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Course map
Dave's not going to be ready for it this year, but he's slowly building himself back into the shape he was in when he was a swimmer in high school!.
Oftentimes, he goes to La Jolla Cove to do a half mile swim in the rough water. It's pretty intimidating with the water pushing to and fro, up and down, in the deep ocean (he's seen some pretty large creatures all the way DOWN there). Sometimes, the current is pretty strong, and the swimmer gets thrown off track. If you watch them, it looks like they swim in a zigzag since every so often they pop their head up and reorient themselves. AND they have to be careful that the current doesn't throw them into the rocks on the way back in. That happened to Dave once and he got a nasty gash on his foot. :( Personally, I'd be pretty frightened to do what he does, but then again, my swimming skills are just plain abysmal.
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Below, Dave is in the bright red rash guard, so that I (or lifeguards) can easily keep track of him.
The Gatorman involves swimming from this beach to Scripps Pier which you can see in the far left of the shore in front of you. It's pretty far away. Dave usually swims to the first set of white buoys that can be seen in the full size image.
Can you see Dave? When he gets near the buoys, it's very difficult to spot his red top. I think he should wear a bright neon cap...
Swimming back in
Done, but exhausted
Trudging up the steep stairs... but look at that satisfied face. I'm so proud of him!
5 comments:
great to see you blogging again mel! so when i first started reading this post I thought "ooh i want to do that too!" but then i quickly changed my mind after further examination of the distance and your detailed description of the tides. I think i will stick to pool swimming for now...the idea of big creatures swimming way DOWN below me really scares me :)
why do you blog like 102819482 at once and none for months?! sheesh. did you see the tree you get to drive through? i sat in one of your honda hybrids, while the front is very spacious and comfy, the backseats suck, i doubt you care but i just wanted to inform you, ps i wouldnt mind a 20K tortoise, my birthday is less than half a year away, just in case you needed help thinking of a present, anyway come to the east as i'll be available in new york until january! sectionals soon, miss you lots, maybe i should type an email, yeah, i'm in finals week procrastinating, but no worries, once work starts, lots of gmailing, okay this is now way too long
Good luck man, that reminds me of the Iron Man challenge. These challenges take truly great athleticism. I hope you can pull it off. Is there any club that trains for that? I don't know if you train alone but sometimes there is a local club where people train together so you can exchange tips and also do the swims with a partner which is a good idea i think.
Anyway good luck...
I don't know what happened to my comment, I can't see it.
Anyway, I was just wishing good luck to Dave. I also asked if he trains in a club. Sometimes you get groups pf people train together so you can exchange training tips, and do swims with a partner which is safe. Plus you motivate each other like hell!
so good luck man!
sorry, ektor! comments have to be approved by me before they can be seen by the public (this is my way to avoid spammers)...
thanks for the well wishes!
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