Okay, I’ve been accused of being somewhat “temperaturely optimistic” in the past… but there was no need on Saturday… the water was awesome!
So dig this progression so far this year… LOST Swim #1 – 39 swimmers, 50F… LOST Swim #2 – 31 swimmers, 58F… LOST Swim #3… 65 swimmers and 68F/20C!!! Wow… 18 degrees warmer… in 3 weeks!
At this rate it will be boiling by the time the LOST Race rolls around on Aug 9… and be over 1000 people!!! 😉
Anyway, a huge turnout and a great swim. Funny I was thinking “oh, there probably won’t be many people around for the long weekend.” Boy was I wrong. As usual, we had swimmers commute from Barrie, Ajax, Scarborough, Toronto, Cambridge, Guelph, London, St Catherines… and of course, lots from Burlington, Mississauga and Oakville too!
And it was worth the drive. It was really a nice swim. Although I will give you that it was a bit choppy. But as always, trying to find the upside in that… as my running friend Stephen Connor says when he is coaching us on hills… it’s not a problem… it’s an “opportunity”! (the guy is as pathetically optimistic about tough conditions as I am!). So Saturday was a great “opportunity” to swim in water that was a bit choppy!
It wasn’t that choppy though, and with the issue of cold water being out of the way, it just gave you one thing to work on at a time. Jillian, Celine and Darren set up the course (thanks!), which started as a 1.5 km course… but the far buoy was blown down the shore a bit further… so your laps might not have been too consistent. Especially after I got Jill to bring it back in a ways. Oh well… an “opportunity” to practice your sighting… with a moving buoy!
I had to laugh though, at the start of the swim the kayakers were running a bit behind setting up the course, so we had the 3rd buoy still to put out… so I needed to get it dropped out there somehow. When who should step up beside me but one of the all-time greats of open water swimming, Greg Streppel, (see last week’s post) about to get in the water. Now I would never ask this of anyone else, but… when you’ve got a swimmer of that caliber standing next to you… and you are in need of a buoy with a bucket full of rocks attached to it taken out a couple hundred yards into the lake and dropped off… well, it seemed like it would have been a missed “opportunity”… for me, sure… but also for Greg! Just a nice little warm up for him!!!
Anyway, great swim everyone! And congrats to those that told us about their races over the past week or so (John, swimming from Alcatraz… and Helene, qualifying for the Half Ironman World Championships… are just 2 that leap to mind!).
See you next week… also, don’t forget the first entry to the Canadian Open Water Swim Series (COWSS.ca) is next weekend! Have a look… it will be your best chance to get a jump in the rankings to become the first Canadian Open Water Swim Series Champion!!! Remember, 50% of the points come from participation!
Cheers,
Rob
