Open Water Swim: June 29, 2008 at West Neck Beach

I think we set a record today for Huntington Masters Swimmers and Triathletes swimming together in Cold Spring Harbor -- launch point for some 35 plus swimmers was our old friend West Neck Beach. Conditions couldn't have been better with high tide, calm water, NO boat traffic, almost no jellyfish, air temperature around 75 degrees and water temperature somewhere in the 60's. 

I had a new camera with me -- supposed to be waterproof -- but since I literally just got it, I was afriad to try it in the water on the first day out however, the new camera worked and you can view the results below -- be sure to look for Nancy's pretty PINK Cast -- she's been swimming with it for the last month or so:

Or copy and type this link into your browser:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBqScp032ks

Weekend OWS ( Sat June 28th, Sun June 29th )

Weekend swims at West Neck Beach

Saturday : There should be folks at WNB at 6am and 7am.

Sunday : Time looks like 7am with a large group. We might even need lane markers for this time and day.

The water is wonderful and wetsuits are really optional. A few of us have been swimming without suits for a number of weeks already. Water temp is mid 60s to high 60s.

All of the above based on weather conditions.

Rob

June 2008 Gold Coast and Mighty Montauk Triathlon Results

Results of Mighty Montauk Triathlon - June 7, 2008

Name / Place Overall / Age Group Place / Time

Don Bond / 30 / 4th / 2:07:41.9

Steve Uresk / 106 / Unknown / 2:20:04.2

Joe Conklin / 125 / 21st / 2:22:07.7

Greg Petryk / 126 / 15th / 2:22:08.5

Heather McCormick / 261 / 4th / 2:36:04.7

Magdelana Petryk / 336 / 4th / 2:42:58.1

Stephanie Scanlon / 467 / 28th / 3:06:03.9


Results of Gold Coast Triathlon - June 15, 2008

Name / Place Overall / Age Group Place / Time

Mike Edebohls / 335 / 49 / 1:25:14.9

Jim Imhof / 411 / 10 / 1:27:54.6

Joanna Grossman / 475 / 12 / 1:30:47.9

Mike McGuiness / 636 / 42 / 1:39:45.5

OWS Swim for Week of June 24th

Confirmed times and Locations:All swims are at West Neck Beach. The swims longer than 2mile are done with two loops so you can drop off at the beach after the first loop. Three ( single loop )routes have been measured at 1.25m, 1.5m, 1.9m

Wed 25th: 5:45am ( 1mile or 1.5 mile swim )
Thur 26th... Looking for interest
Friday 27th : 5:45am ( 1mile or 1.5 mile swim )

Tentative times
Sat : 6am or 7am... longer swim ( 3 to 4 miles, two loops of 1.9mile course ) would be starting early time but second loop would start around 7am.. THIS START time will be confirmed by email.
Sun : 7am . 1 to 2 mile swim. ( maybe longer but made of two loops ). THIS START time will be confirmed by email.

If interested, send me an email or if you want to be added to the email distribution list.

Rob

OWS - Week oj June 2nd

For those interested, this weeks OWS schedule at West Neck Beach is

Tuesday June 3rd : 6am
Wed June 4th : 6am ( some may start at 6:30am )
Thursday : 6am but not confirmed
Friday : 6am but not confirmed
Sat and Sun. Times to be determined but there will be people swimming in the AM

The course generally swum is 1.25 miles with a break in the middle. Some swim an extension to this route that goes 1.8 miles. A 3K swim is also done but generally on the weekends. If you want to be notified of upcoming swim , you can email me at robmartell@optonline.net to be included in the email list.

Meeting for the swim is at West Neck Beach entrance ( on West Neck Road ).

Water temperature is about 60 to 61 these days and wet suit is usually required , except for the bravest.

Everything is weather dependant.

Rob

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!






Swim to the right...

Swim to the left... practice went every way but over the top!

