TikiSwim 4

TikiSwim 4 was September 29, 2014

It was a beautiful day to be standing at the oceans door. Today, the final check-in was busy with the excitement of many athletes, being skillfully directed by the TikiSwim crew and volunteers. Each person met up with the friends and competitors. Each athlete had begun their preparation for the swim that would start in the next 30 minutes.

Today, would be just another race for Jacee Frivaldo and Carson Gossler who have been doing this swim since its first year. What is so phenomenal about the swim is that you start in the same place and finish in the same place but, no one swim is the same. As open water swimmers say, welcome to open water where no one day is the same.

The youth from the Catalina Channel Relays were well represented - The Children's Crusade Relay and The Channel Cat's. Spencer, Ethan, Jacee, Carson, Cayden, Valerie and Colin. As excited as they all were to see one another, this was an individual race the challenge was on!

As the horn sounded the sea of swimmers jumped in and got caught up in the surf. Except for a select few. Those were the ones that road the waves out successfully. Trust me, it did not look easy for those swimmers either. The surf had delayed the start for the race and would end the race for others.

Those that escaped the surf were off and the thrust of the current would decrease the overall speed for a period of time. But finally, the current relented and the lead swimmers began to make headway toward the turn 2 miles away.

As the lead swimmer entered the marina with a kayaker to guide his swim the pack followed.

Ethan McVeigh was the second swimmer that kept a close eye on the lead swimmer. The remaining swimmers swiftly followed. The first female came into site only to discover there were two female swimmers challenging one another to the finish. With each stroke who would win was the question at hand. The young ladies pushed each other to the finish. In the end, only one would finish first.
As they exited the water Haley Chasin would edge out Jacee Frivaldo by the elusive 3 hundreds of a second.

Congratulations, Haley!

We never want to forget our fabulous training partners from La Jolla Cove Swim Club that continue to encourage our youth to reach for the seas. Doug Burleigh, Kim Miller great job in your race. Thank you for all of your support!

The Inaugural Lake Tahoe Relay July 28-29, 2014

The Inaugural 2014 Lake Tahoe Relay was a success!

Sunday before the relay there was the final training swims that were done in Lake Tahoe to verify that each swimmer was comfortable with the water. During the evening the swimmer’s completed the dark swim. They began the swim at twilight and completed the swim chasing fish and crayfish in the dark ,that were attracted to the lights that were being used.  The kids finally left the water 15 minutes after they completed the dark swim.

The swimmers for the relay were Jacee Frivaldo, AJ Tran, Jack Cahill, Bianca Reinisch and Devin Esser. Each of these swimmers had completed many open water swims and training to prepare for the event. These swimmers exceeded the minimum requirements, by several miles, to be considered to participate in the relay for 2014.

The swimmers and their parents (a.k.a. volunteers) loaded the boats at approximately 7:00pm. The first boat took off with three foot chop, as the second boat was then prepared with the kayakers, and followed shortly behind. The swimmers squealed with delight, as the waves crashed into the bow of the boat. The water appeared to be a very deep blue as the cloud cover continued to thicken.

Forty-five minutes into the ride southward a light rain began and each swimmer found a way of protecting his or her self. The light shower lasted a few minutes and then the sun peaked out from the clouds creating a spectacular double rainbow. Shortly, after that the sunset became apparent as the descent of the sun became more breathtaking with each moment until finally it set.

Navigation to the starting point was guided successfully with a GPS and a navigational map. The kayaker paddled into position for the kids to make the jump into the water and make their way to shore. The only guidance was the lights from the shoreline and the lights from the boats guiding the swimmers to shore.

The kayaker radioed in they were ashore and the kids gave a yell as they began the First Youth Relay to Cross Lake Tahoe (South to North). Four of the five swimmers decided to begin the relay. The first swimmer passed the boats and the three other swimmers boarded the boat to prepare for their leg of the relay that would begin as each hour passed.

Jacee began her leg of the relay as the lead swimmer to swim past the boats.  The kayak caught up after making sure the remaining three swimmers were within the safety of the boat.

The clouds reflected the generous light from the shoreline and the lights from the boats. The target was sighted and the kayaker, swimmer and boats headed north toward the lights of Reno. For a very dark night the sky was magnificent with clouds, stars, winds, and light showers on and off.

The first hour of the swim seemed to move swiftly as AJ prepared herself to jump in with her lights aglow she headed to give Jacee a high-five.  Jacee exited the water as AJ and the kayaker continued their journey. AJ’s stroke was relaxed and she seemed to swim at an easy and confident pace.

