Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. Karen Smidt-Allard is one sharp aquapreneur with a clear vision of what products are necessary and desirable by swimmers and triathletes. Her original Foggle product, a popular anti-fog cleaning towelette sold by SBR Sports, is now rebranded as FOGGIES. FOGGLE was nominated for the 2012 World Open Water
65-year-old Guillermo Venturini from Miramar, Florida is motivated to stick around. Venturini had a stroke a few years ago and was sick. But he took to the water and and started swimming again after a respite of 23 years. When he was a young man, he swam the 57 km from Santa Fe to Coronda in Argentina (along the Maratón Acuática Internacional Santa Fe -
"What do I do now?" "How do I fill the hours that I used to be training?" "I am not quite sure what to do." These are examples of comments from open water swimmers, endurance athletes and triathletes who have worked diligently for months or years to realize their goal. They have achieved their goal, satisfied and successful. Even though they have
While open water swimmers know of UFOs as Unidentified Floating Objects, the rest of society tied to terra firma refers to UFOs as Unidentified Flying Objects. From the Bermuda Triangle to the Devil's Sea, some people believe there are areas of the globe that are unexplainably scary, inexplicably mysterious and, even to a certain degree, haunted. Lake
While most people who spend their time entirely on terra firma believe sharks are always lurking out for swimmers in the oceans, open water swimmers are much more likely to encounter mammals and invertebrates in the oceans around the world. For every one shark sighting by an open water swimmer, for every one shark encounter, for every shark attack, there
Most of the humans in the world either cannot or do not swim. They may go to the seashore or head to the lakeside, but they never enter the water. They may vacation on a cruise boat or they may fish in rivers, but they never see the aquatic environment from below the surface of the water. Like mountaineers who see the world’s peaks or fighter pilots who
What would a personal ad section be if it were only comprised of open water swimmers?
Swim past the surf line, over reefs and into the deep, and a sense of freedom engulfs you. Floating above the marine world, open water swimmers relish movement in the aquatic environment. Swim left, swim right. Swim fast, swim slow. Swim for a bit, swim for a distance. Swimming in the open water, even more so than in a pool, creates a cocoon of
No man's land commonly refers to contested territory or the area of land between two enemy trenches. However, during open water swimming competitions, No man's land takes on an entirely different meaning. If a swimmer is dropped for a pack, but is swimming alone between the packs behind, he is swimming in No man's land. There is no one to draft. There
