this is why i dont open water

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 08:14:40 GMT

One more reason I will never ever ever swim an ocean open water swim.... I grew up on nice cold spring fed lakes of Maine...we only had to push ice flows out of the way...never encountered a jelly fish till graduate school at Rutgers and was treated to the beaches in NJ. jelly fish, needles ,cigarette butts and that was the first 10 feet of the water... I embrace my sissy hood - between sharks and jelly fish and whatever else, I will stay land lock. My imagination is just too vivid to swim with these things, although maybe that would increase my pace... The OW championship sounded quite frightening - give me ice flows any day!

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 06:55:32 GMT

I hear many tales of jellyfish in the english channel.. guess I didn't swim far enough out from shore :D

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 06:53:26 GMT

I hear many tales of jellyfish in the english channel.. Not to mention oil slicks and stretches of raw sewerage. Sounds like fun. -LBJ

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 16:10:11 GMT

Believe it or not, but jellyfish are seasonal critters and the oceans take them wherever the currents go. Most places all over the world KNOW when jellyfish are more likely to be there than not. An exception to this is unforeseen storms that affect currents and water temperatures. Here in Roatan, our jellyfish season is about to be in full force: end of March through May, so I have to find a pool to train in during that time. And after the jellyfish leave, they leave behind billions of eggs called sea lice that do great damage to us humans. donna So an island paradise is not all paradise ... I hope you're OK down there. I don't think I'll be braving the open waters any time soon after reading this thread.

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 16:04:51 GMT

Another reason to don't open water :eek: www.physorg.com/.../pic-shark-guad2big.jpg Happy Swimming :) Dolphin 2 pffffffft you just have to poke 'em in the eye with your finger....

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:59:13 GMT

Another reason to don't open water :eek: www.physorg.com/.../pic-shark-guad2big.jpg Happy Swimming :) Dolphin 2

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:42:43 GMT

Here is a little something about jelly fish in an open water race www.wcsn.com/.../news.jsp

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:02:30 GMT

Ahhh, the majestic beauty of the North Sea or the English Channel...never have these issues there... I hear many tales of jellyfish in the english channel..

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 13:41:29 GMT

You are right --two sides. the Suttons probably would not like my post.

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:48:05 GMT

Ahhh, the majestic beauty of the North Sea or the English Channel...never have these issues there...

RE: this is why i dont open water

knelson — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 11:24:16 GMT

Remember Coco there are two sides to every story. I agree. The "everyone's against Chloe" tone of that post was a little extreme. I don't think it's fair to bash Kate Zeigler and Kalyn Keller like that.

RE: this is why i dont open water

FlyQueen — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 11:16:27 GMT

Remember Coco there are two sides to every story. I'm not saying things didn't go down as you said but there is also another side. I hope Chloe and Kate both do well. I'm surprised about Kalyn hitting her too. Maybe she didn't realize it was her, maybe she is just going along with the open water culture, who knows ...

RE: this is why i dont open water

Kevin in MD — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 11:14:03 GMT

Coco: From the article, it sounded like there was a lot of "manouvering" going on. Is that kind of behavior actually legal in the OW? No rules or time penalties or anything? I don't understand international officiating at all, it seems that some people are just allowed to get away with things. In this particular instance, the rules say that anyone who makes intentional contact, paces, or slipstreams another competitor gets a yellow card, then if it happens again they get the red card and are pulled. In practice, this never happens. Instructions at some races are that "group swimming is OK, drafting is not." Meaning that if there are three of you drafting that's OK, but if it's just two then it's not. In my opinion it's a ridiculous rule in practice. USMS has rules on contact but none on drafting in open water events. This is probably good since outlawing drafting in a cable swim would be very hard to execute.

