Rob takes a self portrait

Why a self portrait? Nobody else would do an open water swim in December! That's why Rob's now called the "Crazy Canadian"!

The view back to the beach

Amazing, it doesn't look that cold -- but it was with the air temp at 40 and the water at 50 degrees!

Smart runners dress warm!

Chris, Tim and Jim were out for a run when they spotted Rob's car in the West Neck Beach parking lot. They got there just in time to see him get out of the water and dash to his car to warm up. You can tell how cold it really was by the way they are dressed -- this was no summertime fun run!

Rob warms his hands

Cold hands but a happy heart -- Rob's December Swim outdoors is in the record book.

Happy Holidays 2005!

Another Swimmer's Holiday Brunch has come and gone, The 2005 edition was held on Sunday, December 4, 2005 at the Huntington Hilton. It was one of the smallest groups we've had but everybody enjoyed themselves. Our "Crazy Canadian", (see award and story about Rob below), was the talk of the Brunch. I'm sorry that I didn't get pictures of everybody -- except for the mandatory group shot -- but I'll try to do better next event. Could that be the 2005 Winter Water Polo? Check with Bob, he's in the middle of trying to set it up. See you in the pool... Mike.

Sal -- Good Dad FIRST, Great Swimmer SECOND

John and Lynn

Judy and Tom

Deana and Rich

Margarita and Joe

Pat and Bob

Mike and Yolanda

Swimmers Holiday Brunch -- What a Group!

Rob Gets An Award without even being there!

Want to earn a nick name like "Crazy Canadian" in just one day? No problem. Just do what Rob did and go for a little Open Water Swim in December -- Saturday December 3rd to be exact. The water temperature was around 50 degrees and the air temp a comfy 40 degrees in the sun. Don't ask about wind chill. In any event, Rob did it, recovered and went to a swim meet the next day, took two first places! The meet ran long (because of the morning snow storm) so Rob and Christine were not able to make it to the brunch. His award will be held for his next OWS -- did anybody say January 2006?

Bob's stitched up shoulder

I Finally heard from Bob this morning and he is back on line -- so you can expect to start receiving emails from Bob any time now! Bob wrote: "here is a shot of yours truly with all of the stitches...actually, there were 4 holes".

The following note was in a Sunday afternoon email from Bob:

"A quick note to all of my friends & family...I was operated on this past Tuesday and all went well. The doctor said it went better than expected and that the damage, though bad, wasn't as bad as the MRI showed. I am even able to shave with my right hand now. I drove down to the Y today (stayed out of the water, though). It felt good to drive and to get out of the house. I plan to work a little bit this week, but mainly aim to take it easy and let it heal for a while.

Thanks to all for the presents, cards, calls, e-mails, etc. Sorry about this group note, but, typing, while doable, is still a pain...get it, pain? haha. I just wanted to give all an update. My family has been great (as usual...it's nice to have daughters).

Anyway, hope to see you all at the pool this week, where I'll be walking. The stitches are coming out Thursday and then I start PT. Plan to do the 200 fly again at a meet this spring."

Jones Beach Tri

Calm water equals a fast swim!

Game Face Before the Race

7:30 AM Saturday, October 1, 2005. It's getting about time to be serious and Jim has his Game Face on! And it worked -- Jim finished in 1:31:08 with a Swim time of 12:18.

Mike's running(???) out of the water!

An "action" shot of your blogmeister, (Mike), more or less running out of the water and on his way to the transition area. Some of us would find it much more convenient to actually swim the whole way! My thanks to Yolie for handling the camera duties at this point. Mike's Swim Time was 11:16

Ellie's on the run

The fact that Ellie and I are on the same team has NOTHING whatsover to do with the fact that I got one of those "action" shots of her. On the other hand it probably didn't hurt either. Note that there are no "action" shots of Don -- or any other biker for that matter -- you guys just go to fast!

Team Runner's Edge

Was I the only one at Jones Beach who didn't have a Team Runner's Edge shirt?

Time for some awards!

The audience was pretty big but it was nowhere near as crowded and rough as it was going around that first turn, (white buoy), during the swim. BTW, can you spot Yolie in the crowd clapping for Scott as he walks up to collect his well deserved award.

Overall Top Ten

Can you spot our overall Top Ten Winners?

Scott's on the podium at Jones Beach

Just about 24 hours BEFORE this picture was taken of Scott on the podium at Jones Beach picking up his 2nd OVERALL, we were swiming some easy laps at the Huntington Y, (no sense racing if you can't taper!), and Scott told me that he had been sick the whole week. Well, if getting sick just before a race will get you a 2nd place overall out of about 500 -- then pass on the germs!