The hour the AJ swam the wind had picked up and there was a small amount of chop. Jack prepared himself for his leg of the swim and before you know it he was in the water and giving AJ a high five and moved the relay forward as he and the kayaker began the dance of the learning to stroke next to a swimmer. Oh, did I mention, his sister, Molly was one of his kayakers. (Nice Job, Molly!)

Jack swam very well maintaining his rhythm keeping the kayak and boats in sight. Jack appeared to belong in the water with a smooth relax stroke that covered significant amount of water as he pulled through with each stroke. Bianca prepared to enter the water.

Bianca made her jump into the water and she was aglow giving a high-five to Jack. She looked bright and the folks on the North Shore could see her if they would look that way. Bianca got into her swim with excitement and energy that enabled her to reach a goal that enabled her see herself in a new place this night. Her quick stroke enabled her to create a wake as she moved through the water. Her tempo kept her energy moving swiftly throughout her hour.  Devin, gathered himself with his glowing wrists, a glow stick and a flashing light on his cap, as he made his jump and gave Bianca a high-five.

Devin was the youngest swimmer on this relay. In the pool he is a distance swimmer and he loves the open water. He kept his pace throughout the entire hour with little fluctuation on tempo. His excitement, kept the entire team moving throughout the night. Jacee prepared for her second leg during the relay, for this portion she decided to wear her wetsuit to stay warm, knowing she would have a third leg.

Jacee jumped in the water with a quiet hoot, from those on the boat.  One little problem, her glow stick was not affixed to her suit as planned. She had her flasher and that was visible. Jacee kept her long stroke going as she continued the journey to the north shore. Swimming at a more consistent pace, keeping the engine moving during her second hour leg of the relay. The sky was beginning to dawn as AJ prepare for her second leg of the relay.

AJ made her jump and looked great as she headed toward the kayak to give Jacee a high-five transfer of the swimmer. AJ took a moment to adjust her goggles. And the relay was headed north again. AJ liked the opposite side of the kayak as she continued her relay leg. She looked afire with her light and glow sticks. AJ did awesome, as dawn became clearer. Jack prepared for his leg of the relay. It was going to be great the north shore was clearly in sight.

Jack jumped in with his lights and glow sticks and headed to AJ to give her a high-five. After a long night Jack looked great and his pace and the rhythm of the kayaker was a beautiful waltz. Since this was an adventure swim with marathon as the distance. Jack was able to swim for a few extra minutes. The sun had broken the horizon by the time Jacee was preparing to make her third jump.

Jacee gathered herself as she headed to Jack to give the high-five transfer of swimmer. She began reaching for the north shore and drawing it closer with each stroke knowing that she could potentially land the relay. After 41 minutes the shore and landing site was spotted and Bianca and Devin jumped in, to land as part of the final leg team. After a little over an hour Jacee opted out of finalizing the finish and gave Devin the high-five. Bianca and Devin headed to the finish on shore.

It seemed to take forever to land the final leg of the relay but steadily the shoreline drew closer. Devin and Bianca pressed into the landing site with everyone watching anxiously. Moment by moment, stroke, by stroke the finish site grew larger and the kayakers and swimmers were in the water to the finished.

Devin landed the relay 9:22.30 after it began. The celebration continued as the long excitement filled night, was behind us. Devin and Bianca decided to walk to the dock, the kayakers headed to the dock and the boats carefully navigated the boats to the dock. We were met by Scott and his team to pick up the boats. Scott graciously, brought donuts, the much needed snack before breakfast, thank you!

The relay was a phenomenal achievement and each person began the celebration of the morning.

Each person had completed their individual goal. The main focus of the relay was to align the individual goals and create a successful relay of Lake Tahoe.

Many thanks to each person the enabled the success of the relay helping, these five awesome youth reach a goal they set and accomplished in a night.

Congratulations!

 

Xterrawetsuits - donated a wetsuit for each swimmer to use.

Lake Tahoe Boat Rentals – were gracious enough to rent us the boats.

The Parents, awe the parents that withstood the night and days of excitement! Awesome job!

Thank you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you to our Sponsors!

Thank you to the following sponsors for helping Jacee For Kids send off the Inaugural Lake Tahoe Relay on July 28-29. It was a Great Success!

We would not have made it without these sponsors that really helped out and did not make the t-shirt.

