Of One Hour Swims, Blizzards & Things...

Well the end of January is sure going out with a bang.

January always brings the One Hour Postal Swim.  The One Hour Postal swim is a USMS organized event where masters swim clubs across the country encourage team members to see how far they can swim in one hour.  The total yardage is added up for the all LMSC's and the one with the most yardage wins.

Our Tech Masters one hour swim was on January 25th.While I had been feeling poorly the few days before and was taking medication for bronchitis I had to--get it done.  I swam side by side with my faithful sidekick KT. We banged out 4355 yards which was ok. It was one of the final criteria that I needed to complete for my application for the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim this summer.  We shall see if it was far enough for me to qualify for the race versus a solo swim.

I hope the New England Masters wins the One Hour Swim challenge again!

The other big news of late January is Juno the Blizzard of 2015. There was talk over the weekend of a storm but by Monday the state was preparing for what was being touted as an epic storm.  On Monday night the 26th a travel ban was put in place that lasted till midnight on the 27th. It was a real good storm. It snowed and it snowed all night and then all day on the 27th. I would guess we got near 30 inches of snow--it was pretty crazy! We had Macu here our Argentinian exchange student here so it was very fun to see his reaction. 

Cabin fever set in around dinner time so it was time for a quick snow swim!I donned my stars&stripes budgies, Four Buoys & a Girl cap and goggles and took the plunge.  It was a bit brisk and the snow was very light and fluffy which made for a nice swim.

Nothing like shaking it up on a snowy night before a dinner of fondue du fromage and chardonnay.

January 2015 started off well...can't wait to see what the rest of the year has in store.

Both Side of the Lane Line...Swimmer Magazine

The recent issue of U.S. Masters Swimming magazine came earlier this week. I always look forward to its arrival with its short articles on training, nutrition, stroke technique and swimming in general. This issue was especially exciting as on the cover it had one of my all time swimmer heros on it--Rowdy Gaines. Rowdy was certainly a swimming great in his time winning 3 gold medals in the 1984 Los Angeles, Olympics. He continues today as a great ambassador for the sport. While I have never met Rowdy (I hope to one day) my friends that have met him or know him well say he is as nice a guy as seems on television.

Also in this issue there was a guest columnist-me. Every issue of the magazine they have point-counterpont article titled Both Sides of the Lane Line.  The hotly debated topic of our issue was the age old question of briefs versus jammers? It was quite natural for me to take "the brief" point of view.  The feedback I have received from readers (friends) was that I presented quite a compelling case. See the article below to make your own decision...let me know by posting a comment on the blog.

Rowdy and I both featured in the same issue of Swimmer Magazine-who would have thunk???

Ringing out the old...and anticipating the new

2014 was a great year and most certainly from a swimming point of view.

My USMS FLOG (fitness log) says I swam 403.44 miles which is basically swimming from Boston to New York City and back (plus a little more). Not bad but there is room for more.

2014 found me swimming with my MIT friends, swimming in 10 new pools both domestically and internationally (Madrid, Barecelona, London, Paris). I was fortunate enough to be part of the Weston High School Red Tide state champion swim team again (three-peat). Some great open water swims in the Boston area and in Maui. The highlight was clearly swimming the Swim Across America Relay across the English Channel. It was such a great and memorable experience in all aspects (see blog post 9/25/2015).

While I am looking forward to the 365 clean pages that 2015 has to offer there are a couple swimming related items I have in mind. They will certainly unfold over time but the one I am most excited (nervous)  for is a probable Manhattan Marathon Island Swim (28.5 miles). There are a few more hoops to jump through but it's looking good! Lots of wood to chop though.

Happy New Years to everyone!

Here is to Growing Bolder every year!