Scott's Time: 1:04:03 (Swim time: 8:44)

Don takes a Second

October 1, 2005 and Don takes a 2nd place in his age group at the Jones Beach Tri. Don's Time: 1:09.32 (Swim time: 11:03)

Lynn: Top Ten Overall / Jones Beach 2005

Who's that hiding behind those Foster Grants? Why it's our good friend Lynn with a Top Ten Overall Finish! Lynn was 8th out of 133 female finishers in a time of 1:14.42 and a Swim Time of 10:44.

3rd Place Mixed Relay: Jones Beach 2005

Mike, Ellie and Don are happy with the day, the results and their third place finish (out of 14 teams) at the 2005 Jones Beach Tri. Team Time was 1:15.40

West Neck Beach Open Water Swim

It is just about 6:40am Wednesday morning, September 28, 2005. Thank goodness there is no wind because at this early hour the air temperature is still in the low 50's. The sun hasn't even officially appeared as we make our way into the still warm waters of Cold Spring Harbor. This view is looking due West. Check how sunny and bright the pictures below are -- they were all taken AFTER we got back.

No, that's not a scary sea creature... just one of the Huntington Masters Swim Team swimmers approaching the shore at full speed after a traditional Wednesday morning Open Water Swim. Looks like Rob to me.

Joe walks in after going back out to rescue a "flip flop" that had started to float away on the outgoing tide.

Even at high tide there are enough nasty rocks at West Neck Beach that Rob swims in as close to shore as he can.

Ken,
Jim
and
Chris
make their way
to shore.
It was a great day for
an open water swim!

Frank was the last one back to shore -- he's looking back trying to figure out just where he made that wrong turn!

Simon Butterworth Heads To Colorado

The following report is from our good friend Simon Butterworth:

Ingrid retired in August and with my attempts to get a business going derailed by a biking accident in the spring we decided to move to more economical digs. As Katrina left devastation down south we crossed the path of her remains last month on our drive out to Colorado, with cat and dog. The following is a not too long summary of our drive out here.

We were very glad to have driven out here and finally seen a bit of the country that we have only seen from 30,000 ft in the past. We did not see much of anything but wet roads for the first day but by the time we stopped on day two to have a look at the site of the Chicago Triathlon (the waterfront) the sun was shining (and has remained so except for one day ever since). If you are one of my Triathlete friends and have thought of doing a Tri with over 5,000 other people Chicago is certainly the place to do it. If it was not for the winters out here I could think of no better very big city to live in.

Crossing Wisconsin we were also temped to stop and stay. It is easy to understand why so much cheese comes from here. We stopped at Lacrosse to have a look at the Mississippi and found a magnificent small city.

Crossing the Prairie at 70 mph is interesting at least for a while. Thinking about going across in a Prairie Schooner (AKA Covered Wagon) brought new respect to the pioneers of this country and continued respect to the farmers still working this land. And, if the pioneers route took them into the Badlands (as we did) they must have thought that God had abandoned them completely. I think this place defines desolate beauty better than any I have ever seen.

It is hard to imagine that this was once a place teaming with sea life (the rocks are limestone formed at the bottom of a shallow inland sea). It also provokes a sobering thought that there is enough water, locked up in the ice caps, to flood this area 1,000 of miles from the sea and I think over 1,000 ft in elevation.

The Black Hills and Mt Rushmore rise out of the desolation to the west of the Badland. Well worth a visit to play tourist and a great place to train. A night in the Bavarian Inn (instead of Super 8 motels) was most welcome. An early morning run introduced me to what running was going to be like out here, very nice.

Another day of Prairie heading south across eastern Wyoming and we were cruising down the I25 with the Rockies on our right. Sure is a great way to arrive in the Boulder Denver Area.

The animals did great on the trip. Nina our cat was not too happy at being cooped up in a small dog cage for the trip but she survived. We brought a harness and leash to “walk” her and she adapted quickly and also learned a Houdini trick and on one occasion climbed out the harness and took off between a fleet of parked tractor trailers. She was happy we were not. Hanna (dog) also adapted well and seemed to look on our minivan as home after 5 days.

So here we are. Apart from unpacking we have spent the last two weeks looking for a permanent home and we hope we have found it. I wish it had a view of the mountains from the house but views add big bucks, 50K in new developments, to the price of a home. With this one all we have to do is step out of the front of the house and we can see the Flatirons (a section of the Front Range of the Rockies) with very dramatic rock outcroppings (popular spot for Climbers).

NOTE: If you need Simon's new email address, just ask Bob Miller or me (Mike Engel)

September 03, 2005 John Daly Sr. Memorial 1 Mile Ocean Swim

John Daly update
courtesy of Rob Martell:

"Ken Longo finished with a blistering 27:10 min to finished second in his age group.

Me.. not as blistering with 28:50 to finish 4th in my age group.

Rob Ripp was second in the same group with 28:12 I think.

