July 7, 2010 Contact: Jeanette Hoft

jeanette@hoft.ca

Phone: 250-215-3623      

Okanagan swimmers draw attention to the environment

Kelowna –On July 3^rd five swimmers entered Georgia Strait, or the northern arm of the newly named Salish Sea, near Sechelt and emerged less than 10 hours later at Pipers Beach in Nanaimo. The swimmers crossed this 30 km stretch of water, roughly the same distance as the English Channel crossing, in order to draw attention to increased environmental pressure being put on the Strait of Georgia. 

In waters comparable in chill and complexity to the English Channel (16-17°C), Rod Craig from North Vancouver and James Monk of Tswassen  swam the entire distance without wetsuits. Monk swam the punishing distance in 9 hours and 35 minutes and Craig in a time of 9:50. A four-member relay team supported the two swimmers.  The relay team included Okanagan Masters Swimmers Mike Stamhuis of Coldstream and Brent Hobbs of Kelowna.  Craig, who qualified last summer to swim the English Channel, also used this swim as his dress rehearsal for the English Channel in late July.

 “The purpose of the swim was to draw attention to the fragile nature of the Salish Sea,” says Brent Hobbs.  Having conquered the English Channel in 2008, Hobbs is now mentor to Craig and was coordinator of the Salish Sea Swim.  “This region is home to the magnificent Pacific Salmon and many other marine creatures, and we have to become more aware of the need to protect this amazing body of water.”

“We greatly appreciate the attention these swimmers are bringing to the Strait of Georgia, one of Canada’s most at risk natural environments,” says Christianne Wilhelmson of the Georgia Strait Alliance. “We all need to become better stewards of the Strait and we hope this will bring attention to that goal.”

The dangers of this swim are considerable. The tidal conditions were in the swimmers’ favour, but the water was cold. The swimmers had boats accompanying them with first aid, protection in the event of mild to medium hypothermia.

According to the History of Open Water Marathon Swimming (Johnson, 2006), there have been seven successful non-wet suit swims (English Channel rules) across the Strait of Georgia.  The record was set in 1967 by Mike Powley in a time of 9:23.  He swam from Neck Point just north of Departure Bay to Sechelt.  James Monk and Rod Craig now hold the second and third fastest times in the record books.  Considering the adverse conditions, this is an incredible accomplishment!”

Not quite as cold or far as the Salish Sea swim, is crossing Okanagan Lake on July 17, when hundreds of swimmers will be participating in Kelowna’s Across the Lake Swim. This will be followed by a 1.5km and 5km Open Water Swim at Tugboat Beach as part of the Pushor Mitchell Kelowna Apple Triathlon taking place from August 20-22. Visit www.appletriathlon.com for more information.

Kelowna, BC – This weekend saw the 28^th Pushor Mitchell Kelowna Apple Triathlon held in Kelowna. The event is not only about triathlon for young and old, novice and elite, it also hosts the Aquathon and FINA 1.5km and 5km Open Water Swim events.   The Apple had a record entry of more than 1,800 participants this year.


The Open Water swim events are organized by Okanagan Masters Swim Club. They also provide support for the swim leg of all the Apple’s triathlon races.  With the temperature around 21.5 Celsius this year, the water of Okanagan Lake was calmer than last year. The Men’s 1.5 Open Water swim saw 17-year old Wouter Terpstra in first place in 20.05.53, Spender Dean, aged 15 in second in 20.53.75, followed by another 15-year old, Nicholas Lupul in 20.58.99.

Hayley Pipher, 17, of Kelowna showed her steal by winning the Women’s 1.5km swim in 20.57.81, giving her a third position overall in the race. She also recently won Kelowna’s Across the Lake swim. Young Makayla Skrlac, 11, was second in 22.37.29 and 12-year old Chenoa Bondar third in 23.03.68. The youngster swimmer to complete the race was 10-year old, Kyra McNulty.  The 1.5km was completed by 17 women and 18 men.

The 5km Open Water Swim on Saturday saw 14-year old Bryce Kananowicz, take first place in 1.06.20, followed by another 14-year-old Marshal Parker in 1.10.50. Rod Craig, (49), of West Vancouver, who had recently become one of a selected few Canadians to have swum the English Channel, was third in 1.10.60.

The women’s event saw 51-year old favourite, Jeanne Carlsen of Calgary, once again take the lead in 1.12.03, followed by 34-year old Pam Kalas in 1.13.20 and 24-year old Megan Bird in third place in 1.15.30.

Although a log boom protected Tugboat Beach, the 5km is still a tough race with 12 women and 19 men completing the distance.

