October 4, 2009 Open Water Swim at a Foggy West Neck Beach

(Editor's Note: Thanks to Carol for this emailed description and pictures -- the WaterLog Group just keeps on swimming!)

The water at West Neck Beach was still shrouded in a dense fog at 8:00 this morning (pictures below), but at least it was warmer than it had been on Friday -- the air temperature was a practically-tropical 63 degrees and the water temperature probably somewhere around 60 degrees....Ken and I were joined in the swim (from beach to buoy?-what-buoy? and back) by Jim Imhof (making his 2009 debut in October swimming), and the Roger Clemens of open-water swimming, Rob Todd, who announced his retirement from OWS last Tuesday, and came out of retirement on Sunday to round out our foursome.

Little did we know, Rob had nothing on under that wetsuit, as we learned when he emerged from the water at the end of the swim, stripped-off wetsuit strategically wrapped around his nether regions, and commenced backing carefully out of the water towards the showers (I assume in deference to me, the only woman there). I swear, there is never a camera around when you need one! Nevertheless, that is an image that will live in my memory long into my rocking-away-on-the-porch-of-the-old-folks'-home days. Rob's unabashed comment: "You have no idea how good that felt!" That of course prompted Ken (the former and now-dethroned King of Naked on the Beach) to propose that we all shun bathing suits for a truly natural OWS group swim -- sometime next season, I'm guessing. Stay tuned for posts of a Pod-wide skinny-dip....Or not! Swimming again Wednesday? Anyone? -- Carol

NYC Little Red Lighthouse Swim: September 26, 2009

The following report is from Rob Ripp via a Saturday email:

Just got back from the Little Red Light House swim. They call it that because at the base of the GW Bridge, there is a little red light house. Race goes from 56th to the GW Bridge. Today conditions were good. Water temp about 72. Minimal wind until the end. No chop or swells. Slight tide assist in the begining of the race.

Course: 5.8 miles

Winning Time: 2:01

My Time: 2:04

Placed 35th out of 255 entrants; 191 finished the race

How I feel: Tired

Likelihood I will been seen at WNB tomorrow: Not likely

But next weekend if it's nice, def want to continue outside. Hopefully see some of you then.

Rob

Three Tri Results from August & September 2009

Timberman Half Ironman 8-23-09

Nancy Aboff 333rd 3/93 5:20:35
Steve Albright 916th 38/100 6:00:55
Meredith Emsden 1201st 72/126 6:21:24
Cori Smyth 1444th 86/126 6:43:10
Mike McGuiness 1680th 146/154 7:19:30
Stephen Uresk 211th 49/261 5:08:50

Governors Island 2 Mile Swim 9-4-09

Rob Ripp 32nd 50:07
Cark Reinesch 144th 1:12:24


Mighty Hamptons Triathlon 9-13-09

Greg Petryk 113th 2:31:38
Steve Albright 131st 2:33:05
Magdalena Petryk 315th 2:44:56
Brett Emsden 332nd 2:45:56
Deb Chin 725th 3:20:30

The Last Open Water Swim of the Summer of 2009

September 20, 2009 (Reported by Carol Moore):

Four stalwarts (Margot, Ken, Rob Todd and I) braved the 49-degree air temperature at West Neck Beach this morning for what turned out to be one of the absolutely-most-perfect-swims-ever-in-the-history-of-the-world!!

The water was warm (-ish), yesterday's wind was gone, and the harbor was smooth as a lake, so the trip out to the house at the end of the Causeway took about 25 minutes (that's MY time -- the boys of course got there first and were well into their chat-fest when I arrived -- by the way, look for Ken's e-mail giving the details of the swimming-vacation to Nassau that he's planning for the Pod in the Spring!). We zipped back on an incoming tide in about 15 minutes and kept noodling around in the water 'cause nobody wanted to get out!

