Big Big Waves

January 27, 2012

Jacee arrived at La Jolla Cove late in the afternoon. The surf was up and she was excited to jump in and learn about big waves. Jacee was asked; by Doug if she felt she could go out? Jacee reviewed the surf and decided to go out and take a short swim to see what she was made of that day. This surf is not swum by many because it is very challenging! Do not attempt this unless you are an experience open water swimmer and have an even more confident and experience escort swimmer. These waves are dangerous, if you do not have many years of experience with them. Yes, Doug checked in with the lifeguards, who paid close attention, while Jacee was out there. Carefully, Doug explained the sets that were coming in, as they waited out the really big waves before heading out. This is not about rushing it is about a learning experience for Jacee. She must and I repeat must follow the instructions of what she is being taught.

Patience prevailed, the large sets gave way to the smaller sets, Jacee and Doug headed out to the first buoy just, outside the wave sets. I was able to sense relief in Jacee as she cleared the waves. Jacee and Doug came back from the short swim and began to work through the larger sets of waves. Doug has many, many years of experience in all types of conditions and knows what Jacee is capable of doing. Erring on the side of caution with Jacee, rather than taking a risk in the open water, is how Doug trains Jacee. As I watched, I could see the caution that Jacee was operating in, carefully moving into the waves that were coming at her. She was learning to “hang in the wave”, challenged, feeling great respect with her new experience. Jacee has been in tough conditions but training for success is the key to a great open water swimmer. When Jacee came in she stated, “That was a little tougher than it looked.” She was processing the waves and went to warm up.

The next morning, Jacee was excited and the surf was way down. She really wanted a big day in swimming. Doug, Dan and Jacee decided to swim pier to cove. It was a sunny and bright day, the best I have seen in a long time. The conditions were modest; the water was about 58 degrees. Surfers were having a great time in the waves. The surfers and waves were plentiful. As Jacee, Doug and Dan began to shuffle out to the surf, there was excited anticipation for the swim. They each jumped into the waves and they were off! Enjoying their afternoon swim!

About 45 minutes later they were swimming past the buoy near the cove. Doug was in the lead, Jacee and Dan were close behind but this day would be Doug’s and he was determined, he would hit the sand first. Jacee and Dan stood on the rock since the tide was low. Jacee figured out why she needed to be careful out there, as she pushed off, she cut her foot. Yes, it was what she wanted to do but, the words of caution about playing on the rock came stingingly through. They headed to shore where Jacee was met by another swimmer and she went directly out, a short swim back to the buoy and in. She had met one of the clubs newest Triple Crown Marathon Swimmer’s. Jacee came up the stairs to have a sandwich and drink some fluids and patiently wait for the next group of swimmers. Jacee had about two miles under her belt and wanted more. Her friend Tom came down from the street to prepare for his swim. He had just successfully swum Cook’s Strait becoming the oldest person to ever swim that in 10 hours and about 39 minutes. She was so, excited for him! They spent some time discussing the conditions of his swim and learned about his trip. Congratulations, Tom!

A short time later, her friend Carson arrived after his duathlon, he wanted to head out with the group. The chatter was exciting as everyone was getting ready to head out, on the next swimming adventure! Jacee had eaten and properly hydrated and was ready to head out with another group of swimmers. As the group headed out, Jacee still looked strong and was delighting in the swim. The conditions were picking up from earlier in the day, as the group passed the first buoy and headed out to the next buoy. What a day of swimming for Jacee! She had swum with some many wonderful friends and team members, she was still going! The “Energizer Bunny” had nothing on Jacee that day. As the group made the turn toward the virtual half-mile, everyone looked great! Doug and I discussed if today could be Jacee’s unofficial birthday swim because she is working on swimming for the “Big Chill”, she wanted to count her miles and get the extra miles. It was decided that special conditions existed based on being a child and it would be counted.

Shortly, after that Jacee and the group came in and of course, Jacee wanted more. She had to be called up to get a move on, to head home. Jacee had swum 3.5 miles in 24 hours. She loved every minute of the open water swims. Of course, she had to take breaks for fuel and hydration, two very important things if you are going to swim that much. Proper preparation for open water swimming is not a casual decision. It is essential to train for the distance you have decided to swim.

Thank you, Carson for the roof and food!

Signing off for pool work, until the next open water adventure!

