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

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!