swim partner for free?'

My pint being with this rambling post is that I cannot possibly give a short answer to folks who ask why I swim in the ocean, I doubt anyone could. But what I can say is that it is an amazing feeling, one that I cherish, one that I look forward to every day, year round, and one that is never the same way twice.

7.1 Earth Quake Rocks New Zealand's South Island

2010-09-03T16:13:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine sent me this article below by Ray Lilley of The Associated Press;

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck much of New Zealand's South Island early Saturday and caused widespread damage, but there were just two reports of serious injuries. Looters broke into some damaged shops in Christchurch, police said.

Photo by David Alexander

The quake, which hit 19 miles (30 kilometers) west of the southern city of Christchurch according to the state geological agency GNS Science, shook a wide area, with some residents saying buildings had collapsed and power was severed. No tsunami alert was issued.

GNS Science initially reported the quake as magnitude 7.4, but later downgraded it after re-examining quake records. The U.S. Geological Survey, in America, measured the quake at 7.0.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker declared a state of emergency four hours after the quake rocked the region, warning people that continuing aftershocks could cause masonry to fall from damaged buildings.

The emergency meant parts of the city would be closed off and some buildings closed as unsafe, he said.

Minister of Civil Defence John Carter said a state of civil emergency was declared as the quake was "a significant disaster," and army troops were on standby to assist.

Parker said the "sharp, vicious earthquake has caused significant damage in parts of the city ... with walls collapsed that have fallen into the streets."

Chimneys and walls had fallen from older buildings, with roads blocked, traffic lights out and power, gas and water supplies disrupted, he said.

"The fronts of at least five buildings in the central city have collapsed and rubble is strewn across many roads," Christchurch resident Angela Morgan told The Associated Press.

"Roads have subsided where water mains have broken and a lot of people evacuated in panic from seaside areas for fear of a tsunami," she said, adding that "there is quite significant damage, really, with reports that some people were trapped in damaged houses."

Christchurch Hospital said it had treated two men with serious injuries and a number of people with minor injuries.

One was hit by a falling chimney and was in serious condition in intensive care, while a second was badly cut by glass, hospital spokeswoman Michele Hider said.

Christchurch police reported road damage in parts of the city of 400,000 people, with a series of sharp aftershocks rocking the area. Police officers cordoned off some streets where rubble was strewn about. Video showed parked cars crushed by heaps of fallen bricks, and buckled roads.

"There is considerable damage in the central city and we've also had reports of looting, just shop windows broken and easy picking of displays," Police Inspector Mike Coleman told New Zealand's National Radio.

Police Inspector Alf Stewart told the radio that some people had been arrested for looting.

"We have some reports of people smashing (storefront) windows and trying to grab some property that is not theirs ... we've got police on the streets and we're dealing with that," he said.

Suburban dweller Mark O'Connell said his house was full of smashed glass, food tossed from shelves, with sets of drawers, TVs and computers tipped over.

"She was a beauty, we were thrown from wall to wall as we tried to escape down the stairs to get to safety," he told the AP. "It was pitch black (with the power cut) and we walked through smashed glass everywhere on the floor."

The quake hit at 4:35 a.m. (1635 GMT) shaking thousands of residents awake, New Zealand's National Radio reported.

Civil defense agency spokesman David Millar said at least six bridges in the region had been badly damaged, while the historic Empire hotel in the port town of Lyttelton was "very unstable" and in danger of collapse. Roads, shops and other buildings in rural towns around Christchurch had also suffered damage, with some shop fronts knocked down in the jolt.

Inspector Coleman said residents of the city's low-lying eastern suburbs had been advised to be ready to evacuate their properties, after power, gas, sewerage and water systems were cut by the quake.

Resident Colleen Simpson said panicked residents ran into the street in their pajamas. Some buildings had collapsed, there was no power, and the mobile telephone network had failed.

"Oh my God. There is a row of shops completely demolished right in front of me," Simpson told the Stuff news Web site.

Another person from Christchurch, Kevin O'Hanlon, said the jolt was extremely powerful.

