Big Shoulders 2009

ah, yes, Robin. We already met a couple of weeks ago. I was the guy weaving all over the Ohio River. See you in Chicago and have a great swim. Open Water Chicago posted a temp of 70 yesterday. That I can do. It's even one degree warmer than last year at this point.

Wow! Lets hope that temp holds, that would be great! Thanks Rob for splitting up the age groups. That was interesting! I hope you all have fantastic swims! See you on the beach!

I'll see everyone bright and early tomorrow morning!

Big Shoulders continues to be a great event - what a great morning on the lake! Thanks to the organizers!

ah, yes, Robin. We already met a couple of weeks ago. I was the guy weaving all over the Ohio River. See you in Chicago and have a great swim. That was YOU? Oh my goodness, you were all over the place! Sorry I did not get to see you in Chicago, I hope you swam well and enjoyed the race!

--Nobody broke an hour at La Jolla this weekend for the 3 mile. --It appears Dawkins got 3rd (the one who just crossed the English Channel and last spring did a 4:43 500 Free). For a tale of the tape: www.usms.org/.../toptenind.php www.usms.org/.../toptenind.php I report...you decide. I don't understand the results. Tom would know better than anyone. ? He beat you by 8 minutes? BTW: I'll take you up on the 100s...but screw it. Let's make it 100. :)

The results are obviously wrong. 56:21 would be a world class swim. I doubt there are 30 people on the planet who could do that and none of them are in their 50's!

I have been working out with Andy for nearly 16 years. I have no doubt he did that time. I invite anyone who doubts it to join us for a work out of 50x100 @ 1:15 (which I can't make even with paddles). Better yet lets all hook up for another 5K and you can draft off him and see how it goes.

So the argument was raised that 1) Andy is capable of swimming 50 x 100 on 1:15 in a 25 yard pool. (speculation) 2) And if he was, that this feat was somehow proves that he could swim 5k meters in open water, at a 1:07/100M pace - with NO rest (more speculation) That logic doesn't really advance the argument whether Andy capable of swimming a 5k in the time recorded. Andy Seibt's 2009 Short Course Yards USMC top ten times: Place Event Name Age Club LMSC Time Pace/100Meters 10 M50-54 500 Free Andy Seibt 51 IM Illinois 5:12.61 1:08.27 9 M50-54 1000 Free Andy Seibt 51 IM Illinois 10:52.26 1:11.3 4 M50-54 1650 Free Andy Seibt 51 IM Illinois 18:05.92 1:11.9 His best pool efforts this year show that Andy is incapable of swimming even 500 yards, in pool conditions (dive, clear water, lane lines, flip turns) faster than 1:08/100M pace. We're expected to somehow believe that he swam 10x that distance with NO rest at a pace that's faster than he can hold for 500 yards, in pool conditions? His current 1000 and 1650 pace is about 1:11/100M. Plus his pace in the longer distances is actually slower than his 500 pace (like most people I know). In 2008 he swam 13 minutes (20%) slower in Big Shoulders 5k 62 4 50 ANDY SEIBT 349 50 M N 3 CHICAGO IL 1:09:05 This works out to 1:22.9/100M pace. If you go back to 1995, when Andy was 37 he had a top 10 USMS in the 1000 free. 1995 Short Course Yards Place Event Name Age Club LMSC Time Pace/100Meters 7 M35-39 1000 Free Andreas Seibt 37 IM Illinois 10:24.42 1:08.3 Both this and the above 2009 result are USMS top ten times, they would seem to be a reasonable assessment of Andy's peak abilities over the 14 year span. At age 37 he swam at a 1:08.3 pace, and at 51 he swam 1:11.3 pace. That's about a 5% decrease in speed over a 14 year period. He has much to be proud of. But somehow he's able to swim 1:07's for 5x the distance in open water. At age 51. Really?

I can't even make the 50 drafting and wearing paddles, but, I would not be surprised that Andy would make the 100. The longer the better for him and you apparently.