Part of what made today's swim so special, and even poignant, in a way, was that all of us recognized that it was almost certainly the LAST OPEN-WATER-SWIM OF THE SUMMER!

Yes, Swimmers, the Fall Equinox takes place this year on Tuesday, September 22nd, at 2:18 p.m., and Summer is officially over! For some of us, of course, that doesn't mean the end of open-water swimming, and Ken, Carole and I (so far) are planning on going out again at West Neck on Wednesday morning at 6:30 (low tide = 8:16 a.m., high tide = 2:00 a.m., so we're probably looking at a buoy-to-beach swim). Margot will definitely NOT be joining us -- Today she announced her official retirement from open-water-swimming for the season, and is hanging up her wetsuit until at least, um, I'm guessing July!

Hope you all had a great Summer -- see you in the Fall! - Carol

The Huntington Girls Were at the 2009 John Daly One Mile Ocean Swim

Kaitlyn Robinson finished in 30:10.00
Andrea O'Brien finished in 28:50.00
Margot Edlin finished in 34:20.00

Way to go "girls" ... maybe we'll get more of the "boys" there in 2010!

Rob Ripp Bids Farewell To Summer 2009 After Some Great Swims

OK, OK. The "Summer" 2009 Swim Season is not quite over yet and we can do some Fall 2009 Open Water Swims -- in fact, Rob has one coming up on September 26th -- The Little Red Lighthouse Swim -- BUT, with this great picture of Rob waving Goodbye, I couldn't resist the "bids farewell to Summer" line! Here are Rob's Summer 2009 Swim Results:

Bayville 3k: 32:56 2nd pl men 45-49 9th place overall non wetsuit division

Greenwich Point 1 mile: 21:10 2nd place men 45-49 21st overall

Point Lookout 1 mile: 20:50 2nd place men 45-49 14th overall out of 70

Coney Island 1 mile: 31:40 (it was a long mile) 2nd place ment 45-49

Governor's Island 2 mile: 50.07 2nd place men 45-49 32nd out of 200

John Daly 1 mile: 26:04 (another long mile) 3rd place men 45-49 39th out of 232

Brooklyn Bridge: Results not posted.

2009 Tobay Tri and Tri Relay Results for Huntington Area Athletes

Name --- overall finish --- age-group finish --- time

Scott Kessler 17 1/97 1:06:44

Jessica D'Amato 37 2/51 1:09:17

Harry Slutter 38 1/73 1:09:25

Rich Delasota 65 6/73 l:12:55

Richard Young 109 15/97 1:16:42

Lynn Perzeszty 128 3/59 1:17:40

Steve Kristel 152 6/48 1:18:52

Jim Imhof 173 8/48 1:19:53

Roger Levin 281 22/73 1:25:01

Carl Reinesch 301 35/97 1:25:38

Lisa Valentine 336 8/58 1:27:14

Liz Donroe 399 10/59 1:29:12

Janet Seals 404 11/59 1:29:21

Armand D'Amato 453 2/8 1:30:47

Christine Nugent 546 19/59 1:33:33

John Furlong 594 10/16 1:35:00

Tina Graziose 642 24/59 1:36:42

Heather McCormack 651 24/59 1:37:01

Rachel Michaelis 788 10/25 1:41:47

Deb Chin 846 33/53 1:44:50

Janette Newell 864 8/19 1:45:46

Joan Addabo 936 17/25 1:50:21

Patrick McCourt 1042 68/73 1:59:43

Lisa Fascilla 1126 44/53 2:11:52

Relays:

Ken Longo, Don Bond 2 2/25 1:02:26
Boyd Carrington

Bob Miller, Jimmy Deegan, 2/25 1:09:02
Liz Pearlstein

Meredith Emsden 17 4/24 1:15:17
Brett Emsden

Mike Engel, Don Gavin 22 5/25 1:18:37
Ellie Gavin

Lori Haubrich, Lauren Weill, 50 7/18 1:28:26
Katie Palmer

Steve, Bob, Noreen Albright 70 16/24 1:37:33

A BIG Thanks to Bob Miller for putting this list together -- now even "eagle-eye" Bob may need reading glasses!

