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100 Mile OWS Underway
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I didn't see a thread on this, but I just caught wind of Sarah Thomas in progress in pursuit of a 104 mile OWS.


Tracker: https://track.rs/ssthomas/


I think this link will take you to her Facebook:


https://www.facebook.com/...ZWtRkqTiGuadfvXMpaQA


https://www.facebook.com/...sts/1547621055302810


That's pretty hard core.

Hillary Trout
San Luis Obispo, CA

Your trip is short. Make the most of it.
https://www.slogoing.net/
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [SLOgoing] [ In reply to ]
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SLOgoing wrote:
I didn't see a thread on this, but I just caught wind of Sarah Thomas in progress in pursuit of a 104 mile OWS.
Tracker: https://track.rs/ssthomas/
I think this link will take you to her Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/...ZWtRkqTiGuadfvXMpaQA
https://www.facebook.com/...sts/1547621055302810
That's pretty hard core.

Thanks for posting. From the links and Google, I see that she is swimming down Lake Champlain, mainly in NY State. Acc to Wiki, water temps in July/Avg are around 70*F which would be perfect for Ms. Thomas, who hates water above 72-ish. No wetsuit of course, as in standard for many OW swimmers, although FINA now requires them at temps below 68*. Ms. Thomas hosted an "ask me anything" thread on ST after her last uber swim, which IIRC was 80 miles in Lake Powell in Oct '16.


"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [SLOgoing] [ In reply to ]
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That would crush the old world record if she makes it. Seems like she pays attention to the requirements for breaking records, so assume she has that in mind here and minding her P's and Q's..And very smart doing these swims in fresh water too, eliminates so many negative variables from the ocean.

Thanks for the link, will follow her along her journey.
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [SLOgoing] [ In reply to ]
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Is there an estimate on the time this will take?
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [Traket92x] [ In reply to ]
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I don't know... after 24 hours she has gone 42 miles. So, maybe 55 hours? By Wednesday evening (ET)?

Hillary Trout
San Luis Obispo, CA

Your trip is short. Make the most of it.
https://www.slogoing.net/
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [SLOgoing] [ In reply to ]
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I wonder if it would be legal to have a kayak a good distance in front, so no drafting, towing a florescent fishing line so she could just swim and not worry about her direction of travel. She could just see the line below her.

I would like to know what grease she puts on too. That helps slide through the water besides offering protection, no?
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [SLOgoing] [ In reply to ]
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Damn. That's nuts.

This may be a stupid question, and the answer is probably obvious... but how does she sight at night? A lead vessel?
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [SLOgoing] [ In reply to ]
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wow.

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [monty] [ In reply to ]
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monty wrote:
That would crush the old world record if she makes it. Seems like she pays attention to the requirements for breaking records, so assume she has that in mind here and minding her P's and Q's..And very smart doing these swims in fresh water too, eliminates so many negative variables from the ocean.

Thanks for the link, will follow her along her journey.

Yeah, Lake Champlain can get some rough chop, but at least there won't be jellyfish to worry about.
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [damn lucky] [ In reply to ]
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damn lucky wrote:
I wonder if it would be legal to have a kayak a good distance in front, so no drafting, towing a florescent fishing line so she could just swim and not worry about her direction of travel. She could just see the line below her.

While that is common practice in some locations, maybe the Solomon Islands marathon swims? That isn't the normal accepted practice in marathon swimming in the U.S., South America, or Europe. If she were to do that, it wouldn't be well received by the marathon swimming community. And up till now she has been very well regarded - so I would be pretty shocked if she did that for one of her swims.

Some will certainly note that Diana Nyad used the setup you mentioned in her Cuba swim, she isn't necessarily well thought of, or in some cases believed, in the marathon swim community.


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I would like to know what grease she puts on too. That helps slide through the water besides offering protection, no?

An undetectable and imperceptible amount. Grease is for chafing and some think it helps for heat, though it almost certainly doesn't. The difference in drag between a shaven, ungreased swimmer and a shaven greased swimmer is negligible.

The grease is probably channel grease, a mixture of roughly one half lanolin and one half vaseline with some other things occasionally mixed in. Zinc oxide is a common additive for sun protection.
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [happyscientist] [ In reply to ]
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At what point do you begin having issues with your skin; and what are they, after prolonged exposure to water?
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [Mike Alexander] [ In reply to ]
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Mike Alexander wrote:
At what point do you begin having issues with your skin; and what are they, after prolonged exposure to water?

