USMS National Open Water Championships 15K

USMS National Open Water 15k (9.3 mile) Championships from the perspective of kayaks, support crew and chief enthusiast me and several hundred other national caliber swimmers, coaches and avid supporters.

The beginning of any open water competitive swim can be frustrating for the calm and experienced, nervous for the un prepared, and nerve racking for the newbie no matter how capable. This is my 5th or 6th one of these both as a swimmer perspective and kayaker and I can say in the end its a team effort, including those that host the event. 

Our hosts from GRIN and NASTI masters teams in Indianapolis really do a nice job, giving up their potential to swim to help others become champions. This is one of the hallmarks of our sport, giving back.

This year was no different, than those of the past, stormy and grey weather threatened but held off. a few years ago when we did the 25k, swimming this many miles in hot water makes for a long day. 

The calm waters of Morse gave way to after winds chopping up the South End as usual, so much so I ran over Doug twice trying to stay close as a guide through the maze of buoys that makes up the turn/finish area for another lap. 

As you can see in this picture the shoreline undulates back and forth requiring the swimmer to be very precise in sighting. 

Here is Doug Mcconnell and myself heading up the East River last summer while circumnavigating Manhattan Island for a good idea of how close we operate.

A really strong fast swimmer can easily fall behind lifting their head too often, burning energy from dragging their hips low in the water. Experienced swimmers realize quickly that having an experienced kayaker is really critical, using them as a sight line on one side and the tree for example on the other. It's a choreographed dance on water.

In the end we had great fun, saw many old friends, made new ones and created hope for the future of our sport and the next race or chance to swim across a big body of open water.

A Navy SEAL Explains 8 Secrets to Grit and Resilience

Getting Across

Outtakes from Article by Erin Barker

In this series we are breaking apart Erin Baker's article on why Navy Seals are so tough (Resilient) and what the everyday open water marathon swimmer can learn. 

Purpose And Meaning

To say SEAL training is hard is a massive understatement. 

The initial vetting phase (“BUD/S”) is specifically designed to weed people out who aren’t serious.

How do you get serious? Grit often comes from a place of deep purpose and personal meaning. Here’s James:

"At BUD/S you have to know what you’re getting yourself into and what you’re there to do.I still mentor a lot of guys who are interested in trying out for BUD/S and they always ask, “What do I need to do to make my push ups better?” or “Can you teach me the proper swim technique?” My first question is always, “Why do you want to be a SEAL? What is it about being a SEAL that appeals to you?”

The research backs James up. Without a good reason to keep pushing, we’ll quit. Studies of “central governor theory” show our brains always give in long before our body does.

“…Overall, it seems that exercise performance is ultimately limited by perception of effort rather than cardiorespiratory and musculoenergetic factors.”

But this isn’t just true for athletics, it also holds for careers. In a study of West Point alums, those that had intrinsic goals (“I want to serve my country. I want to test my abilities.”) outperformed those that had extrinsic goals (“I want to rise in the ranks and become an officer because that’s a really powerful position and it’s prestigious.”)

So purpose matters. But what’s the attitude that keeps you going in the moment? It’s actually a bit less serious.

If your just trying it to see if you will get across, you will more than likely fail.

Young Hearts 4 Life - ECG Screening of active children and young adults Program

There are some things you cannot place an economic value on, a child’s life if one of them

Dr. Marek, an internationally recognized cardiologist, here with Ultra marathon open water swimmer Don Macdonald, has taught physicians across America how to run screenings for students and athletes. Over 10,000 community volunteers.

Young Hearts for Life® (YH4L) and One Stroke at a Time supported a recent Barrington High School (Chicagoland) Cardiac Screening Program Event, YH4L nationally known for its unique model, has screened over 110,000 students for conditions that cause sudden cardiac death.  This milestone is a first for any heart screening program of this kind in the United States.

Each week, sudden cardiac death claims the lives of more than 60 young adults in the United States.  YH4L has been a leader the medical community to address this problem in the Chicago area.

The YH4L screening program was founded by Dr. Joseph Marek in 2006 and is well known for its unique model that uses trained community volunteers to deliver a low cost, efficient screening program.

To date, over 1,900 students screened through YH4L have been identified as “at risk” students.  Of those, hundreds were found to have life threatening conditions, including Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, Long QT Syndrome, Wolff-Parkinson- White Syndrome (WPW), Brugada Syndrome, and Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia.

Living proof (one of the 1%er's) to the value of finding these hidden health challenges. I encourage you to consider having your kids screened every two years and while your at it yourself.