Holiday Party: December 9, 2007

For the second year in a row, the swimmers, triathletes and significant others gathered at the Black Forest Brew Haus in Farmingdale, NY to kick-off the Christmas Season with a glorious Sunday Brunch. Thanks again to Bob for putting it all together. This year, he went a step further and let yours truly, (Mike), just sit and enjoy the Brunch while he went and took most of the pictures below. And judging from the results, he may just have found another occupation -- not that he needs another job or title to go along with "Coach", "Mayor of the Y", "Elder" (that's NOT a dig!), and all around good friend to everyone he meets. Bob, thanks again for a job well done!

No Swimming On This Trip!

We had sunny blue skies and temperatures in the 80's during a quick Post-Thanksgiving / Pre-Christmas trip to Florida that included a stopover in the Everglades where I snaped the picture of this "friendly" fellow. So, for sure, there was NO Swimming on this trip but the Airboat ride was a blast! Join in below:

Harry in Hawaii

Thanks to Harry for a dozen great pictures from the 2007 Ironman in Kona Hawaii -- even better, (especially for me), Harry wrote up some notes on the race and much, much more. They are printed below, what with the pic's and the story, you'll feel like you were there. Enjoy...

Kona was beautiful!!!!! The open water swimming was GREAT, sea turtles (see picture below) , lots of fish, clear, warm beautiful water. One can see 40 feet down. The open water swims had 400 people and free coffee on the boat at the ½ way point, how nice is that.

It is circus like, every day it builds more and more. The fitness is amazing (I would be considered FAT).The underwear run was very funny (see the last 3 pictures in this blog entry) this is part of the circus, Bike check in is part of the circus, there are people counting the types of bikes, wheels, shoes, and etc.

Race Day: The anticipation of my 3rd IM in 11 months and in Kona, my head was spinning. 4 AM and I am up having some Kona coffee (that is much Better than Starbuck’s any day), and stuffing some food in me for the day ahead.

The swim was Fantastic, you start a few 100 yards out, so I was treading water by the Ford sign, when we started it was amazing 2000+ off to do a really BIG group open water swim. The fish and turtles all ran away when they saw this group of crazies coming!

I work through T1, taking time to spread on plenty of sun screen to avoid ending up like an old French fry left under the heat lamps at Micky D’s. (Here's one of those famous Kona sea turtles -- just like swimming at West Neck Beach -- Eh?).

After a loop in town on the bike we head out on the Queen K and the Lava Fields which looks just like the surface of the moon, only a lot hotter. (I thought I saw Neal Armstrong and Sam Shepard at a water stop.) I heard that it was about 120 degrees out on the Queen K, although it doesn’t feel it, because the wind is blowing so hard, you don’t notice it.

The winds are blowing about 25-30 mph in my face all the way up to Havii, it was tough. Add in the cross wind gusts of 35-45 mph, & the hills, and I’m just hanging on for dear life. I kept thinking what a great tail wind & how FAST heading back will be, WRONG!


The wind turns around just about the same time I do & it’s back in my face all the way back. It makes for a long ride when you are into the wind for 6 hours. But I had a Big Smile & learned to respect the Kona bike course.


Off for a run. Did you every have one of those days ….. While I started to run, by mile 2 I remember that I did not change into my running legs in T2, a boy!!!! I had a tough run, let’s leave it at that. I prefer to remember the sunset, which I had the opportunity to watch as I was in the “Energy Lab”, and the a truly magical mile down Alii Dr. Magical !!! This was the hardest race I have done, but my favorite. I hope to have the opportunity to race Kona again, I feel like I’m not done on the course!

A special thanks to Simon and his wife, Nancy, Danielle Sullivan, Barbara Stagnari, & Nadine Crane. They are all vets of Kona and their smiling faces were a big help.

(ABOVE) Harry offers a prayer BEFORE the race... (BELOW) the rest of the pictures from the Underwear Run really don't need any captions -- sometimes pictures do speak louder than words. Thanks again to Harry for these great pictures, a great narrative and now becoming the third Huntington Master's Swim Team member to successfully complete the Ironman in Kona. Way to go Harry!

Cedar Beach Triathlon: October 7, 2007

The inaugural Cedar Beach Sprint Triathlon took the Long Island Triathlon season into October at Cedar Beach Park in Miller Place, Long Island.

Racers completed a .75 mile swim in Long Island Sound, biked two loops on an 8.5 mile challenging bike course, and ran two loops on a 1.55 mile flat and fast run course. It was a great event to end the Long Island Triathlon season!

