Great White Shark Spotted off of Malibu

A friend just sent me this.

Great White Spotted at Malibu!

The caption opines that the shark sightings increase during grunion spawning, but I'm opining that after several years of hearing about the Hermosa-Manhattan Pier to Pier swim and Surf Festival, the sharks are getting smarter about finding feasts.

:D

Southern California’s Great White Shark Attack

Not since 1994 has a great white attack been reported on the San Diego coast. This morning broke that 14-year streak of cheerful ocean swimming.

Just after 7am, a group of about 10 San Diego Triahlon Club members went for an ocean swim heading north from Solana Beach’s Fletcher Cove. The group was about 150 meters from the shore when 66-year old tri-club member, David Martin, was attacked by a great white shark, estimated to be between 12 and 17 feet long. Sadly, Martin did not survive his injuries—he had “suffered deep jagged lacerations, from the upper thighs to the lower shin, with a bite radius of about 22 inches.”

Beaches in Solana Beach, Del Mar, and Encinitas have been closed for 72 hours as a precaution. The San Diego Tri Club is having a get together this evening at 6pm at B&L Bike and Sports to show support for David Martin’s family and take a walk to the cove.

And I will probably not be doing my Sunday ocean swim this week, having already been paranoid about being eaten by large fish I can’t see before ever reading this terrible news. That shark could probably make its way up the 100 miles of coastline between Solana Beach and Hermosa Beach in a few days, then easily mistake me for a seal as well.

Our thoughts are with David Martin’s family and the courageous people swimming with him this morning who brought him to shore. You have my utmost respect and sympathy.

For more on the attack, please go here. Or read San Diego Tri Club President Scott Long's statement here.

-TriDiva

A Triathlete Easter

a special sneak peak:

HAPPY EASTER!

I hate swimming in the ocean!

Let me rephrase that. I love the actual swimming aspect, I hate the potential death by large fish swallowing / severing / suffocating / stinging / surfers –the 5 “s”s of ocean swimming modes of potential death. I do tell myself that if the surfers have been sitting there for a while, dangling themselves above the water at the big man eating fish below, and none of them have been eaten yet, why would that fish want me in particular? However, people fish off of the pier. They wouldn’t stand there all day if there was nothing to catch, would they? Not cool.

Before the ocean swim, Fiance took me to church. Easter really is the point of all religion as it gives us a sense of something more than life so we don’t live it scared poopless of dying.

Therefore, ocean swimming must be the anti-Easter, as it makes me, every second that I’m in there, scared poopless of dying. I had a nice one-sided conversation with God while I was in the ocean today that went something like this:

“I was not meant to die by a hungry fish attack a week before my Ironman, was I? Because that would be a really really mean joke. And I’d like to set the world record for world’s oldest woman---or just get to 100 years. So please tell me death by fish in one of the younger triathlon age groups is not in the cards for me. Thank you, I love you. Happy Easter, Love Me.”

Fiance started an "every three minutes, wait for me" schedule, which I appreciated. We swam out to the end of the pier, then north, then at 15 minutes, turned around to swim back at the pier. Fine. I saw fish underneath me. Not fine. And shadows. Then when we regrouped at the end of the pier.

I looked for the surfers so I could swim in a way to avoid getting bashed in the head by one like our friends had done last year. There were no surfers.

Where the heck did they all go!? Did they know something I didn’t?

“THERE’S A F^*#ING SEA OTTER IN OUR WAY!”

Holy s*&t! (I cuss a lot when I’m scared. I don’t know why, but it makes me feel better.) That giant mound sunning directly in my exit path is NOT seaweed.

“It’s ok, swim in next to me.” Says Fiance-hero.

He swims closest to the ginormous man-eating animal, I swim next to him. All the way in.

Then on the beach: “That was a huge sea lion! I wasn’t going to say anything to creep you out. When you first said sea otter, I thought ‘Whatever, they don’t do anything,’ but that thing was way bigger than me.”

Thank you very much for keeping it inside until after we exited the deadly waters of the South Bay.

Another ocean swim accomplished alive. Another Easter calming me down, and letting me know that even if I do get swallowed by a big fish, I will not permanently reside in its belly.

Happy Easter and Training!

Open Water Swimming

If you're like TriDiva, no matter how many times you swim in the ocean, it still scares the crap out of you. That shadow lurking just below you. AH! That slimy stuff you just put your hand in. And oh my goodness! You get so spread out from your friends. You know you look like the "weak" fish some big animal is going to have to taste for breakfast. You're not alone. And you're not the only one with a hyperactive ocean-swimming imagination:

Try not to freak yourself out. The chances of this happening, we've been told, are something around 1 in a billion. And the sharks are smarter in Australia.