"I was awake to go to work and then just heard this massive noise and 'boom,' it was like the house got hit. It just started shaking. I've never felt anything like it," he told the news Web site.

Christchurch International Airport was closed after the quake as a precaution, as experts prepared to check the runways and terminal buildings, a spokesman said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said "no destructive widespread tsunami threat existed, based on historical earthquake and tsunami data."

New Zealand sits above an area of the Earth's crust where two tectonic plates collide. The country records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year — but only about 150 are felt by residents. Fewer than 10 a year do any damage.

Dave Barra Swims The English Channel!

2010-09-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

In a time of 14hrs, 27mins, and 20secs, Dave Barra completed his dream of swimming The English Channel.. I had the honor of meeting Dave last year when he swam a 10K with me from The Golden Gate Bridge to The Bay Bridge. I should clarify that we both swam the 10K on the same day, however I swam a solo and he with a group from The Olympic Club...also I had a 20 minute head start, but I digress

Dave is also a coach for Total Immersion Swimming and has been one of the people - along with his wife Claire - that have encouraged me and given me good advice about promoting water safety in at risk youth. So today, I send out a big hooray for Dave and his crew for succesfully joining an elite club of swimmers who dream big and achieve bigger.

Congratulations Dave, you've earned it!

Celebrating History!

2010-08-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

Today August 25th marks the 135th anniversary of Captain. Matthew Webb's historic crossing of the English Channel. Using the breaststroke Webb stood on the shores of France after being in the water 21hrs 55mins and making him the first person to successfully cross the Channel.


Captain. Matthew Webb

I have read several books on Webb's accomplishment and all that he overcame during the swim in order to succeed, but in addition to the 135th anniversary of this amazing feat I am even more heartend that it is also the anniversary of the 220th crossing of the Channel.

What's that?

Why would the 220th crossing be so special?

Well let me just say that any attempted crossing whether successful or not deserves kudos, but the reason why I am pointing number 220 out, is that Charles Chapman was the one who did it.

Who's Charles Chapman?

Chapman is an African American marathon swimmer and the first person of African decent to cross the Channel in 1981.

So, your still not impressed huh?

. Chapman was the first person of African decent to cross, doing it in 13hrs 30mins.


Charles "Tuna" Chapman

I read about Charlie "Tuna," and listened in awe as a friend of mine who is close to "Tuna" (that's his nickname by the way), told me about his swim and the challenges he overcame to conquer the swim. Like I wrote above, just trying the darn thing is impressive enough, but to have overcome the perception that Blacks can't swim much less long distances is pretty impressive.

When I think of the amazing journeys that these two men, and so many other women and men, have overcame to see their dreams through, how can I not try and make The Cook my Everest and who knows, maybe somebody will be inspired by what I've done as Webb and Chapman have done for me.

So as you enter the water today remember to thank these two and so many others for inspiring us to go further than we every thought possible.

The Blame Game: Pilots and Swimmers

2010-08-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

One thing that I really enjoy doing is helping folks out on their swims. I'm often asked by other swimmers at my club to pilot in a motorized Zodiac or a sit-on top kayak.

Piloting a test swim under The Golden Gate Bridge

For those unfamiliar with piloting it basically comes down to guiding a swimmer from one destination to the other in the fastest and safest possible route. Further, a pilot makes sure that other boats, are aware that a swimmer is in the water nearby and proceed with caution. Its a job I cherish and enjoy doing.

Throughout the nearly two years that I have been piloting swimmers, I have gained invaluable information regarding tides and currents and knowing what best to sight on in a particular course.

There are however occasions when I've been on the water and a rude swimmer will not listen to any directions I give. I'm no expert, but if I know that someone is drifting off course its my job to get them back on track. I remember an Alcatraz swim last fall where a fellow South End member told me to "f#&k off!" after I told him that he was drifting too far west, "Listen j&$k-a@#s, I've been swimming out here for 20 years I don't need your advice!" Now I'll be honest with you I am a former Golden Gloves boxer with an impressive amateur record, I've never been knocked out or knocked down and I have a straight right that feels like you've been clubbed by a freight train. So when this guy began yelling at me, I was impressed with how cool I remained and didn't engage with him. I merely, looked over to the lad pilot in a Zodiac and told him that I would move on to another spot and let this guy alone.

