On Saturday, August 11, I was part of an Open Water swim to the Alligator Lighthouse, in order to bring attention to the Florida Keys lighthouses which are among the oldest in the world. Read more in this article from the Miami Herald “Fla. Keys artist completes 8-mile lighthouse swim“.
Open Water
MSS: Swann Oberson
Watch this interview with Swiss 5k Open Water World Champion Swann Oberson on the Morning Swim Show.
Swann Oberson – Kandidatin Sportlerin des Jahres
Swann Oberson, 5k Open Water World Champion, has been nominated for female athlete of the year for the Credit Suisse Sport Awards.
Alex Meyer – USA Open Water Swimming
I had the honor to meet Alex a couple times over the past year while the USA Open Water team spent some time training in the Florida Keys. Alex is the first USA swimmer to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics with his top 10 finish in the 10km at the recent Open Water World Championships. Visit his new website and become a fan on Facebook.
The Pyramid of Open Water Success
This webinar, hosted by Open Water Swimming author Steven Munatones, a renowned marathon swimmer, coach, and commentator, will provide valuable information on preparing for, training for, and competing in an open-water event. Space is limited so reserve your seat at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/166102193.
Exploit von Oberson: WM-Gold im Open Water
Swann Oberson won the first ever gold medal at Aquatics World Championships for Switzerland in the 5k Open Water swim. This came just the day after Swann qualified for the 2012 London Olympics with her 9th place in the 10k. Congratulations Swann!
ISHOF Fran Crippen SafeSwim 2011
On the weekend from Friday May 6 to Sunday May, 9, 2011 the International Swimming Hall of Fame hosted the Centennial Celebration of Fort Lauderdale’s Famous Beach and International Swimming & Diving Heritage. As part of the effort to promote safety in open water swimming, ISHOF and the Crippen family introduced the 1st Fran Crippen SafeSwim event in celebration of the late, great swimmer who passed away in a race in Dubai last October.
I drove up to Fort Lauderale on Saturday morning to take part in the 1 Mile Race. The course was setup as a straight one mile ocean swim both starting out of the water and finishing out of the water on the beach. One would think that after the Swim Miami only about a month ago I would have known better and learned how important of a role strategy and actually having a race plan is in open water swimming.
So let me tell you about the mistakes I made that Saturday morning. The one thing that was different from Swim Miami was the beach start and finish. The running start had me get all excited and made my racer instincts go crazy. Running in the ocean behind Olympian Peter Vanderkaay made me take a chance and after the first few dolphin dives I was swimming as hard as I could to keep up with Peter and the lead pack taking a right turn at the first turn buoy swimming towards the finish. It didn’t last long and even drafting off their feet wasn’t an option anymore…they had taken off. It should be obvious to anyone that a guy who swims about the same yardage a week as someone like Peter does in a single workout shouldn’t try to out swim that other person.
Swim Miami 2011
The annual Swim Miami was held on April 9, 2011 in a new location at the Miami Yacht Club on Watson Island and Gary Sr, Richard and I were 3 of over 800 athletes to explore the waters that morning and enjoy one of South Florida’s premier open water swims.
The original Swim Miami began in 1989 by Jimmy Woodman, founder of Active.com, in conjunction with Florida Sports Magazine and continued successfully through 1998. In 2005, Miami Sports International, a subsidiary of Swim Gym Aquatics, led by four-year University of Florida swimmer Jonathan Strauss, restarted the event.
Miami Sports International helped to develop open-water swimming as an Olympic sport and now promote many other open water events.
Originally staged at the Miami Rowing Club in Key Biscayne, 2005 was also the year I participated for the first time in the Swim Miami while training in the Florida Keys with the Race Club. Swim Miami currently consists of four swims: a ten-kilometer swim, a four-kilometer swim, the traditional Miami Mile, and an eight hundred meter sprint race. Considering our current weekly training, all three of us decided to participate in the Miami Mile.