RE: this is why i dont open water

The Fortress — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 10:07:44 GMT

Coco: Thanks for the update! I'm sure Chloe will bounce back and do just fine. I would love to see some youtube coverage of that race. From the article, it sounded like there was a lot of "manouvering" going on. Is that kind of behavior actually legal in the OW? No rules or time penalties or anything? I'm not too surprised about your take on the FISH. They practice 10 minutes from my house. So I know kids on the team and have heard the myriad stories. From meet programs, I've also noticed a lot of switchovers to RMSC and CUBU. I notice those girls are doing very well at the recent PV meets though! I'm sorry Chloe had a rough time with Kate, but at least she's happy out in CA and seems to have found her niche. I know Kate is beloved by many of her BO teammates and at her summer league swim team in Great Falls, where she still shows up to say hi to the kids. But she is definitely the big time star of the "fabulous" FISH group. They got some really strict rules on that team ... My swimming child is not on that team, despite its proximity. I think if my coach made me do her workouts, I might throw a water bottle too. :rofl:

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 08:09:25 GMT

My best drafting was right behind a married couple who were only slightly faster then me. They stayed side-by-side the whole time and I got a free ride for 800m.:groovy: Isn't that sweet. Must have been newlyweds...:drink:

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 08:04:34 GMT

My preferred position is right next to another swimmer. Clearly not the most advantageous place to be from a drafting point of view, but the best place to challenge each other. My preference is keeping a swimmer to my right. I can watch him and let him do the sighting. My best drafting was right behind a married couple who were only slightly faster then me. They stayed side-by-side the whole time and I got a free ride for 800m.:groovy:

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 07:34:10 GMT

Very good - when I raced the marathon races I would like to get in close to the lead swimmer and preferred to be between two swimmers, just below their shoulders. I have had free rides on several occassions and just went through the motions until the end of a race. No rules about drafting back then, it was rule of the big guy rides free. If the little guy tried it he would often meet with dier consequences. My preferred position is right next to another swimmer. Clearly not the most advantageous place to be from a drafting point of view, but the best place to challenge each other.

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 07:15:15 GMT

Better than I can explain it: coachesinfo.com/.../ Very good - when I raced the marathon races I would like to get in close to the lead swimmer and preferred to be between two swimmers, just below their shoulders. I have had free rides on several occassions and just went through the motions until the end of a race. No rules about drafting back then, it was rule of the big guy rides free. If the little guy tried it he would often meet with dier consequences.

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 07:00:48 GMT

Someone please explain what drafting is, I have never done that. You know I always tell the truth, my wife's reply to that is, "now thats a lie". Better than I can explain it: coachesinfo.com/.../

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 06:45:16 GMT

Someone please explain what drafting is, I have never done that. You know I always tell the truth, my wife's reply to that is, "now thats a lie".

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 06:27:36 GMT

It sure beats me why OW races are held during a jellyfish convention; most warm water countries know when jellyfish and/or sea lice are more prevalent, so it beats me why they hold races during these times. Either they don't really think about it/address it, or there are current and tide concerns for a given area. I've also wondered why more OW races that are of a longer duration are also not held during Neap or Spring Tides; seems most officials just choose a date based on a warmer water time to swim, as well as possibly when the tides are at ebb. Most all OW swimming and races are without sea critter problems, but there can certainly be people problems. There are rules but they are very hard to enforce because unless an official knows for certain that a swimmer is deliberately interfering with another's swim, it just can't be proven. And sometimes it may appear that a person is drafting when in fact they are not. I do know that a swimmer can bump into another swimmer without being DQ'd; body contact is not uncommon in OW. donna

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 05:30:23 GMT

Hey Sarah- The shoulder is just about back to new. Lots of physical therapy for past month and a half. I figure I will make my return after spring break. Ive been sitting around twiddling my thumbs, actually been in process of moving into new home so I have been busy. Ive had bad swimming dreams this past week. One was I was working out with the USS kids and they were all doing breaststroke and I was doing freestyle and the kids were finishing ahead of me. Other dream was really depressing. I showed up to practice with the USS kids again and I was so slow the coach told me to go to the "noodlers" class to get back into shape before I practiced with them again lol. Think that is all a sign Im ready to get back to it and hopefully I wont slow up the lanes to much. See ya soon, greg

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 15:22:51 GMT

www.fau.edu/.../sea-lice.html

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 15:18:28 GMT

What do you do for sea lice? Ugh. Blech. You really should move back to a semi-civilized country. My first encounter with sea lice was in a race at the "too civilized for my taste" Greenwich Connecticut. You are never alone in the OW. Keeps the crowds away.

RE: this is why i dont open water

Former Member — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 11:53:25 GMT

I'm buying stock in any company that manufactures an effective jellyfish repellent. there are two one australian and one isreali look up swim safe!