Jacee’s Mom

New Swim Partner

December 29th Jacee headed to La Jolla to swim for four wonderful days. The water was a warm 58 degrees on average; she had a great time with her training partners. There are several and Jacee has so much fun with each of you! She chose a different swim partner one day; of course the discussion was who would swim the fastest. Her new partner is from a long line of swimmers. Her new partner is a sea lion. It was definitely a cute picture. And of course, Jacee was very careful about the distance that she was standing as she approached the sea lion. Remember this cute sea lion is a wild animal.

Jacee arrived on Thursday and swam a quick 1.5 miles in the Cove, Shores area. On Friday, Jacee, Doug and Carol headed out for a 1.5 mile swim and really enjoyed the water. While the body surfers enjoyed riding the waves, it was quite a sight. The dolphins stirred the water, creating a commotion with the wildlife, it was plentiful. Jacee came in and said, “she did not see the dolphins”. She wanted to see them! The next day, Jacee headed out with Doug for another 1.5 miles. The joy of swimming with the dolphins that day became a reality, they swam right in front of them. She finally got to swim with the dolphins like she has asked since she was eight-years-old. Patience pays off and she did it in the open ocean along with her friends. Of course, frequently she is swimming with the dolphins but not right in front of her. She decided to head out with another group of swimmers eating some food to keep her strength and body temperature up and they had a very social time speed was not the objective in the second swim just fun.

New Year’s Eve arrived and sleep was in order. The Annual La Jolla Cove Polar Bear Swim was occurring on the 1st of January. It is an exciting day to and attempting to get all of the people in one picture was quite a feat. Great job, Paula! Bob West sounded the horn and everyone that wanted to get wet put at least their big toe, in the 58 degree water. Jacee and Doug jumped in and swam another mile Doug came in and attended his duties for the event. Jacee grabbed her friends Lianna and Pearl to go play in the waves. Lianna swam with her Dad and Pearl anxiously awaited her time in the water. I think they became grape popsicles out there! After two hours we had to drag Jacee and Pearl in from the waves. They were of course surprised that it was two hours later. They ate a good meal and began to play games and shared more food with others. Overall, it was an exciting and relaxing day. What a super way to spend the First day of the Year just relaxing and enjoying the company of friends and family.

Until the next swim!

Jacee’s Mom

The water is getting cold!

Now that it is December, the water temperatures are dropping in Phoenix. The lakes are in the 50's and the swimmers are donning their wetsuits. Xterrawetsuits is Jacee's preferred wetsuit. If you decide to order a wetsuit from Xterrawetsuits. The suits are slick and fast! Co-Jacee will get you a discount.

This past weekend Jacee was swimming at the La Jolla Cove with her favorite swim partners. She had her new 11-year-old friend with her on Sunday. They seemed to enjoy the swim and came out of the water fairly cool. After swimming, the delicious clam chowder warmed up the little bodies, they were just fine.

The days adventure was wonderful swimming with the dolphins again. The five to six foot swells creating excitement for both of them, as the stayed in the water body surfing through the big waves, after their swim. The screams of delight with each new wave came through and the challenge was standing in the waves. It was not happening this day. They will keep trying though, isn't that the fun part?

June 2011

June was an exciting swimming month for Jacee. She had some great events in the pool.The good news is that she spent five great days in La Jolla preparing for the Pier to Cove Race. The first day was readjusting to open water which took Jacee about five minutes. She really enjoys ocean swimming! It is a challenge and the kelp was plentiful. She had a few passes over the kelp and went to see the Sea Lion Cave.

The next day she and four other swimmers did the practice swim from the pier to the cove. What an enjoyable time staying clear of the kelp since one of her swim partners wanted to stay clear. The water was a warm 64 degrees the sun broke through the clouds as they completed the days swim.

Saturday was the pier to cove race. The surf was up coming into the cove. There were many friends ready to swim. The race was exciting and Tom the best kayaker, Thank you! The results placed Jacee 22nd overall and 6th in female division. Wow, the fastest female is 19 years old came in just over 36 minutes. Jacee completed the race with a 42:53. What an awesome swim! Thank you, La Jolla Cove Swim Club for all you do!

Sunday, Jacee completed her pool races and headed back to the cove for another day of ocean swimming the surf was up. She spent time with Doug

Alcatraz

It has been a bit since there has been a post. Life has been very busy for Jacee. She has swum from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco for the fifth time. It is an exciting time for Jacee as she continues with the Metropolita Youth Symphony musical career and swimming. Jacee has been working hard in school, she is at the top of her class.

