February is always a stressful month to be the Chicot Challenger. From this month on, Chicot comes rushing at the windshield of my life like a blinded deer in the middle of the highway. To make matters more tense, DSU always has swim meets this time of year that knock our Masters group out of some of our practices. Last week was one of those. We lost the whole week.
To make matters worse, The Mad Swimming Scientist didn't let me know about Tuesday. The last thing he said to me was "We will practice Tuesday but not Thursday because of the meet." He told us that a week early then corrected himself. He never told me anything else. Apparently he told the others, presumably when they got out of the pool the Thursday before. I stayed in the swim more. To make a short story long, I could have saved seven hours and rearranged my schedule to get more exercise done had I known. But what will I say to the Swimming Scientist? Nothing. He has never been wrong about anything so why start an argument.
So I wasted Tuesday. Wednesday there was not time to do my errands, swim, and get to Mom's by 6:00. By Thursday, however, I was desperate so I went to the pond. My farm man had suggested D 10 but all the D ponds were low. I called David and asked him about Lee Watts 30, which is the one I have been swimming. I like it. It is big. It is clean. What's not to like? He said it was recently stocked but I could swim it if I wanted. I wanted.
I arrived at my old swimming hole to find the pond being pumped. In the summer, that means cooler water. In the winter, that means warmer water because the well water comes out at about 65 degrees. After struggling like a desperate Houdini to get into my wetsuit-- I was sweating, breathing hard, and certain someone needed to be struck about the head-- I waded into the water to be surprised at its warmth. I didn't have my thermometer, but guessed it to be about 62. I swam north towards the pump and the water warmed to 65 or more. Then I swam west down the side of the northern levee. After about fifty meters I thought, "Oh my gosh!" the water suddenly dropped to sub sixty when I made it out of the well water. A few more meters and it dropped again so low that my forehead and orbital bones began to hurt. The temps must have plummeted to sub 55.
When I made it to the south levee, the water warmed to about 58. So when I got back to the end where I started, I swam that end twice to give myself a chance to warm up before taking on the painful north levee. To make a short story long, I swam 2.13 miles in 1:03:15. Better than a poke in the eye.
Friday I awoke with an excitement to do it again at the pond since DSU was still not an option. The night was warmer and the day was warmer and with the second day of warm weather in a row, I expected the water to be warmer. that meant I could stay in longer. I arrived at the pond with my thermometer this time and set it out to soak while I struggled into my wetsuit. The thermometer read 58! I waded in and sure enough the water was colder than the day before. When I lapped the pond, the south side levee was noticeably cooler than it had been Thursday. What the heck?
Actually, I have experienced that before and when I drove up that morning and noticed how hard the wind was out of the south, I feared the pond might be cooling. These ponds are oriented east/west. I don't know if that is accidental or purposeful. I intend to ask David about this the next time we talk. But if the wind is out of the north or south in the winter or early spring when there is still a lot of cold water a couple of feet down, the ponds will cool because of upwelling which happens faster than the sun can warm the surface water. When the wind is out of the west, as it most often is, the upwelling is negated, defeated even, by the warming surface temperatures.
So I swam as long as I dared which was only 1.66 miles. I suppose I could have toughed it out a bit longer, but I was losing my ring finger on each hand, a sure sign I was dropping body temperature and would have trouble getting out of my suit. I hate feeling like a trapped rat when I have lost most of my hand strength due to hypothermia and can't undress myself. I did get the suit off after expending more energy than I did swimming. Then I went home to pet cats, take a bath, and get ready to go out with the Johnsons.
What will the ponds be like today? by the time I left Friday, the wind had shifted to the southwest, so I expect a warmer pond. But the fact is, I won't know untilI get there.
Praise be to God.
No comments:
Post a Comment