Pool Fools, 2023

The day finally arrived and about three minutes until 8:00 a.m. on June 17, 2023, Penny and I headed to Twin Rivers. It was Pool Fools day, this year's fundraiser for the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi. I and eight other swimmers were set to do some swimming. At the end of the day, six of us had swum, a nice chunk of change had been raised, and a good time was had by some.

Wade Litton was the first to show up and not long after, Alaina Matthews appeared on the scene. Wade wanted to get his done so he started right away and swam 1.5 miles. Alaina had set her goal to swim three miles, and I wanted to swim with her since swimming, running, lifting, or painting a house with someone else is 500 times easier than doing it alone.

She said she was starting with a 1,000, so I eagerly joined in. We did that set in 22:11, not a stiff but a decent pace. After a little ice-cream, we started back and did another 1,000 this time in 21:47. For the third set, she said she was going 2,000 or maybe 1,500. She stopped after 1,700, and said she was thirsty.

Alaina and me between sets.

Next up was 1,100 to finish off her three miles. We did that in 23:14. When we stopped, I asked her to do 2 X 50 with me. My watch had thrown in an extra 50, so I wanted to swim one 50 with it off and one with it on to get back on track. Also, there were two quarters on the bottom of the pool that I had seen way too many times. We did the two 50s, I picked up the quarters, and Alaina left the pool. 

Sometime while we were swimming, Hugh Warren IV had come in. He was finishing when we stopped. I tried to get him to swim some more, but he said he was done. He had been travelling a lot and training little. I understood.

This is Hugh and I with the two quarters I got off the bottom.
The money was donated to the DFM.

After all of that, I swam several laps looking for money. I didn't find anymore. Then I settled in for a 1,200 meter set followed by a 1,800 meter set. Somewhere along the way, I picked up some pain. My right hand began to hurt, and my right deltoid hurt so bad it felt like a rabid dog was chewing it off. There is nothing like pain to sap your energy and motivation. While I was on that last 1,800, I thought it was time to start the pace clock. My old standby, the fall back on when I'm dragging but needing volume is 100s on 3:00. When I stopped at the wall, Alaina asked me how I was doing. I told her I had 3,000 leftt was going to swim them as 100s @ 3:00, and that I would be mighty happy if she swam them with me. She said, "Okay, let me get my goggles."

Praise God, thank you Jesus!!!

Alaina got back into the pool, and we began to slow process of whittling those 100s away, one by one. I think neither of us felt like doing it. Not only did I have the pain, but mentally I was worn out. With Alaina's help, we got it done. I knew the people on deck, my wife Penny, two people from the DFM, our duaghter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren, must have had a long day at the office.

Alaina and I at the finish.

After I climbed out of the pool, the DFM wanted a picture with one of those big checks. The number on it was $7,000 and counting. I call that a success. The goal was $10,000. More will come in. That much? I don't know.

What did I learn? I learned something I had already learned. Your goals, physical ones at least, need to frighten you. I stopped doing the Chicot Challenge a couple of years ago because it no longer frightened me. Well, Pool Fools didn't frighten me either, but it did intrique me. Swimming seven miles in a pool turned out to be a whole lot tougher than I expected. I suffered. If I do this again, I will be frightened.

I'll have more to say about this in another post, but for now, thanks to all who swam, supported, or gave.