The results of the Open Water swim events at the Apple Triathlon, shows that age is not a determining factor in winning. It’s about training, straight swimming, passion and perseverance. Unfortunately nobody had a sighting of Ogopogo, Kelowna’s friendly water monster.

Links To Actual Results & Times:

Female 1.5K

Male 1.5K

Female 5K

Male 5K

OKANAGAN MASTERS SWIM CLUB

WINEFEST MEET

OCTOBER 9, 2010

Sanction # 1101

Location: 

H20 Adventure – Fitness Centre

4075 Gordon Drive, Kelowna, BC.  V1W 5J2

Pool:

25 metres, 8 lanes, Keifer lane ropes, Omega electronic timing,

Time:

Warm up: 12:00pm

Start:  1:00pm

Wine and Cheese and Awards:  4:45 PM start

Meet Manager:

Laura Garrett:  glsm@shaw.ca

Phone number:  250 766 1102

Eligibility:

All swimmers must be registered with MSABC or FINA affiliated organizations.  Age groups are based on the age of the swimmer as of December 31, 2010.

Fees:

 $30.00 flat fee includes swim fees, entrance to wine and cheese social and one glass of wine.  Fees must be paid prior to the start of the meet.   Additional social tickets can be purchased for $5.00. No refunds.

Meet Rules: 

All Swim BC and SNC rules will apply.  MSC warm up procedures will be in effect at this meet.  All events are timed finals.  This will be a cardless meet.  2 lanes in noncompetition tank will be continuously open for warm up and cool down.

Entries:

Please email the meet manager to request the Hytek Event List.  Deadline for registration is October 1, 2010.  Entries can also be emailed to Laura Garrett at glsm@shaw.ca  or call at 250 766 1102. All entries must be accompanied by the swimmer’s Masters BC registration number or FINA registration number.

Deck entries:

Deck entries are at the discretion of the Meet Manager.  A fee of $7.00 per event must accompany a deck entry request.

Awards:

Each swimmer will receive a certificate with their time and placing for each event swum.

Accommodations: 

Please check out the CSTT Sports Travel website listed below for accommodations.

http://secure.cstt.com/Tournaments/HotelList_Results.php?eventid=4824

Event List

  1.     200 Mixed Medley Relay

Break

  2.      400 Free/400 IM

 Break

  3.      100 Fly

  4.      50 Back

  5.      100 Breast

  6.      200 Free

Break

  7.      100 IM

  8.      50 Breast

  9.      100 Back

10.         50 Fly

11.       100 Free

Break

12.      200 Fly, Back or Breast

13.         50 Free

14.      200 IM

Break

15.      200 Mixed Free Relay

OKANAGAN MASTERS SWIM CLUB

WINEFEST ENTRY FORM

October 9, 2010

PARTICIPANT DETAILS

Swimmer’s name:________________________________________       MSABC # ____________________

Sex:  ____Female  ____Male    Age at Dec. 31, 2010:________             Club Code:___________________

Club: ________________________________________________________  Phone: _______________________

Club Contact:_______________________________________________  

Swimmer’s Address:_________________________________________________________________________

EVENT DETAILS

Event:             Name of Event                                               Entry Time

_________           _________________________________________           ____________________

_________           _________________________________________           ____________________

_________           _________________________________________           ____________________

_________           _________________________________________           ____________________

_________           _________________________________________           ____________________

_________           _________________________________________           ____________________

REMITTANCE

 Meet Entry Fee                                                                     ___________$30.00

Extra Social Tickets               ________ X $5.00                      ___________________

Total Remittance                                                                   ___________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

PLEASE SEND COMPLETED ENTRY FORM AND REMITTANCE ONLY IN THE EVENT THAT HYTEK IS NOT VIABLE TO:

OKANAGAN MASTERS SWIM CLUB

C/O LAURA GARRETT

1371 CAMP ROAD

WINFIELD, BC

V4V 1J9

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Backstroke Technique Checklist
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( Exclusive hint: the week before Feb 1 is a good time to ahem, “twist your knee”. )

Here’s an excerpt: In submaximal conditions, at 95% of a maximum speed over a 549-m swim, Bassett et al. (1) showed that drafting affects the metabolic response to swimming. Oxygen consumption was reduced by 8  +/- 12%, blood lactate concentration by 33 17%, and the rate of perceived exertion by 21 +/- 10%. The lower resistive body drag (passive drag) forces encountered by the swimmers at maximum speed are responsible for the observed metabolic change (5). These forces are 13–26% lower than those for the lead swimmer, depending on the velocity of the triathletes.

Whoa, doesn’t that make your fins flutter? Well, if you’re still awake then here’s the entire study in PDF format. But just remember, someone has to lead.