Back at the club a short time later, several people came up and thanked me for piloting the swim. I told them it was my pleasure and I would do it again any time. Of course the one that yelled at me came up and acted like nothing had ever happened, but I told him that attitudes like his make me rethink about going out there and volunteering again.

He said that because I stopped him he wasn't able to be first in the race and that it was my fault. Again, as my temper began to rise, I amazingly managed to walk away and let him live. So it's not too surprising when I receive an email about a man who was attempting to swim The English Channel and break the fastest time and failed to do so. No surprise there, the fastest time is under 7 hours! But what took me by surprise was that this guy blamed his pilot because the pilot didn't start the swim earlier!!!

Huh???!!!!

Folks, one thing I have learned about marathon swimming is that a pilot can guide you across, pick good tides, and make sure that he gives you the best possible chance to succeed. However, a pilot cannot control the weather, if winds suddenly pick up out of nowhere, how long a swimmer takes to feed and stops in between, and most importantly how fast a swimmer is. If a swim fails, nine times out of ten the reason is due to either bad weather or a swimmer, rarely a pilot.

These guys don't make a bundle doing these crossings. They barely cover gas, and a few pennies for crew. Never-mind boat repair, making sure a swimmer is safe, cheering them on, and staying out as long as the swimmer can go on, all for the exact amount the two of you agreed upon.

I've heard folks complain about how expensive marathon swims are, how the cost should be cut down and on and on. Well remember, we don't have to do this guys and gals. We don't have to swim The English Channel, Catalina, Manhattan Island, or Cook Strait. We don't have to take up a man's time from making money fishing, being with his family, or pursuing other things, but we do and they allow us to do so. And we should thank them for being there not criticize them when things don;t go our way.

Look, I'm no super swimmer and never will be, I've been pulled from a ton of swims in my short swim career and and have felt lower than lo afterward, but one thing I'm proud is the fact that I never blamed my pilot. I never blamed my coach, nor those darn harbor seals that seem determined to bump into me all the time. No I hold the mirror up to myself and know it's my job to finish.

So for me, when I step into those waters off the coast of Wellington, NZ and look across towards the South Island, I'm going to be happy to see my pilot Phillip Rush guiding me along. 'Cause if I make it, I'm going to give him all the credit and if I don't, I know where to place the blame.

I hope I always remember just how important a kayker, boat or Zodiac pilot can be.

From AT&T to Aquatic Park: A Swimmer's Tale

2010-08-14T17:41:00.000-07:00

From where i was standing, you could see the right field wall where Baseball slugger Barry Bonds launched so many home runs into McCovey Cove. This morning was another overcast August day in San Francisco, not much different than the other overcast summer days in my fair city.

But today I wasn't so down about the weather. In fact, I was a bit excited about getting into the water. This morning myself and 26 other members of The South End Rowing Club swam from McCovey Cove - the picturesque spot that the San Francisco Giant's AT&T Park overlooks - to Aquatic Park. A distance of roughly five miles.

But as excited as i was to swim, I also had a twinge of anxiety. I always do before any outside the cove swim, (\when I say outside the cove I'm referring to Aquatic Park), but I made a promise to myself to push my boundaries farther, lets see what this ole' bod can do.

The swim began at 7am and myself and a buddy of mine, Gary Augilar, were deemed the slowest swimmers and thus were paired up together in a pod. The "less faster" (note: less faster is code for slow) swimmers as they called us, began swimming first, followed by those who were quicker than us and on up to people who you swear have motors attached to their butts going last.

