What are your swimming goals for 2015?
evmo
SydneyAdmin
Following on @loneswimmer's excellent thread, So how was your 2014 swimming year?, I'd like to propose a related but somewhat different question: What are your swimming goals for 2015?
I'll start:
In 2015, I will eat my own dogfood and attempt a new swim, undertaken according to the MSF Rules of Marathon Swimming, documented according to the template I developed in observing Craig Lenning's and Joe Locke's incredible Farallon swims (subsequently adopted for the Longest Unassisted Ocean Swim), and ratified by a global panel representing the largest community of open water swimmers in the world.
What about you? What do you hope to achieve in the open water, in 2015?
You are more likely to succeed, if you tell us now and let us hold you accountable! (According to science, or something.)
I'll start:
In 2015, I will eat my own dogfood and attempt a new swim, undertaken according to the MSF Rules of Marathon Swimming, documented according to the template I developed in observing Craig Lenning's and Joe Locke's incredible Farallon swims (subsequently adopted for the Longest Unassisted Ocean Swim), and ratified by a global panel representing the largest community of open water swimmers in the world.
What about you? What do you hope to achieve in the open water, in 2015?
You are more likely to succeed, if you tell us now and let us hold you accountable! (According to science, or something.)
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Seriously though, I will also attempt something (if I can figure out the logistics in two foreign languages) not done before (as far as I can find), according to the MSF rules, and observed by somone known to the community.
Now all of you, please guilt me into actually doing it. I'm Catholic, so it'll probably work.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
* Bring my mile down to 40 minutes in the pool.
* Complete Son of a Swim at Lake Memphremagog
* Swim from King Neptune's statue to the 14th St Pier in VA Beach a couple of times over the family vacation (Which brings up a point: How come swimming from Cape Henry to Cape Charles across the mouth of the Chesapeake isn't a thing for the marathon swimmers?)
* Swim the Boston Sharkfest
* If I do REALLY well, swim 300 miles this year. (That may be more of a pipe dream, though, slow as I am)
Modest compared to the real swimmers on the board, but a challenge for me, which is what will help get to the outrageous goals later.
@NoelFigart -- I am intrigued by Son of a Swim at Lake Memphremagog -- which is close to Lake Willoughby! I'm just a few hours south, but my mother-in-law is from Newport and we visit a few times a year to see family. I'll have to look it up to find out more!
shhhhh (please)
the Guildford Lido 2S4L (24miles total)
Recover in Mexico :-)))))))
Swim a couple of BLDSA events maybe Wykeham CofC and Coniston
Do another private One Way Windermere (or 1 and a half) and attempt to get somewhere near my PB
Then possibly have a peep at Loch Lomond, maybe swim the half Balloch - Inverbeg first weekend and consider the lot pending progress and suffering !
There used to be a Bay Bridge-Tunnel swim.
I did not know that... have any information about it?
Info from page 104 of Johnson's book, History of Open-Water Marathon Swimming.
One wonders why it stopped...
I found out some SEALs did the swim for charity, though I don't know if they used Marathon swimming rules or not.
Complete the Desafío de las playas de Llanes (Beaches of Llanes challege, 8km along the Asturian coast) in under 3 hours (much will depend on the currents, we had a difficult current against us last year).
Swim 90% of weekends in the sea with like minded folk.
Do a solo swim of 13-16km on the coast, following MSF rules if I can.
Before then I'm hoping to swim several BLDSA events and also do some local events.
People keep asking me when I'm going to do it, so I will "go public" on here. I have no plans EVER to attempt an Ice Mile!
2nd - finish Stage 6 of 8 Bridges (my only DNF)
3rd - swim around my home island Manhattan- MIMS
4th - Lake Seymour as part of Kingdom - see how i like fresh water
5th - Catalina Relay - first night swim and its really big deep water - this will test my head
last just for the fun of it swim 1,000,000 yards in the year
Not a bad list for the slow girl in the slow lane
-- I'm looking forward to the 24-Hour Relay/swimmer non-slumber party in San Francisco.
-- Hoping to survive SCAR
-- Thinking about the Ederle swim
-- Plotting toward the 10-miler in Virginia so I can visit MSF friend Sarah Dunstan
And, getting back into the groove of swimming just because I love swimming.