Please don't interpret my comment to mean that I have experience in long distance swimming. I have never swam anything close to what she is doing. It is just that when I read about people who do those swims, the jellyfish seem to cause a lot of problems, and jellyfish kind of freak me out. Even if the don't sting, they are just gross.
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [Dr. Tigerchik] [ In reply to ]
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Dr. Tigerchik wrote:
wow.

So now we know that it isn't you. But I bet you could do it with all your swimming bad-assery. ;-p

Hillary Trout
San Luis Obispo, CA

Your trip is short. Make the most of it.
https://www.slogoing.net/
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [Mike Alexander] [ In reply to ]
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Mike Alexander wrote:
At what point do you begin having issues with your skin; and what are they, after prolonged exposure to water?

I wonder the same thing. It seems like your skin would just start falling off! I spend 2 hours in the ocean and my skin gets weird. Especially the inside of my mouth. I guess she's not in salt water so maybe that helps?

Hillary Trout
San Luis Obispo, CA

Your trip is short. Make the most of it.
https://www.slogoing.net/
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [happyscientist] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah, Lake Champlain can get some rough chop, but at least there won't be jellyfish to worry about. //

Ya jellies are one of the problems that occur in ocean swimming, especially since most people pick times and places where the water is quite warm. But the number one problem is something that most would not even think about, it is the salt. After a day plus in saltwater your tongue starts to swell and your mouth gets wonky. Part of our standard procedures in the ocean is to do a mouth rinse every hour or so. Even with that by the end the tongue is so big it gets in the way of breathing and eating. Pretty shitty to call a swim when the rest of the body is working but you cannot eat anymore!!! The other issues are of course weather seems to be more unpredictable in the ocean along with currents. And of course the creatures, but that is just a fear to overcome, not an actual thing in the majority of cases.


And kayakers are allowed to follow along to the side of the swimmers and to feed them without any holding on or touching. So besides the support boat it is the kayaker's job to keep the swimmer on course, but from the side only..
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [SLOgoing] [ In reply to ]
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She was at the Portland Bridge Swim - an 11 mile "sprint" for her. She placed second overall in 4:05, 30 minutes faster than me. That's about a 1:13/100 yard pace! Current wasn't a huge factor. She's a beast!!

Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [dyarab] [ In reply to ]
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dyarab wrote:
Damn. That's nuts.

This may be a stupid question, and the answer is probably obvious... but how does she sight at night? A lead vessel?

You can put glowsticks on the kayak and then swim well off to the side of it. Give the Kayak the bearing and then the swimmer just stays X feet off to the side. We did this swimming across Tahoe starting at 4 am and it worked great. Told the kayak to paddle pretty much due north and I just tracked off the side of the kayak.

Interesting to see the new wetsuit rule. I'm glad for it. As a triathlete, we try to keep our weight down and then suffer in the long cold water swims. But dedicated channel swimmers just fatten up and are essentially wearing a wetsuit anyway. I never liked being penalized for eating healthy and keeping weight down. I'm not quite sure I believe that new rule is real though until I see it in print... "no wetsuits, no matter what" is pretty entrenched in their culture.

----------------------------------------------------------
Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Strava Workout Log
Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
http://www.zentriathlon.com
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [ZenTriBrett] [ In reply to ]
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ZenTriBrett wrote:
dyarab wrote:
Damn. That's nuts.

This may be a stupid question, and the answer is probably obvious... but how does she sight at night? A lead vessel?


You can put glowsticks on the kayak and then swim well off to the side of it. Give the Kayak the bearing and then the swimmer just stays X feet off to the side. We did this swimming across Tahoe starting at 4 am and it worked great. Told the kayak to paddle pretty much due north and I just tracked off the side of the kayak.

Interesting to see the new wetsuit rule. I'm glad for it. As a triathlete, we try to keep our weight down and then suffer in the long cold water swims. But dedicated channel swimmers just fatten up and are essentially wearing a wetsuit anyway. I never liked being penalized for eating healthy and keeping weight down. I'm not quite sure I believe that new rule is real though until I see it in print... "no wetsuits, no matter what" is pretty entrenched in their culture.