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:

Tom's Trip To Argentina

Buenos Aires is the capital of the Republic of Argentina and the country's largest city. Plus, its a really long trip from Huntington. Not to worry, thanks to Tom and his prolific picture-taking, we don't have to fly there we can take a quick visit via the following photos. Oh, and by the way, Welcome Back Tom!

A typical street scene in downtown Buenos Aries.

Casa Rosada - the Government Palace. Can you guess how it got its name?

Wherever you have cattle, and cattle ranches, you have people on horseback tending to them. In Argentina, they're the gauchos.

Iguazu Falls stretches along a 3 kilometer (nearly 2 mile) long rim that is shared by Argentina and Brazil. It thunderously plunges the height of a 24-story building. So how come Tom didn't get in any swimming?

Is that guy in the sign playing golf? We know that the guy leaning on the sign isn't playing any! Ah well, it won't be long now! Tom, thanks again for the great pictures.

C.W Post Wins. HUMS goes 2 for 2 on the Weekend

Continuing the on the success of Rich's swim on Sunday, Ken, Jeff and I had to raise our games to match the Huminski output of medals. As a group the Sunday swimmers had 4 firsts and 4 seconds.

100 Free
2nd.. Jeff 57.10

50 Free :
2nd.. Jeff 25.39
2nd...Ken 26.47
2nd.. Rob 28.95

100 Back
virtual first : Ken 109.1 ( he swam Back in the free race due to events being close together ).

50 Back
1st .. Ken 31.0

50 Brst
1st .. Rob 33.89

100 Brst :
1st .. Rob 1:15.84

One significant hilight of the morning was watching the assistant coach at CW Post ( Mike Travers ) do a 22.7 50 Free and a 49.8 for 100 free.

Valentine’s Day Swim Meet at Kings Point USMMA

This years Valentine’s Day Swim Meet was held Saturday February 9, 2008 at Kings Point United States Merchant Marine Academy in Port Washington. Huntington Masters was glad that Rich went as he had a GREAT Swim Meet!

Rich took a first in three of the events that he entered: the 50 Yard Freestyle (28.79), the 100 Yard Freestyle (1:04.75) and the 200 Yard Freestyle (2:23.05). Rich took 2nd in the 500 Yard Freestyle (6:28.54) and in the 100 Yard IM (1:21.66).

Rich was a one-man-wrecking-crew for the Huntington Masters Swim Team. Way to go Rich!

Ken's Underwater Turn At Post

Thanks to Rob for this UNDERWATER Video of Ken at the Post Meet This weekend. Rob reported: "A few firsts and seconds from Ken and I for the HUMS team and a couple Personal bests on my part ( 1:15 and 33.8 ) Jeff was there as well with some excellent swims ( 57 for the 100 free )." Formal results will most likely be available in a few days.



Rob has MORE Videos from this meet up on YouTube at the link below; Go and Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/user/nymstrswimmer

Tim Wishes All a Healthy and Happy 2008

How have you all been? Sorry I missed the holiday festivities. And boy do I miss the pool!

Wishing all a healthy and happy 2008. Send my regards to everyone and I hope to see you all again soon.

The new job is going great, but the schedule doesn't allow for much workout time in the morning and I don't usually get home until 8 p.m. So I work out what little I can in the mornings and slog through the long run with the guys at Caumsett on Saturday. Sunday is my only "sleep in" morning, so that limits my pool time. I can hear Paul saying that I have a "ticker problem" and my "priorities are out of order." Anyway, I hope to get our schedule figured out so I can get back in the pool soon. Until then, my best regards to all. -- Tim

January 5, 2008: Rob Does His Open Water Swim Off West Neck "Ice" Beach

Rob told me he was going in at 9AM and boy was he prompt! I got there just a few minutes late and was able to see him swimming back towards shore as I was driving up. I was only able to get these "after swim" pictures but Rob's son was there "clicking away" so as soon as Rob manages to thaw out and email me the "action" swim shots, they will be posted to for all to marvel at! (Editor's note: the first 4 pictures below have been supplied by Rob who has finally thawed out.)