Molly Nance, Lincoln, Nebraska
January – Kick off the swimmy fun and giggles with a full dance card of swims at the awesome Parliament Hill Ice Swim Hootenanny (PHiSH) Completed :-).
February – Off to Ireland for more fun and giggles swimming at Portmarnock High Rock and Lough Dan.
April – Fun and giggles overload! Three Rivers Safari!
May – Twenty four hours of fun and giggles at Guildford Lido with 2swim4life (PS must buy a tent and a few dozen towels).
Dover Training Weekend * 10
July – The Big One! EC Solo (allegedly fun and giggles but may be more to do with boat crew’s fruit flinging/flag flying antics then swimming).
August/September – Details TBC but if the plan comes together it will be a colder/longer fresh water swim than last year’s big one!
November – Confirm booking for 2016’s Big One! (get divorced?)
Hope you all have an awesome 2015!
1. Finish the Potomac River Swim (7.5 Miles).
2. Finish the Chesapeake Bay Swim (4.4 Miles) - I really want to do this under 2:20 since my physical therapist told me it was impossible for a non-swimmer to beat her time
3. Finish the Kingdom Swim (10 Miles).
4. Not get hurt.
5. Finally learn to enjoy swimming.
Modest goals to say the least. As of right now I'm working hard, having a bit of fun and starting to see some improvement. Thanks for keeping me motivated!
Excellence is born of preparation, dedication, focus and tenacity; compromise on any of these and you become average.
"Lights go out and I can't be saved
Tides that I tried to swim against
Have brought be down upon my knees
Oh I beg, I beg and plead..."
1. Swim 1 megmeter over the course of the year
2. Complete all 4 stages of SCAR
3. Hopefully take on a few longer swims (>10 miles). I don't have an exact plan of races yet since don't yet know where I will be living this summer.
I would love to try my hand at a channel swim, but as a broke graduate student I don't think I would be able to afford any of them.
JaeLee, last year was my first real season as an open water swimmer, and I did the Kingdom Swim in Memphremagog. The country, the water, and the community up there are all amazing, and @Fil does a spectacular job of organizing the races. I would highly recommend trying to get into one of the races up there.
I was looking at Greece but then we had an invitation to go sailing in Turkey for a week in June and, ahem, who could pass that up? Means I can't get back there for a swim in July but, ahem, it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.
(2) Swim Straits of Gibraltar in May
(3) Catalina 2-way in September
(1) and (3) will hopefully not be mutually exclusive........
April - 3 Rivers safari, shorter swims and lots of socialising and eating. Right up my street.
May - short sea swim, one of four Mad Hatter Cornwall Sea swims. This one's 3.2k. Maybe Eton 10k.
June - another Mad Hatter swim for fun, about 2-3k, all swims in my local bay.
June - Jubilee 10k river swim, split swim with cake/ snacks at the weirs between stages.
Early July - Ned's Distance Camp again.....including the Lough Allua 7-8k swim and many others.
Late July - Zurich Marathon Swim. This year's big one.
August - Mad Hatter Caerhays 3.6k
August - Creek Safari Swim - 6.2k upriver.
September - another Mad Hatter swim.
October - Bude Sea Pool Channel Challenge.
All interspersed with regular Swim Canary Wharf sessions and weekends being beasted by Freda. Also supporting at least one channel solo.
Might add a few more swims, depending on where they are and where we are.
2. Master the Superhero Glide... you know, the one where your hand spears the water and the opposite hand kicks back, burning the triceps and your bad@ss two kick propels you like a superhero for yards and yards until you take another stroke. (less strokes, more power, awesome glide)
3. Swim to Alligator Lighthouse solo 8nm..... bring it jelliman!
I had no idea there was an official term for this. Trying to learn it myself and am reassured that the triceps are supposed to burn on this one. I was just chalking this one up to bring a wuss.
Will start with an attempt at a double crossing of the IJsselmeer (NL), i.e. 2 x 22 = 44 kms, in early Summer. If that works out, move on to next levels.