On September 21, 2010 Jacee swam her first three mile open ocean swim. It was an awesome experience for her. Here is the link to the article. http://www.xterrawetsuits.com/blog/2010/09/29/11-year-old-swimming-standout/

Enjoy the story. Erin did a superb job swimming and writing.

Jacee also has another article challenging others to swim from Alcatraz.

Article: https://www.allyouneedforhappiness.com/issues/2009nov/index.html#/36/

As you see even though the blog has been slow in posting Jacee is still getting stronger everyday!

Stay strong, see the challenge, live the dream!

Jacee's Mom

Stronger Than Ever in the Open Water

It has been awhile but, Jacee is back. She is stronger than ever in the open water. Jacee has been doing very well in the pool and is excited at what the next year will bring. Her desire is to have every person who is reading this decide to get going in their favorite area of exercise.

Jacee has been enjoying the open water series here in Arizona. She placed first in her age group in the 4K open water series for 2009. Her fastest time in the water was 1:26:13 translated to English is One hour, twenty-six minutes and thirteen seconds. This swim is beating the Ironman cutoff by more than 45 minutes. What an awesome swim.

In June, Jacee raced the Scripps Pier to La Jolla Cove swim doing an awesome job against a strong current. Her finish time was 66:56. She had a great spirit the entire way joking with her kayaker about the ten strokes he was asking her to swim. She loves the ability to reach the goals she has set and thanks all of those individuals involved in enabling her to achieve her goals. Each of you knows who you are and if you don’t it’s probably you!

Thanks Coach Joe for encouraging Jacee to chase her dreams! All of you are so precious and encouraging to Jacee, in this great plan that she has to achieve her goals. For the behind the scenes people that have helped get to the goal of the swims themselves. Jacee is looking forward to doing many more swims and can’t wait for the next event.

Finally, Jacee was on the cover of a magazine called Scottsdale Health. Here is the link to the four page article there are some great pictures, also.

https://www.allyouneedforhappiness.com/issues/2009nov/index.html#/36/

And the open water blogspot link below.

http://10kswim.blogspot.com/2009/11/all-bundled-up-and-ready-to-go.html

Take Care until the next blog and keep swimming even if it is just 25 yards!

How Jacee Started Training for Alcatraz

Jacee has been swimming competitively since age five. She first heard about the swim from Alcatraz in May 2006. She joined the Swim Neptune team in November. Immediately she decided she wanted to do the Alcatraz 2007 Swim once it was presented. One of Jacee's best character traits is that once she puts her mind to something she is determined to carry it through.

To get started with the training, Jacee entered in the unheated pool at the Foothills Training Center in Glendale, AZ. Shortly after going around she changed her mind about wanting to swim in cold water. She came to me and I asked her to keep her feet in the water while I explained to her that if she got out, her dream of swimming from Alcatraz would have to wait for another year. She took a moment to ponder that, then, with another parent's help, got back in the water and started swimming. Jacee then informed me that she would have to do this swim on her own and that she would get her face in the water when she could. Right then I realized that the swim had nothing to do with me; I was just her chauffeur.

As the training progressed, Jacee made and kept the commitment to swim 2 hours per day for 3-4 days per week. After a while, she entered her first lake swim at Bartlett Lake. Even with her initial hesitation, she completed the swim. On the ride home, shivering over hot drinks and hand warmers, she decided she wanted to do it again. After the second lake swim she was sold. In order to continue her preparation, Jacee continued cold water swimming for 20-30 minutes per practice. She swim a mile in each practice and maintained a regular practice and meets.

At the third lake swim, Jacee quickly became friends with “Grandma” Kathleen. She finally felt confident enough to start having fun in the water and enjoying the swim. With her new found strength and confidence, she adapted to the water and her hands and feet no longer hurt. Soft slippers helped her to walk after her feet hurt from exposure to the cold.

By the time April 2007 rolled around, it was getting too warm in Arizona for cold water swims at the lake. There was still a month left before the Jacee's Alcatraz swim in May, but there was concern that Jacee would not be able to adapt to the cold water. The solution was to have her sit in an inflatable swimming pool surrounded by 10-20 pounds of ice for a half hour.

Next: Jacee goes to Alcatraz!