#36-A first time for everything

Never in my life have I ever seen a sign like the one below when walking into a pool. 

This outdoor pool was at the Shaw Park Aquatic Complex in Clayton, Missouri. Clayton is one of the nicer suburbs of St. Louis which made seeing the sign even more startling. I still went in nonetheless. It is a very nice complex with a 50 meter pool, diving well with a 10 meter platform and a kiddie pool. 

I swam with the CSP Tide Riders Master team a group that I had worked out with earlier in the spring at another pool in Clayton. It was dark when practice started at 5:15am. This mornings swim was a great way start the day by watching the sun rise on a very hot and humid St. Louis day! 

Not sure I will ever see a "no fire arms" sign again at a pool.

Bang! 

#34 & #35 Sweet...Bittersweet

It's not often that I get to swim in two outdoor pools in one day let alone two facilties so closely associated with the Olympics. Sweet!

The reason I  am in Los Angeles is to drop Ryan off at the University of Southern California for school. Bittersweet.

The first pool was the Mc Donald's Olympic Swim Stadium on the campus of the University of Southern California. This pool was the sight of the swimming and diving competition for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. While it is still a very nice pool the comparison between recent Olympic swimming venues is vast. Currently, the facility is under construction and they are building a world-class aquatic center.

After helping Ryan move into his dorm I had a brief opportunity for a quick plunge in the Los Angeles Swimming Stadium home to the Argue Aquatic Center.  The front facade of the stadium was built next to the Los Angeles Colesium for the 1932 Olympics. There was a recent $30 million renovation of the pool area where there are now two 50 meter pools. With a $2.50 admission it's a great place for inner city patrons to enjoy the water and learn how to swim. 

With any other trip the highlight would certainly be swimming in two outdoor pools in one day. Not in this case.  The clear highlight of this trip was spending time with Ryan as he embarks on this wonderful new chapter in his life. We did a lot in a few days but two things jump out at me. First, USC is very impressive, and everything is first class. Second and even more impressive is that Ryan has jumped in with both feet. 

We are certainly going to miss Ryan in Boston but know that USC is a great launching pad for a very bright and "sweet" future!

Ryan we are all very proud of you-Fight On!

#33-Live and Let Dionis

I bounded out of bed early without the alarm going off as today was the day...to swim Dionis, at our friends the G's house on Nantucket.

The G's are a special family that we have become friendly with because of our girls Courtney and Lucy.  Apparently, Lucy's dad,Grant says that all bald people look like "nuts" therefore I have been affectionately (I hope) dubbed  as Bobert Pistachio. 

Little did I know that nine years ago,when we first met, that the pool at their summer stomping grounds in Nantucket would play a role in my 50th celebration.

It was a relaxing and casual swim today in board shorts with family and friends. Never in my life have I swum with an inflatable pretzel and swan. My goggles are off to the G's, their friendship, good humor and hospitality. I enjoyed them being part of the celebration.

Today was really a day to Live and Let Dionis!

PS-Lucy's dad is also known as Grantert Cashew.  Think about it...

#32-ACK is back!

Family vacation brings us back to Nantucket for a week. When asked where we should spend the last full week before Ryan goes off to college it was a resounding-Nantucket!

Yesterday I swam at the Nantucket Community Pool a short bike ride from our house. While I had my alarm set for 6:30am I was woken much earlier by something much better out the bedroom window-sunrise on the harbor.

I finally made my way to the pool just before 7:00am. The pool is next to Nantucket High School a D2 MIAA swim team. It was my first swim  post Boston Light and I felt a bit stiff. Working out the kinks was good to do. I ended up sharing a lane with a girl that Ryan swam with at Shawmut who will be attending and swimming at Boston College this fall. 

The next pool here in Nantucket is a real treat to be invited to swim in and will be a real delight!