Milko
https://db.marathonswimmers.org/p/milko-van-gool/
-swim 3x per week (tough with 2 kids under 3)
-do one 5k open water swim (I'll have to travel to Ontario or Minnesota)
-do one open water workout per week in the summer
I'd had next year in mind. And then folks on FB were urging me on. One of the coaches said he plans to enter the lottery as does one of my teammates--who is also urging me on. So, I've decided to jump in with both feet. If I get in, great--if not, I still plan to do the Great South Bay Swim again this year. If so, I'm still thinking I'll do it... as a warm-up swim for Boston (GSB is in July, about a month before BLS, so that just might work). One other possible plan we may end up with is a relay. But I still want to do the full monty--if not this year then soon.
There are times the universe nudges us toward what we really want and dream about. This might be such a time.
Scared but excited about the possibilities! Getting ready for quite a roller coaster of adventures! Life is too short not to have them!
I have to be realistic about what my health and work will allow me to achieve this year, and so, my goal in 2015 is to work on my health and happiness so I can walk and function pain-free. I'm taking a break from strenuous training and racing and am officially launching Operation AquaLazarus, which is simply an effort to get myself back on a regular schedule of swimming almost daily without pain. Good wishes and advice are most welcome.
Wishing you all the best as you find your way back! The hard training and racing will come. Health is the first priority! I've had off-years from running (my other sport) and have made the mistake of lacking patience with injuries. I'm slowly learning not to do that. It's probably at times a bigger challenge than launching into mega-workouts, this patience thing.
Grow in the sport so that at some point I can call myself a marathon swimmer. This year I'm doing Swim Miami 5K, GCBS (this year's big race), and Alligator Lighthouse (this time in a two-person relay if I can find another swimmer who's not averse to the jellies).
Hello everyone,
I'm brand new here, and everybody sounds so professional.!!
I will swim 35km in La Paz, Baja California Sur in Mexico. Warm and calm sea...hot weather..and my very first long swim.
I've done that swim twice in relays, this year to celebrate my 45th birthday, will try this challenge.
I appreciate all your comments and posts, threads, been reading and learning a lot.
Un abrazo
Steffie
I'm taking a break from strenuous training and racing and am officially launching Operation AquaLazarus, which is simply an effort to get myself back on a regular schedule of swimming almost daily without pain. Good wishes and advice are most welcome.
All the best, you can do it, un abrazo!
Steffie
Inspirational stuff, reading these goals! Here are mine:
1) Do my second OW comp ever, a 5k Swim in Catalonia, Spain in August.
2) Crack the blasted 15 minutes on 1k (still 18 secs over) in a 25m pool. (Feels like my Moby Dick moment?...I keep chasing a white whale, and yet, that whale is me :-? )
3) Train hard every weekday without compromising my other priorities as hubby, father, worker.
4) Finally become a real OW marathon swimmer by cracking a proper 10k+ swim either this year or the next.
Follow me on [b]"The Great Big 10k Marathon Swimming Adventure"[/b] (yes, I know, but getting to 10k is a big marathon for me!) at http://www.wimmerblog.com
I have a few big focus swims for 2015 interspersed with other swims that I plan to do to help the training. The four big ones are: May - 24 miles in 24 hours in a 50m lido; June - MIMS; July - North Channel 3-person relay; August - Loch Ness. In between I am signed up (or will do when I have kayaker support sorted) for a number of the BLDSA swims - Coniston Vets, Coniston, Ullswater, Derwentwater, Windermere, St Mary's Loch.
I swam the 1k at Chillswim on 1 Feb. Love that event.
Hi everyone, just a quick update because I am so bloody pleased with myself. I posted my second goal for 2015 just three days ago:
And yep; I finally caught that "whale" this morning and swam the 1k in 14:50 minutes. Yay.
Follow me on [b]"The Great Big 10k Marathon Swimming Adventure"[/b] (yes, I know, but getting to 10k is a big marathon for me!) at http://www.wimmerblog.com
I had two goals for this year:
I've been having elbow pain for some time. Saw the doctor and will need surgery on the elbow. Surgery is scheduled for April 20.