And marvel you should as there was ice in the water -- not just a little but a lot. And don't forget, Cold Spring Harbor / Bay is salt water not fresh so the freezing point is even lower than 32 degrees. It was COLD with a capital "C"!

Swimming out -- but not to far as there were no lifeguards on duty...


Swimming back -- time to pick up the pace!

Do you blame him for looking like he was having trouble breathing -- he was walking and swimming through ice. Some 24 hours after this picture was taking, Rob said of his record-breaking January 5th, 2008 Open Water Swim: "its the coldest I have ever ever swum. No numbing. Just knives into my face and hands." We can all believe that understatement!

Bundle me up, bundle me up!

Bundle this swimmer up quickly -- though with an air temperature around 34 degrees it might have actually been warmer on the beach than in the water. Rob was expecting a water temperature of around 45 degrees but the 12 degree cold snap we just went through caused enough icing in the bay to really lower the surface water temperature. On Sunday, the day after his swim Rob emailed me the following: "I measured the surface temp and it was in the 20's" WOW!

Below is a close-up view of the slushy ice mix that Rob swam through! Congratulations to Rob and all those who backed Rob and Harry by voting January as the first date for Open Water Swimming in 2008. Better you guys than me!

Januay 1 2008 Polar Bear Swim: Does It Count?

The voting on when the first Open Water Swim of 2008 would take place -- January, April, May or June 2008 -- closed at one minute after Midnight on January 1st, 2008. And January received the most votes (6) with May (5) and June (4) not far behind. April only received 3 votes out of the 18 total votes cast. Thank you all for participating. The question now is -- Is January really the Winning Month?

Harry says "Yes!" as he "claims" to have done his usual New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim. I have yet to see a photo (hence the cartoon above). Also, and even more important, what really constitutes "the first Open Water Swim of 2008"?

Is it a jump in the water and get all wet? OR, Do you actually have to swim? And if so, how far do you have to swim?

Since we are the Huntington Master's Swim Team -- I think that it is fairly obvious that "to win" you have to swim and at least swim 100 yards or more. Harry said that he did BUT Rich, an eyewitness, disputes that claim. So for the time being, we await additional proof. January could still be the "winning" month as Rob is considering an Open Water Swim -- bum shoulder or not! Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Rob wrote the following email after the blog story above was posted:

"For those interested ( I KNOW Harry is ), I will be doing my annual Dec swim in January this year ( moved due to injury ).

If other people would like to join I will be doing a few hundred yard swim at West Neck beach on Sat morning, 9am. The outdoor temp is 45F so expecting the water and air temp to be close together.

We need to ready ourselves for the coming May OWS season's opening swim now ! :)"

The gauntlet has been thrown -- who will show up... even just to watch and witness?

Water Polo: December 29, 2007

What a crew -- they're still smiling, (at least most of them are!), after nearly 60 minutes of non-stop water polo in the deep end of Norton Pool. Thanks again to "Captain" Bob, (that's him clutching the ball and the edge of the pool), for setting up another annual HUMS Water Polo Event -- a great way to say goodbye to 2007 and hello to 2008.












Click the Video Arrow above for a Live Water-Level view of the action!









Water Polo -- it's not as easy as it looks -- especially if you're trying to defend the goal against Harry. Click the Video Link below to see!

"I need air, I need air, I need air.." said Bill. Or, is it his new book, "How I learned To Stop Playing And Just Hang On The Side!"

He swam thataway!

Bob demonstrates the new semi-legal elbow-hang.

Oh yeah, this is sort of what the game looks like from a fishes view point -- not that there are any fish that we are aware of in Norton Pool.




This is what happens when you use inflatable goals and somebody throws REALLY HARD -- Bob has to do an emergency end-of-game inflation! See you all next year!