Susan Kirk Looking Forward To The Summer
Susan Kirk of Long Valley, New Jersey is typical of the very passionate swimmers looking forward to the summer. “We have an absolute blast doing all of our swims and the camaraderie that we share is electric. The season is ready to open for us northerners. My passion is open water swimming. I fit in as many open water swims each open water season as my family life permits. Last season, I swam in 17 open water swims ranging in distances from 1 mile to 10K.
The majority of the swims are in the Atlantic Ocean, but I’ve also participated in lakes, the Hudson River, bays, sounds, a lagoon, and the Gulf of Mexico.”
But despite her passionate interest, she remains respectful of all conditions. “In years past, I’ve had to put into play my own personal safety action plan and withdraw from two events after traveling to the venue and evaluating that the conditions were, in my opinion, not safe. In one race, there was severely compromised visibility with heavy fog, but no course control over the motorized ocean water craft. In another race, there was very rough, overhead pounding surf with short period swells. Disappointing yes, but there’s always another open water swim. In both cases, the event directors surprisingly went ahead with their events, although I was not alone in withdrawing from the events.”
Better safe than sorry.
Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.
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