Breakwater Brunch (8/12/01)

The day dawned cloudy but quickly segued into bright sunshine by the time we swimmers had all converged on a lovely bit of sand about one mile North of the SM Pier. But I am getting ahead of myself as usual. The Irelands and I made our way to the Levy beachfront mansion, the scene of so many wild and raucous SCAQ parties. And the promise of one more lay in front of us as the sun flickered off the blue Pacific. The Levys had stayed away for the weekend, intelligence, resignation or better things to do, we knew not which but all SCAQers are most appreciative of their generosity. Leaving the Ireland women to do all the work along with Karin and Pat, Bill and I meandered to the race start/finish.

Having dug deep for ocean clinic helpers and coming up short, our fearless leader appointed me a clinic teaching assistant. Having had much experience in this role in graduate school, I conjured up images of stochastic processes, sigma fields, and experimental designs. After listening to Alex K. for a few minutes, I realized none of my previous experience applied and I would just have to do my best to imitate the other vastly more experienced TAs of Bill, Parks, Pat and others. Yipes I thought. Still, it was great fun to assist our new oceanswimming buddies, for many of whom this was their first ocean foray. I spouted about "diving under the waves" and "drafting" and "avoiding falling down," having had much personal experience in nonavoidance as described in morbid detail in previous oceanswim reports. One SCAQer graduate from the morning clinic Amy Gaskin went on to finish the swim in fine style, so obviously we were doing something right, though I must point out, she was not in my group.

Many "pool" swimmers including Helen, Jamie and Chris were ready to brave the deep. The usual Salt Report regulars were also in attendance including Pat, Mac, Jenny, John J., John D., and Loree. A host of other fast types including Dan W., Chris Y. (lifeguarding for all of us), Peter E., Mike F., Lars, Joanne, etc. etc. too many to mention indeed waited impatiently on the beach. Brian M. graced us with his presence (we had no problem recognizing this handsome man despite his large sunhat which I secretly coveted) as did Harry with his daughter in tow (and family bets were placed on who would charge up the beach first at the finish). Nicole and David G. were also on site, the latter still needing some more encouragement and bodyfat to brave the deep, the former an oceanswimming expert, and then suddenly we were off on the triangular course.

The race was fun, and as usual, I encountered many oceanswimming buddies en route. Erin passed by, looking very trim in her workout bikini. Mac in a green cap was spied just off my right shoulder, and fell victim to another Morton waveride at the finish (it wasn't intentional Mac!). Chris Hall met all swimmers at the finish with congratulations and even a kiss for the women (wow is all I can say) and another oceanswim was over. I admit to not having captured any race times, places, macho-posturing, or other tales from the deep. I as usual direct you to the SCAQ website. However, a fledgling statistician (Bill) has pointed out that the times from this one mile race were very close to those of the previous Santa Monica two mile held in June. He reports that his two times were close. I report that mine were too. I await the complete results to do a complete analysis. However, either Bill and I are getting very slow (which could definitely be possible in my case but surely not in Bill's, especially given his tremendous 10th place finish at the Pier to Pier last weekend), or Evanswich mean distance has surfaced. Ah well, who cares? A fun time was had by all, and the brunch was still to begin!

So off we went to the brunch, as usual a tremendous spread was put on by SCAQ, with special thanks to Angela, Pat and Karin. The food and good times were shared by all. Relaxation abounded. Our fearless leader expounded on all that is important and true. We celebrated the race leaders from last year. Finally, many of us left with lifetime supplies of Clif Bars, shampoo and goggles.

And so I close another oceanswim report with another big thank you to the Levys and the SCAQ staff for making the excellent brunch possible. Next weekend promises Oceanside on Saturday, and a Wildwoman Water Day One Mile Swim on Sunday. Hope to see you in the water oceanswimming buddies!