I was fooing around inside my blog the other day and found this draft from 2019. Huh? Yeah, I don't know why I never published this. Notice that the font is different. I am beginning to think that the fonts always revert to the default after a certain period of time because everytine I look at an old post, I find it in a font I haven't used in many years. And 2019 wasn't that many years ago. Anyway, since it was worth writing the first time, I thought it was worth publishing.
This year, I am back as a swimmer to swim the whole course, but not to bump last year's heroes out of the water. They, Wilson Carroll, his son, Spence, and MJ Staples of Atlanta, Georgia all plan to return and do some swimming. I am curious to see if I can keep up with young Spence. Probably I can't but what difference does it make? We aim to have fun, get a good workout, and leave the lake wanting to return next year.
The route for this year's swim is the same as last year. A "one way" as we call it now. Most likely we will start at the State Park, but in the event of a windy day, we may reverse course and first motor to Ditch Bayou and then swim back.
As always, I invite whosoever will to come join the fun. I think our pontoon we will get from the State Park is full. However, if you have a boat and want to come over and see this spectacle first hand, be our guest. One person, Rob Spiller, has mentioned to me that he might do just that. I hope he does. It will help the effort in several ways.
One way it will help is to give us greater visibility. An extra boat will add visibility and an extra layer of protection between the swimmers and the boaters on the lake. Generally the boat traffic is a bit light out there, but sometimes they have bass tournaments on Chicot. We have done the swim when a bass tournament was ongoing and those guys drive fast and a bit reckless. Worse than bass tournament fishermen are the jet skiers. I am told that I was almost killed by one once. I didn't even know it.
Furthermore, another boat will add eyes on the swimmers which will contribute to our sense of security. Recently I wrote about how when I did my first open water swim this year, I got spooked and left. The presence of one single person out there besides myself would likely have calmed me enough for me to continue swimming that day. Having people around gives a sense that one is being looked after.
Besides security, extra eyes will mean a better performance from the swimmers. That might sound vain, but it just works that way. When you have an audience, you put out a little more. I have experienced this over the years. With a GPS watch, I have gone back later and looked at splits in runs and found that I ran faster in sections where there was a crowd even though I did not try to run faster or feel like I was. I also experience this in the indoor pool at Twin Rivers. My watch reveals that when other people enter the building, I swim faster even though my conscious intention is to ignore them and do what I came to do.
So I am getting excited. We are now in the last three weeks before the swim. These next two are the big-yards weeks and the third is the taper week. My stomach is churning right now thinking about how all of this is rushing towards us like a tornado. This swim forms the structure of my athletic year. Everything builds towards this. All other events are fun outings or cross training or both. Chicot is the thing I measure myself by.
If you are interested in keeping up with the swim from afar, there will be not Spot Tracker this year. However, you can follow me on Facebook and my wife should make periodic updates. Bear in mind that part of the lake has no cell coverage so if you want, you can call the boat at 662-453-0020. Maybe a text first would be appropriate so Penny will answer the call.
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