Swim Camp Update

Thanks for the update, Jim. I checked out their website after the original discussion, and their camps sound great. Let us know how it went (if it won't spoil the story ;))

Yes, please do come back and share with us, my mom offered me the trip down there for a few days at the raceclub camp, but knowing it is well worth the money would persuade me more!

Jim: I am extremely disappointed that you are going all the way to Islamorada for an exclusively SR trip. I'm sure, however, that the race club has masseuses ... While you are eating lobster with butter in FLA, I will be in cold stark Buffalo. It hardly seems fair. Good luck knocking some time off your 1650. We'll all be on pins and needles for the shoulder report. Comrade Fort

I'm very jealous that you are going and I'm not and that you aren't bringing me as your personal massage therapist ... I would LOVE to go to this camp ... have a great time and report back!

God help me, I've tried to keep this thread high minded and decidedly SR! But when two comely water nymphs insist on virtually throwing themselves into my suitcase, how long can one fellow sustain his resistance? I am a low resistance fellow by nature, and somewhat lacking in the genes for high mindedness. This is, in other words, not my fault! Though the rates that the Sprint Club camp are charging are high enough that I was SURE it would include a two-girl hot oil massage following every workout, something tells me this is neither included nor even, for that matter, an option one can secure a la carte (like swimming with the dolphins.) As soon as I find out, I will post my room number at the lodge down in Islamorada, and tell the staff to let in both Fortress and FlyQueen, especially if they come down bearing unguents and flexible, indefatigable digits well-versed in "joyful finality." And on this euphemistic note, I suspect yet another Jim-inaugurated thread will come to its own happy ending, courtesy of the monitors of this forum.

Thanks, Ian et al! This was an extremely fun article to write. I went down there thinking that after my initial filming, the exceptionally affable Jon Olsen would review my footage and confess: "Jim, this really is unprecedented at our camp. Usually, we can help swimmers improve their strokes, even if it is just tiny, micro changes. But your form is so flawless that I would feel like a complete fraud charging you anything to try to improve the unimprovably good! Here is a refund of your payment to the Race Club. And this other check? Well, Gary Jr. and I are hoping you might accept a nominal stipend of $100,000 in exchange for allowing us to show your underwater film to other students. Oh, and Gary was hoping you'd have a couple hours to help him personally." It didn't turn out to be this way. I can tell you guys more about the whole experience later, but let me just conclude for now that of all the Halls I have personally met, Bebe is by far the cutest. And probably the only one I can beat in swimming. As for the 52.69, I did this at CZ meet where I should add that I came in 3rd in my 50-54 age group! If I can hold onto this time till the 80-84 age group, and these other guys give up, I might be able to win. One very unrelated shameless self-promotion. The article I wrote last year that I thought was my best effort had nothing to do with swimming. If you are a hunter, outdoorsperson, or just like to look at deer from the window of your high speed motor vehicle, I do ask you to check out this story on CWD at fieldandstream.blogs.com/.../special_feature.html

Hey, Jim! I see your Race Club camp report in the NYT today: www.nytimes.com/.../0603play-master.html Now, let's hear about what you left out of your article.........the real scoop. Ian.

Wow!!! Jim, first of all, what a wonderfully well written article. I enjoyed every sentence! Second of all, congratulations on your 100 yard free time. Incredible is the only word I can think of. Ian - thanks for posting the article. Very cool.

Leslie et al, First of all, thanks so much for the kind comments about my article. I usually hear nothing from anybody when my articles appear--they just sort of disappear into the ether, eventually replaced by a belated check, which never seems quite adequate recompense... Anyhow, your kind words are very much appreciated. As good as Bob Hanson (one of the Fortress's teammates, or at least zone mates) is, he has one decided disadvantage--his relative youth. I will have a good 2-3 years in the 100-104 age group while the youngster remains mired in the latter half of the nonegenarian bracket. He may eventually beat my centenarian records--but I will have the first crack at them! I can only hope that the Jim McConica's, Jim Clemmon's, and Greg Shaw's (my seniors) all become new fathers when they hit the 100 year mark, and are too busy changing diapers and the like to continue swimming at that point. (Was it Dorothy Parker who observed that old men can father babies, they just can't pick them up?) When I went down to the Race Club, the only campers at the time were me and a likable German fellow who had been sick with the flu for about a week. I received, thanks to this, the almost undivided attention of Jon Olsen, who really was a wonderful guy. They coach people of all ages--7 to aspiring centenarians. But if you can arrange to go when you're the only one there, or you and your kids are, it would be perfect! The various changes Jon suggested for me were all things I had at least semi-heard of before, and the biggest change--using a switched kick cadence to anchor my stroke and better "recruit the core"--is only one that I still haven't completely embraced. I have finally mastered this, but still feel a little uncomfortable using it in the pool. That said, it feels pretty natural now in open water swimming. Hard to explain why it should feel good in a huge body of scum water where you don't know where you're going exactly, and not so good in a clear pool in which no muskies or baby geese threaten to bite off your feet or hiss at your, respectively. Nevertheless...I am losing my point here... I think someone may have to push me into the water when I go for my 100-104 records... The bottom line is I learned quite a few tips down there (see the sidebar of the story) that I already was conscious of but didn't really use. Now I consciously try to use them all, and it's making a difference. That race at CZ was my first 52+ in at least a couple years, and I think a lot of this was due to better head position and, especially, better hand position at the finish part of the stroke. If you're thinking about going, call Bebe Hall and talk to her about when you would get the most individual attention. You can also stay much cheaper at local dive hotels (dive in more ways than one), though the place I stayed was awfully luxurious (much more room than I needed, though--would have been great for a family vacation.) Thanks again.

And here I thought dreams of going to camp were done when I graduated HS. Now I have a new idea for the next family vacation! Great article as well. With the summer lull after nationals, I definitely want to work on my stroke and endurance base, so this was a good bit of motivation and tips.