Listed below by Name and followed by their Time, and Overall Place are a few of our local Huntington Tri participants:

Lisa Kristel, 1:43:03, 50th

Karen Farrell, 1:44:33, 55th

Nancy Aboff, 1:50:02, 93rd

Janette Newell, 2:08:40, 160th

September 8, 2007: "Swim for Life" in Provincetown, Cape Cod

The September 8th "Swim for Life" in Provincetown, Cape Cod is an annual fundraising event for AIDS research and women's health. Carol was there, swam it and sent in the following report, suggestion for 2008 and pictures... Thanks Carol!

"Boy, do they know how to party in Provincetown! More than 300 participants swim from Long Point Lighthouse across Provincetown Harbor (about 1.4 pretty choppy miles) to the main beach at Commercial Street, and then join the crowd and cheerleaders (yes!) for a free "Mermaid Brunch"! What a party! And what a swim! Crystal clear, clean water the whole way across, and hordes of people beating drums, waving pom-poms and chanting your name as you get out of the water -- I can't wait to do it next year! (Actually, there are a lot of groups/teams that participate -- Let's get the Huntington Master's Swimmers to go as a group next year!)"

That weekend this year did conflict with the Annual Brooklyn Bridge Swim but who knows what 2008 will bring... the Cape Cod waters do look a little bit clearer and cleaner than the East River!

300 PLUS Swimmers!

Cheerleaders with Pom Poms!

Carol is out of the water and checking her time... though she didn't report it.

Carol discusses the race with one of her personal cheerleaders.

The crowd was large and having LOTS of fun. This is, afterall, Provincetown MA on the tip of Cape Cod -- not exactly know for being a quiet seaside town. Party! Party!


" The Mermaid Brunch is that way!"

September 29, 2007: The LAST Ocean Swim of the Year?

Carol brought her camera to Robert Moses Beach on the Atlantic Ocean this morning, (Saturday, September 29, 2007), and "filed" the following report and these terrific pictures:

"Brrrr...! It was cold and windy on the beach, but we got to watch the sun come up over the water and that's worth getting up early for. The water wasn't too bad (maybe 65 or 66 or so), and pretty mild waves (or I would have stayed on the beach!)...Nine of us showed up to swim -- a pretty good showing for late September, I think (with Joye's son Josh along to warm the beach and take group pictures!)."

Thanks Carol... and for the rest of you -- keep those pictures and stories coming! Mike

Bob's Surboard stayed firmly attached to the car at Cedar Beach this morning after the swim off Field 5 at Robert Moses. FYI, Bob reports that the surf at Gilgo Beach was just as bad as the shore-break surf, (see below), at Cedar Beach (great for swimming though!).

The waves were more suited to photo-taking than surfboarding!

Stand Over there to get a better picture of the Zipper Buddies!

Monaco Tri: September 2, 2007

OK, OK so this is NOT your usual view while competing in a Tri but if you're willing to travel to the kingdom of Monaco -- what you see is what you get. A beautiful view but hills for biking like you can't believe!

The Swim Start in Monaco -- it looks just like West Neck Beach right?

Greg was up before dawn on September 2, 2007 and ready to go -- even though some of his neighbors were partying through the night (an occupational hazard when living in or visiting Monaco).

Greg is sprinting into the finish line, (note the cheerleaders -- this is Monaco afterall), enroute to his 3rd Place finish for an American. If you get a chance ask Greg how jet-lag effects Tri performance!

Brooklyn Bridge Swim: September 8, 2007

September 8th, 2007 marked the second annual Brooklyn Bridge Swim and conditions couldn't have been better -- at least for the swimmers. The water temperature was in the low 70's and the currents on the East River seemed calmer than the previous year. Air temps were in the mid to high 80's and with the high humidity and bright sunshine at 2PM it was a pretty hot time for the spectators -- so our thanks go out to all who showed up to cheer us on!

As mentioned, the water temperature and and calm (relatively!) currents made for a great swim for the 123 swimmers who entered the East River at Dover Street -- a bit north of South Street Seaport and just under the Brooklyn Bridge. Of the 123 swimmers, 117 finished the race and made it to the Brooklyn side unassisted.

And how about the Huntington duo of Rob and Mike?

Pretty good -- both finished FIRST in their Age Groups and Rob finished 6th Overall and Mike finished 31st Overall out of the 117 swimmers completing the swim.

Mike's time was 17:55 and Rob's time was 14:49.

The boys from Huntington were smokin!

Mike is up for his First Place Award in the 60 plus age group.

Rob rceives his First Place Award in the 40-49 age group. You can "click" the arrow link in the video below to watch and hear Rob walk up to receive his award -- what will they think of next!