When I was younger and an older athlete’s name was mentioned, I remember the adults making comments like, “you don’t know him/her! s/he was the first to do…” Usually, those athletes were either long gone or done with their careers; which is what makes us so lucky now. Open water swimmers like Lynne Cox and Alison Streeter are not only still around but very much involved in the sport. These were the women who were the firsts. Alison has crossed the English Channel 43 times, more than anyone else in the world. She set the female record for a Channel swim from France to England (8 hours 48 minutes), in 1988. She was the first (and so far only) woman to swim the Channel three ways non-stop in 1990, taking 34h 40 min for the feat. These are only some of her accomplishments. I have never met Alison but I have met Lynne Cox and can vouch for her character as a public figure and role model. How lucky we are to have greatness among us and greatness that is willing to share her stories, get intimate enough to ask you yours and give crucial and thoughtful advice. Lynne was the youngest (age 15) to cross the English channel twice setting the record for fasting crossing for men or women. She was the first woman to swim the Cook Strait in New Zealand, the first person to swim across the Strait of Magellan in Chile, the Beagle Channel between Argentina and Chile, Lake Baikal in Russia and around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. In 1987 Cox crossed the Bering Strait from Alaska to the Soviet Union and in 2002 swam more than a mile in 31-degree Fahrenheit waters off Antarctica (buy her book – swimming to Antarctica). She has written a book Open water swimming manual – an expert’s survival guide for triathletes and open water swimmers. This book tells you everything you need to know about open water swimming. Even if you are not an open water swimmer, the information she gives in the book is also a guide of open water in general covering topics such as dangerous marine organisms, surf, body surfing, role of the tides…and the list goes on and on. I encourage everyone to pick up this book…it could really assist you one day if you find yourself in a scary situation in the ocean. I also encourage you to read more about Lynne Cox and her accomplishments. Her story will amaze and inspire you and you wonder why you haven’t read about her sooner and happy you now know a person like her exists.
Author Archives: Lori King
Rest and Recovery is a Good Thing
I used to get caught up in the idea that if I stop swimming for one day that I would “lose it.” My coach has taught me that this is not the case, and actually, rest is a very good thing. While it is true that when you are intensely training, one recovery day as opposed to two days rest is better (getting in the pool and doing shorter yardage). A day of doing nothing helps the body and the mind reset. So for all you hard core athletes, take some time to rest, relax and appreciate what you were able to do during the week.
Matt Long
Since I introduced my website this week, I have received such wonderful words of support and encouragement by so many. I have also received some inspirational stories that I really feel I need to share. My friend Lauren sent me a link to her friend MATT LONG’s story. He was an Iron Man competitor and while riding his bike to work in Manhattan during the MTA strikes a few years ago, he was crushed by a bus and wrote a book about his journey to recovery. http://www.mattslongrun.com/index.html. For those of us, that have a hard time dragging ourselves to the pool or the gym or whatever we need to do to get ourselves moving, Matt’s story will help you appreciate the ease of doing all the small things we take for granted and think are soooo difficult at times. His story may make you complain less and do more. Sometimes we are so focused on following the path that is before us that when that path makes a sharp turn we can’t stop thinking about that straight path and the what ifs rather than thinking that maybe the new path will lead us to a new and more exciting journey. Matt proves even the bumpiest of paths can be traveled and conquered. Please read his story.
Know Your Stroke Count
I used to think that stroke count was important to know just so you could try to then improve it (by lowering it). But stroke count is important for a number of reasons. If you are a hard core swimmer or just someone who likes to get in and do some laps, knowing your stroke count can help. If you are a beginner, you may be able to tell improvement by not only how you feel in the water but if your stroke count drops down. If you like to swim laps, knowing your stroke count can pretty much help you accomplish that wherever you go. For example, I know I am 19 strokes to the wall in a 25 yard pool (22 in a 25 meter pool). This does not change no matter where I swim. If I am away somewhere and I want to know how far I am going, I will count my strokes to get an idea of what a “lap” would be. You could always time yourself as well. In open water, knowing one’s stroke count can help the support team know if a swimmer is getting tired, or if something else serious is going on. I’ll end with an interesting thing that happened to me at the pool where I train. Let me preface this by saying that the lifeguards do a wonderful job at keeping that place running smoothly and making sure everything is in good working order and safe for everyone who enters the pools. There are either three pools or two if they move the walls to make two pools into one 50 meter pool. As I mentioned I am 19 strokes to the wall in a 25 yard pool. The pool was at 50 meters and the lifeguards had to put the wall in to make it 25 yards again for a meet. Now, I usually only swim in the one 25 yard pool (there are two when they put the wall in). So, after they moved the walls I got back in the pool and began to swim. My times, I noticed, were slightly off. This does not matter so much if you are doing 50 sets or 100s but I was doing 10 x 800s at the time. I started to count my strokes and was coming in consistently at 20 strokes per 25. So for every 800, I was doing an extra 1 and almost 1/2 laps. While this does not seem like a big deal, when you are timing your sets it can make a big difference. I asked others if they noticed a difference in their times, for which I received many confused looks more than anything. I let it go knowing the walls were off. When they switched it to long course and now back again, the walls were as they should be…my stroke count was again at 19. Consequently, they had to move us so they could clean the one pool yesterday so I went into the other 25 yard pool. Again, my stroke count was off by one stroke. So I am going to assume that if I am 19 strokes in the one 25 yard pool, the other pool I will be 20. That is what happens with movable walls.
Going the Distance Matters
This is my first posting and I’m excited to get this started. Yes, going the distance matters, especially in open water swimming. But, it is also a metaphor for how we live our lives everyday. Going the extra mile to help someone, volunteering in your community, being a good friend, daughter, son, mother and father. Yes, going the distance does matters. Open water swimming has taught me a great deal about self confidence, perserverance and the importance of supportive family and friends.