How To Be a Little More Safe on the Water

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Did I mention that Diane and I like to swim up the beach for lunch?  We tow our lunch apparel and funds in a device sold by the International Swimming Hall of Fame.  The ISHOF Safer Swimmer Float is specifically designed to provide a safety aide for open water swimmers, serving three important functions without hindering performance or hindering your stroke.  1) It makes you visible to boaters, jet skiis, kite boarders or other potential human hazards while you are swimming - a little peace of mind on the open water is a good thing.  2)  It can be used as a floatation device when you need it in the case of cramps, dizziness or injury and it can also be used to rescue others - we've been fortunate so far and have not needed this feature. 3) It can also keep your “stuff” safe while you are swimming or allows you to take along your “stuff” on one-way swims across rivers or lakes - yep, this is why we got one. It's a good thing Diane's waist is small enough to get the belt around herself.

How To Prevent Shoulder Injury

I just got back from the United States Aquatic Sports Convention in Greensboro, NC where I attended a very informative and useful seminar conducted by Dr Jim Miller who is very active in both Masters Swimming and FINA. FINA regulates international swimming. I sure don't want to try to explain how FINA, USA, USMS et al fit together. Maybe I'll try that some other time. At any rate, Jim took us through dry exercises which are intended to strengthen shoulders BEFORE injury occurs. He made a point of reminding us that OTHER exercises would be better if the shoulder is already injured. A video of the exercises may be found on the FINA.org website at ....

http://www.fina.org/project/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1435&Itemid=496.

At the Convention, it was made painfully clear to me that despite all the yards and miles I swim, I am not as strong as I could be.  My cardiovascular conditioning is good. My stroke technique is not bad. But my core strength is weak. In the coming months I plan to put more time into dry land exercises and less time into being in the water. And I'll work on shoulder strength as well.

Lake Erie Virtual Swim - How long is a mile?

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So the question is...how long is a mile?  A one mile swim in the pool is 1650 yards.  But we all learned in grade school that a mile is 5280 feet = 1760 yards. Let's call 1650 yards a "pool mile". And let's call 1760 yards a "lake" mile. Open water purists, such as yours truly, use lake miles.  This summer, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, I swam 100.77 lake miles although not all yards were in the lake. For the Lake Erie Virtual Swim, this means I made it across to Canada but did not quite make the return trip to the US. So I will be stranded on an iceberg for the winter. But if I recompute lake miles to pool miles, my mileage increases to 107.49 miles. This puts me on the Cleveland water crib for the winter. This is a choice between a rock and a cold spot. As you can plainly see, swimming is not all about swimming. It's about having fun.

1-Mile Open Water National Championship - Lake Lure, NC

                          From L to R: Doug, Marianne, Diane, Tom, Judi, Gerry, Luise, Julio

                                                         Trying to spell "O H I O "

                                     Tom awaiting the start of his wave - holding his own hand.

                                    Lined up - ready to go - let's get this show on the road.

                                                               Show is on the road.

                             32 minutes later Tom splashes to shore looking for the finish line.

The 1-Mile Open Water National Championship at Lake Lure, NC was a well run event. The weather was perfect. So was the water. Our group of swimmers from Ohio had 3 first place finishes, one second place finish, one fourth place finish and one fifth place finish. This is not bad for a group of eight swimmers. The fifth place finisher was me. My long term plan is to outlive the old guys. So far, it's not working. Apparently, the old guys' plan is to outlive me. 

It was a lot of fun as was the entire trip to Asheville, NC. This just about wraps up open water swimming for this year. We go back inside Wednesday after Labor Day.

Next up is the Aquatics Convention which will be in Greensboro, NC this year.

Lake Erie Virtual Swim after 11 Weeks

Eleven weeks in since Memorial Day. Three weeks to go to Labor Day. I've swum 87 miles. So I've been to Canada, did a flip turn on the rocks, got hung up in the green algae, did not see any Asian carp, and am 30 miles back toward Cleveland. All this for a t-shirt. With a road trip planned next weekend  to Lake Lure, NC for the 1-Mile Open Water National Championship, I anticipate finishing the summer season at about 100 miles. This will leave me well short of home. I may have to spend the winter on the Cleveland water crib which is 5 miles off shore. Maybe I'll be able to watch the planned offshore wind turbines being built. Maybe by the time I finally arrive in the spring, I'll learn that Cleveland has found the funds to fix the sewer system. Maybe not.

Lake Erie Open Water Classic 2012 Report

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Thank you so much for swimming in our 2012 Lake Erie Swim. The weather was difficult. The water was difficult. But we got it in. Each of you should give yourself a pat on the back. The Coast Guard Auxiliary boat reported that the swells were in the 2 to 3 foot range. The Coast Guard Auxiliary boat had to leave the coarse for a short while because one of its passengers got seasick.  What does that tell you. There were 106 swimmers registered, 14 no-shows due no doubt to the weather early in the morning, 2 swimmers checked in but did not start due once again no doubt to the weather, and 6 swimmers did not finish. That leaves 84 finishers. Results of the event may be found at http://www.ohiomasters.com/ohioresults.htm.

You donated $1970 to St Malachi Center. Donations are still coming in so the total will be over $2000. Thank you very much.

Next year we will have separate heats for the wetsuit swimmers. That way we can do a better job of separating the results for Wetsuit swimmers.

The event was sanctioned by United States Master Swimming. We had permits from the State of Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the US Department of Homeland Security/Coast Guard. We employed the services of Club Assistant for online registration and RunHigh for electronic timing. Competitive Aquatic Supply was an event sponsor. The kayakers were invaluable. The life guards were from Huntington Beach and were also invaluable.

Despite the weather, it was a great event. A great time was had by all. Well, almost all. See pictures in next post.

Lake Erie Open Water Swim Was Rugged This Year.

                                            Waiting for the start horn.

                                            A wave comes past just as the swim starts.

                                             Ok. This is fun.

                                             But not that much fun.

                                              Now you see it.

                                                Now you don't. That buoy is 3' high.

                                     The Coast Guard Auxiliary boat kept an eye on the event
                                      which is much appreciated.