We all have birthdays and each of us celebrates the day in our own way. My preference for my birthday celebration is taking a swim, often a memorable swim, in good company. So a group of comrades, fellow swimmers, joined me on September 6, Labor Day to have fun in […]
Joe Oakes
The oldest continuously contested swim in the United States is the Boston Light Swim. It is a beautiful swim that starts eight miles out from Boston at a lighthouse in the Atlantic Ocean. Cold water, English Channel Rules (no wetsuits, etc.). And it finishes at the “L-Street Brownies” clubhouse where […]
Roy Webster Cross Channel Swim
1 If you were born in 1980 or before, you may not know that triathlons did not exist in North America before 1980, despite the fact that today you can find a triathlon here, there and everywhere. There are sprint triathlons, longer half-Ironman length ones, full Ironman triathlons and the rare, […]
The Birth Of Triathlon
2 Long ago Brother Lucas, my high school physics teacher told me that I would weigh less if I were standing on top of the tallest peak in the Andes than I would if I were standing in Death Valley. He explained that every object in the universe exerts a pull […]
Freed By The Moon
I remember the first time I was beaten in a race by a woman. At that moment, the realities of our new world dawned on me. “Male superiority” was down the tubes, and there it would stay. Over the years, good fortune has allowed me to meet some remarkable female […]
Inspirational Women Marathon Swimmers
2 We all know that the oldest and most famous marathon run in the USA is the Boston Marathon. The 26 mile-365-yard race starts in the small town of Hopkinton and finishes in downtown Boston. It has been contested annually on Patriots Day since April, 1897. Every year thousands of men […]
The Boston Light Swim
1 There must be hundreds of quiet places where we can swim along the lower Columbia River, both in Oregon and in Washington. But finding the right place for you can be a problem. Fortunately, our friends at Columbia Riverkeeper have done some of the homework for us. You will find […]
Columbia River Swim Spots
1 My son Chris is an avid climber. One of the truisms among climbers is “Mountains are always falling; they follow the law of gravity.” The same is true of rivers: they are always falling, following gravity from the mountains, flowing downhill to where most rivers end up in the sea. […]
THE WORLD’S RIVERS
2 Swimming across the English Channel may be the Holy Grail of our sport. When we think of great challenges, Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, comes to mind. It remained unclimbed for centuries, but with advances in materials technology and with trained, expensive guides to hold your hand and carry […]