Happy Open Water Swim Training!

Swimming Got You Googly-Eyed?

Do you get out of the pool when its still dark outside and put sun glasses on immediately? Do you run and hide in your room after swim practice for hours on end? Do your coworkers think you're just a funny-looking person, or do they make fun of the peculiar rings around your eyes and make you sit out of the "important" meetings so you won't scare your clients?

You might be a victim of GOOGLY EYES.

That's right. You've got your swim goggles strapped on so tight, it's a wonder your eyes haven't just popped right out into them.

Even if you're not a chronic goggle-tightener, the goggles you're wearing might just like you so much, they want to leave an impression. So they do. And you get to carry it around with you all day long. Combine that little gift with the gift of "swim cap forehead ", red eyes, stinky hair, and dry skin from the chlorine, and we wonder why anyone swims in the first place!

Never fear! Triathlete Diva to the rescue!

Here are a few things you can try to rid yourself of these unsightly afflictions:

• loosen up those goggles! If you give them a little pat, they'll suction to your face senza the need to see how much your straps can stretch (however, if you pat too hard, you'll get googly eyes. Patting your goggles correctly is an art that takes practice.)


• turn your swim cap inside out. The ribbing is usually on the inside, if there is any, and that's what gives you lines on your face that make you look like a character in Star Trek later. Most people have heads shaped so they don't need the ribbing to hold their caps on. Don't worry, we're not saying you have a funny shaped conehead if your cap won't stay on...


• try a swimming mask. This, however, will almost certainly get you laughed at if you swim with a masters group. If you don't, great. If you do...just choose. Who would you rather have laugh at you? Your coworkers, or those tubby guys in speedos? (Try these Aquasphere swim mask/goggles...maybe nobody will notice you've switched from sweedes...)

If you just have a very impressionable face, and no matter what, end up with funky lines and circles on it after swimming, think of it as a small sacrifice for your tip top fitness. Hey, nobody's making fun of your flabby arms, are they? You don't have 'em!

Swimming Got You Gassy?

Just like Raging Crotch, Swimmer's Stomach, as we like to call it, is a little talked about subject. Because, well, it stinks.

Do you ever get out of the pool after a hard workout, only to be greeted by an unfriendly bubble in your belly that will only go away after a few hours of embarrassing burping or flatulence? After living with this problem for some time, and hiding out in a cubicle for the first two hours of work, praying nobody will ask you a question and accidentally stumble upon your secret secretions, it's time to think about a solution.

What Causes Swimmer's Stomach?

According to a post on the Gastroenterology Support Forum, when you swim hard, you regulate your breathing. Air comes in in big gulps, and goes out much more slowly. You might even hold a breath to race to the finish faster and more efficiently. That's all fine and dandy. What happens later to some people isn't something to be as proud about as finishing that last tight interval in time.

What happens to these monster gulps? The extra air goes into the stomach. That's right. Because the next time you need to gulp, your lungs need to be ready for it. Thus, you get a nice tummy bubble moving along your intestinal tract. But to relieve you of passing a giant gassy bubble, your kind and efficient body will break it down into several little bubbles. So instead of ripping one big one once you get out of the pool, and being done with Swimmer's Stomach, you get to eek it out over the next couple of hours at your big meeting with the boss man.

How Can Swimmer's Stomach Be Stopped?

Don't breathe so darn much! While you might be cruising along, enjoying your face full of air after every 2 strokes, you might also be setting yourself up for a post-swim swell up. On the other hand, if you're doing breathing drills and breathing less frequently, you might be prone to taking in bigger gasps of air, flooding the stomach with air as well.

So what to do? The benefits of swimming far outweigh the potential for getting Swimmer's Stomach. Swimming makes you leaner, stronger, sexier, and comfortable wearing next to nothing in large groups of people. (Whether that's good or bad, we don't know. But it's a fact.)

Some practical solutions: Get a job 2 hours away from swim practice so the only people who'll know about your issues are you, your car, and the morning radio DJ. OR, swim at night, so the only person who'll have to deal with it later is your spouse. And hey, he/she married you for better or worse, right? We're sure they'll take a little flatulence along with the rest of your athletic and motivated package.

So dive in! And don't worry. You're not the only one who experiences Swimmer's Stomach!