Introducing Pool Fools

For the spring of 2017, I am adding a new swim to my agenda: Pool Fools. The date is set for Saturday, May 13th, at and in the Twin Rivers pool, which is not officially open then but has graciously been made available to me and others for a Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi fundraiser.

It went down like this. In an effort to save money-- the Chicot Challenge is an expensive event-- I thought seriously about dropping that swim and doing a pool swim instead. But when the smoke had cleared, Chicot V was such a sweet experience that my wife said, "We have to keep Chicot going." I agree. In my explorations of other options, I had talked to Debbie Oxnam, the Director of Twin Rivers Recreation Association, about doing a pool swim there. When Debbie later told me I could have the pool at a date of my choosing, I jumped at the chance and decided not to make a choice, but to do both swims.

The advantages of a pool swim are several. One is convenience. Twin Rivers is .9 of a mile from our home so we can sleep in and still be there early. Another advantage is simplicity. There is no need for a crew or boat, and safety is a non-factor. I will probably have a friend or two there aiding with nutrition and maybe selling shirts though the swim could be done with no help at all. No boats, no alligators, and no jet skiers means unless I get hit by lightning, I am safe. Finally, there is the cost, or lack thereof. Basically, unless I do T-shirts for that one, there is no overhead at all other than my nutrition and I would eat even if I didn't swim so that doesn't really count. Furthermore, if the press cares, they have full and easy access to me and the other swimmers throughout the day.

Despite the simplicity, one big issue remains: how to structure the swim. Originally I thought about time. I would do a straight swim of six or seven or eight hours or stop the clock during feed breaks and swim for that amount of time. Then I began to rethink that. Although there is not a lot of time between May 13th and the first Saturday in June (when I normally do Chicot), I am not in top form by then. Also, the pool water is likely to be a little on the chilly side. My current guestimation is 72-75 degrees. That might not sound cold, but put your whole body in water of that temp and then stay there for a while and you will change your mind. 

But back to structure. I even thought about a twenty-four hour swim, which has been done at other places. In a twenty-four hour swim, a team of two or more swimmers swims one mile per hour for twenty-four straight. In other words, if I swim a mile in thirty minutes, I have thirty minutes to rest before I or my teammate swims another mile. At first blush that might sound easy, but a team of two would swim twelve miles each (if they divided it equally) in addition to being awake for most of the twenty-four hour period. I have never done that, but it can't be a piece of cake.

Currently, I am thinking of doing the swim by distance. Right now the number in my head is a bit over 16,000 meters (16,100 is ten miles). Like the water temperature, that might not sound like much considering that I swam 22.38 miles at the last Chicot. But again, that is still pretty early in the big mileage phase of my buildup, the water is cool, and this is a pool as opposed to an open water swim. Which one is more difficult, pool or open water? That is hard to say. They are different and the pool certainly is harder in terms of the mental aspect of a long swim. The most I have ever swum in a pool an one day is 13,100 meters. The difference is like the difference between running on a treadmill versus running on the open road. Running is running just like swimming is swimming, but the mental challenge of being confined to such a small space is huge. In the open water, there are pretty houses and trees and boat docks and the thrill of going somewhere. In the pool, not so much.

Maybe you noticed the plural "Fools." Originally, I had conceived of a swim involving me alone. Later, I thought it a good idea to invite more swimmers and ask each to raise some funds. This will make the swim more interesting since other people will be in the water with me and hopefully it will bring in more money also. My big fundraising effort will remain Chicot. The people I raise funds from don't have deep pockets, so I am not going to ask them to give twice. However, having other swimmers raising funds should add to a greater total take for a charity, the DFM, which does a huge amount of good work in our state that has a huge need for their services.

But, how far will the other swimmers go? To the ones I have talked to so far, I told them that their swim is their swim. Each one will establish his or her own distance, starting time, and rules. For some of them who don't swim year round, they will only have been in the water a few times and thus will not be in very fit at that early date. A couple of guys, Wilson Carroll and Justin Nunnery, swim every week and will be capable of some decent distance. 

Any way it turns out, I am looking forward to a new event and the new challenge it presents. Who knows how successful it will be or what it might or might not grow into. Already, however, just the prospect of doing this added swim has me training harder now than I usually do this time of year. That is a good thing.