As we got out of the cove and headed into the bay the water was a balmy 61F with no wind and only mild swells. Gary and I swam on and were blessed to piloted by another good friend of mine Joel Schwartz. Passing under the Bay Bridge I turned on my back for a moment to look up at the thing, it was sight to behold. Then, as I knew would happen, all the "less slow" swimmers began to shoot by me and Gary, but on we pressed just taking our sweet time and enjoying the ride.

As we neared the landmark called The Ferry Building, the water began to get a bit lumpy. Now I think I should let you know that I love swells and waves, those can be great fun out in the ocean, but I gotta say me and the lumpiness don't seem to get along. Before I knew it I was getting socked around pretty good. I breathe bilaterally so I had plenty of air but on some occasions I would end up swallowing a mouth of salt water. But all throughout, Gary and Joel were there to guide me along and encourage me to keep going.

As time went on, it seemed obvious that Gary was getting cold do to having to swim slower because of my speed. So a decision was made for him to go ahead with his own pilot and me and Joel would press on together.

All the while I'm thinking, 'Don't quit, keep going. Sure its tough being the slowest, but its harder being a quitter.' So, I pressed on until I got to an area know as the breakwater and that is where, sadly, I ran out of gas and had to be picked up by a Zodiac.

My swim was over.

I had made a choice to not eat before the swim to see how I would do on an empty stomach for a prolong period of time out in the bay. I had done this sort of thing in the cove but never outside of it and I found my answer right away; 1hr 31min was my time for the nearly five mile journey.

And even though I cam up about a half mile short of my goal, I realized something, 'I'm not starting to realize, very slowly, that the more swims I do in tougher conditions, the more time I spend outside the cove swimming and taking on different challenges, the more I push myself, will lead me to that chance that I am working towards; swimming The Cook.

28hrs 44mins and 64 miles to France!

2010-08-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

I'm sure many - if not all of you have heard - of the British mom of two who swam from Dover Beach to Calis France on a record pace. Jackie Cobell became the record holder for not only the longest solo swim across The English Channel (28hrs 44mins), but also a person of unimaginable endurance!

Jackie is my new source of inspiration. Every time I get bored of training or try to convince myself to get out of the water and into the hot sauna, I think of what she endured in The Channel and raising money for Huntington's Disease and never quitting. That's what keeps me going day after day, remembering that my one small act of swimming this Strait just might inspire kids of color to become water safe.

So thanks Jackie!

And the really cool part about this is that I will have the honor of meeting her next month in September when she comes to swim Alcatraz courtesy of The South End Rowing Club!

Who knows, maybe she and I can swim together, though knowing my speed she'll beat me back to Aquatic Park and be showered and dry!

Where are we?

2010-08-05T09:57:00.000-07:00

Relatives mourn the lost of drowned six teens in Shreveport, LA

I intended to write about my discovery of how I learned to swim faster. I wanted to make today's post a humorous one about how everyone blows by me in the water - even my buddy's dog - but I can't do that today. Not when six teenagers lost their lives in shallow water of the Red River in Shreveport, LA.

Two families had brought their kids to the river for a day of bar-b-que and fun near the water, but the fun turned to horror when one teen slipped on a ledge and plummeted into deep water. The boy's friends tried to rescue him even though they too didn't know how to swim and found themselves in water that was some 20 to 30ft deep.

Relatives looked on helplessly as the six screamed for help, then disappeared into the water's black abyss on Monday August 2nd.The oldest of the six was 18 and the youngest 15, gone now just six more statistics in the rising rate of African American drownings.

I feel for the young ones lost, their families, their loved ones, their relatives and neighbors, but more importantly I feel angered that six more preventable deaths by drowning are gone.

USA Swimming reports that 69% of African American children have little or no swimming ability...69%!!! That means that the tragic events that happened this past Monday will continue to occur unless we teach our children that this is a vital life-skill. Too often I've heard folks say that it's too expensive....HA! I can give out a number of places where someone can learn to swim for free. Too often I've heard that if, 'I keep my kids away from the water they'll be alright.' Hows that going to happen? You live on a planet that is two-thirds water and even standing at the beach in ankle deep, or relaxing in a bathtub can cause drowning to happen.

