2007 Aug 6

Dear Swimmers,

Congratulations on being accepted to participate in the 2007 Boston Light Swim!

Less than two weeks remain until the 2007 Boston Light Swim.  Welcome to the swim!  The entries are set.  We have some returnees and some newcomers, including aspiring English Channel swimmers, state champions, swimmers with a wide range of ages, conquerors of 25-mile Lake George, and Manhattan Island Marathon swimmers.  The field is wide open with last year's record-breaker, Mark Warkentin, unable to participate.  Of the three swimmers who bested 3 hours last year, only Dori Miller may return.  The race should be a good one! 

This is a grueling event with cold water, wind and waves that can be unpredictable, and a range of conditions during the race.  Please familiarize yourself with the material in Swimmer's Guide to the Boston Light Swim.  The  usual restriction against using wet suits applies; swimmers wearing wet suits don't place.  This year in particular, you'll need sunblock because we are starting late, and we'll be swimming in the mid-day sun.  Learn the course.  I think of it in four parts: to George's Island, to the Long Island Bridge, to Thompson Island, and to the L Street finish.  That's three and a half hours (or more) for me and possibly under three hours for the best swimmers.  We likely will have waves due to wind and boat traffic.  Make sure you have the nourishment you need; I use PowerGel or Gu packets stored in my bathing suit.  Read accounts of previous years' swims linked at the web site.

Now for escort boats.  Remember that you are responsible to find a boat.  Please send me an email message by this Friday (10 Aug) with your boater's name, contact info, boat description, and CB or cell phone number.  If you do not have a boat, send a message also to indicate this.  We have been advertising in boston.craigslist.org and have had some responses.  After Friday, I will randomly assign those boaters who have responded to my ad to swimmers who need boats.  I will also continue to run the ad for the next two weeks.  We are still short boaters, so continue to search on your own for an escort.   Please remember that you are responsible to find a boat and you need one to participate in the swim.

The banquet is on Friday night at 7pm at the Boston Harbor Yacht Club, the green building at 1805 Day Boulevard (617 269 5641).  It's a good place to meet other swimmers and to hear first-hand about the race.  Your boater might want to come to the banquet; if not, you can organize in the morning.  You and your boater should be at the Boston Harbor Yacht Club by 8:30am on Saturday.  We will leave at 9am to make sure that we have enough time to rendezvous at the start.

Start your taper soon.  (I did a 2-hr lake swim Sunday morning; taper next.)

Next deadline: send me a note by this Friday with your escort boater's name, contact info, boat description, and CB or cell phone number.  If you do not have a boat, send a message also to indicate this. 

Big thank yous to Dori Miller, Tommy and Lindsay Gainer for their help on race day.

Cheers,
Fred Knight
John Werner
    

Solos
	First	Last Name	City	State	Age
1	David	Evangelista	Medford	MA	44
2	William	Wilson	Butler	PA	54
3	Gil	Sharon	Westboro	MA	33
4	Mallory	Mead	Bowling Green	KY	21
5	John	Sullivan	Brooklyn	NY
6	Ray	Gandy	Coventry	ri	45
7	Kellie	Joyce	Cumberland	me	21
8	Dori	Miller	Arlington	ma	36
9	George	Hunihan	Milford	ct	53
10	Sebastian	Neumayer	Cambridge,	Ma	24
11	Joel	Lanz	San Francisco	CA	34
12	Clara	Bennett	Granger,	in	18
13	Elaine	Kornbau	Waltham,	ma	29
14	Fred	Knight	Wayland	MA	57
15	Anthony	Zamora	Los Angeles	CA	46
16	Michael	Gemelli	Rutherford	NJ	37
Relays
1	Amy Black, Jason Black		Boston	MA	26,29
2	David Sweeney, Scott Fitzgerald, Bob Somma, Steven Puopolo, David Mill, Dave Racki		Groverland	MA	~49