Yogi's first swim

This weekend was the 2nd race in the Triangle Open Water Mile Series - the Jordan Lake Open Water Challenge. While wetsuits were allowed yet again (grumble, grumble), the "naked" DAMA swimmers put up an excellent showing. Out of the 125 swimmers, I was first overall female, Heidi Williams was 2nd overall female, Sarah Todd got 3rd in the 25-29 age group, Derek Parr got 2nd in the 35-39 age group, Matt Davis got 3rd in the 35-39 age group, and Gretchen Van de Carr got 3rd in the 50-54 age group!

The real hit was Yogi, who came along to go for his first swim.

Its awfully early for a field trip...

Sand! It's like dirt, only tastier

You get in first, dad.
I already swam today. You get in, Yogi.
No, I'm just a puppy. You get in.
Your brain is the size of a walnut. Therefore you have to listen to me. You get in.

I'd rather eat more sand

Yogi swim for a minute or so, before he got out and returned to his adoring fans on the beach.

For us swimmers, there are certain disadvantages to swims run by triathlon rules (wetsuit rules, extra fees for USAT insurance), but I am finding that there are advantages too. Namely, they are run more smoothly than a lot of swimmer-run races. With the help of chip timing, results were accurate, awards were prompt, and official results were posted online that very day!

Compare this to the Masters NC state open water championships, held last weekend. Nearly all of us had some gripe or another (or 2 or 3 gripes) with the results. As for me, a whopping 30 minutes was added to my 5K time when results were posted. Our coach Andrea is very organized and sent a list of our grumbles to the race directors. She sent the following:

1) Joseph Caruth was not registered, did not pay and did not swim in the 800m. He is currently listed as NS.

2) Heidi Williams age is listed as 46 but she is actually 40, her DOB is 03-21-69

3) The five minute delay was not yet subtracted from the results posted.

4) Matthew Davis (DAMA) 36 is listed as David Mathew in the results. He also swam in the 800m and finished the first Masters men but was not listed. His time was approx. 9:15, he paid 15$ and added this event at registration. He was the first male Master's and received a medal that day.

5)" DAMA" stands for Durham Area Masters Aquatics, in the team scores we are listed as Durham Aquatic Masters.

6) Roerden, Jeffrey is not on our team, yet is listed in the results as DAMA.

7) Tommerdahl, Kathy is not on our team either, yet is listed as DAMA.

8) Mary Anna Hovey 66 is actually on our team yet is listed as unattached.

9) Mark Medendorp 31 is also on our team yet is listed as unattached.

10) Our team relay was not included in the results yet we paid 20$ in cash to Andrea (short brown hair) and wrote our entry on a yellow legal pad with the names on it and gave it to her. There were no relay forms available for us to fill out.
Heidi Williams 5K
Mark Medendorp 3K
Kim Sarah Rice 2K
Matthew Davis 800m

11) Kim Sarah Rice finish time was 1:18 in the 5K yet is listed as 1:48. She was the first Masters female and received a medal after the race.
12) Erik Crankshaw finish time was 1:13 in the 5k yet is listed as 1:29:53. He was the first male Masters to finish and received a medal after the race.

13) Mark Savoldi 42 is on our team yet is listed as unattached.


Yes, even with his walnut brain, Yogi could have done a better job with these results! For a championship race, this is disappointing to say the least.

My suggestion to the Triangle OW series organizers - why not put in a bid to run the USMS championships next year? We know you would do a better job!!!

Week 22:
With the Swim Around Key West next week, I've been cutting down my yardage a bit. To not lose any aerobic fitness, I've been trying to walk and run more.

Mon: swim 3800 yds
Tues: swim 3700 walk 4 mi
Wed: stormed out of practice; run 5 mi
Thurs: swim 8,000
Fri: swim 3300
Sat: walk 5 mi
Sun: swim 3500, walk 3 mi
Total: swim 22,300; walk/run 17 mi

Not swimming related - but Yogi is just so damn cute. Here are more pics: