Tuesday, July 22. 2008
"Ralph and Me" by Mark Warkentin
July 21st 2008
On Saturday the team went to San Jose State University to do processing for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). Last week we’d already gotten a lot of clothing from USA Swimming but the USOC (the parent governing body for all American Olympic sports) has a different set of clothing for the athletes. At certain times over the next month the USOC wants all American athletes to look like a team, regardless if we are 10K swimmers or basketball players or high jumpers. For instance, when we get off the plane in Beijing, all American athletes are required to wear a particular outfit – no questions, complaints or requests otherwise will be tolerated. Similarly, when we give official press conference interviews we are required to wear an outfit with a particular sequence of shoes, pants, shirt and jacket. Diana can attest to the fact that I hardly ever dress correctly for any social engagement, so I’m a bit nervous of the dress code police that will be monitoring my outfits.
The primary focus of the processing was to get fitted for our Opening Ceremony attire. My good friend Ralph Lauren is the official outfitter of the USA Olympic Team, and I’ve got to give the guy credit for designing a pretty cool looking Opening Ceremony uniform. The uniform was modeled after the 1920 Olympic Team uniform (as seen in the movie “Chariots of Fire”) and the attached picture finds me enjoying my new wardrobe.
Let me back up. We got to SJSU and were taken into a room about the same size as your high school basketball gym. The room was set up like a grocery store, except instead of frozen foods, dairy products and vegetables, the room was filled with shirts, shoes, pants, jackets and hats. So, per instruction, we all grabbed a Home Depot Shopping cart and started filling them up.
It wasn’t a free-for-all (I had a checklist of things that I was issued) but it was still a rather surreal experience. It took about an hour and a half to get through the room and I was as happy as a pig in mud. My favorite part was getting our measurements taken by a tailor with a thick Italian accent. He looked me over once: “44 Regular, 32 Long” and someone appeared with a sport coat and pants. We chatted about suits, neckties and buttons as he sized me up, finishing with “Excellent, this is very nice.”
When I got to the last section of the room my shopping cart was full (actually it was overflowing) and my face hurt because I had been grinning for at least a full hour. It was a lot like that moment on your wedding day when you realize that you’ve been smiling for a long time because the muscles in your cheeks hurt.
After we got through the clothing section we were taken to a room where we got measured for commemorative Olympic rings. Now I’m not a jewelry man, but it’s hard not to appreciate a ring that looks like it could be used for a Roman Empire style signature. We won’t get the ring until after we get home from the Olympics, and I’m sure I’ll never wear it, but it felt rather stately to pretend to be Ben Hur for a brief moment.
I left the USOC processing having achieved a longtime goal. Former Olympians always talk about the day they got their shopping cart and filled it with Olympic stuff, and for so many years it was a fantasy that I feared would never become a reality. After the processing I did the math: averaging 30 hours a week for 50 weeks a year I have been training for 62.5 days of every year for the last 15 years. Sometimes, when the practice got really lonely I would question the motives for it all. Why? What’s the point? Is it all worth it? I don’t want to be callously materialistic and say that my experience on Saturday was the point for the struggle, but I will say that because of my experience over the past 2 weeks, I am more appreciative of the struggle itself. I don’t know if I would have appreciated Saturday if it had been an easy road to get there. It was something that couldn’t be bought with money, only with time, pain and sacrifice. I’ll cherish it because I know it was difficult to get there, not just because I was there.
When we got back to the hotel we were told that we had more stuff than we could possibly wear in China and that we had the option of sending some of it home. I packed up a box and sent it back to Santa Barbara because I knew that there was a very good chance that something might get stolen or lost in China and I wasn’t about to let that happen.
I’ve got some stories on other topics that I’m working on, but I thought I’d share that one for now.
On Saturday the team went to San Jose State University to do processing for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). Last week we’d already gotten a lot of clothing from USA Swimming but the USOC (the parent governing body for all American Olympic sports) has a different set of clothing for the athletes. At certain times over the next month the USOC wants all American athletes to look like a team, regardless if we are 10K swimmers or basketball players or high jumpers. For instance, when we get off the plane in Beijing, all American athletes are required to wear a particular outfit – no questions, complaints or requests otherwise will be tolerated. Similarly, when we give official press conference interviews we are required to wear an outfit with a particular sequence of shoes, pants, shirt and jacket. Diana can attest to the fact that I hardly ever dress correctly for any social engagement, so I’m a bit nervous of the dress code police that will be monitoring my outfits.
The primary focus of the processing was to get fitted for our Opening Ceremony attire. My good friend Ralph Lauren is the official outfitter of the USA Olympic Team, and I’ve got to give the guy credit for designing a pretty cool looking Opening Ceremony uniform. The uniform was modeled after the 1920 Olympic Team uniform (as seen in the movie “Chariots of Fire”) and the attached picture finds me enjoying my new wardrobe.
Let me back up. We got to SJSU and were taken into a room about the same size as your high school basketball gym. The room was set up like a grocery store, except instead of frozen foods, dairy products and vegetables, the room was filled with shirts, shoes, pants, jackets and hats. So, per instruction, we all grabbed a Home Depot Shopping cart and started filling them up.
It wasn’t a free-for-all (I had a checklist of things that I was issued) but it was still a rather surreal experience. It took about an hour and a half to get through the room and I was as happy as a pig in mud. My favorite part was getting our measurements taken by a tailor with a thick Italian accent. He looked me over once: “44 Regular, 32 Long” and someone appeared with a sport coat and pants. We chatted about suits, neckties and buttons as he sized me up, finishing with “Excellent, this is very nice.”
When I got to the last section of the room my shopping cart was full (actually it was overflowing) and my face hurt because I had been grinning for at least a full hour. It was a lot like that moment on your wedding day when you realize that you’ve been smiling for a long time because the muscles in your cheeks hurt.
After we got through the clothing section we were taken to a room where we got measured for commemorative Olympic rings. Now I’m not a jewelry man, but it’s hard not to appreciate a ring that looks like it could be used for a Roman Empire style signature. We won’t get the ring until after we get home from the Olympics, and I’m sure I’ll never wear it, but it felt rather stately to pretend to be Ben Hur for a brief moment.
I left the USOC processing having achieved a longtime goal. Former Olympians always talk about the day they got their shopping cart and filled it with Olympic stuff, and for so many years it was a fantasy that I feared would never become a reality. After the processing I did the math: averaging 30 hours a week for 50 weeks a year I have been training for 62.5 days of every year for the last 15 years. Sometimes, when the practice got really lonely I would question the motives for it all. Why? What’s the point? Is it all worth it? I don’t want to be callously materialistic and say that my experience on Saturday was the point for the struggle, but I will say that because of my experience over the past 2 weeks, I am more appreciative of the struggle itself. I don’t know if I would have appreciated Saturday if it had been an easy road to get there. It was something that couldn’t be bought with money, only with time, pain and sacrifice. I’ll cherish it because I know it was difficult to get there, not just because I was there.
When we got back to the hotel we were told that we had more stuff than we could possibly wear in China and that we had the option of sending some of it home. I packed up a box and sent it back to Santa Barbara because I knew that there was a very good chance that something might get stolen or lost in China and I wasn’t about to let that happen.
I’ve got some stories on other topics that I’m working on, but I thought I’d share that one for now.
Monday, July 21. 2008
Post Olympic Trials Training Camp by Mark Warkentin
The USA Swimming Olympic Team training camp officially began on Monday the 7th here in Palo Alto. I was the only swimmer that hadn’t just spent the previous 2 weeks at the exhausting Olympic Trials and so I was a bit more alert than my teammates upon arrival at SFO. Most of the swimmers were pretty emotionally drained by the Trials, and the first day was more about recovering than anything else.
USA Swimming is having an extended domestic training camp together as a team before we leave for Singapore on July the 25th because the coaches and team leaders don’t want us to go back home and swim on our own. There is a very real fear that without supervision we might lose our focus and not prepare ourselves properly. This is a problem because there are so many swimmers that are just excited to be going to the Olympics at all. USA Swimming, on the other hand, doesn’t care WHO made the team, they only care about winning medals at the Olympics. So, we have a 3 week training camp where we all swim 2 times a day and we keep our competitive edge by racing each other on a daily basis.
On Tuesday we were taken to the pool where we had a short meeting to determine what training group we would be broken into. Primarily there would be 2 sprint groups and 1 mid-distance group. Since I’m the only 10K swimmer on the team I don’t have anyone that wants to train long distance with me. The result is that I join the mid-distance group for their training session and then swim an extra 2,000 meters after everyone else is done. My training partners in the mid-distance group are a veritable who’s who of the American swimming world: Michael Phelps, Erik Vendt, Klete Keller, Peter Vanderkay, Ryan Lochte, and Larsen Jensen. I am, without a doubt, the slowest swimmer in the group.
Tuesday night Pete Carroll, football coach at USC, was brought in to give us a bit of an impromptu motivational speech. The gist: he was excited for us. I would say that he’s pretty much always excited.
Wednesday was the first day that the intensity of the practice started to increase. It feels rather momentous to be training in this group because I know that at the Olympics the athletes I’m swimming with are going to get the bulk of the primary TV coverage. I won a few of the swims, got beat on a majority of the swims, but I held my own for the most part.
Thursday was Christmas. I’ve often said that the reason I didn’t quit swimming 3 years ago (when I probably should have quit) was because I wanted to get a T-Shirt that said I was on the USA Swimming National Team. Well, Thursday I got the T-Shirt that said I was on the USA Swimming Olympic Team. In fact I got an entire bag of stuff that indicated I made the Olympic Team: shirts, shorts, sweatpants and jackets all with the USA Swimming logo’s on them. It was Christmas.
Thursday night was our first official team meeting. We all introduced ourselves and told the group one interesting fact that no one else knew. I told the group that I’ve had a series of accidents in the past few years, but none was more memorable than cutting my leg with a chainsaw. After the introductions Erik Shanteau (who qualified for the Olympics in the 200 Breaststroke) made the announcement that he was recently diagnosed with testicular cancer. He said that it appeared to be under control for the time being, and that he intends to swim at the Olympics. He’s going to get tests done weekly leading up to the games. It was shocking to hear that he was diagnosed the week before Olympic Trials and then he competed and made the team under the circumstances.
In between practices on Friday we had a meeting called “Being a good Ambassador” where we learned about how to be good visitors to China, how go give good interviews, and more importantly what NOT to do over the next month. The Olympics, on such a big stage, are a stage for incredible high’s as well as incredible lows. Stupid decisions and bad interviews can have some pretty significant implications if everything goes the wrong way.
We also learned how to speak Chinese - it only took about 45 minutes. The Ambassador program included a Chinese lesson from a teacher who gave us a crash course in the language. The problem, as is often the case with crash courses, is that the pupil retains very little information. This pupil remembers “Hello” which is pronounced “Knee-How?” and absolutely nothing else. I will be a very friendly visitor and I intend on saying “Knee How?” quite a bit.
Another rather special event on Friday was when the entire team signed a flag adorned with the letters “USA” in big letters above the Olympic Rings. Actually, the entire team signed about 150 of these flags. Some of the flags will go to donations and charities and some will go to “big shots” at various sponsors. All the athletes were promised that we would each get 1 for ourselves to keep, and as a result I made sure to sign my name legibly on each flag, just in case that particular flag would end up at my doorstep.
