Sunday, June 21, 2015

Open Water Swimming & Social Media--#OWS #socialmedia #instagram #facebook

It kinda crept up on me but social media postings would say that the last seven days were quite active for me and open water swimming.

Allow me to quickly recap the week in open water swimming via social media.

On Saturday June 13th it was the Doty Swim in Southie at the L Street Bathhouse. It's a fun, very low key mile swim to honor Jim Doty (I never met him) a legend in swimming the waters in and around Boston.  It has seemingly become a tradition as I have participated the last three years. The water was a brisk 57 degrees. It took few moments to get use to but once acclimated it was no big deal.

While I knew quite a few people at the event I went with my trusty MIT friends Katie and Josh. Below are two pics taken of us and our "likes" on Facebook.

55 "likes"

31 "likes"

Next up was a quick trip to Compo Beach in Westport on June 15th before a business meeting in Westchester.  It was 50/50 the night before that our morning swim would actually take place as there was a big storm was to hit in the early morning. My intrepid open water friend Andy and I , were the only ones that showed up at beach at 6:00am. I guess the torrential downpour 30 minutes before scared everyone off. The skies were quite threatening and the water was 61 degrees (much better than Southie). We ventured forth anyways made our way out to the white buoys which are well beyond the legal swimming area. When we got to the "whites" we looked back and my friend Trevor from the English Channel swum out to join us.  We swam for nearly 45 minutes. Great morning.

Below is a pic I took of Compo post swim and posted on Instagram.

7 "likes"

The last open water swim of the week was the Mashpee Super Swim in Johns Pond on Cape Cod. I had never done this swim before but had heard great things about it. I carpooled early in morning with my friends Katie, Elaine and Rachel to Johns Pond. It was shaping up to be a beautiful day and Johns Pond is not a pond but more like a big lake.  I signed up for the 3 mile swim which was three big loops.  The clear water was a very comfortable 68 degrees and I was able to draft off a friends toes for the first lap and a half-very nice.  My time was 1:09:19 which I was generally happy with. It is an average of 1:19 per 100. I think I can improve upon that.

My fellow car poolers are quite adept at photography and social media so there were a lot of pics posted. Below are a handful of the pics taken and posted on Facebook.

31 "likes"

30 "likes"

This last picture of me running onto the beach was taken by a friend. There are no "'likes" for this photo but then of course it was not put on social media! I just like it.

0 "likes"

Social media certainly may not be the end all be all, but I have found it quite useful in following my swimming adventures and others across the globe. It is a great source to find new worldwide swims and friends!

Saturday, June 13, 2015

#swimmersarejustnicepeople

Wow-what a week for nice people and swimming!

This week work found me in Chicago for a couple of days. When I texted my good friend Pat for lunch he said I know exactly where we will go. We went to Lou Malnati's Pizzeria on State Street for deep dish pizza which is always good but....that isn't what made it so awesome.  USA Swimmings philanthropic arm Swimming Saves Life Foundation was having their Make a Splash luncheon.  Make a Splash's is a child focused water safety campaign that aim to provide all children the opportunity to learn how to swim.  The stats centered around not knowing how to swim are staggering.

--Ten people drown each day in the United States.
--70% of African American, 60% of Hispanic and 42% of Caucasian children have little to no swimming ability.
--Children from non-swimming households are 8 times more likely to be a risk of drowning.
--Drowning is preventable.

To bring attention to this issue the event was hosted by Olympian Rowdy Gaines (my swimming hero. See blogpost 1/18/15) and three Olympians Cullen Jones, Jessica Hardy and Conor Dywer (my friend Pat's son).

It was so fun to walk in and see Pat, Jeanne and some of their family. They are nicest family and seem to know everyone in Chicago.  Pat introduced me to Rowdy and we visited for awhile. He is such a nice and personable guy. Totally engaged and fun to be around! We took the requisite picture of the three of us and sent it to our friend Olympian Janet Evans.


There was a short program with opening commentary by Rowdy along with a video and then a panel with the Olympians. They shared their thoughts on the importance of swimming in their lives and the importance of this cause followed by a Q&A by the audience.  In Rowdy's comments in addition to the importance of kids learning to swimming he talked about the personal relationships and friendships borne out of swimming. Nothing could have ringed more true to an audience of probably 40+ mostly master swimmers. They were all so nice (I would expect that though of a group that was made up of a lot of Dwyer friends).  Rowdy said, "swimmers are just nice people" a couple of times in his comments. It is so true!


I am so blessed to have the swimming family and friends I have.  My life would be entirely different without them. The Dwyer's are at the top of the list.

Looking forward to thinking about how I can help with this important cause.

#swimmersarejustnicepeople

Sunday, June 7, 2015

#68 Thoreau Club, Concord, MA--Fit & Faster Swim Clinic

The alarm went off this morning at 6:09am to make a 6:45am Saturday morning workout. I hit the snooze and rolled over. I just needed another 30 minutes or so of sleep. Sadly, I didn't sleep as I tossed and turned feeling guilty about not going to practice. Finally I reached the point where it wasn't even feasible to try and make the workout.  I turned to social media to distract me from my guilt and I stumbled upon the Fit & Faster Swim Clinic sponsored by Swim Outlet. The Thoreau Club in Concord hosted the event.  It was a clinic focusing on distance and open water swimming taught by two Olympians Connor Jaeger and Christine Magnuson.  So I decided to sign up. The icing on the cake was that started at 1:00 (I could lay in bed longer) and it would count as a new pool-yay!


There were 25 attendees and they ranged from 8-69 years old. There were a handful of people in their 50's and for many of them distance/open water swimming was pretty new to them.  That's alright I was just there for fun and a new experience.  We started off with some dryland exercises to warm us up and then into the pool for an easy warm up.  Connor and Christine took turns instructing us on a variety of drills for pool swimming and then we moved on to open water.  There were some new drills I learned which will be fun to try out in the future.  They were both outgoing and shared anecdotes that made it interesting for all to learn. At the end we swam in heats and raced against the Olympians before a Q&A session. 


All in all, it was a fun several hours. I met some Olympians, had fun interactions with some new people and picked up a few new drills. Oh yeah and I hit pool #68 at the Thoreau Club--beautiful setting with two outdoor 25 yard pools.