More Pictures from the Tobay Tri (Thanks to Bob and Pat!)

OK, OK! Strictly speaking the photo above is from the "After Tobay" Party at Meehan's Bar in Huntington. The Tobay Tri pictures start below... (Teddy Roosevelt is a "dead" giveaway!)

Tobay Tri Sunday, August 30, 2009: Pictures

It was really daylight but with the overcast, the lights at the park were still on!

The start area for the swim leg -- little did I know that in less than an hour I'd pick up a piece of grit in the water while rinsing out my goggles that would leave me pretty much sightless by time the Tobay Tri race was over. So, there are very few pictures from my camera, but I'll be posting some from Bob. Those pictures will actually come BEFORE this message depending on when you read this post -- such is the nature of blogs!

Rich looked real happy but then he left BEFORE I realized that I had a real eye problem!

At this point my eyes were totally closed (below) so I had no idea where the camera was or what direction I was facing!

Finally Don or Ellie got me turned in the right direction for a more or less normal looking after-race picture.

Free Art & Music show this Saturday 8/29 from 1 to 5 p.m. at St. John's Church in Huntington

Saturday, August 29, 2009: See excellent work from local artists, have a free nibble and something to drink, and listen to some good acoustic music from a band featuring Tim Sullivan, (that was Tim's shameless self-promotion moment in an email that he recently sent).

St. John's is located on the corner of Main Street and Prospect Street in Huntington Village, across the street from the Huntington Library. All are welcome.

CLICK HERE for more information on this event.

Hurricane Bill Spares Long Island But Leaves US With an Awsome Sunday Morning Sunrise Over Gilgo Beach

Thanks to Harry for getting up at "the crack of dawn" (literally) to take these really senic photos of a Sunday Sunrise at Gilgo Beach. Thanks to Hurricane Bill for some nifty looking, (though dangerous), surf.

Best Wishes to Tom Who Will Be "Missing" From the Weight Room and Pool While Recovering.

Joanna's Swin in Swim Across America 5K

The following is from Joanna on August 15th:

I wanted to write and say a collective thank you to all who made sponsored by Swim Across America 5K. I swam the event this morning (successfully). The 3.1 mile swim took me about an hour and fifty minutes. The weather was beautiful, the conditions were good, and we had nice views of Connecticut and Sands Point. Thankfully, I did not encounter any unfriendly marine life or other hazards of the Long Island Sound. I did scoop up many handfuls of moon jellyfish, but I've learned to tolerate those since they don't sting. I've attached two pictures -- one as I was exiting the water (accompanied by one of the kayak escorts) and one right afterwards, with Milo, who is trying desperately not to touch me because I was wet.

I appreciate your financial support for Swim Across America, which is a great organization. I didn't get the final count, but this one event alone typically raises in the neighborhood of $500,000. Thanks to all your generous contributions, I raised $3200.

Keep on swimming!

Joanna

New Product: StingMate could end your worries about Jellyfish stings!

StingMate® is a First Aid vinegar gel with menthol for neutralizing jellyfish stings.

So if you are doing an Open Water Swim and your not swimming close by to Rob, (who carries his own jellyfish sting First Aid formulation), you may want to Click Here to check out the StingMate® web site.

Makamah Beach Open Water Swim: August 1, 2009

I don't know about the rest of you, but I was getting a bit sick and tired of all the rain that we have been getting -- June was almost a total washout and July was not much better. But then the sun came up on August 1, 2009 on Makamah Beach and almost made up for all those rainy days and nights. Long Island Sound was about as calm as it gets -- a perfect day for our first Open Water Swim test of the KickBoard Cam. Even if it didn't work as advertised, the swim conditions would more than make up for any disappointment!

A view from the path that leads from the parking lot to the beach.

