the guy who got me moving in the open water ~ my friend Rob Kent (#80)

Steve Munatones a OW swim icon himself, compiled a list of 101 movers and shakers in oper water and says "Some have impact in a subtle manner; others are aided by the media or their own marketing efforts. Some seek to be influential; others merely wield power by the force of their actions, events, achievements statements or prose.  However way these individuals are involved in the the sport, the following men can be considered to be among the movers and shakers in the world of open water swimming. It is, by far, an incomplete global list, but these men are open water ambassadors, spreading their enthusiasm and passion for the sport:
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2012/01/101-movers-and-shakers-in-open-water_10.html

And my friend Rob Kent is on the list (the list is alphabetical, he is #80). 

Making this as good a time as any to do a little blog about the guy who really got me moving to go the distance!:

my super swimmer girl does her 1st 1500 free

Cadence (my daughter) swam her 1st 1500 free yesterday (Jan15th,2012) and as usual I loved watching her work this race.
For those who have done it, doing a 1500 well is not easy; knowing how to pace will likely take a few tries.
But here she is holding fairly even 1:21's per hundred to give her a final time of 20:26:38.  Just making me wonder where this kid will take it with some more practice at it!
I will also brag just a little more: as this gets her ranked 10th in the country in her age (12)!

Have I created a monster? (haha), well maybe; she says she loved the race! and I loved the smile on her face!
We didn't do 1500 when I was a kid (it was a male event only) but honestly she would have lapped me likely a couple times.  So I don't know where she gets it!
Anyway, you can probably tell I'm proud of her...regardless of the fantastic time, I know she worked through a Hard New race and that's the real impressive part!  :)
Love you my girl!
xoxo

out of the blue

Funny how the Lake swim has faded into a memory, something I thought about almost non-stopped for the better part of a year; spent so much time preparing for in terms of training and organizing... and then it's over...

The congratulations I received (Thank you!) for awhile after made it linger a little longer and then doing the HAC speech was a nice way to cap off the end of the journey...

But then last week, out of the blue, came some new interest to let me savour it a little more:

• I was asked to be a guest speaker at a womens' Probus meeting, and
• Canadian Wildlife Magazine contacted me about doing a feature about my swim and specifically about the fundraising for Lake Ontario Waterkeeper

Both very exciting!  (exciting enough to want to share it in a little blog)...And I am very honoured by the interest and to think that it will keep some of the good from this adventure going a little longer...

the Bs of VIPs

The first weekend of 2012 was memory-filling days with regards to some very special people in my life.  Coincidentally all of them have names starting with B - hence the blog title:  The Bs of Very Important People: Bonnie, Bondo, Bill!  Thank you all for touching my life as you have and for the memories!!!


Bonnie aka Bon Bon - Bonnie is a good friend from university swimming who very sadly and unexpectedly passed away on Jan 7, 2008, making Jan 7th a special day to reminisce and remember our smiling, fun-loving, kind-hearted Bonnie.  Oh course these were university days, so there our some memories that I won't share so as not to incriminate either one of us - haha.  One line: reading Chinese newspaper upside down in a dumpster!

But even after university when our paths went different directions, we managed to keep in touch.  She was there when I was in the hospital having contractions with Cadence's birth.  I remember when she held baby Cadence and thinking all those hugs we forced on her, have now paid off (lol). 

We went to some great Canadian music scene concerts together.  Bon Bon had the music in her soul!  We'd sing loudly (something I don't do with just anyone).

We made a very crooked gingerbread house once... We held towels up for each other to change behind on the beach in Florida... We did dumb things, we did fun things, we laughed, we cried...
In other words, I miss you, Bonnie, my dear friend!

Brian Bond aka Mr. B and Bondo - with great sadness I learned that Mr. Bond passed away this past Saturday (Jan 7th also)  Mr. B was my 1st swim coach.  The one I give the most credit to for making me so passionate about swimming!  His passion was contagious.  He took me as a nervous little girl and taught me to rely on the hard work I'd done to get me through the jitters of competition.  He pushed us to make us faster, but also to make us stronger, tougher, more prepared for life's challenges; you could see it behind the way he coached, that he so genuinely cared about those he was coaching. 

I try to emulate what I learned from him way back then, now when I coach and I hope to pass on his passion for swimming as a way to honour him. 

Thank you Mr. B.  You were very influential in my swimming and my life!


And last but not least (left to the end solely to end the blog on a not so sad note)
Bill aka hubby - Jan 8, 2004 we said our marriage vows on a beach in New Zealand, simple like our love for each other... 
Bill is a true inspiration: coming back from knee surgery; teaching himself how to swim...
He is a fairly quiet wealth of knowledge, I'm so lucky to have right beside me! 
He gives me strength and comfort!
We aren't perfect, but together we work pretty well, surviving our busy lives.  And we manage to share some cool experiences along the way.  We have 2 beautiful daughters together, which really complete our love.  We've had some fun travels and seen some great sites and wonders.  When we got stuck in the mud, we had a mud fight (literally)...  We've pushed each other to reach the top of mountains on our bikes and then screamed together (well more me screaming) as we zoomed down.  We ran off the dock holding hands to start our first Ironman triathlon.  And nothing says "love" like a man kayaking beside you for hours on end...
The best part is we have no problem dreaming up what to do together next!
I'm looking forward to many more years with you, babe! xoxo

To all the other great people in my life, please know you are special to me too!