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| A regaling account of adventure, by Artemis Spyridonidis |
I had always assumed that the
worst a swim would do to me physically is leave me with raccoon eyes and
stripes across my forehead from my cap that make my face look like canned
cranberry sauce. But, this summer has brought
a set of straight up and down scars forming a jail cell that incarcerates part
of my stomach, a souvenir of poor judgment swimming over rocks; and, after
Sunday’s training, I came home with vomit on my bathing suit.
I am not pregnant. I did not
party the night before. Actually, I did go to a circus-themed party the night
before, did several reps with foam weights as a strong woman, had one beer, and
left after the puppet show and aloof mime accordion show, but before the
contortionists, pyrotechnics, and before a second beer could happen, because I
wanted to be in tip top shape for this swim.
Plus, nothing good ever came from staying too long at a circus party.
And so I woke on Sunday ready to
swim. I put on my motion sickness patch,
which I’ve never used before, and with whom I now agree that the best time for
application is the night before. I
packed all of my favorite foods, which I would later watch as they trailed away
from where I was going for the gold in a puke-olympics off the back of the boat. Eggs, broccoli, almonds, and then a series of
weak-spirited anti-nausea pills, like so many message-filled balloons, were all
released into the wild.
But, wait, this is supposed to be
about our swim! Lee Grove, Dan Henry, Sunny Lovell, Will Miller, Penny Nagel,
Emma Piggot, Dan Simonelli, Shannon Welter and I all got on Penny’s boat and
sailed out to train in swimming in pairs. We saw dolphins on the way out! Because I immediately felt sick, and because
my teammates are gracious and considerate, Dan Henry and I were the first pair
off the boat. Dan Simonelli manned the
kayak and through a series of hand signals kept us on track. For example, I learned that Dan Simonelli’s
fist in the air was actually a sign to stop, and not a fist pump. As nice as it is to go through life
recognizing warning gestures as accolades, it’s good to learn these things
early on – before the big relay!
And, in manning the kayak, Dan
Simonelli found two red rose petals, which we’re sure are from Janet Lamott’s
swim out/paddle out at La Jolla Cove just the day before. A life-long open water swimmer and cheerful
spirit, it’s no surprise that Janet’s constant presence at La Jolla Cove during
her lifetime would later show up at our training swim.
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