Thanksgiving Day Ocean Swim November 24, 2016

6 of us battled high surf and cold water and met the 18th Street Pod's goal of swimming in the ocean, with or without a wetsuit.  Today's swimmers were Patrick, Tim and Cedric without a wetsuit, and Jim, Tom and Chuck with wetsuits and completed the swim in 63 degree water.  Cedric's wife Gretchen took the following pictures:

Cedric, Tim, Chuck, Patrick, Tom and Jim.  Notice all of our flat tummies (particularly the grimacing Tall Tom).

Ready, set, go...

Jim is relating his death defying story of woe.  See below:

As Paul Harvey used to say, here’s the rest of the story:

First, Cedric swam further than that.  Although it doesn’t show on his graph, he swam back out to get Tom and me, as we were floating around outside the huge surf wondering whether just to stay there for the rest of our natural lives.

Second, Patrick and Tim also showed up.  Cedric swam with them, but they raced home after the swim so that Tim could see the Lions play football.

Third, Cedric calls it a great swim.  I think Chuck may have thought so too, except that he was constantly busy waiting for Tom and me to stop whining and swim. 

Fourth, for those of us who live in a fact-based universe, here’s what made it a “great swim”:  huge surf, strong currents, water colder than Cedric’s machine claims, zero visibility with everything stirred up, brain freeze, seasickness from the large rolling swells, and vertigo from the entire experience.  And the shore break was so roiled that I ended up crawling onto the beach and, when that didn’t work, log-rolling my way up the beach with each new wave pushing me further toward dry land.  I was so covered with sand that it took Chuck forever to rinse me off.  The good news is that the sting rays knew better than to hang out in Manhattan Beach yesterday.

Tom telling Jim to get over it

Cedric, Jim, Tom, and Chuck, now all smiling, even Jim

Cedric's swim route of exactly one mile

Cedric sent this little tidbit as well:

Also, be sure to hydrate... https://www.google.com/amp/s/loneswimmer.com/2013/02/12/what-is-cold-immersion-diuresis-in-swimmers/amp/?client=safari

What is cold immersion diuresis in swimmers? (aka why do you pee after swimming?) www.google.com More clearly: Why do you have to pee more during and after swimming? Diuresis is the medical term for increased urination. Cold immersion diuresis is common to cold water swimmers and is the strong…

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sent from Cedric's iPhone. 

On Nov 24, 2016, at 12:46 PM, Cedric Tuck-Sherman <ctucksherman@yahoo.com> wrote:

Great swim today guys!  Attached is a photo and below is the trace map.  My watch recorded exactly 1.00 miles, water temp of 63, air temp of 77, and altitude of 0 with no gain ;-)