Water is all around us, there is no escaping it.

Where are we on trying to pass legislation that makes water safety mandatory for all?

Where are we as a country that says it is promoting a healthy lifestyle yet has more obese people than any other country in the Western Hemisphere?

Where are we as people of conscience when needless deaths like this occur?

Where are we?

I read a quote from a friend of the two families who lost children on that tragic August day, "None of us could swim...They were yelling 'help me, help me. Somebody please help me.' It was nothing I could do but watch them drown."

She's wrong, there is something we can do, but we need do it as a whole and make sure that this sort of tragedy is not visited on other families.

Do You know the way to Santa Cruz...I mean the pier?

2010-08-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

"We're lost!"

I looked over at my buddy Norman as he pounded the steering wheel of his Volvo, cursing under his breath,

"We're lost Naj, and we're gonna miss the swim!"

Norman and I had made the 2 hour journey down to Santa Cruz, CA to swim in the annual Santa Cruz 1 mile Rough Water Swim.

The swim is a beach start and swimmers swim out and around the Santa Cruz Pier and back to the beach on the other side.

Norman was smart and had managed to pre-register for $25.00. As for myself? Well - unlike Norman who has an MBA and is a successful CPA - I was going to be saddled with paying 30 bucks for late registration. But at the moment it didn't seem like either of us was going to get to swim because we couldn't find the darn pier!

We went here there and everywhere. We asked a middle-aged couple for directions but that didn't pan out; we tried a biker with a very stylish gold earring in his left ear (Hey I notice these things okay!), but that was a bust; then , finally, we came across a man who had just gotten into is truck and asked him for help. The man kindly told us we weren't that far from the pier and gave us a good route to take.

When we finally saw the pier, Norman and I found parking, hopped out of the car, with bags in tow and ran (as best as two out of shape guys can) to the beach. By the time we got to the start, the first wave of swimmers had just gotten into the water and the second wave was less than 3 minutes from there start.

As we got closer to the pack we spied several friends from the South End Rowing Club,

"Hey where the heck have you two been?" my friend Trudy asked.

"We got lost getting down here and missed registration." replied Norman gasping for breath as he spoke.

"Well get your gear on we're about to start!"

Norman and I looked at each other a bit unsure. We hadn't registered, we didn't have a number on our arms like the others, and we would have a recorded swim from the race. But then we thought, 'heck we came all this way it'd be a shame to come back with dry swim trunks.' So, off we went when the second wave was told they could start.

The race was on!!

The water was about what I had imagined it would be....wet, and also about 58F (14C). For the first time in my swimming life I was in an actual race. I have to be honest I'm not a competitive person. Never have been...well that's not entirely true, you get me an air-hockey table, some Dr. Pepper and a life time supply of Lemonheads as a prize and it's on!!!!!!

But I digress.

Anyway, I started out in my normal fashion slow then tapering off, but my objective wasn't to win. Heck my objective wasn't even to swim it was to get out of paying the entry fee, just kidding. Serioulsy, my objective was to find a rhythm and keep going.

The water was a crystal clear emerald green. I could see my arms as they pierced the salty liquid and I could also see my competition flying by me at an alarming rate. But like I said, I'm not competitive.

After 48 min, I managed to come out of the water unaided and in tact. By the time I had gotten out, most of my South End buddies were already high and dry, sitting around chatting as I stood nearby shivering being offered hot tea by my buddy George.

In the end, I was happy that I never stopped throughout the whole swim and just kept going until I reached land on the other side. It might not seem like a big achievement to those of you reading this but in a small way it is. For one I had never swam down in Santa Cruz before, and secondly I could have easily quit, but I knew that to accomplish what I'm trying to do for not only myself, but also for my community, how could I quit?

I must say that I had a blast swimming in the ocean though, and being with good friends was nice as well. As for next year, I'll be back, and more than likely I'll ride down with Norman again, but next time I'm going online and getting directions from Mapquest that's for darn sure!

PS I never did pay that registration fee. I'll make it a point to pay double next year, scout's honor.