Boston Light Swim 2013-#13BLS

Yesterday was the 106th Boston Light Swim from the oldest light in the United States to the Curley Community Center/L Street Bathhouse in South Beach.  An 8 mile swim through the Boston Harbor Islands a National Recreation Area.

There were 22 solo swimmers and about 6 relays of two to four swimmers. I did it as solo swimmer along with my MIT friends; Jonathan G as a soloist and Katie O and Bill G as a relay. Coach Bill was there to cheer us on. The event requires that every one have their own boat escort and crew. I hired Captain Webb who had navigated this race before. My crew was Ryan Burrow and another MIT friend Heather J. 

Despite torrential rain the day before we had a beautiful day for our swim. We all met at the Boston Harbor Yacht Club to pick up our escort boats and to make our way to Little Brewster Island and the light. It looked pretty good for being rebuilt in 1783 after it was destroyed by the British after they withdrew.

The race started promptly at 9:00 with a long blast of a fog horn and we all jumped in from our boats. It was a bit brisk entering the water around 61 degrees. It didn't take too long to warm up and as the water warmed up through the race to the high 60's it felt pretty nice.  

The first half of the swim took us by George's Island (an old Civil War fort), Rainsford Island and Long Island and under the Long Island bridge. I felt pretty good and smooth in the water. Captain Webb kept a steady course and Ryan and Heather kept me fed every 30 minutes.

 

It was just past the bridge (at roughly 5 miles) and swimming between Moon, Spectacle and Thompson Islands that it got interesting. The wind and boat traffic began to pick up and provided some chop. My right shoulder began to feel a bit wonky too. Rounding the point of Thompson is when we hit head winds of 20mph. The headwind created waves 2-3 feet that were hitting me in the face and I could see my escort boat Nervous Water getting tossed around. It was a bit of a suffer fest the last couple of miles. I knew I would make it but I had to be mentally tough. I was quite happy when I saw the red buoys in front of the white bath house and tried to pick up some speed at the end. I ran up the beach had a lei placed a lei over my head and finished in 3:49. 

Ironically, I finished just behind (17 minutes) after my friend's Katie/Bill's relay. With the rough conditions the race director had to invoke the 5 hour rule and only 9 of 22 solo swimmers finished and a couple relays were pulled too. 

All in all challenging but good day and a great experience to do with Ryan and friends!

May have to try it again!

#13bls

#31: Afternoon Delight...Magazine Beach Bath House, Cambridge, MA

Wow-pool #31 was an unexpected surprise. In fact, it was a delight! Today at lunch I went to the Magazine Beach Bath House on Memorial Drive in Cambridge. For years driving on the Mass Pike near the Allston/Brighton tolls I have seen this pool just across the Charles River and wondered what it was all about. Today was the day to make it happen.

With a little bit of research I found out that this is a pool run by the Department of Conservation & Recreation and is free to the public. It was a beautiful day outside and the pool was basically empty. There were five people in the water with six lifeguards for this 50 meter inner city outdoor pool. I swam an easy 900 in my board shorts and sat on the deck for 15 minutes to soak up the sun and atmosphere. Honestly, it was hard to leave. As I was leaving a bus load of kids were just walking it. Perfect timing.

Driving back to the office, I couldn't help but sing Starland Vocal Band's 1970's hit song Afternoon Delight. #31 was truly an "Afternoon Delight"!

"Sky rockets in flight...afternoon delight!"

#30: No shame...Wightman Tennis Club

In this quest for 50 pools I have no shame in asking friends to let me swim at their clubs. 

This time I imposed upon Coach Bella. She is a friend and fellow coach for the Tide. Along with her swimming prowess she is also an avid tennis player.  I was able to catch up with her after her morning tennis match at Wightman Tennis Center. The club has an indoor pool but also a nice outdoor pool.

Bella and I swam about 2000 yards. We swam, did quite a bit of social kicking and then some funky drills (I wasn't very good at them).

Thanks again Bella. It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning.

I like social kicking!