Practicing Open Water Swimming in the Pool!

Can you really do it? Can you practice Open Water Swimming in an Indoor Pool? Well, Coach Rich and Coach Bob, (pictured below), were more than willing to give it a try as they hauled out two orange open-water buoys and anchored them to the bottom of Norton Pool. 



Did their very novel idea work? You bet it did! Just take a look at the You Tube footage below,  (there are two films available), -- it was almost like swimming in Huntington Bay or Cold Spring Harbor -- just 30 plus degrees warmer! And, oh yes, there were lane lines!

LI half Marathon Local Huntington Area Results

The Long Island Half Marathon was held again this year on May 4, 2008. Below are the results for some local runners (a few are swimmers too!)

Name.......... Place..... Time

Nancy Aboff.......... 137..... 1:34:01

Greg Linakis.......... 268..... 1:39:52

Nancy Lipira.......... 543..... 1:47:32

Roger Levin.......... 704..... 1:51:20

Eileen Knauer.......... 1118..... 1:58:27

Lynn Perzeszty.......... 1143..... 1:58:44

Lisa Kristel.......... 1144..... 1:58:44

Leslie Levchuk.......... 1249..... 2:00:34

Colleen McManus.......... 1283..... 2:00:56

Steve Kristel.......... 1376..... 2:02:35

Going for Olympic Gold in Open Water Swimming

This August, the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, China will feature a long-distance open-water swim -- a 10-kilometer race about seven times longer than the previously longest Olympic swim -- the 1,500-meter swim.

A big thanks to Nancy for the "tip" about this story -- read it, you won't be disappointed!

You can read all about what promises to be a bruising new Olympic event in a news story from the Wall Street Journal written on April 18, 2008 by By KEVIN HELLIKER at.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120847591898524775.html

If you are interested in open water swimming, you may also want to check out the 10kswim.com website at: http://10Kswim.com

Nancy Lipira's running to find a cure for Leukemia -- and YOU CAN HELP!

On June 23 2008, Nancy will be running in the Alaska Marathon for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. How can you help? Nancy will be at the pool Sunday April 13, 2008, Monday morning in the gym, or Tuesday morning April 15th lap swim.

A $20 donation gets you a raffle ticket for (1st prize -$1000, 2nd prize $300 and 3rd prize $200) and, more importantly, makes you a hero for helping save lives. So get down to the Y on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday and let free that moth-eaten twenty! In doing so you will be supporting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s mission: to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, & myeloma and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

Huntington YMCA Tri Group Second Annual Swim Meet

Thanks to Bob Miller, (with a little help from his friends), the Huntington YMCA Triathlon / Masters Group held it's Second Annual Swim Meet on Sunday, April 6, 2008. The 4-lane Norton Pool at the Huntington YMCA was the site for this well-attended event. See pictures and video below:

Swim Advice and Instructions are always a good idea at this "learning" meet -- thus the video below just might serve as an on-going refresher course:


Here's a video of the First race of the swim meet!

Everybody is looking relaxed and happy in the picture above -- but check the video below and be sure to watch it till the very end -- that's when you'll find out just how most people feel after doing a 100 IM -- listen for the words "I feel horrible!"

I was about to feel horrible also as my right hand man Rob got up from the scorers table to swim in the 50 Breast. Than goodnes he swam it fast and made it back to the table before last year's confusion broke out all over again. But Rob was back before the Relay's started and here's a video (below) of the first relay that had all 4 lanes filled and just about everyone up swimming and cheering!

And who won? The Green Team or the Orange Team? Well, not that it really makes any difference since everybody who swam won just by trying -- some for the very first time -- but just to keep the record straight... the Final Score was:

Orange Team 113 and Green Team 128!

But wait... What about the Relays?

The Orange Relay Team received 30 points and the Green Relay Team received 22 points so, the Final tally is:

Orange Team - 143

Green Team - 150

Coach Bob was heard to say, "Wow! What a close meet, eh? So, Richie's team won...lucky, just lucky! Verrrrrrrrrrrrry close, eh? Richie did have more swimmers than me, though...haha. (Wait till next year!)."

Save The Date: Sunday July 13, 2008

Believe it or not, Sunday, July 13, 2008 is just around the corner. So now is the perfect time to get out your calendar and SAVE THAT DATE! Save it for the Annual 5K Open Water Championship in beautiful and challenging Huntington Bay, New York. All US Masters or USA Swimming registered swimmers are eligible.

For early information, you can go to http://www.metroswimming.org

and "click" on the Calendar, then on Summer 2008. SUMMER'S COMING!

A Typical Saturday Morning Workout: March 29, 2008

The early Spring sunlight was streaming in through the windows and the pool water was just about perfect for a Saturday morning workout at the Huntington Y. And just what is a "typical workout" at the Y? Well, it usually involves a bit of talking and catching up as some of our Saturday/Sunday Swimmers have jobs in the city which prevent them from joining in the fun on Monday thru Friday 6AM till 7:30AM -- and then there's the actual swimming which usually goes about 2,500 to 4,000 yards depending on skill level and the amount of "catching-up" chat that is being done!

Scott, Rich, Sal and Paul take a break between sets. Scott had already been out running and Paul -- well, if we let him, he'd probably run all day long! Speaking of Scott, see if you can spot his underwater smile in the video below:

Coach Bob was on the deck so I asked him to take a picture so I could finally get in one -- see below.

A little fuzzy you say... I think that I'm going to have to give Coach Bob some picture taking pointers -- like maybe no red wine the night before! L-R is Sal, Mike (the author), Rich, Scott, Don and Paul. Here's another video of the guys swimming in a row -- audio included by request of Rich: