Many of you recall the great swim, triathlon and life coach Doug Stern and his annual triathlon training camp on the island of Curacao in the Dutch Antilles. If you do know Doug you remember his infectious enthusiasm and vigorous attitude toward life.
Doug held his annual training camp at The Lion’s Dive Hotel in Curacao, 35 miles north of Venezuela in the southern Caribbean. As a memorial to Doug, The Lion’s Dive has built a four lane, 50 meter training pool for triathletes and multisport athletes. The pool is named the “Doug Stern Memorial Pool”.
I don’t have photos of the pool but just got off the phone with people at The Lon’s Dive confirming its existence. A small group of original participants in Doug’s training camps were in Curacao staging a camp this year. Their camp took place last week.
I’m looking forward to seeing some photos of the pool and swimming there myself. A fitting rememberance for a fine man.
Here are some things I wrote about Doug and his camp for those of you who didn’t know him and would like to read about him:
The pool is tremendous. Only three lanes, but you can’t go wrong with a 50-meter Infinity pool overlooking the ocean. The dedication service was wonderful, and four bottles of champagne were sprayed into the pool to celebrate Doug’s memory during the sundown ceremony. I’ll have photos posted ASAP.
I was a friendly colleague of Doug’s. I actually started up here at ST, because this is where updates on his condition were being posted. Doug was a wonderful friend to runners and swimmers here in NYC. It wasn’t until he became ill that I was aware of his generosity here in cyberspace.
I will probably never see the pool in Curacao, but I did attend his memorial and the memorial run the day after. In December there is an ongoing relay here in his memory called the Jingle Bell Run. I hope that next year my kids’ school concert is not on the same night again.