Saturday was the final practice of the week. The media and fans had been told that Saturday would be the only day for interviews and autographs during our stay in Palo Alto, so the pool deck was packed. Microphones, cameras, reporters, and hundreds of kids running around trying to get close to Dara Torres and Michael Phelps. The problem is that Michael can only sign so many autographs and Dara can only give so many interviews at one time. The result of the logjam is that autograph seekers started looking for other Olympians until the Dara and Michael line died down. This is where I step in. I happened to be one of the guys that facilitated the fans with a picture or an autograph while they waited for someone else.
I also got interviewed - by one reporter. During the interview another reporter walked up and interrupted the interview to ask the first reporter “Who is this?” “Mark Warkentin, he is our Olympic10K swimmer,” came the reply. The second reporter stood there for a moment pondering whether it was worth it to stick around or not. Fairly quickly he decided that it was not worth it and he backed away and tried to find someone else. (I don't write this with any bitterness, I'm really just happy to be apart of this whole thing, but it was a rather awkward moment that I can now chuckle about.)
It’s been an eventful week up to this point. Today, Sunday, is a day of rest and we don’t have any swim practices so I went to Menlo Park Presbyterian Church and enjoyed the service. Next week begins another week of swimming and whatnot.
USA Swimming is having an extended domestic training camp together as a team before we leave for Singapore on July the 25th because the coaches and team leaders don’t want us to go back home and swim on our own. There is a very real fear that without supervision we might lose our focus and not prepare ourselves properly. This is a problem because there are so many swimmers that are just excited to be going to the Olympics at all. USA Swimming, on the other hand, doesn’t care WHO made the team, they only care about winning medals at the Olympics. So, we have a 3 week training camp where we all swim 2 times a day and we keep our competitive edge by racing each other on a daily basis.
On Tuesday we were taken to the pool where we had a short meeting to determine what training group we would be broken into. Primarily there would be 2 sprint groups and 1 mid-distance group. Since I’m the only 10K swimmer on the team I don’t have anyone that wants to train long distance with me. The result is that I join the mid-distance group for their training session and then swim an extra 2,000 meters after everyone else is done. My training partners in the mid-distance group are a veritable who’s who of the American swimming world: Michael Phelps, Erik Vendt, Klete Keller, Peter Vanderkay, Ryan Lochte, and Larsen Jensen. I am, without a doubt, the slowest swimmer in the group.
Tuesday night Pete Carroll, football coach at USC, was brought in to give us a bit of an impromptu motivational speech. The gist: he was excited for us. I would say that he’s pretty much always excited.
Wednesday was the first day that the intensity of the practice started to increase. It feels rather momentous to be training in this group because I know that at the Olympics the athletes I’m swimming with are going to get the bulk of the primary TV coverage. I won a few of the swims, got beat on a majority of the swims, but I held my own for the most part.
Thursday was Christmas. I’ve often said that the reason I didn’t quit swimming 3 years ago (when I probably should have quit) was because I wanted to get a T-Shirt that said I was on the USA Swimming National Team. Well, Thursday I got the T-Shirt that said I was on the USA Swimming Olympic Team. In fact I got an entire bag of stuff that indicated I made the Olympic Team: shirts, shorts, sweatpants and jackets all with the USA Swimming logo’s on them. It was Christmas.
Thursday night was our first official team meeting. We all introduced ourselves and told the group one interesting fact that no one else knew. I told the group that I’ve had a series of accidents in the past few years, but none was more memorable than cutting my leg with a chainsaw. After the introductions Erik Shanteau (who qualified for the Olympics in the 200 Breaststroke) made the announcement that he was recently diagnosed with testicular cancer. He said that it appeared to be under control for the time being, and that he intends to swim at the Olympics. He’s going to get tests done weekly leading up to the games. It was shocking to hear that he was diagnosed the week before Olympic Trials and then he competed and made the team under the circumstances.
In between practices on Friday we had a meeting called “Being a good Ambassador” where we learned about how to be good visitors to China, how go give good interviews, and more importantly what NOT to do over the next month. The Olympics, on such a big stage, are a stage for incredible high’s as well as incredible lows. Stupid decisions and bad interviews can have some pretty significant implications if everything goes the wrong way.
We also learned how to speak Chinese - it only took about 45 minutes. The Ambassador program included a Chinese lesson from a teacher who gave us a crash course in the language. The problem, as is often the case with crash courses, is that the pupil retains very little information. This pupil remembers “Hello” which is pronounced “Knee-How?” and absolutely nothing else. I will be a very friendly visitor and I intend on saying “Knee How?” quite a bit.
Another rather special event on Friday was when the entire team signed a flag adorned with the letters “USA” in big letters above the Olympic Rings. Actually, the entire team signed about 150 of these flags. Some of the flags will go to donations and charities and some will go to “big shots” at various sponsors. All the athletes were promised that we would each get 1 for ourselves to keep, and as a result I made sure to sign my name legibly on each flag, just in case that particular flag would end up at my doorstep.
Saturday was the final practice of the week. The media and fans had been told that Saturday would be the only day for interviews and autographs during our stay in Palo Alto, so the pool deck was packed. Microphones, cameras, reporters, and hundreds of kids running around trying to get close to Dara Torres and Michael Phelps. The problem is that Michael can only sign so many autographs and Dara can only give so many interviews at one time. The result of the logjam is that autograph seekers started looking for other Olympians until the Dara and Michael line died down. This is where I step in. I happened to be one of the guys that facilitated the fans with a picture or an autograph while they waited for someone else.
I also got interviewed - by one reporter. During the interview another reporter walked up and interrupted the interview to ask the first reporter “Who is this?” “Mark Warkentin, he is our Olympic10K swimmer,” came the reply. The second reporter stood there for a moment pondering whether it was worth it to stick around or not. Fairly quickly he decided that it was not worth it and he backed away and tried to find someone else. (I don't write this with any bitterness, I'm really just happy to be apart of this whole thing, but it was a rather awkward moment that I can now chuckle about.)
It’s been an eventful week up to this point. Today, Sunday, is a day of rest and we don’t have any swim practices so I went to Menlo Park Presbyterian Church and enjoyed the service. Next week begins another week of swimming and whatnot.
Wednesday, July 16. 2008
YES WE DID IT!!!! England to France, by Matt Price
Sorry for the delay in getting this up. Between my brain being fried and bad internet connections it took me a couple days. Today is Wednesday 7/16, but on SUNDAY JULY 13, 2008 I SWAM THE ENGLISH CHANNEL! ENGLAND TO FRANCE! 10hrs and 50minutes. Alright so now for all the details.
Last I wrote I was still waiting. I spent my last week leading up to the Channel Crossing swimming about an hour a day and watching DVDs and eating my face off with the rest of the time. I tried to swim in a pool one day but I had to get out because my toes literally felt like they were on fire! During the course of my last week I met some more cool people at the beach; Karah from San Francisco, Jeff from Colorado, Neil from San Fran, a team and solo swimmer from Iceland. Anyway on Saturday Ali gave me the green light that Sunday was the big day. I went to bed early, no problems sleeping and was up early ready for GAME DAY!
I got on Alison Steeter’s boat at around 6am. They still had some boat things to do before motoring off to Shakespeare Cliff to start so I went below and took a nap. They woke me up earlier than most swimmers because I am so pale and had to sunblock-up. My mother Dolores Dios her boyfriend Tom and my friend and goalie Kyle Davis were on the boat with me. Alison was my pilot and had her crew there too. Kyle took a funny photo of me (not posed) where I am jumping off the boat “Peter Pan” style. I swam up onto Shakespeare beach, took a knee, said a prayer and then got up to swim. They blew the horn and then I was in the water, not too quickly, I go slow even if I had just been in there. I took off swimming fast though, and almost crashed into the boat in record time. Everyone was screaming at me and I stopped a few feet from the back of the boat. I then moved to the right side of the boat and set off towards France.
The swim was amazing. The water is so clear. People always wonder what swimmers think about while swimming. Honestly, I prefer to zone out. The temperature was 61 when I started and got warmer the whole way across. When I swim I count my strokes between breathes. It is very rhythmical. 1, 2, 3, breath, 1, 2, 3, breath… etc. This occupies my main thoughts on something, then I just have to worry about that subconscious voice. I am a religious person. I went to High School at St. Benedicts in Newark, NJ. During the first half or so of the swim I was mostly thinking to myself how amazing the day was and to appreciate the perfection and beauty of God’s creations, and how lucky I was to be out in the middle of the Sea experiencing things that many people may never experience.
The day was great. The Sun shinned on my back all day long, the Sea was as flat as you could pray for and the water did not feel very cold. But the swim wears on. I did not wear a watch but I counted my feeds. When you are swimming your crew has to feed you so you have the strength to go on. When they decided, about every 20-30min, Kyle or my Mom would lie down on the side of the boat and reach down to me with a cup of warm Maxim. I would swim ahead of them, flip on my back, glide back – grab the cup, roll over and tread while drinking. Chris one of Ali’s crewman was great. If I took a second longer than he liked he was “Encouraging” me to continue. “This is Not a McDonalds!” “Quit Sight Seeing!” “SWIM!” But I did not take too long anyway. I didn’t want to stop. I was swimming with a steady stroke count the whole way, about 71 strokes per minute. In a pool that would take me over 75yds below 100yds, I have an ugly short non-rotating water polo style stroke. Kyle and Charlie from Kingsdown joked watching me once that if they didn’t know me they wouldn’t think that stroke would get me to France. As the day wore on my stroke stayed the same, strong all the way but I think I was pulling less water sometimes.
So I counted my feeds and put it in my head that the swim would take me like 16 or 18hrs even though I hoped that I was lying to myself. Eventually we hit the shipping lanes and that was cool. Ali timed it right and we didn’t have to stop but there were huge super tankers, cargo ships and all sorts of things. I got very excited seeing them because when I am back in New Jersey I watch them from my Mom and Grandmother’s porch. I kept saying that those boats were going to my house. Jeff from Colorado left a few minutes ahead of me and I was chasing him all day long. He was a very strong swimmer and unfortunately I heard he actually got held up by one of the tankers. Apparently Ali overheard the radio conversation and the Ship Captain was from Russia or Eastern Europe and have never heard of Channel Swimming and kept saying he saw the boat but no swimmer. I don’t think the stop hurt Jeff very much. He completed his swim in 10:30.
Another cool thing about the shipping lanes was there were these crazy seagulls. I think they must live off the ships. They also might of thought I was food because the kept buzzing me. They were flying what felt like just inches over me. They were lucking I was on a liquid diet because I probably could have used my polo legs to pop up and grab one of them! They might mess with some people making them think they are closer to shore than they actually are, but I had a good idea where I was so it was nice to have the company. I had some other company that nobody, Thank God, told me about. A SHARK! Apparently there was a big ‘ole 15ft shark swimming out in front of our boat. The crew reassured Mom and everyone that I had nothing to worry about because he, “Only ate the little beasties” aka “fish” I’m glad nobody told me because I would have been worried.
About 5 or 6 hours into the swim my left leg started hurting. My hamstring or something in the back of my knee hurt on every kick. So I stopped really kicking with my left leg after a while. My shoulders took turns hurting. I threw up a little in my mouth about 3 times while swimming, my back hurt, my hands got sore. I never said anything or complained though. I just drove on. If you stop to complain it just makes the thing that is bothering you worse, it gets in your mind and you need to stay mentally strong. When the swim got worse I started thinking about Jesus, John F. Kennedy and Alvar Nunez Cabaza de Vaca. Cabaza de Vaca was a Spanish Sailor who ship wrecked with his crew in Florida and walked all the way back to New Mexico and then Mexico city back in the 1500s or so. Hs crew was him and three others after the wreck. When things got bad for him he reassured himself that Jesus’ suffering on the cross was much worse. JFK swam 16 miles in the Pacific dragging a friend with his teeth! I always thought that Jesus is God, so he could have gotten off the cross whenever he wanted but he chose to stay on there. I imagine that the pain and fear all of those men felt was infinitely worse than the little bit of discomfort that I felt. So I’d put my head down and drive on.
I had Alison Streeter, the Queen of the Channel taking me across with the best crew anyone could hope for. I had nothing to fear or worry about. Kyle said I got less witty as things wore on. One time, Kyle tried to tell me how France was getting closer. I was not letting myself look or think about France. I told him, “That’s a … that’s a … Visual… a visual lie!” then Ali was like, “An Optical Illusion?” and I was like “Yes! That’s why you’re the Queen!” then put my face back in the water and kept on swimming.
Eventually I got really close to France, obviously, and then during a feed Ali was like this might be your last feed. I was thinking, great, am I close or is she going to make me swim the last hour or so with no food. I had myself at 11:30 in my head when it was actually probably like 10:30 or something. I kept on swimming then the boat was yelling at me again. I looked up and Kyle was in the water next to me wearing his American Flag cap just like mine. I started to think, great, I have miles to go and I am slowing down so much I need a pacer, then Kyle told me to look up and I could see people on the beach in France! My Mom and Tom took out my Grandfather’s (John Dios) flag. My Grandmother (Marcela) told me to take it with me when I told her I wanted to bring a flag. Earlier in the week I had been swimming with Karah from San Fran. One day she wore an American cap like me, the next she wore a yellow one. She said she thought the yellow was warmer. I told her, “These Stars and Stripes keep me warm.” When I saw Kyle and those Stars and Stripes flying off the boat I warmed right up, I had gotten colder as the swim wore on even though the temps were going up, and everything that hurt stopped hurting. Kyle and I swam hard the last couple hundred meters to France. There were waves and sandy beaches. I tried to body surf in. When we hit the beach I got up and took off running. I was so excited I had done it! Kyle got up and ran with me. We were sprinting across the shores of France. He was like, “How are you running right now?” I answered, “We only have ten minutes I want to see something French come on!” We ran off the beach and found a bridge. I stood on the bridge and was happy to stand on something the French built in France after swimming there. We ran back to the boat, then I was like, “Oh man, I have to swim back out to the boat!” That might have been the worst part of the whole ordeal. I got back in, and swam out. I had done it.
On the boat I started to feel bad. The salt water messed with my throat and I was having a little trouble breathing. I threw up a couple times, although I didn’t have much to throw up. I went below and went to sleep for the ride home. When we got back to Dover I felt fine. I went and took my first hot shower in ages then we went out to the Pub. We went to the White Horse, a local place where Channel Swimmers can write their name on the wall. I signed the ceiling above the door next to two of my good friends and mentors, Tim Lawrence and Matt Johnson, both US Air Force Academy graduates. Tim is in Afghanistan right now. He actually called during my swim from there. I forgot to mention that. That was a huge motivation to know he called from overseas to check on me! I yelled from the water that I had been thinking about him and my Academy roommate Ryan Tate who is in Iraq right now. Tim and Ryan really helped keep me warm while I was swimming cause I kept thinking about how hot they must be.
So I wrote on the ceiling:
Matthew James Dios Price
E-F Con Dios
10:50 7/13/08
Go Army Water Polo
Beat
Air Force
NJ, USA
The beat Air Force was a joke for my Air Force friends.
Ali came to the pub and had a drink with us. I skipped the beer and had a couple Vodkas on the rocks. I needed a strong drink after everything.
Thank you so much to Alison, Freda and Neil Streeter and everyone else in Dover who has been so supportive and wonderful to me. To my Mother who always believed in me and gave me my love of the water and supports all my crazy endeavors. And my brothers who I wish could have been with me. To Kyle for helping me train and rest, to Tom for being there and taking all the time to come over too, to my boat crew, to Tim, Matt and Karen Reeder my Air Force mentors. Karen is the one who lets me post on this site, she can actually go correct my Go Army, because she is faster than me and she was a big help in my success too. To all of you who are huge parts of my life who have been supporting me and following me through all this. We all have more to do though. I have more events to complete this summer, and more money to raise for the fight against cancer. Thank you all so much though for helping me accomplish my dream.
I am in Sennen Cove, UK near Lands End right now. I will be going for a run today to start getting ready for the Ironman. I can’t wait to get back to the US and see you all soon.
Thanks again. If I forgot something or you want to know more, let me know
Last I wrote I was still waiting. I spent my last week leading up to the Channel Crossing swimming about an hour a day and watching DVDs and eating my face off with the rest of the time. I tried to swim in a pool one day but I had to get out because my toes literally felt like they were on fire! During the course of my last week I met some more cool people at the beach; Karah from San Francisco, Jeff from Colorado, Neil from San Fran, a team and solo swimmer from Iceland. Anyway on Saturday Ali gave me the green light that Sunday was the big day. I went to bed early, no problems sleeping and was up early ready for GAME DAY!
I got on Alison Steeter’s boat at around 6am. They still had some boat things to do before motoring off to Shakespeare Cliff to start so I went below and took a nap. They woke me up earlier than most swimmers because I am so pale and had to sunblock-up. My mother Dolores Dios her boyfriend Tom and my friend and goalie Kyle Davis were on the boat with me. Alison was my pilot and had her crew there too. Kyle took a funny photo of me (not posed) where I am jumping off the boat “Peter Pan” style. I swam up onto Shakespeare beach, took a knee, said a prayer and then got up to swim. They blew the horn and then I was in the water, not too quickly, I go slow even if I had just been in there. I took off swimming fast though, and almost crashed into the boat in record time. Everyone was screaming at me and I stopped a few feet from the back of the boat. I then moved to the right side of the boat and set off towards France.
The swim was amazing. The water is so clear. People always wonder what swimmers think about while swimming. Honestly, I prefer to zone out. The temperature was 61 when I started and got warmer the whole way across. When I swim I count my strokes between breathes. It is very rhythmical. 1, 2, 3, breath, 1, 2, 3, breath… etc. This occupies my main thoughts on something, then I just have to worry about that subconscious voice. I am a religious person. I went to High School at St. Benedicts in Newark, NJ. During the first half or so of the swim I was mostly thinking to myself how amazing the day was and to appreciate the perfection and beauty of God’s creations, and how lucky I was to be out in the middle of the Sea experiencing things that many people may never experience.
The day was great. The Sun shinned on my back all day long, the Sea was as flat as you could pray for and the water did not feel very cold. But the swim wears on. I did not wear a watch but I counted my feeds. When you are swimming your crew has to feed you so you have the strength to go on. When they decided, about every 20-30min, Kyle or my Mom would lie down on the side of the boat and reach down to me with a cup of warm Maxim. I would swim ahead of them, flip on my back, glide back – grab the cup, roll over and tread while drinking. Chris one of Ali’s crewman was great. If I took a second longer than he liked he was “Encouraging” me to continue. “This is Not a McDonalds!” “Quit Sight Seeing!” “SWIM!” But I did not take too long anyway. I didn’t want to stop. I was swimming with a steady stroke count the whole way, about 71 strokes per minute. In a pool that would take me over 75yds below 100yds, I have an ugly short non-rotating water polo style stroke. Kyle and Charlie from Kingsdown joked watching me once that if they didn’t know me they wouldn’t think that stroke would get me to France. As the day wore on my stroke stayed the same, strong all the way but I think I was pulling less water sometimes.
So I counted my feeds and put it in my head that the swim would take me like 16 or 18hrs even though I hoped that I was lying to myself. Eventually we hit the shipping lanes and that was cool. Ali timed it right and we didn’t have to stop but there were huge super tankers, cargo ships and all sorts of things. I got very excited seeing them because when I am back in New Jersey I watch them from my Mom and Grandmother’s porch. I kept saying that those boats were going to my house. Jeff from Colorado left a few minutes ahead of me and I was chasing him all day long. He was a very strong swimmer and unfortunately I heard he actually got held up by one of the tankers. Apparently Ali overheard the radio conversation and the Ship Captain was from Russia or Eastern Europe and have never heard of Channel Swimming and kept saying he saw the boat but no swimmer. I don’t think the stop hurt Jeff very much. He completed his swim in 10:30.
Another cool thing about the shipping lanes was there were these crazy seagulls. I think they must live off the ships. They also might of thought I was food because the kept buzzing me. They were flying what felt like just inches over me. They were lucking I was on a liquid diet because I probably could have used my polo legs to pop up and grab one of them! They might mess with some people making them think they are closer to shore than they actually are, but I had a good idea where I was so it was nice to have the company. I had some other company that nobody, Thank God, told me about. A SHARK! Apparently there was a big ‘ole 15ft shark swimming out in front of our boat. The crew reassured Mom and everyone that I had nothing to worry about because he, “Only ate the little beasties” aka “fish” I’m glad nobody told me because I would have been worried.
About 5 or 6 hours into the swim my left leg started hurting. My hamstring or something in the back of my knee hurt on every kick. So I stopped really kicking with my left leg after a while. My shoulders took turns hurting. I threw up a little in my mouth about 3 times while swimming, my back hurt, my hands got sore. I never said anything or complained though. I just drove on. If you stop to complain it just makes the thing that is bothering you worse, it gets in your mind and you need to stay mentally strong. When the swim got worse I started thinking about Jesus, John F. Kennedy and Alvar Nunez Cabaza de Vaca. Cabaza de Vaca was a Spanish Sailor who ship wrecked with his crew in Florida and walked all the way back to New Mexico and then Mexico city back in the 1500s or so. Hs crew was him and three others after the wreck. When things got bad for him he reassured himself that Jesus’ suffering on the cross was much worse. JFK swam 16 miles in the Pacific dragging a friend with his teeth! I always thought that Jesus is God, so he could have gotten off the cross whenever he wanted but he chose to stay on there. I imagine that the pain and fear all of those men felt was infinitely worse than the little bit of discomfort that I felt. So I’d put my head down and drive on.
I had Alison Streeter, the Queen of the Channel taking me across with the best crew anyone could hope for. I had nothing to fear or worry about. Kyle said I got less witty as things wore on. One time, Kyle tried to tell me how France was getting closer. I was not letting myself look or think about France. I told him, “That’s a … that’s a … Visual… a visual lie!” then Ali was like, “An Optical Illusion?” and I was like “Yes! That’s why you’re the Queen!” then put my face back in the water and kept on swimming.
Eventually I got really close to France, obviously, and then during a feed Ali was like this might be your last feed. I was thinking, great, am I close or is she going to make me swim the last hour or so with no food. I had myself at 11:30 in my head when it was actually probably like 10:30 or something. I kept on swimming then the boat was yelling at me again. I looked up and Kyle was in the water next to me wearing his American Flag cap just like mine. I started to think, great, I have miles to go and I am slowing down so much I need a pacer, then Kyle told me to look up and I could see people on the beach in France! My Mom and Tom took out my Grandfather’s (John Dios) flag. My Grandmother (Marcela) told me to take it with me when I told her I wanted to bring a flag. Earlier in the week I had been swimming with Karah from San Fran. One day she wore an American cap like me, the next she wore a yellow one. She said she thought the yellow was warmer. I told her, “These Stars and Stripes keep me warm.” When I saw Kyle and those Stars and Stripes flying off the boat I warmed right up, I had gotten colder as the swim wore on even though the temps were going up, and everything that hurt stopped hurting. Kyle and I swam hard the last couple hundred meters to France. There were waves and sandy beaches. I tried to body surf in. When we hit the beach I got up and took off running. I was so excited I had done it! Kyle got up and ran with me. We were sprinting across the shores of France. He was like, “How are you running right now?” I answered, “We only have ten minutes I want to see something French come on!” We ran off the beach and found a bridge. I stood on the bridge and was happy to stand on something the French built in France after swimming there. We ran back to the boat, then I was like, “Oh man, I have to swim back out to the boat!” That might have been the worst part of the whole ordeal. I got back in, and swam out. I had done it.
On the boat I started to feel bad. The salt water messed with my throat and I was having a little trouble breathing. I threw up a couple times, although I didn’t have much to throw up. I went below and went to sleep for the ride home. When we got back to Dover I felt fine. I went and took my first hot shower in ages then we went out to the Pub. We went to the White Horse, a local place where Channel Swimmers can write their name on the wall. I signed the ceiling above the door next to two of my good friends and mentors, Tim Lawrence and Matt Johnson, both US Air Force Academy graduates. Tim is in Afghanistan right now. He actually called during my swim from there. I forgot to mention that. That was a huge motivation to know he called from overseas to check on me! I yelled from the water that I had been thinking about him and my Academy roommate Ryan Tate who is in Iraq right now. Tim and Ryan really helped keep me warm while I was swimming cause I kept thinking about how hot they must be.
So I wrote on the ceiling:
Matthew James Dios Price
E-F Con Dios
10:50 7/13/08
Go Army Water Polo
Beat
Air Force
NJ, USA
The beat Air Force was a joke for my Air Force friends.
Ali came to the pub and had a drink with us. I skipped the beer and had a couple Vodkas on the rocks. I needed a strong drink after everything.
Thank you so much to Alison, Freda and Neil Streeter and everyone else in Dover who has been so supportive and wonderful to me. To my Mother who always believed in me and gave me my love of the water and supports all my crazy endeavors. And my brothers who I wish could have been with me. To Kyle for helping me train and rest, to Tom for being there and taking all the time to come over too, to my boat crew, to Tim, Matt and Karen Reeder my Air Force mentors. Karen is the one who lets me post on this site, she can actually go correct my Go Army, because she is faster than me and she was a big help in my success too. To all of you who are huge parts of my life who have been supporting me and following me through all this. We all have more to do though. I have more events to complete this summer, and more money to raise for the fight against cancer. Thank you all so much though for helping me accomplish my dream.
I am in Sennen Cove, UK near Lands End right now. I will be going for a run today to start getting ready for the Ironman. I can’t wait to get back to the US and see you all soon.
Thanks again. If I forgot something or you want to know more, let me know
Sunday, July 6. 2008
Week 3, Almost Game Time. By Matt Price
This was a pretty awesome and hardcore week. Since Saturday is really my Monday remember that this week began with the 6hr/5.5hr awesomeness. Then Kyle Davis came town. He got in at around midnight on Sunday and little did he know he was getting up early Monday morning to train.
Monday: Kingsdown.
Dave who I have mentioned before picked Kyle and I up at around 9:30 and drove us to the beach. Charlie was there waiting for us. He gave me a 4mile workout, but I was still tired from the weekend and misunderstood/forgot how far it was between the buoys and ended up swimming 6miles instead. Kyle was very impressive on his first day in the English Sea he swam 4miles, and I swam 6, 2 by accident. My mom made fun of me asking if I was turning into my brother Zach who has been known to run many miles by accident. All in all it was a great workout, and I felt good even with the extra mileage.
Tuesday: Kingsdown.
Back to the beach at Kingsdown with Dave, Kyle and Shivering Sean joined us too. The day was amazing! I couldn’t even believe I was in England, sorry English readers, but its true. It was so sunny and hot, yes hot, and gorgeous out. The Channel was as flat as a pancake too! I am praying for a day like that when I swim. Charlie gave us an extra long course to swim because visibility was so good. We could see details on the French countryside. Each length was 1500m, almost a mile. I swam 15k/9.3miles, and felt great. It was an amazing workout and the sun felt awesome on my back. Kyle swam a good 4miles again.
Wednesday: A Taste of The Channel.
Oxford and Cambridge have a big rivalry, part of that rivalry now spills out into the sea. There was a relay race between the two schools. Neil Streeter was taking the Oxford team and a CSA Pilot was taking the Cambridge team, Ali took us out on her boat to watch the start of the race. We were lucky enough to see a solo swimmer take off too. After the swimmers took off from the white cliffs for France, Ali through me into the sea, actually I jumped ship. I have an awesome photo of it. I swam next to the boat for a couple miles, it was great. It was great practice; and really awesome water. It is so much clearer out there and a dark green color. It was weird swimming with the boat at first, but then I got the hang out it. I have a new plan now too. I’m not even thinking about swimming to France when I go, I am having a personal competition to see how long I can swim next to Alison’s boat and if France gets in my way I’m going to get on shore and say what’s up.
Thursday and Friday were rest days, I chilled out, saw Dover Castle and the Secret World War Two tunnels and watched lots of DVDs while eating lots of food.
Saturday/Sunday: The Harbor
I did 3hours on Saturday and 2hours on Sunday. Each day I did about a 15minute warmup, before knocking out a fast 5k. Both days I did my 5k on about 1:20. I did a total of 8k on Saturday and 6k on Sunday. Both days felt good and I felt strong. Alison is thinking that Friday might be my day to go. She says there should be a 5.5m tide which should be really good. I am excited. This week I am going to keep the training light and stay lose so I am ready to kick ass. My Mom comes to town Tuesday morning and then my whole crew will be here.
I’ll be in the Harbor having fun again tomorrow. Thanks for seeing how I am doing. Please keep spreading the word and supporting me. We have raised almost $4000 to help fight cancer, almost, our goal is just over $20,000. I appreciate all the support, even just emails. Anything to give me something to think about besides swimming is great too. Oh last thing. They throw a parade in Dover on July 5th, I pretended it was for the 4th of July, even though the parade sucked and had no cops, firemen or Soldiers. Happy 4th of July, I miss America but I have a mission to complete here. See you all soon.
Monday: Kingsdown.
Dave who I have mentioned before picked Kyle and I up at around 9:30 and drove us to the beach. Charlie was there waiting for us. He gave me a 4mile workout, but I was still tired from the weekend and misunderstood/forgot how far it was between the buoys and ended up swimming 6miles instead. Kyle was very impressive on his first day in the English Sea he swam 4miles, and I swam 6, 2 by accident. My mom made fun of me asking if I was turning into my brother Zach who has been known to run many miles by accident. All in all it was a great workout, and I felt good even with the extra mileage.
Tuesday: Kingsdown.
Back to the beach at Kingsdown with Dave, Kyle and Shivering Sean joined us too. The day was amazing! I couldn’t even believe I was in England, sorry English readers, but its true. It was so sunny and hot, yes hot, and gorgeous out. The Channel was as flat as a pancake too! I am praying for a day like that when I swim. Charlie gave us an extra long course to swim because visibility was so good. We could see details on the French countryside. Each length was 1500m, almost a mile. I swam 15k/9.3miles, and felt great. It was an amazing workout and the sun felt awesome on my back. Kyle swam a good 4miles again.
Wednesday: A Taste of The Channel.
Oxford and Cambridge have a big rivalry, part of that rivalry now spills out into the sea. There was a relay race between the two schools. Neil Streeter was taking the Oxford team and a CSA Pilot was taking the Cambridge team, Ali took us out on her boat to watch the start of the race. We were lucky enough to see a solo swimmer take off too. After the swimmers took off from the white cliffs for France, Ali through me into the sea, actually I jumped ship. I have an awesome photo of it. I swam next to the boat for a couple miles, it was great. It was great practice; and really awesome water. It is so much clearer out there and a dark green color. It was weird swimming with the boat at first, but then I got the hang out it. I have a new plan now too. I’m not even thinking about swimming to France when I go, I am having a personal competition to see how long I can swim next to Alison’s boat and if France gets in my way I’m going to get on shore and say what’s up.
Thursday and Friday were rest days, I chilled out, saw Dover Castle and the Secret World War Two tunnels and watched lots of DVDs while eating lots of food.
Saturday/Sunday: The Harbor
I did 3hours on Saturday and 2hours on Sunday. Each day I did about a 15minute warmup, before knocking out a fast 5k. Both days I did my 5k on about 1:20. I did a total of 8k on Saturday and 6k on Sunday. Both days felt good and I felt strong. Alison is thinking that Friday might be my day to go. She says there should be a 5.5m tide which should be really good. I am excited. This week I am going to keep the training light and stay lose so I am ready to kick ass. My Mom comes to town Tuesday morning and then my whole crew will be here.
I’ll be in the Harbor having fun again tomorrow. Thanks for seeing how I am doing. Please keep spreading the word and supporting me. We have raised almost $4000 to help fight cancer, almost, our goal is just over $20,000. I appreciate all the support, even just emails. Anything to give me something to think about besides swimming is great too. Oh last thing. They throw a parade in Dover on July 5th, I pretended it was for the 4th of July, even though the parade sucked and had no cops, firemen or Soldiers. Happy 4th of July, I miss America but I have a mission to complete here. See you all soon.
Sunday, June 29. 2008
QUALIFIED!!! 6hours and other fun/suffering by Matt Price
Saturday was a big day for me. I headed out for my 6 hour swim, my qualifying swim. It was hard. I had it in my head to go for distance and not think about time. That didn’t last too long though. I did my first 5k in a little under 1:30, but the wind started kicking up and the water was pretty rough at one end. It’s like a conveyor belt sometimes, one way is super easy and the other way is awful. I was super hungry during my swim. When your training, you go two hours then you get a cup of drink with maxim, a carbo loaded energy drink, then every hour after you get a cup and a couple bites of food. I could probably eat a steak if someone gave me one. All the water polo training, I can stuff my face non-stop. I once remember we were eating pizza while doing shooting drills, anyway…. Back to the swim. I kept going, never got too tired or cold and felt great and finished up my swim. Qualified!
When I got home after eating my face off. I found out I was expected to do 7hrs today! (Sunday) So I ate non-stop, seriously all Saturday afternoon and night. Got a good nights sleep and got up to swim again. I really never felt good today though. I got cold early which surprised me cause I haven’t been cold, but I kept going, and later my shoulder (right) started hurting. I changed my stroke up where I wasn’t pulling across my body but doing a straight arm recovery instead, hoping to use less muscles in my shoulder, but it didn’t help enough. I ended up getting out after 5:30. I was pretty disappointed with that. I was supposed to do the 6/7 so I would have done a channel split. I’ll just have to pray for good conditions and a lot of strength on my actual crossing so that the 6/5.5 might be a split. I have been eating non-stop all day today and will go to Kingsdown again tomorrow. Kyle Davis, my water polo goalie gets into town tonight, so that will be great too. I’ll be taking him along to Kingsdown for his first taste of fun.
When I got home after eating my face off. I found out I was expected to do 7hrs today! (Sunday) So I ate non-stop, seriously all Saturday afternoon and night. Got a good nights sleep and got up to swim again. I really never felt good today though. I got cold early which surprised me cause I haven’t been cold, but I kept going, and later my shoulder (right) started hurting. I changed my stroke up where I wasn’t pulling across my body but doing a straight arm recovery instead, hoping to use less muscles in my shoulder, but it didn’t help enough. I ended up getting out after 5:30. I was pretty disappointed with that. I was supposed to do the 6/7 so I would have done a channel split. I’ll just have to pray for good conditions and a lot of strength on my actual crossing so that the 6/5.5 might be a split. I have been eating non-stop all day today and will go to Kingsdown again tomorrow. Kyle Davis, my water polo goalie gets into town tonight, so that will be great too. I’ll be taking him along to Kingsdown for his first taste of fun.
Loooong week by/endured by Matt Price
Well this was my first week of real training. Here is the summary.
Monday I went out to the harbor myself around 5pm in the afternoon and went for about an hour alone. I wanted to make sure my shoulders were working after the injection. They were, and although it was cold it was a lot better than kicking around in my fins. At 6pm I met up with a big group of triathletes from the local Deal Tri-team. Most of them donned their wimp suits before we all headed out for a 1000m time trial. At the end I think a lot of them got out and walked back. I turned around to swim some more and ran into a couple guys from the local crew team who decided to trade their boats for speedos for the night. All in all it was right around 2hrs.
Tuesday, I went for a lovely 8 mile walk over the White Cliffs to find the Village of Kingsdown. It’s funny cause I live in the Village of Ridgewood, and that place is huge. Kingsdown has like 5 houses and a Pub. Anyway, about halfway there I realize I’m getting horrible blisters on my ankles. I think well if I turn around I have to walk 4 miles back to Dover and don’t get to swim, or I can go 4 miles to Kingsdown and swim. So I drudged on and made it to Kingsdown. Once there I met up with Charlie who was training Dave, and Shivering Sean was there too. Dave is getting ready for a solo as well and was doing his 6hr qualifier. Charlies wife and Katherine from the Tri team and a couple other people came out later too. I did three hours there, but got out a couple times to eat as much food as I could. I have discovered I need a lot, I mean A LOT of food. Luckily Dave gave me a ride home after his swim, cause my ankles were nasty.
Wednesday I looked for the guys from the crew team but they didn’t show up, so I went for a good swim in the Harbor alone. I don’t like being out there alone though. It’s nice knowing other people are in the water. Thursday I took it easy and did a workout in the pool. The pool felt so hot though that I was feeling sick in it. I took Friday off and Shivering Sean and I took a bus to London to try to go to Wimbledon. There was a 5hr line though, so we saw a movie instead. Later we got stuck in the worst bus traffic ever. All in all we spent 10hrs on the buses on Friday and saw no tennis.
Monday I went out to the harbor myself around 5pm in the afternoon and went for about an hour alone. I wanted to make sure my shoulders were working after the injection. They were, and although it was cold it was a lot better than kicking around in my fins. At 6pm I met up with a big group of triathletes from the local Deal Tri-team. Most of them donned their wimp suits before we all headed out for a 1000m time trial. At the end I think a lot of them got out and walked back. I turned around to swim some more and ran into a couple guys from the local crew team who decided to trade their boats for speedos for the night. All in all it was right around 2hrs.
Tuesday, I went for a lovely 8 mile walk over the White Cliffs to find the Village of Kingsdown. It’s funny cause I live in the Village of Ridgewood, and that place is huge. Kingsdown has like 5 houses and a Pub. Anyway, about halfway there I realize I’m getting horrible blisters on my ankles. I think well if I turn around I have to walk 4 miles back to Dover and don’t get to swim, or I can go 4 miles to Kingsdown and swim. So I drudged on and made it to Kingsdown. Once there I met up with Charlie who was training Dave, and Shivering Sean was there too. Dave is getting ready for a solo as well and was doing his 6hr qualifier. Charlies wife and Katherine from the Tri team and a couple other people came out later too. I did three hours there, but got out a couple times to eat as much food as I could. I have discovered I need a lot, I mean A LOT of food. Luckily Dave gave me a ride home after his swim, cause my ankles were nasty.
Wednesday I looked for the guys from the crew team but they didn’t show up, so I went for a good swim in the Harbor alone. I don’t like being out there alone though. It’s nice knowing other people are in the water. Thursday I took it easy and did a workout in the pool. The pool felt so hot though that I was feeling sick in it. I took Friday off and Shivering Sean and I took a bus to London to try to go to Wimbledon. There was a 5hr line though, so we saw a movie instead. Later we got stuck in the worst bus traffic ever. All in all we spent 10hrs on the buses on Friday and saw no tennis.
Sunday, June 22. 2008
First Weekend in England by Matt Price
Alright, get out the red Indiana Jones markers and maps; I took off from Newark airport 8am Friday morning and flew straight across “the pond” to London, took the underground to the train to Dover and now I’m just getting ready to swim on to France. Dover is great; almost just as I remembered it, except now instead of 10 or 12 swimmers training regularly down at the harbor there must be close to 50! It’s crazy. In 2002 when I was here last it was bring your own swim caps, and do what Freda says. Well you still better do what Freda says, except now she decides what cap you wear, writes down your number and keeps a record of exactly what you do.
Let me back up a second for those of you who don’t know Dover and Freda. Freda Streeter is the General of the Channel. She is the mother of Queen of the Channel Allison Streeter, MBE. If you know what’s best for you, you better stay on her good side. Also listening to her and staying on her good side is the best way to get the training you need to get across the channel anyway. Not listening to her doesn’t do anything good for you.
Dover Harbor is about 1200 – 1400 meters across from wall to wall, and that’s where we train. It’s somewhere around 57 – 61 degrees right now depending on who you ask and how they are trying to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit.
I began training first thing Saturday morning. I did 2hours probably around 4 miles of just kicking Saturday and Sunday. Just kicking is really cold because you don’t get all the blood flow in your upper body from moving your arms, not to mention that it is pretty hard and miserable on the legs too. I get to start swimming normal tomorrow, Monday June 23rd. I had a cortisone shot in my right shoulder last Thursday so I’ve been taking it easy as per Doctor’s orders, yea kicking 4 miles a day is taking it easy. Tomorrow I am going to try for a four hour swim, we’ll see how it goes. Tomorrow night I am also going to link up with some local triathletes who are doing a 1000m time trial. They’ll all probably be wearing wetsuits, or as they call them over here, wimpsuits. We’ll see if I can’t smoke some of them.
Last night was really cool. I didn’t participate because I was taking it easy, but about 15 swimmers met up around 10pm once it was finally dark here, took a while to get dark with it being the longest day of the year, but they then put on glow sticks and went out for a nice little night swim around the harbor. I’ve got some pictures, they are blurry cause it was so dark out, but I wanted to give you a glimpse of the event.
Tuesday I am going to take an 8mile walk over the white cliffs to the town of Kingsdown to meet up with some swimmers there for a four hour swim. So that should be fun.
Keep supporting me:
http://www.active.com/donate/hudsonswim08/englishchannel
Let me back up a second for those of you who don’t know Dover and Freda. Freda Streeter is the General of the Channel. She is the mother of Queen of the Channel Allison Streeter, MBE. If you know what’s best for you, you better stay on her good side. Also listening to her and staying on her good side is the best way to get the training you need to get across the channel anyway. Not listening to her doesn’t do anything good for you.
Dover Harbor is about 1200 – 1400 meters across from wall to wall, and that’s where we train. It’s somewhere around 57 – 61 degrees right now depending on who you ask and how they are trying to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit.
I began training first thing Saturday morning. I did 2hours probably around 4 miles of just kicking Saturday and Sunday. Just kicking is really cold because you don’t get all the blood flow in your upper body from moving your arms, not to mention that it is pretty hard and miserable on the legs too. I get to start swimming normal tomorrow, Monday June 23rd. I had a cortisone shot in my right shoulder last Thursday so I’ve been taking it easy as per Doctor’s orders, yea kicking 4 miles a day is taking it easy. Tomorrow I am going to try for a four hour swim, we’ll see how it goes. Tomorrow night I am also going to link up with some local triathletes who are doing a 1000m time trial. They’ll all probably be wearing wetsuits, or as they call them over here, wimpsuits. We’ll see if I can’t smoke some of them.
Last night was really cool. I didn’t participate because I was taking it easy, but about 15 swimmers met up around 10pm once it was finally dark here, took a while to get dark with it being the longest day of the year, but they then put on glow sticks and went out for a nice little night swim around the harbor. I’ve got some pictures, they are blurry cause it was so dark out, but I wanted to give you a glimpse of the event.
Tuesday I am going to take an 8mile walk over the white cliffs to the town of Kingsdown to meet up with some swimmers there for a four hour swim. So that should be fun.
Keep supporting me:
http://www.active.com/donate/hudsonswim08/englishchannel
Tuesday, June 10. 2008
Matt Price intro to his 1st English Channel Crossing
My name is Matthew James Dios Price, Matt Price. I have been a swimmer my whole life and all though I am a water polo player at heart these days open water swimming is my passion. By day I am Title Searcher, by early evening I am the Water Polo coach at West Point, the United States Military Academy, by night I am training to swim the English Channel. I am using my swimming and coaching efforts to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, please visit the following site to support me or encourage your friends to visit: http://www.active.com/donate/hudsonswim08/englishchannel
I love swimming, but I hate Cancer! Hope you feel the same.
-Matt
I love swimming, but I hate Cancer! Hope you feel the same.
-Matt
English Channel Preparation, San Francisco, by Matt Price
So on May 31st I traveled across the country to visit San Francisco and swim from the Golden Gate to the Bay Bridge. The swim was 10k, 6.2miles for my American fans. I was worried that 6.2miles wasn't going to be quite tough enough so I decided to make the trip out there hard. Get out your maps and Red Indiana Jones markers please. I drove from my apartment in Ridgewood, New Jersey to the West Chester County Airport in New York and flew on a prop plane down to Philadelphia. Then I got on another plane to Los Angeles California where I linked up with my brother Zach. We then drove up the coast on a 6hour drive to San Fran. By the time we finally arrived there Friday night I had been traveling for 18hours. We stayed at the Argonaut Hotel right across from the swim clubs and the Aquatic park. I thought it would be a good idea to get a practice swim in before the actual event. Well I thought it was a good idea until I went down there and felt how cold the water was, then I just wanted to get some dinner and go to sleep.
The next morning Zach and I woke up early and drove to the Kayak start thinking the Kayak and swim start were the same. They weren't, the swim start was back at the hotel, it's fun when us knuckleheads travel together, so finally we get where were all supposed to be. I'm hanging out with the other swimmers meeting some really cool people like Jimmy from SF and Rooney from SoCa. When we finally get on the boat it is cold, I think the air temp was colder than the water temp. I took off my shirt to put some super greasy sunblock on, prevent chaffing and UVs, and then I was sitting there in jeans and a swim cap (and Hudson River swim baseball cap) shivering. One of the event directors was a little worried. She came over and was like, "Darling I wish you would put your shirt on your making me nervous." I told her I was trying to get a little cold so I wouldn't suffer so much in the water and then her and another event director, Coach Pedro, talked to me to double check my swimming resume. Convinced I could swim they let me shiver.
So finally we get under the Golden Gate and it was awesome, the expanse of that bridge is amazing and to see it from the water was simply breath taking. Then the real excitement began. They start yelling at us to get ready, and two minutes, and like paratroopers getting reading to jump we start lining up to jump while the boat is still driving, and sure enough 1 by 1 we all jump in. The water didn't feel nearly as bad as you would imagine even though it was 53degrees and I was only wearing my Army Polo speedo because we had our adrenaline keeping us warm. Once that wore off I had all the support from you all at home keeping me motivated and warm. They sounded the horn and we were off. It took forever for Zach to find me out of the 40 swimmers there. Once he finally did I was like hey lets take some pictures. Even though it was technically a race we were in the middle of San Francisco bay and it was too cool not to take some pictures. If you look close in one of the pictures you can see Alcatraz behind Zach. It wasn't our first time seeing Alcatraz though, were no strangers to the Rock, and no its not because we're hardened criminals like Clint Eastwood, it's cause we escaped from there back in '06. I even took 3rd place in age group w/out wetsuit then. Anyway, we kept going past the Rock, past the Port of San Francisco and all the way to the Bay Bridge. All in all it took me 1:49minutes, not too shabby.
I didn't even feel that bad when I got out. Zach and I didn't spend much time in San Fran though, we hoped in his BMW and drove a respectable Zachary speed back to Surf City, Huntington Beach, where as you know from the old song there are two girls for every boy, but we were worried more about how many waves there are for every boy because we headed out into the Pacific for some dusk and night surfing. We woke up early the next morning and I did some recovery surf training at sunrise in 58 degrees water. I was the only surfer in just board shorts and a rash guard.
It was a fantastic trip, a great swim and I could not have done any of it without the support of you all and my brother and the rest of family like my mother and other brother who have to work twice as hard when I take off to go on these adventures. I can't wait to go to England and I hope I continue to make you all proud. Thanks! Keep supporting me. http://www.active.com/donate/hudsonswim08/englishchannel
-Matt
The next morning Zach and I woke up early and drove to the Kayak start thinking the Kayak and swim start were the same. They weren't, the swim start was back at the hotel, it's fun when us knuckleheads travel together, so finally we get where were all supposed to be. I'm hanging out with the other swimmers meeting some really cool people like Jimmy from SF and Rooney from SoCa. When we finally get on the boat it is cold, I think the air temp was colder than the water temp. I took off my shirt to put some super greasy sunblock on, prevent chaffing and UVs, and then I was sitting there in jeans and a swim cap (and Hudson River swim baseball cap) shivering. One of the event directors was a little worried. She came over and was like, "Darling I wish you would put your shirt on your making me nervous." I told her I was trying to get a little cold so I wouldn't suffer so much in the water and then her and another event director, Coach Pedro, talked to me to double check my swimming resume. Convinced I could swim they let me shiver.
So finally we get under the Golden Gate and it was awesome, the expanse of that bridge is amazing and to see it from the water was simply breath taking. Then the real excitement began. They start yelling at us to get ready, and two minutes, and like paratroopers getting reading to jump we start lining up to jump while the boat is still driving, and sure enough 1 by 1 we all jump in. The water didn't feel nearly as bad as you would imagine even though it was 53degrees and I was only wearing my Army Polo speedo because we had our adrenaline keeping us warm. Once that wore off I had all the support from you all at home keeping me motivated and warm. They sounded the horn and we were off. It took forever for Zach to find me out of the 40 swimmers there. Once he finally did I was like hey lets take some pictures. Even though it was technically a race we were in the middle of San Francisco bay and it was too cool not to take some pictures. If you look close in one of the pictures you can see Alcatraz behind Zach. It wasn't our first time seeing Alcatraz though, were no strangers to the Rock, and no its not because we're hardened criminals like Clint Eastwood, it's cause we escaped from there back in '06. I even took 3rd place in age group w/out wetsuit then. Anyway, we kept going past the Rock, past the Port of San Francisco and all the way to the Bay Bridge. All in all it took me 1:49minutes, not too shabby.
I didn't even feel that bad when I got out. Zach and I didn't spend much time in San Fran though, we hoped in his BMW and drove a respectable Zachary speed back to Surf City, Huntington Beach, where as you know from the old song there are two girls for every boy, but we were worried more about how many waves there are for every boy because we headed out into the Pacific for some dusk and night surfing. We woke up early the next morning and I did some recovery surf training at sunrise in 58 degrees water. I was the only surfer in just board shorts and a rash guard.
It was a fantastic trip, a great swim and I could not have done any of it without the support of you all and my brother and the rest of family like my mother and other brother who have to work twice as hard when I take off to go on these adventures. I can't wait to go to England and I hope I continue to make you all proud. Thanks! Keep supporting me. http://www.active.com/donate/hudsonswim08/englishchannel
-Matt
Support Matt Price preparing for English Channel, help fight Cancer
My name is Matthew James Dios Price, Matt Price. I have been a swimmer my whole life and all though I am a water polo player at heart these days open water swimming is my passion. By day I am Title Searcher, by early evening I am the Water Polo coach at West Point, the United States Military Academy, by night I am training to swim the English Channel. I am using my swimming and coaching efforts to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, please visit the following site to support me or encourage your friends to visit: http://www.active.com/donate/hudsonswim08/englishchannel
I love swimming, but I hate Cancer! Hope you feel the same. As many of you know I have been doing "The Hudson River Swim for Life" fundraising since 2000. Last year I didn't swim because of a shoulder injury and surgery but I coached 8 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training (TNT) swimmers to cross. They all raised $16,000. The swim raised over $250k. This year my shoulders are better (knock on wood, I have a surgery scheduled for the right one in Sep) and I am ready to go; however I have heard some complaints that 3.1 miles isn't long enough for me.
Sooooo.... Here is the deal. This summer I just swam 10k across the San Fran Bay from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Bay Bridge, next the ENGLISH CHANNEL in late July, an Ironman in Kentucky, and coaching TNT swimmers, and even organizing a charity water polo tournament to be played in the river! But I NEED YOUR HELP. I cannot do all this alone. I need your help both emotionally and financially. If you can't afford to give anything, give me a call or send an email encouraging me to keep training. I need the motivation. If you can afford to give, even just a dollar please do. The support that you all give me is incredible; when I was swimming in the San Francisco bay it was 53degrees in the water and I swam without a wetsuit. In cold like that is really was the amazing support and motivation that you all have given me that gives me the strength to keep swimming. I need more to keep swimming and make these bigger and tougher events.
On September 7, 2008, I will be braving the Hudson and swimming with hundreds of people in The Hudson River Swim For Life. This swim will be a challenging, yet rewarding experience. The Hudson River Swim For Life has been created to raise awareness of the Hudson River, promote swimming as a life long form of fitness, and to raise funds for the ongoing work of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
While I'm training, I'm raising funds to help the Society cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. More than 823,000 Americans are battling these blood cancers. Your support of my participation in the Hudson River Swim For Life will help bring them hope and support.
Please make a donation to support my participation in The Hudson River Swim For Life and help advance the Society's mission at http://www.active.com/donate/hudsonswim08/englishchannel. I hope you'll visit my web site often, so that you can see how my training and fundraising efforts are going. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society puts 75% of moneys raised towards research to find a cure. That is better than most places.
If you're like me you hate cancer too. Here is where I get really crazy though. I was thinking; the 5k swim cost $350, so that is $112.90 per mile. I am going to be competing in approx 181 miles this summer! At the going rate my goal should be $20,435.00! I know that sounds crazy, but that if 800 people can donate $25 then I can make it. If 1600 donate $12.50, well you all can do math. Please, donate what you can, even just a dollar, and if you can't... Encourage me and check in on me, and if you don't mind forward my page, http://www.active.com/donate/hudsonswim08/englishchannel, to your friends, and to their friends etc. Together we can meet these goals, we can celebrate small athletic victories but more importantly, one day I pray we will all be celebrating a cure to these awful diseases! Thank you for your consideration and help.
Matt Price
matt.jd.price@gmail.com
http://www.active.com/donate/hudsonswim08/englishchannel
I love swimming, but I hate Cancer! Hope you feel the same. As many of you know I have been doing "The Hudson River Swim for Life" fundraising since 2000. Last year I didn't swim because of a shoulder injury and surgery but I coached 8 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training (TNT) swimmers to cross. They all raised $16,000. The swim raised over $250k. This year my shoulders are better (knock on wood, I have a surgery scheduled for the right one in Sep) and I am ready to go; however I have heard some complaints that 3.1 miles isn't long enough for me.
Sooooo.... Here is the deal. This summer I just swam 10k across the San Fran Bay from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Bay Bridge, next the ENGLISH CHANNEL in late July, an Ironman in Kentucky, and coaching TNT swimmers, and even organizing a charity water polo tournament to be played in the river! But I NEED YOUR HELP. I cannot do all this alone. I need your help both emotionally and financially. If you can't afford to give anything, give me a call or send an email encouraging me to keep training. I need the motivation. If you can afford to give, even just a dollar please do. The support that you all give me is incredible; when I was swimming in the San Francisco bay it was 53degrees in the water and I swam without a wetsuit. In cold like that is really was the amazing support and motivation that you all have given me that gives me the strength to keep swimming. I need more to keep swimming and make these bigger and tougher events.
On September 7, 2008, I will be braving the Hudson and swimming with hundreds of people in The Hudson River Swim For Life. This swim will be a challenging, yet rewarding experience. The Hudson River Swim For Life has been created to raise awareness of the Hudson River, promote swimming as a life long form of fitness, and to raise funds for the ongoing work of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
While I'm training, I'm raising funds to help the Society cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. More than 823,000 Americans are battling these blood cancers. Your support of my participation in the Hudson River Swim For Life will help bring them hope and support.
Please make a donation to support my participation in The Hudson River Swim For Life and help advance the Society's mission at http://www.active.com/donate/hudsonswim08/englishchannel. I hope you'll visit my web site often, so that you can see how my training and fundraising efforts are going. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society puts 75% of moneys raised towards research to find a cure. That is better than most places.
If you're like me you hate cancer too. Here is where I get really crazy though. I was thinking; the 5k swim cost $350, so that is $112.90 per mile. I am going to be competing in approx 181 miles this summer! At the going rate my goal should be $20,435.00! I know that sounds crazy, but that if 800 people can donate $25 then I can make it. If 1600 donate $12.50, well you all can do math. Please, donate what you can, even just a dollar, and if you can't... Encourage me and check in on me, and if you don't mind forward my page, http://www.active.com/donate/hudsonswim08/englishchannel, to your friends, and to their friends etc. Together we can meet these goals, we can celebrate small athletic victories but more importantly, one day I pray we will all be celebrating a cure to these awful diseases! Thank you for your consideration and help.