Paseo Water and Ice: Here is their Yelp Review

http://www.yelp.com/biz/paseo-water-and-ice-scottsdale-2

Chopstick Express:

www.chopstickexpressaz.com


Help us to make their business a little brighter! Please mention you heard about them from Jacee For Kids.

Xterra Wetsuits Link

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154274423915408&set=pb.63476045407.-2207520000.1405548919.&type=1&theater

Catalina Channel Swimming Federation Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152363311837779.1073741853.157942197778&type=1

Channel Cats 2014 Catalina Relay

June 30, came very soon for Jacee. As she traveled to California once again to her second swim from Santa Catalina Island to Palos Verdes, a distance of 21 miles with a mix gender relay of all 14 year olds. We arrived at the La Jolla Cove for Jacee’s swims that would accumulate 6 miles in two days. She had fun seeing all of her La Jolla Cove Swim Club friends. Thank you to everyone who helped Jacee with her daily workouts.

On July 2^nd, Jacee traveled to San Pedro for the second time in one year. This would culminate into a second successful crossing of the Catalina Channel in a mix gender relay, as a 14 year old.  The energy filled the environment and the kids and parents prepared taking the necessary steps to avoid seasickness. Gathering at the local Mexican Food Restaurant, and taking the endless pictures for the memories.

Dan and Doug shared their wisdom and advice as they always have in preparing the teenagers for various swims. This swim would seem the same but it has all the new and excited teenagers that would enthrall the hearts of everyone as the set out for their journey.

Each swimmer had their own plans for the swim but each would become part of a successful relay crossing for the first time in their lives. Accept Jacee who has swum the first relay last August 12/13, 2013. The attention was endless and each child was set with their personal preparation for the swim. Of course, the goal was successfully completing the swim as one unit.

Jacee Frivaldo, AZ

Isabella, Back, CA

Carson Gossler, CA
Ethan McVeigh, CA
Cayden Pangelinan, CA
Valerie Chin, CA

Morgan Hartley, CA - Alternate
Colin Grubensky, CA – Alternate

Each swimmer entered the water to do their part as they encountered many jellyfish, currents and waves throughout each leg of the relay. Cayden, had the pleasure of swimming with the dolphins this year and stated, “That he could hear their clicking before he actually saw them.” It was a pod of dolphins the he would swim with most of the leg of his swim.

Jacee’s journey this year was successful because there was no seasickness and she enjoyed her time with the Jellyfish. As she says, “would you let these jellyfish just jump in your house and do what they wanted. Of course, they are going to sting you.” She also stated, “That the jellies that got in her suit were just going to visit their friends as she swam through them and they fell out of the suit.”

Bella, landed the team at 8:42.xx mark unofficially. The overall swim was relatively calm and the finish had a high tide which definitely helped at the end. These awesome swimmers including both alternates Morgan and Colin had the proper preparation and joined together for a successful crossing of the Catalina Channel. Of which only 92 successful relays have been swum since 1926 through 2013.

Congratulations, to our successful Channel Cats!

 

Special Thanks goes to Julie, Violet, and Jim! Julie and Violet kayaked and Jim was our second observer for the swim. The LA County Fire Rescue Unit attended the finale of the swim. Oh, maybe that is because it was Julie’s Husband. Thanks for the ride back to the boat! It was much warmer than swimming the way back.

Two Mile Champion at the Southern California Cup

Jacee volunteered again this year at the USA Swimming National Open Water Championships. She enjoyed speaking to the all the great swimmers, officials and organizers. Her favorite job is marking the numbers on the swimmers. She also enjoys cutting the chips off the swimmers at the finish line.

The 10k was swum on Friday and the 5k was swum on Sunday. There is a Southern California Cup swum on Saturday where everyone in the National Championship and age group entries are invited. There was a 1-mile swim and a 2-mile swim.  Jacee encouraged the 1 mile swimmers and made friends with many of them. She then swam the 2 mile swim having a great race. In the last 500 meters Jacee, in the middle of the pack, Jacee decided to win the race and went for the finish. She and another female swimmer were working hard to be the first female in the race. In the last 50 yards Jacee commanded the field with a moved enabled her to take the lead and hold onto it, as she out touched the second place swimmer by 3 seconds.  It was a great finish for all of the swimmers.  Congratulations, to Jacee and everyone who swam all of the championship races.

The 10k races were won by Mann, Becca and Gemmell, Andrew.

The 5k races were won by Meyer, Alex and Anderson, Haley.

Congratulations, to our National Champions that will go to represent the USA at the various World Championships this year!