August 16 2006: A Picture Perfect OWS

Can you tell me that this isn't a "picture perfect" morning for an open water swim? Of course not! There were a few puffy clouds in the sky. The air temp was around 66 degrees but with NO wind at all, it certainly was very comfortable. And the water -- just look, not a wave or ripple to be found ant the water temperature was around 70 degrees. Best of all, it was high tide, so the walk to the water would be short and relatively rock free!

Rob, Ken and Chris have put their wetsuits on and are ready to hit the water off West Neck Beach. Did you notice the hand on the upper left of the photo?

It belongs to a late arrival, Nancy -- this comment is not intended to add any fuel to the debate that men are always waiting for women but...


Chris relaxes in the shallows. BTW, any picture of me in it is thanks to Chris for taking over some of the camera duties. Now if I could only get Rich H to start writing some of these entries!

Ken and Mike at the end of a very enjoyable swim. The first half swim to the yellow buoy was a bit longer than the return leg as the tide was going out but as you can see the water was VERY calm!

Last One Out Of The Water - August 16 2006

Mike is on his way in... OK, it is a bit of a posed picture since I had to run up the beach and get my camera, come back down to the water, hand the camera to Chris, swim out a bit and then swim back in toward the beach -- (thank goodness it was high tide and most of the "run up the beach" was on sand and not rocks!).

Nancy "shows off' her most recent biking scar. And you thought sharks were dangerous! (Note: "shows off' is probably not the best description but I couldn't think of anything better).

Nancy and Ken are engaged in a post swim chat. (Any comments on Ken and chatting? -- I kind of like it as I don't have to think of anything to talk about -- i can always rely on Ken!)

Rob was the "last one out of the water" but who can blame him on an Open Water Swim day that was as beautiful as August 16, 2006 was! We'll all pack this one up in our memories and bring it out some cold and snowy Winter Morning. You've been warned... come on out soon and make some Open Water memories of your own!

Cove to Cove Swim: July 23 2006

It was a grey and dreary Sunday morning in July for a swim in the Hudson River especially since the radio was proclaiming that the sun was out in Manhattan while we were driving in on the LIE.

It was warm when we left Huntington around 7AM but by the time we arrived at the Hudson River and the North Cove Yacht Harbor at the World Financial Center in Battery Park City, the weather had turned for the worse. The wind coming off Hudson was almost chilly and then the rain started. Not a downpour but an annoying drizzle. Ah well, I was going to get wet anyway and my Support Group remained happy. It was time to get on line and start swimming!

The cool air had one BIG plus... the water felt pretty good. No cold shock jumping in today!

No one, myself included was dressed for cool weather.

Kuddos to my large 3-person support group. Yolie, Tawni and Mike. They kept my spirits up -- line after line after line, till I finally got to swim the Cove to Cove Swim, just one of the Summer Swim & Aquathlon events for NYC Swim 2006.

Aquathlon you say -- who would do that? Read on as I meet one of our "old" Huntington Swim Team family members.

An "Old" Friend is Found

I went to lower Manhattan thinking I wouldn't know anybody -- hence the large 3-person support group. So there I am, wandering around in my usual pre-race daze when I hear "Mike!" and there -- not ten feet away was Joan!

She was entered in the Freedom Tower Aquathlon. The same 1/2 mile swim in the Hudson but followed by a 3 mile run. Way to go Joan! And it is always great to bump into "old" friends. Joan sends her regards to all of you and was way to polite to ask why YOU weren't there.

Carol Conquers The 5K In The Bay: July 2006

Happy, Proud, and Strong

What could be better after finishing your first 5K in the Bay

5K -- Now that's an OWS! (Open Water Swim). Congratulations Carol on your awesome 2nd place finish in your age group. Carol said "I came in 33rd out of 38swimmers -- not too shabby for my first attempt! Next year I'll swim it as a race!" We'll be waiting.

Here's more of what Carol had to say about her swim in a recent email: "Photographic evidence attached! Note the head-down,-elbow-high,-feet-not-breaking-the-water form!" (Editors Note: See the 4th picture).

June 21 2006 OWS: The First Day of Summer!

Summer is here and the living is easy!

And so is the Open Water Swimming!

June 21 2006 OWS: Tim Eats His Goggles

June 21 2006 OWS -- What a group!

Well, it can't be too cold as everybody

is taking off their wetsuits IN the water!

The picture above is AFTER our swim. The picture below is BEFORE the swim... but notice that we already have lots of daylight at around 6:30am -- nothing like swimming on the first day of Summer and the longest day of the year.

June 21 2006 OWS -- Boys At Play

June 21 2006 Open Water Swim

Thanks Carol... it's nice not to be an ALL Male group!