Matt Price
matt.jd.price@gmail.com
http://www.active.com/donate/hudsonswim08/englishchannel
Thursday, May 8. 2008
25K by Erica Rose
Hello,
Well, my final race is over. It did not go very well, as you´ve probably seen in the results. To be honest, I have no idea what happened or why it did not go well at all. I did everything I could to prepare and I was ready to go. Some days, I guess, are better than others. Yesterday was not one of my better days.
Even though the swim did not go well, the support I received throughout and after the race made it difficult to be upset. I had four of the best coaches out there on the course with me, giving me nutrition and encouraging me even when they knew how much I was struggling. Coaches from other countries were cheering me on as well. Britta, one of my very best friends, was out on a feeding pontoon working with the German athletes and she helped me so much each time I went by her station. When I finished, the team doctor and trainer were both there to greet me and the officials allowed Shelley Clark (another one of my very best friends) to run down to greet me and help me out of the water. The entire US team was there to congratulate me and support me and it was a pretty incredible feeling to know that I had so many friends and teammates no matter how I did in the water.
Brendan arrived the day before my race and watched every minute of it. He was there for me at the end, as well, and has been incredible. I can´t possibly describe how much it means to me to know that I have such a wonderful group of people who care about me and support me through all of these events.
I don´t have too much to report as far as how the other races went. Mark Warkentin had a GREAT swim and got a silver medal in the 25K. Olympic qualification in the 10K and sliver medal in the 25K - what a week!
I was able to celebrate for a while last night with my international friends. It´s now 4am and I´m at a hostel in Seville... not sleeping because I can never sleep the night after a race like that... waiting until 5am when we´ll head to the airport to begin our travels around Europe.
Erica
Well, my final race is over. It did not go very well, as you´ve probably seen in the results. To be honest, I have no idea what happened or why it did not go well at all. I did everything I could to prepare and I was ready to go. Some days, I guess, are better than others. Yesterday was not one of my better days.
Even though the swim did not go well, the support I received throughout and after the race made it difficult to be upset. I had four of the best coaches out there on the course with me, giving me nutrition and encouraging me even when they knew how much I was struggling. Coaches from other countries were cheering me on as well. Britta, one of my very best friends, was out on a feeding pontoon working with the German athletes and she helped me so much each time I went by her station. When I finished, the team doctor and trainer were both there to greet me and the officials allowed Shelley Clark (another one of my very best friends) to run down to greet me and help me out of the water. The entire US team was there to congratulate me and support me and it was a pretty incredible feeling to know that I had so many friends and teammates no matter how I did in the water.
Brendan arrived the day before my race and watched every minute of it. He was there for me at the end, as well, and has been incredible. I can´t possibly describe how much it means to me to know that I have such a wonderful group of people who care about me and support me through all of these events.
I don´t have too much to report as far as how the other races went. Mark Warkentin had a GREAT swim and got a silver medal in the 25K. Olympic qualification in the 10K and sliver medal in the 25K - what a week!
I was able to celebrate for a while last night with my international friends. It´s now 4am and I´m at a hostel in Seville... not sleeping because I can never sleep the night after a race like that... waiting until 5am when we´ll head to the airport to begin our travels around Europe.
Erica
Monday, May 5. 2008
10K results by Erica Rose
Hello -
Well, I'm not even really sure where to begin. Thank you for all of the emails... it sounds like most of you have checked the results and have realized that it has been a pretty crazy 48 hours for the US team over here at the World Championships in Spain. I'll try to give you a little bit from our point of view...
The women's race was yesterday (Saturday) morning. Everything went according to schedule for the preparations - our girls were up early, at breakfast, warmed up in the river, and had their numbers and transponders on well before they were sent to the call room. The organizers did a great job of getting all of the competitors organized, lined up, announced and on the dock right on time for a punctual start. There was a bit of an issue with a false start, actually - one of the volunteers had a siren that went off and a few girls (including Micha) jumped in early. They were not disqualified, though, and they got back up on the dock and the official re-started the race.
The race was fast and rough. It was clear that the pack was tight and that they were working to hold their positions and to swim fast enough to stay in the group. We were able to see a lot with our binoculars and we also had radio communication with coaches on the feeding pontoon and with coaches on bridges and on the other side of the course. Kirsten was in the top 5 or so almost the entire race. Micha was right up there, too - sitting at about 12th most of the time. Cassie Patten (from Great Britian) had a VERY gutsy swim - she led the ENTIRE way (well, right up until Larissa from Russia passed her in the last 400 meters.)
Anyway, I could write more but I'm sure you can find race reports online. Basically, the last 1K was a shock for everyone. Girls surged ahead that had been at the back of the pack and girls that had been sitting out in front all of a sudden fell off. Kirsten wound up 21st and Micha was 31st. My good friend Britta from Germany (who, in 20 World Championship races throughout her career has NEVER finished lower than 7th place) came in 39th yesterday. Her teammate, Angela, made the Olympic team but Britta did not. Edith, another best friend, came in 11th and will represent the Netherdlands in Beijing in August. I can't possibly explain the emotion invovled in watching the finish of yesterday's race. It was just a bizzare experience to witness. Watching from the stands, you could look around and see some countries rejoicing with girls that were living the happiest moment of their lives... and then you could turn the other way and see girls just completely devastated and in complete shock and disbelief.
That said... our girls do have another chance. They did not qualify for the Olympics yesterday, but there is one more race where 9 more girls will be selected. That race is the Beijing test event at the end of this month. Right now, we're not sure which Americans will be going. Most likely, it will be Kirsten and Micha again. The decision is up to the head USA National Team coach, though, and that is Mark Schubert. He will wait to see how the team does throughout the rest of this week and he will then decide who we will take to the test event in Beijing. At most, we can qualify one girl now. It is our job now to get these girls back on their feet and to show them that we're here for them and proud of them even though they did not qualify for the Olympic Games... yet.
Switching gears... today we witnessed the men's 10K race. Like the women's race, it went off smoothly and was a fast and brutal race. The referees were whistling and going crazy and there were several "yellow cards" given. In fact, Australia's amazing and world famous swimmer Grant Hacket was disqualified today - something that very rarely happens at a World Championship event. I'm going to go ahead and omit more race details here because I'm sure you will be able to read other reports online. Davies (Great Britain) had an incredible race - he never stopped to feed at all and led the entire way (until, similarly to yesterday's race, Vladimir from Russia touched him out at the very end.) Turns out, by the way, that neglecting to feed is not necessarily the best tactic. Davies passed out on his way off the awards podium after the race. No worries... his teammates were there to catch him and he was taken to the medical tent and is fine now.
Anyway, it was once again an extremely emotional finish for the American team to witness. Mark Warkentin finished 7th, earning a spot at the 2008 Olympic Games and becoming the first open water Olympian from the USA. Chip Peterson finished 13th... and therefore does not get to go to the Games. I have spent several weeks throughout the past 2 years training with Chip and he has become one of my closest friends in the sport. Catherine, his coach, has taken me under her wing and coached me at several international races. Watching the two of them after his race was absolutely heart breaking. I still have no idea what to say. It's not okay. There isn't necessarily another chance.
So... that's where we are today. Right now, we're waiting for dinner and then we'll have a team meeting later this evening. We still have 4 more races here at the World Championships - both the men and women will race the 5K on Tuesday, May 6th, and then both the men and women will race the 25K on Thursday, May 8th. Tomorrow will be a day to re-focus and help each other and I'm sure we'll be fired up and ready to go again by Tuesday.
For a quick personal update... although the past two days have been a roller coaster of emotion, I'm still focused and ready to go for a great 25K later on this week. My training has been GREAT over here in Spain and it has been so much fun to catch up with friends and live this experience one more time. I can't wait for Thursday!
I'm not sure we'll have much internet access after this, so this might be my last email for a while. Keep cheering for the USA - and thank you for all of your support and encouragement. More fast thoughts on Tuesday and Thursday!
Go USA!
Erica
Well, I'm not even really sure where to begin. Thank you for all of the emails... it sounds like most of you have checked the results and have realized that it has been a pretty crazy 48 hours for the US team over here at the World Championships in Spain. I'll try to give you a little bit from our point of view...
The women's race was yesterday (Saturday) morning. Everything went according to schedule for the preparations - our girls were up early, at breakfast, warmed up in the river, and had their numbers and transponders on well before they were sent to the call room. The organizers did a great job of getting all of the competitors organized, lined up, announced and on the dock right on time for a punctual start. There was a bit of an issue with a false start, actually - one of the volunteers had a siren that went off and a few girls (including Micha) jumped in early. They were not disqualified, though, and they got back up on the dock and the official re-started the race.
The race was fast and rough. It was clear that the pack was tight and that they were working to hold their positions and to swim fast enough to stay in the group. We were able to see a lot with our binoculars and we also had radio communication with coaches on the feeding pontoon and with coaches on bridges and on the other side of the course. Kirsten was in the top 5 or so almost the entire race. Micha was right up there, too - sitting at about 12th most of the time. Cassie Patten (from Great Britian) had a VERY gutsy swim - she led the ENTIRE way (well, right up until Larissa from Russia passed her in the last 400 meters.)
Anyway, I could write more but I'm sure you can find race reports online. Basically, the last 1K was a shock for everyone. Girls surged ahead that had been at the back of the pack and girls that had been sitting out in front all of a sudden fell off. Kirsten wound up 21st and Micha was 31st. My good friend Britta from Germany (who, in 20 World Championship races throughout her career has NEVER finished lower than 7th place) came in 39th yesterday. Her teammate, Angela, made the Olympic team but Britta did not. Edith, another best friend, came in 11th and will represent the Netherdlands in Beijing in August. I can't possibly explain the emotion invovled in watching the finish of yesterday's race. It was just a bizzare experience to witness. Watching from the stands, you could look around and see some countries rejoicing with girls that were living the happiest moment of their lives... and then you could turn the other way and see girls just completely devastated and in complete shock and disbelief.
That said... our girls do have another chance. They did not qualify for the Olympics yesterday, but there is one more race where 9 more girls will be selected. That race is the Beijing test event at the end of this month. Right now, we're not sure which Americans will be going. Most likely, it will be Kirsten and Micha again. The decision is up to the head USA National Team coach, though, and that is Mark Schubert. He will wait to see how the team does throughout the rest of this week and he will then decide who we will take to the test event in Beijing. At most, we can qualify one girl now. It is our job now to get these girls back on their feet and to show them that we're here for them and proud of them even though they did not qualify for the Olympic Games... yet.
Switching gears... today we witnessed the men's 10K race. Like the women's race, it went off smoothly and was a fast and brutal race. The referees were whistling and going crazy and there were several "yellow cards" given. In fact, Australia's amazing and world famous swimmer Grant Hacket was disqualified today - something that very rarely happens at a World Championship event. I'm going to go ahead and omit more race details here because I'm sure you will be able to read other reports online. Davies (Great Britain) had an incredible race - he never stopped to feed at all and led the entire way (until, similarly to yesterday's race, Vladimir from Russia touched him out at the very end.) Turns out, by the way, that neglecting to feed is not necessarily the best tactic. Davies passed out on his way off the awards podium after the race. No worries... his teammates were there to catch him and he was taken to the medical tent and is fine now.
