Huntington Masters Swim Team

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

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

Monday, September 19, 2005

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)

Monday, September 05, 2005

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."

Thursday, August 25, 2005

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

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

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.

Monday, August 22, 2005

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!

Thursday, July 14, 2005

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!

Sunday, July 03, 2005

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.