Depending on recovery and time out of the water, #1 is probably a long shot to make. #2 might be doable. The swim Is August 29 so I may be able to get back to a point where I could complete the swim, but I don't know if it will be a level that I would be comfortable with.
Here are my swimming goals for 2015:
(1) Stay healthy;
(2) Stay positive;
(3) Semana Nautica 6 mile swim;
(4) Dam-to-Dam Idaho swim (11 mile reservoir);
(5) Swim regularly with an eye toward a 2016 Anacapa swim.
We'll see how it goes...
Adding to my goals---
Signed up for the Kingdom 15-miler Border Buster, and excited for it, but would still like to find another swim for August. Suggestions? East Coast preferred.
Also contemplating the Lake Travis Solo, if there are still places. My MIL lives there so we can do an easy long weekend.
And the Lake Quassy swim, 3 swims totaling 5 miles over the course of the day. A fun training day for you New Englanders.
Most important nostalgically, the family and I are heading back to St. Croix for the 20th anniversary of the Coral Reef Swim, which I did for the first time in 2003 and which was my first ever swim over 3 miles. It's been a long time since then, with many many miles logged, but for all of you newbies on this forum, I still remember when 5-miles seemed almost insurmountable! Hard to believe I'm doing 15s at least once a summer, and wishing for longer!
This will be my 7th trip to compete in St. Croix and the second time my son and husband will be competing, possibly both in the 2-mile. You think your own swimming is important until you see your kid come running out of the water, and that is Soooooo much more incredible than anything you've done yourself.
@SydneD, can you elaborate on this swim? I went to CT masters page, and saw info on 2013 and 2014, but if you have personal experience, perhaps a new thread to talk about it? I want to do one of these 3 x swims in a day thing one of these days when I return to the states. Would love to read about your experiences!
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Good luck, having to pull out of the Kingdom Swim was what finally did it for me, went right to surgeon for spinal fusion. Had it in September, it's a long road back but should be able to do some swims this year, slowly, but should be able to do them.
@IronMike - Happy to share my experiences. I've done that swim many times and it's great. By the end of the day, and the 1/2 mile, you are exhausted and then having to Sprint! (And, ahem, I'm not much of a sprinter...)
I will start a new thread and let's chat!
Well it is already April, but I will chime in.
So far I've achieved one small goal for the year, I got my herniated disc removed, so now my right foot is functional.(I can press on the gas!)
I'm back in the pool and returned to do a 1K swim at the lake last week...sighting is still kinda rough on my back.
Big Goal is to finish the Swim for Alligator Lighthouse (I see a few others have that listed, YAY!) SInce last years Jelly fish entangelement and DNF, I've kind of got this one in my sights.
Secondary goals are to complete some other shorter ocean swims. I'm very comfortable in lakes/rivers/lagoons/pools. Still have some issues with actual ocean and waves.
I'm really excited to see so many swimming options, since thats pretty much all I'm allowed to do since the surgery. (I do use an elliptical but wow, how boring is that.)
I've finally gotten my head together and entered my races for this year. This is how it's shaping up:
May: McDonnell 1&2 milers
June: GCBS 4.4
July: Steelman 5k
August: Lake George 10k
October: Bridge and Back 10 miler - this will be my longest race since college those many years ago (Lake George was my longest since college last year...) I'm posting this online so if I chicken out of the 10 miler I will have to answer to you all
Update on mine...April 3 Rivers safari included a jump into one river, during which I tore my long head biceps tendon in my right shoulder. So far, I've scratched the May and June swims and one lesson, deferred the Jubilee 10k until 2016, managed 2 hrs 40 in the sea last weekend and am about to try a Dover weekend. If this doesn't work out, Zurich will also be deferred. (Such lovely people to allow this!) Ah well, such is life. I enjoyed jumping in the river, even if it's effectively scotched the first half of the season and possibly the second half, too. Enjoy your events, folks. :-)
My goals are very modest this year because of rebuilding after shoulder reconstruction. I met one of those goals today - a 1-mile ocean swim. Now, to see how harsh the recovery is and whether I can triple that by July (or the end of the season.)
I cannot tell you how badly I missed swimming long(ish) in 58d water, except most of you already know and more than sympathize. It's been a long long long almost two years!