Anyway, it was once again an extremely emotional finish for the American team to witness. Mark Warkentin finished 7th, earning a spot at the 2008 Olympic Games and becoming the first open water Olympian from the USA. Chip Peterson finished 13th... and therefore does not get to go to the Games. I have spent several weeks throughout the past 2 years training with Chip and he has become one of my closest friends in the sport. Catherine, his coach, has taken me under her wing and coached me at several international races. Watching the two of them after his race was absolutely heart breaking. I still have no idea what to say. It's not okay. There isn't necessarily another chance.
So... that's where we are today. Right now, we're waiting for dinner and then we'll have a team meeting later this evening. We still have 4 more races here at the World Championships - both the men and women will race the 5K on Tuesday, May 6th, and then both the men and women will race the 25K on Thursday, May 8th. Tomorrow will be a day to re-focus and help each other and I'm sure we'll be fired up and ready to go again by Tuesday.
For a quick personal update... although the past two days have been a roller coaster of emotion, I'm still focused and ready to go for a great 25K later on this week. My training has been GREAT over here in Spain and it has been so much fun to catch up with friends and live this experience one more time. I can't wait for Thursday!
I'm not sure we'll have much internet access after this, so this might be my last email for a while. Keep cheering for the USA - and thank you for all of your support and encouragement. More fast thoughts on Tuesday and Thursday!
Go USA!
Erica
Friday, May 2. 2008
World Championships, May 2, by Erica Rose
Today is internet day again, so I figured I'd send a quick update to let you know how things are going over here in Spain. We've settled into a routine of training, eating, and sleeping... but tomorrow the schedule will change as we kick things off with Day One of the 2008 Open Water World Championships. The women will dive in at 10am for the start of the 10K. When all is said and done, fifteen of those girls will be on their way to Beijing to represent their country at the 2008 Olympic Games. The men will follow on Sunday with the same routine. I will update you as soon as I can after both races. I'm sure you will be able to find almost immediate results on the USA Swimming, FINA, or Australian Swimming websites. (Grant Hackett is here so the Australian media is all over this race!)
The USA is looking good - Micha, Kirsten, Chip and Mark (our 10K swimmers) all look tough, rested, and ready to go. We did a trial run yesterday morning - the whole team got up early, ate breakfast together, walked over to the starting area, got ready, and dove into the river together to simulate the start of the race. The water looks a little murky, but it seems rather clean and the temperature is great. There's a big buzz about all of the new suits but we're trying not to get too distracted by all of it. Basically, the idea seems to be that we're wearing whatever is most comfortable and not worrying about how buoyant it is or what fabric it's made of. We know we'll be fast no matter what we've got on!
The team is getting along well - it's tough sometimes to be around the same people in close quarters all day long like this, but I think we're actually handling it pretty well. There are lots of teams staying in this hotel - Netherlands, Australia, Hungary, Germany, and France to name a few - so it can be kind of stressful to walk around and feel like you're being watched all the time. At the same time, though, it's been nice for me to be so close to so many friends. We have been hanging out in the lobby downstairs and visiting in each other's rooms... it's so much easier than when we're thousands of miles apart! We're in a hotel that is across the street from the race venue. There is also a dorm-style residence at the venue and most of the other teams are there (Russia, Italy, Canada, China, Spain, Venezuela, etc.). I've been visiting there and they've come over here - it's a great little international village situation we've got!
I guess that's about it for now. We haven't really been out and about in the city too much (other than the drives to and from the practice facilities) so I don't have much to report about anything other than training and getting ready for the races. That's why we're here, though, so I guess we're doing a great job staying focused!
I hope everything is going well at home. I'll be in touch again after the races. Think FAST thoughts for our 10Kers on the 3rd and 4th.
GO USA!
Erica
The USA is looking good - Micha, Kirsten, Chip and Mark (our 10K swimmers) all look tough, rested, and ready to go. We did a trial run yesterday morning - the whole team got up early, ate breakfast together, walked over to the starting area, got ready, and dove into the river together to simulate the start of the race. The water looks a little murky, but it seems rather clean and the temperature is great. There's a big buzz about all of the new suits but we're trying not to get too distracted by all of it. Basically, the idea seems to be that we're wearing whatever is most comfortable and not worrying about how buoyant it is or what fabric it's made of. We know we'll be fast no matter what we've got on!
The team is getting along well - it's tough sometimes to be around the same people in close quarters all day long like this, but I think we're actually handling it pretty well. There are lots of teams staying in this hotel - Netherlands, Australia, Hungary, Germany, and France to name a few - so it can be kind of stressful to walk around and feel like you're being watched all the time. At the same time, though, it's been nice for me to be so close to so many friends. We have been hanging out in the lobby downstairs and visiting in each other's rooms... it's so much easier than when we're thousands of miles apart! We're in a hotel that is across the street from the race venue. There is also a dorm-style residence at the venue and most of the other teams are there (Russia, Italy, Canada, China, Spain, Venezuela, etc.). I've been visiting there and they've come over here - it's a great little international village situation we've got!
I guess that's about it for now. We haven't really been out and about in the city too much (other than the drives to and from the practice facilities) so I don't have much to report about anything other than training and getting ready for the races. That's why we're here, though, so I guess we're doing a great job staying focused!
I hope everything is going well at home. I'll be in touch again after the races. Think FAST thoughts for our 10Kers on the 3rd and 4th.
GO USA!
Erica
Tuesday, April 29. 2008
Training by Erica Rose
Just a quick update to let you know that things are going fairly well over here in Spain.
We have basically been training, eating, and resting since we got here. The weather has been perfect and the hotel is great. There is a lot of downtime, though, and being in close quarters with the same people all day long tends to lead to tension rather quickly. So far, things are actually okay... we'll see how everyone does as race days approach.
Today was an afternoon off from training for most of our group. We had planned to have a team outing to the city of Cadiz but when we got ready to go, one of the vans broke down. The coaches decided to take the four youngest swimmers on the trip (along with a few staff members) and the rest of us got left behind. I thought it was boring to be here when I was training two times per day... having the ENTIRE afternoon off and nothing to do is brutal. We couldn't go anywhere else until we got a new van (no idea why we couldn't pair up and jump in cabs) and then by the time we got the van, it was siesta time and everything is closed.
So... I've been watching CNN (the only English channel) and reading. I'm already through almost 2 books... and I only brought 5. I need to slow down. Other teams are arriving today and tomorrow, so I may go look around and see what friends I can find from other countries.
Go USA!
We have basically been training, eating, and resting since we got here. The weather has been perfect and the hotel is great. There is a lot of downtime, though, and being in close quarters with the same people all day long tends to lead to tension rather quickly. So far, things are actually okay... we'll see how everyone does as race days approach.
Today was an afternoon off from training for most of our group. We had planned to have a team outing to the city of Cadiz but when we got ready to go, one of the vans broke down. The coaches decided to take the four youngest swimmers on the trip (along with a few staff members) and the rest of us got left behind. I thought it was boring to be here when I was training two times per day... having the ENTIRE afternoon off and nothing to do is brutal. We couldn't go anywhere else until we got a new van (no idea why we couldn't pair up and jump in cabs) and then by the time we got the van, it was siesta time and everything is closed.
So... I've been watching CNN (the only English channel) and reading. I'm already through almost 2 books... and I only brought 5. I need to slow down. Other teams are arriving today and tomorrow, so I may go look around and see what friends I can find from other countries.
Go USA!
Saturday, April 26. 2008
Arrival in Spain, By Erica Rose
Hello everyone -
The trip to Spain went very well. None of us really slept on the flight over (tough because it was an afternoon flight based on our time that got in early in the morning local time.) Needless to say, we were all exhausted last night and in bed by about 8pm. The food on the flight was also some of the worst airplane food I've had in ages. Unbelievable. Oh, and our entire team got rather lost in the Madrid airport. We only lost a few bags by the time we got to Spain, though, and most of them were found and delivered by this morning. So... all in all... not a bad start.
The experience at the hotel so far been pretty great. We're so spoiled here - we're going to have to watch ourselves to not balloon up and float our way through the races based on the food we're getting. We have unbelievable spreads of food for all of our meals. We have special catering for lunch and dinner that USA Swimming is getting for us. The breakfast buffet this morning (served to all hotel guests, not just the USA team) was like nothing I've seen before. I could go into detail - but I think I'll just leave you with one of the most exciting parts - the chocolate fountain at breakfast! Most of us were pretty good and avoided that this morning, but we'll see how long the self control lasts.
We have already had two swim sessions. We're struggling to get the pool owners to give us enough training time, but we have lots of USA staff working on it. Speaking of which, we have 9 staff members here for 10 athletes. That's quite the ratio! They're all pretty amazing people and I'm excited to spend 2 weeks with them.
Back to the training... you would not believe how cold the water was this morning. I never warmed up throughout the entire 8K session. Not fun at all. Plus, it was pitch black out for the first hour. We had to dodge the sprinkler system as we tried to find our way to the pool on the way into workout and then we were guided only by the moonlight for the first hour. Fun... in a way. Would have been more fun if we weren't so cold.
Anyway, the one major thing I did want to let you know is that we do not have the internet access here that we assumed we would. There is great internet service, but it costs about $20 per day. My roommate and I have decided to split the cost and to buy it every 3-4 days. I'll be in touch when I can.
I hope everything is going well at home.
Go USA!
The trip to Spain went very well. None of us really slept on the flight over (tough because it was an afternoon flight based on our time that got in early in the morning local time.) Needless to say, we were all exhausted last night and in bed by about 8pm. The food on the flight was also some of the worst airplane food I've had in ages. Unbelievable. Oh, and our entire team got rather lost in the Madrid airport. We only lost a few bags by the time we got to Spain, though, and most of them were found and delivered by this morning. So... all in all... not a bad start.
The experience at the hotel so far been pretty great. We're so spoiled here - we're going to have to watch ourselves to not balloon up and float our way through the races based on the food we're getting. We have unbelievable spreads of food for all of our meals. We have special catering for lunch and dinner that USA Swimming is getting for us. The breakfast buffet this morning (served to all hotel guests, not just the USA team) was like nothing I've seen before. I could go into detail - but I think I'll just leave you with one of the most exciting parts - the chocolate fountain at breakfast! Most of us were pretty good and avoided that this morning, but we'll see how long the self control lasts.
We have already had two swim sessions. We're struggling to get the pool owners to give us enough training time, but we have lots of USA staff working on it. Speaking of which, we have 9 staff members here for 10 athletes. That's quite the ratio! They're all pretty amazing people and I'm excited to spend 2 weeks with them.
Back to the training... you would not believe how cold the water was this morning. I never warmed up throughout the entire 8K session. Not fun at all. Plus, it was pitch black out for the first hour. We had to dodge the sprinkler system as we tried to find our way to the pool on the way into workout and then we were guided only by the moonlight for the first hour. Fun... in a way. Would have been more fun if we weren't so cold.
Anyway, the one major thing I did want to let you know is that we do not have the internet access here that we assumed we would. There is great internet service, but it costs about $20 per day. My roommate and I have decided to split the cost and to buy it every 3-4 days. I'll be in touch when I can.
I hope everything is going well at home.
Go USA!
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