Bob is on the path walking back to the lot after checking out the water.

Bob makes a last minute adjustment to the KickBoard Cam and we're ready to head back to the beach and into the water for the first Open Water Test of the KickBoard Cam.

It was really tough to find a spot to put our stuff on this beach!

We are in the waters of Long Island Sound...

Lined up and ready to start swimming...

If you turned your head to the right to breath when we headed East, this is what you got to look at... the houses lined up on Makamah Beach. If you looked left as we swam East you got to look for the Connecticut shoreline, (hard to see from in the water -- even on a clear day!). The return trip -- we swam Westbound so us right-side breathers got to check out all the houses. 

We are finishing up the swim.. below is the view South from the parking lot... lots and lots of marshland. 

Below is the video from our FIRST Open Water Swim Test of the KickBoard Cam. Thanks to Bob, my "engineer" for making the KickBoard Cam possible, (though lets work on a way to keep water drops OFF the lens!), and BIG Thanks to Carol for access to a great beach for our first OWS Test.

July 28, 2009: Huntington Pub Owner Completes the English Channel Swim

Conor Hartnett, owner of Mary Carroll's Pub in downtown Huntington, New York, traveled thousands of miles this July to complete the 21-mile English Channel Swim in a bit over 14 hours. My guess is that the 3,000 plus trip from NY to the UK was a lot more enjoyable than the 21-mile swim from Dover to Calais!

But the swim, yes the swim is what Conor will remember Congratulations Conor -- we'll think of you when we do our open water swims in Cold Spring Harbor -- and dream of the Channel. Hey, I wonder if Conor could have been legally accompanied by the KickBoard Cam to document the crossing in a very personal way? Bob, you'd better practice your kicking -- 21 miles is a long way to kick! (See story below for first in-pool test of the KickBoard Cam.)

KickBoard Cam: Passes Critical Pool Test -- Is It Ready for Open Water?

Take a first look a the final Pool Test of the KickBoard Cam. If we had only remembered to bring a second camera you could actually see what the KickBoard Cam looks like -- but at least you can see how it works in the video below. Thanks to Bob Miller for some great design work!

Bill's AMAZING Underwater Bubble Trick

Pool workouts can become routine and BORING. But not when Bill's around! Go ahead, check out his AMAZING Underwater Bubble Trick below. But be warned, do NOT try this yourself... or, if you must, make sure you have adaquate lifeguard protection. Bill did.

Montauk Sprint Triathlon Sunday, July 19, 2009 Huntington Area Results

Great job by Scott Kessler, who was second overall at the Montauk Sprint Triathlon held this past Sunday, July 19, 2009. Don Bond, who was on the 21 day disabled list, finished 40th overall and 3rd in his age group! Also, kudos to Elizabeth Perlstein, who placed 2nd in her age group in her first triathlon! Congrats to all who competed and did so well...

Name / overall finish / age group finish / time

Scott Kessler / 2 / 2 / 1:11:06

Greg Linakis / 15 / 2 / 1:16:07

Don Bond / 40 / 3 / 1:19:52

Lynn Perzeszty / 76 / 1 / 1:25:25

Nancy Aboff / 93 / 1 / 1:27:12

Steve Kristel / 96 / 4 / 1:27:37

Lisa Kristel / 99 / 2 / 1:28:06

Karen Farrel / 117 / 1 / 1:29:30

Carl Reinesch / 123 / 10 / 1:30:00

Elizabeth Pearlstein / 181 / 2 / 1:37:11

Dawn Desimone / 192 / 5 / 1:38:45

Armand D'Amato / 231 / 2 / 1:41:57

Heather McCormick / 235 / 6 / 1:42:17

Joan Addabo / 401 / 8 / 2:02:20

Waves of Hope Swim: August 17 2009 Amityville NY

This is a Two Mile Open Water Swim to benefit Juvenile Diabetes. Click Here for more information and to sign up.