Can you pick out the OLDEST wetsuit?

2006 EagleMan Ironman 70.3

2006 EagleMan Ironman 70.3
Swim 1.2 miles * Bike 56 miles * Run 13.1 miles
Sunday, June 11, 2006 - Cambridge, MD

NANCY LIPIRA .....5:15:56..... (63rd out of 446 Women Finishers)

Nancy was the 1st Place Overall FEMALE GRAND MASTERS


JESSICA D'AMATO .....5:07:03..... (37th out of 446 Women Finishers)

Jessica was the 3rd Place finisher in her age group


LYNN PERZESZTY .....5:49:49..... (179th out of 446 Women Finishers)

Lynn was the 2nd out of the water in her age group

GREG LINAKIS ..... 6:10:42..... (748th out of 1,100 plus Men Finishers)

Mighty Montauk Triathlon

Saturday, June 10, 2006 was the date of the 24th Annual Mighty Montauk Triathlon.

There were 504 finishers in this 1 Mile Swim, 22 Mile Bike and 6.2 Mile Run.

Huntington Masters was well represented, with at least three finishers that I could find. Special congratulations to Don Bond who had a 3rd Place Finish in his age group. Here are the results:

Scott "Wrong Way" Kessler.....2:11:04.0.....(37th Overall Finish)

Don Bond...........2:11:07.7.....(38th Overall Finish)

Tim Sullivan.......2:43:00.8.....(297th Overall Finish)

Based on preliminary weather reports of high wind and cold, damp conditions, (I wasn't actually there), congratulations are due just for competing, much less finishing! Way to Go! And, as usual, if there is anyone that I've missed, please let me know (thanks, Mike)

New York State Masters Championships

Here are the results of New York State Masters Championships at Eisenhower Park held on Sunday, April 30, 2006. Results are for our 2 intrepid Huntington Swimmers, Rob Martell and Ken Longo. Full results can be found on the Aquafit web site.

Rob Martell:

50 free 8th 27.86

50 breast 5th 35.40

100 breast 5th 1:16.64

100 IM 5th 1:11.14


Ken Longo:

50 free 3rd 25.29

100 free 2nd 57.71

50 back 1st 29.79

100 back 1st 1:06.60

200 back 1st 2:22.85

2006 Long Island Marathon

Sunday, May 7, 2006: Wow! What a day… there was great weather and over 4,000 finishers in the 34th running of the Long Island Marathon and Half Marathon. Best of all, Huntington Masters Swim Team and Triathletes were well represented.


Full Marathon

Richard Young 3:34:03


Half Marathon

Harry Slutter 1:33:46

Nancy Lipira 1:43:43

Lynn Perzesty 1:52:56

Tim Sullivan 1:53:55

Jim Imhof 2:07:46

Thanks to an email from Tim Sullivan, here are some additional LI Half Marathon results for some people I missed: (And please forgive me for missing you on the first go 'round -- in my defense, the size of the font in Newsday was really very small. Mike AKA Aquaboy)

Joe Conklin 1:43:47

Bill Imhof 1:51:27

Caroline Reilly 2:03

Jim Imhof 2:06:39

Nancy Takes a First in the Cayman Brac Turtle Triathlon

The Cayman Brac Turtle Triathlon was held on April 9, 2006. For those of you who don't know where Cayman Brac is, just go to Grand Cayman and take a "left" -- though you'd do better taking a plane from Grand Cayman! The water at Cayman Brac may even be clearer than the water around the larger and much more populated Grand Cayman.

Cayman Brac was just perfect for the swim part of the Tri. Just ask Nancy how many fish and turtles she saw on her 1.5k Swim which she finished in 28:09:00

(NOTE: See the July 2005 Archive entries for pictures of Mike's One Mile Swim at Grand Cayman -- how many other Huntington Swimmers and Triathletes can we get to the Cayman Islands?)

Nancy followed up the swim with a 35k Bike and then a 10k Run to the Finish Line and a First Place Woman's winning time of 2:16:40.

Congratulations Nancy!

The only downside...

Swimming in the waters around Long Island will never seem the same!

The "Famous" Aquaboy T-Shirt!

Flip Turn!

Thanks to Bob M. for some great pictures, (see more shots below), from a typical Saturday morning workout. This workout was on Saturday, March 11, 2006.

Breath Out. Stroke. And Go as FAST as you can

Mike, Chris, Jim, Scott, Paval and Ken

Break Time for Bob

Mike, Don and Greg

Rich -- happy his workout was just about over!

Lynn, (stuck on the lifeguard stand), was grumpy -- she was not swimming with us!

Scott was happy to be kicking