Thanks.
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [HalfSpeed] [ In reply to ]
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Quote:
She was at the Portland Bridge Swim - an 11 mile "sprint" for her. She placed second overall in 4:05, 30 minutes faster than me. That's about a 1:13/100 yard pace!

Wow. Unreal.

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [monty] [ In reply to ]
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I remember seeing pictures of Diana Nyad's mouth after the Cuba swim. It looked so painful. There have also been some horrific tales of what happens to sailor's skin after a couple days of waiting for rescue after a ship sinks. I haven't heard much about the long term effects of fresh water, but even that has to get bad.
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [ZenTriBrett] [ In reply to ]
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ZenTriBrett wrote:
dyarab wrote:
Damn. That's nuts.
This may be a stupid question, and the answer is probably obvious... but how does she sight at night? A lead vessel?

You can put glowsticks on the kayak and then swim well off to the side of it. Give the Kayak the bearing and then the swimmer just stays X feet off to the side. We did this swimming across Tahoe starting at 4 am and it worked great. Told the kayak to paddle pretty much due north and I just tracked off the side of the kayak.
Interesting to see the new wetsuit rule. I'm glad for it. As a triathlete, we try to keep our weight down and then suffer in the long cold water swims. But dedicated channel swimmers just fatten up and are essentially wearing a wetsuit anyway. I never liked being penalized for eating healthy and keeping weight down. I'm not quite sure I believe that new rule is real though until I see it in print... "no wetsuits, no matter what" is pretty entrenched in their culture.

Totally agree that OW purists will never accept FINA's new ruling but here is their memo on wetsuits from 11 Jan 2017. I've put the most relevant parts in bold text for faster reading. FINA only allows wetsuits at temps below 20*C (68*F), which is still pretty cold IMO.

CORNEL MARCULESCU
FINA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
FINA - Avenue de l’Avant-Poste 4
1005 Lausanne, SWITZERLAND
Phone:
Fax:
Email:
+41 21 310 47 10
+41 21 312 66 10
sportsdep@fina.org
MEMORANDUM
TO: All FINA Member Federations
FROM: FINA Office – Lausanne
DATE: 11th January 2017
RE: Wetsuits for Open Water Swimming

FINA BL 8.4 & BL 8.5
Dear Sirs,
Reference is made to the latest edition of the FINA rule BL 8, in
particular the rules applicable to the use of wetsuits at FINA Open
Water Swimming Competitions. Please find below the text of related
clauses BL 8.4 and BL 8.5 as approved by the FINA Bureau on August
5th, 2016:
BL 8.4 For open water swimming competitions, with water temperature from 20 C,
swimsuits for both men and women shall not cover the neck, nor extend past the
shoulder, nor extend below the ankle. Subject to these specific shape
specifications, swimsuits for open water swimming competitions shall further
comply with all other requirements applicable to swimsuits for pool swimming
competition.
BL 8.5 From the 1st of January 2017, for open water swimming competitions in
water with temperature below 20 C, men and women may use either swimsuits (BL 8.4) or wetsuits. When the water temperature is below 18 C, the use of wetsuits is compulsory. For the purpose of these rules, wetsuits are swimsuits made of material providing thermal insulation. Wetsuits for both men and women shall completely cover torso, back, shoulders and knees. They shall not extend beyond the neck, wrists and ankles.