Not sure where others finished or the overall , as they have not posted online yet. A wonderful day for a swim though with clear water and skies and 150+ or so swimmers."

VYTRA-TOBAY TRIATHLON

August 21, 2005 -- Oyster Bay, Long Island, N.Y.

INDIVIDUALS: (email Mike or Bob if we missed you!)

Ian Silversmith 31st 1:28.51
Dawn Desimone 10th 1:35.03
Chris Vassallo 26th 1:26.04
Roger Levin 16th 1:23.36
Jim Imhof 26th 1:38.11
Armand D'Amato 3rd 1:36.10
Lynn Perzeszty 8th Female Overall 1:22:09
Harry Slutter 1st Place 1:15:14
Simon Butterworth 1st Place 1:17:01

Caroline Reilly 2nd Place Athena Div. 1:37:17

TEAMS: (You're here with ANY connection to HUMS!)

OVERALL TEAM WINNER: TEAM BIKE JUNKIE
Rob Ripp, Ned Daily, Mike Nehr 1:04:39
Joe Conklin 1st - family 1:23.26
Donna Desoussa 1st -female 1:10.13
Family 2nd Place: FRIARS A
Richard Huminski, Austin Huminski, Brooke Huminski 1:20:05

TEAM CATEGORY: Mixed 140-179 (Can you believe it – a tie for first!)
1 SEAHAWKS
Ken Longo, John Ottaviano, Linda Ottaviano 1:14:57
1 HUNTINGTON YMCA
Bob Miller, James Deegan, Margarita Marasci 1:14:57
3 TEAM MATA
Mike Engel, Don Gavin, Ellie Gavin 1:25:52

TEAM CATEGORY: Family

TEAM CATEGORY: Family 2nd Place: FRIARS A

Richard Huminski, Austin Huminski, Brooke Huminski

Time 1:20:05

VYTRA-TOBAY TRIATHLON

August 21, 2005 -- Oyster Bay, Long Island, N.Y.

Lynn Perzeszty 8th Female Overall

Congratulations Lynn!

8th Female Overall

Time 1:22:09

VYTRA-TOBAY TRIATHLON

August 21, 2005

1st Place HUNTINGTON YMCA

VYTRA-TOBAY TRIATHLON

August 21, 2005 Oyster Bay, Long Island, N.Y.

TEAM CATEGORY: Mixed 140-179

1st Place HUNTINGTON YMCA

Bob Miller, James Deegan, Margarita Marasci

Time 1:14:57

TEAM MATA 3rd Place

VYTRA-TOBAY TRIATHLON
August 21, 2005

TEAM CATEGORY:
Mixed 140-179
TEAM MATA 3rd Place Time 1:25:52

Mike Engel (Swim) Ellie Gavin (Run) Don Gavin (Bike)

Ken and Bob smiling at their tie for first!

VYTRA-TOBAY TRIATHLON

August 21, 2005

Oyster Bay, Long Island, N.Y.
TEAM CATEGORY: Mixed 140-179

Can you believe it – a tie for first!

And, it's got Ken Longo and Bob Miller smiling!

Huntington Bay, Sunday morning July 10, 2005 6:45 AM

5K in the Bay

5K results for our local swimmers

One OFFICIAL (Rob Martell AKA Lawrence Martell) and three un-official, (Rob Ripp, Cathy Kabat and Ken Longo), Huntington Master’s Swimmers took part in this years 5K swim in Huntington Bay.

Rob Ripp, Time: 1:34:19.00

Rob Martell, Time: 1:35:29.00

Ken Longo, Time: 1:37:48.00

Cathy Kabat, Time: 1:52:30.00

Master and Open athletes are swimming to the starting line for the 5K -- that's right you have to swim to the starting line and then swim a 5K!

Around Governors Island Swim June 25, 2005.

Rob Martel circumnavigated historic Governors Island in the inaugural Around Governors Island Swim. In this extremely challenging 2 mile course with great views of lower Manhattan, Rob came in 8th out of the 89 swimmers who finished and first in his age group. Way to go Rob!

Now this is Open Water Swimming!

What a nice surprise. I went to the Cayman Islands with Yolanda for a 5 day stay and what should I find but one of the best Open Water Swims that I've ever done. Question is, "will I be forever spoiled?" Take a look at the 2 pictures below and you'll see what I mean. Mike

This Cayman Island Sea Swim picture is actually from the 2004 race but conditions were virtually identical in 2005 and my photographer refused to get in a copter to get this picture. In fact my photographer spent most of her time waiting in the beach side bar at the end point of the race. I was told it was "nice and shady there". Yeah right!

The Cayman Island One Mile Sea Swim has been rated by Swimmer's World magazine as one of the top swims in the world! Can you see why?

Mike's strategy was to swim as far out as allowed, NOT near the shore and it worked as he finished 51st overall (out of 361) in a time of 27:22.