ralph diaz writes: If you have any questions or ideas regarding swim escorting, please make them. I know of perhaps a dozen paddlers on this listserve who have done such escorting extensively and would also likely pipe in. -------------------------------------------------- I have been escorted before, and can attest that this is a very valuable service. Many of the participants in such events have done a lot of swimming in pools and not much in open water. In a swim a few years ago cross the Columbia River the first thing I noticed is that the water was damned cold. The second thing I noticed is that there aren't any lines painted on the bottom. The third thing I noticed is that there were swells in the river, and so in addition to moving forward I was also moving up and down. All of these things can make a swim in open water very disorienting to someone who hasn't done it before. I found that about every ten strokes I had to stick my head up and orient myself to some landmark on the distant bank. I once tried to swim for a ways without looking up, and found myself face to face with the bow of a kayak after about 30 seconds, as I was about to leave the the designated swim area. jim h. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Sep 29 2000 - 10:52:48 PDT
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