New Year's Eve 2013: Swim EVERY Event Swim

Paul, Chris and Bill, The "Big Three" of the Monday thru Friday Early Morning Swims, (5:30 to 6:45 AM) decided to mark this New Year's Eve, (December 31, 2013) by swimming virtually every event in a regular swim meet in, more or less, meet order. The swim totaled 5,300 yards and was finished in a little under an hour and forty five minutes. The only concession made was that "swim toys" were allowed -- including fins, pull-buoys and paddles. Quibble if you will with that decision, it was a fun event if not, strictly speaking, a legit Swim Meet. After the 5,300 yards, Bill went off to work, Chris went to take a nap and Paul, (who never seems to get tired), went out to Caumsett State Park in Lloyd Neck for his normal 10 mile run! And, oh yes, it was 21 degrees outside! 

Water Polo Video from December 27, 2013

Water Polo at the Huntington Y, Friday December 27, 2013

Yes, I finally managed to get in a picture (above) if not the Water Polo "match" itself... somebody had to take the pictures! Thanks to Marko (below) for taking my picture and for bringing the ball. A BIG Thanks to Bob Miller and the Huntington Y for setting this time up for us for probably the tenth year in a row (or is it more?). 

We got together on a Friday afternoon, (12/27/2013) of Christmas Week so many potential swimmers were still traveling or even worse, WORKING... so the turnout was light. In fact, for the first year that I can remember, we had NO Women... what's up with that girls? Time to answer the challenge in 2014... so make plans now. Water Polo is a GREAT workout. I'd much rather swim 3,000 or 4,000 yards than do even 30 or 40 minutes of water polo. It is that intense. Lots of fun and NO injuries!

Enjoy the pictures and we'll hope to see you in 2014.

Follow the three shots below for a goal!

U.S. Masters Swimming 2014 Registration Is Open Now: Register as a HUMS Swimmer!

Click Here To Register for 2014 USMS

U.S. Masters Swimming 2014 Registration is open now for both New Members and to Renew your Current Membership.  Don't forget to register in the Metropolitan LMSC (Local Masters Swim Committee) AND as a member of our local Club: Huntington Masters (HUMS).

A few Pictures From Our Swimmer's Annual Holiday Brunch: December 1, 2013

This was what? Our 47th or 48th Annual Swimmer's Christmas Brunch? OK, probably NOT quite that many years but the Annual Swimmer's Brunch tradition did start back in the 1980's so we've had quite a few. We missed last year due to Sandy or else it would have been an un-broken tradition. Damn those stupid hurricanes! 

The 2013 edition was light on attendance, due no doubt, to being on Thanksgiving Weekend but a great time was had by all. Thanks to Bob Miller for setting it up this year! Any volunteers for 2014?

Swimming One Hundred 100's (4000 Yards To Go)

100 Hundreds (10,000 yards) Friday Morning AFTER Thanksgiving (November 29, 2013)

The picture above and below was before a single lap had been swum! 

What started out as a "joke" about 6 weeks ago when someone said, "Let's swim One Hundred 100's by Thanksgiving". Which, of course meant swimming them in a single morning workout -- not 20 or 30 100's on a Tuesday and then another 20 or 30 the next day etc. etc. No, these One Hundred 100's had to be swum all at once and at a reasonable interval. No two minute intervals for the Huntington Masters Swimmers! 

The warm-up and warm-down interval was 1:45 and all the rest were split between 1:40, 1:35 and 1:30 intervals. With a break at 5,000 yards for some much needed nourishment. Sal, John and Paul (pictured above) were the the only swimmers to make the 10,000 yard mark this morning -- maybe they had the least amount of stuffing last night!

The swim started around 5:40AM and lasted a little past 8AM leaving plenty of time for Black Friday Shopping! And yes, we'll all be back in the pool tomorrow though probably not for another 10,000 yard workout!

Todd, pictured above on the left and below splashing his way to the wall, gets a pass for not doing the full 10,000 as he ran the Thanksgiving Day 5K yesterday AND, ran it in a personal best for the course.

John is coming into the wall in the picture above and getting ready to kick off behind Sal in the photo below while Paul and Joe line up waiting their turn at the start of yet another 100. Those pesky 100's kept coming around faster and faster it seemed.

Halfway mark, (5,000 yards), in picture above and the boys are still smiling

Three of the girls, Katie, Nancy and Margot take a short break. 

We even had a husband and wife team -- Tim above and Erin in the photo below. 

The doctor is in and swimming. Nice hand position off the wall too!

Above: the group lines up to start ANOTHER 100. But we are getting close to the end. Erin, (Below) shows good form off the wall if you don't notice how high her head is... though sometimes we actually do have to look up and make sure we are not going to run into the feet in front of us! (So Erin gets a pass on the elevated head position!)

It's over! 10,000 yards -- One Hundred 100's is in the record book. ABOVE: Sal still has enough energy to celebrate while Paval and Don look on. BELOW: John, Sal and Paul are still smiling! Way to go guys. What's next?

A Catamaran Tour to Stingray City Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands: November 2013

If you get to the Caymans, this is a tour not to be missed! The stingrays are tamer than they look and after the initial shock of having them brush past you, everybody settles down and the stingrays look to be handled (gently!).  As I said on Facebook, the picture above cries out for a caption. "Look out behind you!" "Beauty and the Beast"?

I tried talking "Stingy" into joining the Huntington Masters Swim Team but he didn't have a passport!