To comply with the FINA rule GR 5.4, at the end of 2016 the Swimwear
Approval Committee (SAC) had an additional submission for swimwear
approval, organised specially for the homologation of wetsuits to be
included in the FINA list of Approved swimwear 2017. During the
submission, only a few models of wetsuits were duly approved, and
CORNEL MARCULESCU
FINA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
FINA - Avenue de l’Avant-Poste 4
1005 Lausanne, SWITZERLAND
Phone:
Fax:
Email:
+41 21 310 47 10
+41 21 312 66 10
sportsdep@fina.org
unfortunately, this number does not provide adequate opportunity of
choice for the athletes and teams.
According to our observations, the market of wetsuits exists and there
are quite many variations of wetsuits produced and commercially
released worldwide. However in order to have a sufficient list of duly
approved products additional time is required.
Therefore during 2017, control of wetsuits at the Open Water
Swimming competition will be done directly by the Technical Officials
prior to the competition.
The wetsuits should meet minimum requirements for coverage - wetsuit
must completely cover torso, back, shoulders and knees, and shall not
extend beyond the neck, wrists and ankles. In addition, the outer
surface of the used wetsuits shall not include outstanding shapes, such
as ridges, fins etc.
Details on exact procedure for control and confirmation of wetsuits at
the FINA competition will be available from the official FINA Technical
Delegate prior to the competition.
During the year, the SAC will carry out several official submissions, and
consider that by the end of 2017 there will be a list of duly approved
wetsuits with sufficient number of garments produced by a good variety
of swimwear manufacturers.
From the 1st of January 2018, control of the wetsuits at the Open Water
swimming competitions will be done by verification of respective “FINA
Approved logo” to be printed on a garment as confirmation of approval.
We remain at your disposal should you have any questions on this
matter.
Yours sincerely,
Cornel Marculescu
Executive Director


"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [ericmulk] [ In reply to ]
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Huh... cool. Yup. And then on the other hand, "English Channel Rules" literally means "No wetsuits." That gang of channel swimmers is nuts and probably doesn't care about FINA whatsoever. lol. Gotta respect the hard core attitude if nothing else.

----------------------------------------------------------
Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Strava Workout Log
Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
http://www.zentriathlon.com
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [ericmulk] [ In reply to ]
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ericmulk wrote:
ZenTriBrett wrote:
dyarab wrote:
Damn. That's nuts.
This may be a stupid question, and the answer is probably obvious... but how does she sight at night? A lead vessel?

You can put glowsticks on the kayak and then swim well off to the side of it. Give the Kayak the bearing and then the swimmer just stays X feet off to the side. We did this swimming across Tahoe starting at 4 am and it worked great. Told the kayak to paddle pretty much due north and I just tracked off the side of the kayak.
Interesting to see the new wetsuit rule. I'm glad for it. As a triathlete, we try to keep our weight down and then suffer in the long cold water swims. But dedicated channel swimmers just fatten up and are essentially wearing a wetsuit anyway. I never liked being penalized for eating healthy and keeping weight down. I'm not quite sure I believe that new rule is real though until I see it in print... "no wetsuits, no matter what" is pretty entrenched in their culture.


Totally agree that OW purists will never accept FINA's new ruling but here is their memo on wetsuits from 11 Jan 2017. I've put the most relevant parts in bold text for faster reading. FINA only allows wetsuits at temps below 20*C (68*F), which is still pretty cold IMO.

Ok. I have a more stupider question. When do you have to follow FINA? I get it if you are trying to qualify for the OWS olympic event, but for somebody like this gal swimming 100 miles, does FINA apply? I guess no more naked ice swimming for you northerners.

Hillary Trout
San Luis Obispo, CA

Your trip is short. Make the most of it.
https://www.slogoing.net/
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [ericmulk] [ In reply to ]
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Water temps are 70+ up here at the moment (Lake Champlain that is). We had a couple of cool nights, though, so it could be borderline.

I saw her swim by our beach yesterday. Well, I saw her entourage since she was well off the beach and I was using crappy binoculars. There was a 35+ foot sailboat off to the side and a sea kayak behind/to the other side of her from what I could gather. I was amazed at how fast they were moving.

She lucked out immensely with the weather in my opinion. I'm a sailor (duh) and rarely see the lake this calm for this long. Even though we've had some showers/storms, the wind has been notably absent for well over 24 hours. It's also been overcast quite a bit which I think may be helpful from a sunburn-risk perspective. She's about 60 miles in at the moment...totally insane.
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Re: 100 Mile OWS Underway [ZenTriBrett] [ In reply to ]
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ZenTriBrett wrote:
Huh... cool. Yup. And then on the other hand, "English Channel Rules" literally means "No wetsuits." That gang of channel swimmers is nuts and probably doesn't care about FINA whatsoever. lol. Gotta respect the hard core attitude if nothing else.

Ya, this new rule is definitely causing a split between the strict Channel Rules swimmers and the competitive side where U.S. Swimming and Masters Swimming-sanctioned events will allow wetties below 68* F. I respect their viewpoint but I'm not going to purposefully gain 40 lb just so i can be comfy in 60* water.


"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."
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