Just What Color Were the T-Shirts? (8/5/01)

John D., pictured here with Loree and Bill (and a big thank you from all oceanswimming buddies to Loree and John for letting me use their camera this summer), reminded me of the most important, and so far this summer missing, element of news from the Salt Report. Who cares how cold the water was? Who gives a hoot how large the waves were? And for goodness sake, no one misses sleep due to not knowing who finished when. The most important question is - which Swims have the best T-shirts? In my humble opinion, and perhaps there should be a contest and votes and statistics of some kind, the best t-shirt so far has been the Newport one, a design which finishes at or near the top every summer. Seal Beach was a classic, and Naples had a singlet instead of a shirt. The View races have not had shirts, resulting in some grumbling from those who shall remain nameless. The Pier to Pier shirts, as all Pier to Pier swimmers know, vary little in design (though based upon further research Bill and John do agree that the designs do vary) but always in color. The 1999 shirt did receive a thorough review, having been a mixture of maroon, purple and puce (see John above, I mean what color is that? Plum?). Last year's shirt was a classic grey. This year's shirt was a light olive (see Loree and Bill above). Kathy traded her swimmer shirt for an official's shirt (the latter being a delightful purple), and after all, actions speak louder than words.

Well, enough about shirts, at least hopefully enough to satisfy John. And just how did SCAQers fare at the yearly Pier to Pier extravaganza? After a delightful trip to the MB Pier and a walk down to Hermosa during which Bill and Tracy regaled me with tales of their now favorite movie "Planet of the Apes" (I know, you wish you were there), I was introduced by our fearless leader to a Japanese photographer who wanted me to find him some "tall blonde goodlooking women swimmers with short hair" for a photo shoot. I gazed at him, and sighed. Could have Hector have sent him to destabilize me prior to the race? Perhaps. Still I could not stay depressed as the sun shone brightly, and the water was an inviting 3.4 on the SCAQ Shivering Scale.

Though the official results are not yet available, ten years of experience in my beloved field enables me uncategorically state there were a whole bunch more swimmers this year, perhaps as many as 700. Thus after the race I convinced myself that while my placing was perhaps my worst ever in my checkered history of swimming the Pier to Pier, perhaps I at least finished at the same percentile. But back to the race. Just prior to the starting gun we were fortunate to see Shirley Kim who was to paddle for the lead swimmers. Had she been swimming, she no doubt would have also been among the leaders! Then, as suddenly as is always usual at the Pier to Pier, we were off! Some slight cheating running down to the pier despite repeated warnings by the officials still occurred but with fine style the large pack rounded the Hermosa pier and were off on the two mile trek. And the overall news for SCAQ was tres bien as teammate after teammate splashed home in style.

Our very own Dawn Heckman won the whole race. Congrats to Dawn! Just behind her was Chris Y. in 4th. Rounding out the top ten were Tracy at 9th and Bill at 10th. Wow. Jenny Cook continued her meteoric rise to the top, zooming home to 17th overall and second woman over the line. The unofficial entrant Eric was just behind Bill, and Eric and Jenny congratulated each other after the race. Parks rounded out the top 20, and Jake from LMU finished swiftly in 43 minutes (another trainee from the Morton lane I must point out). John J. powered home in the top 50 and then ran back in record time to the Hermosa Pier to pick up his belongings and ride home. It makes me tired just thinking about it.

Kathy Mann, having recently committed to the Jenny Cook training regimen, placed 3rd in her competitive division. Pat Dixon was 2nd in the handsome mens, with Ben F. in 3rd, and Kim S. was also 2nd in the beautiful womens. Other successful swimmers included Steve Johnson and Gary who with Ben provided another photo for the "Handsome Men in Speedos" Series. John D. overcame the obstacles of a sore shoulder and his obvious disappointment in the Salt Report to finish in 10th in his division, and Loree also finished in fine form. Auggie, Chris and his brother were also sighted with big smiles no doubt due to excellent finishes, and Ralph from LMU smashed home after a reported donut for breakfast (I mean, why do we really swim after all?).

It was old home week as well, with Coach Erin making an unofficial appearance after having moved East. Mary Rose, a Venice Coach from yesteryear, and Sally S. glided home together. I myself actually caught another wave with colleague Shannon as a witness (Bill and Tracy don't believe my wave stories unless someone else, preferably one of them, actually sees it), proving that Seal Beach was no fluke and inspiring me to think seriously about going on the surf circuit as my swimming seems to have hit an alltime low ebb.

We received our awards and reapplied our sunscreen, and then made our way homewards. Tracy and Bill made an unscheduled stop for beer, cheeseburgers, french fries, and yet more discussion of the soon-to-be-classic ape movie. Oh well, the french fries were tasty and the root beer I consumed was vintage, and all's well that ends well. Congrats to all SCAQers for excellent swims at this year's Pier to Pier!

See you next weekend at the Santa Monica Brunch oceanswimming buddies (and oh yes, there's an oceanswim!).