So, Dad DNF, but he did darned well, anyway.

[xiphias]

We had to pull Father out of the water for hypothermia. At a bit shy of the five mile mark. At a bit shy of three hours.

He made nearly five miles in under three hours. In water temperatures between 59 and 63 degrees (15-17 degrees centigrade).

If Father can manage to gain about fifteen pounds over the next year, he ought to be able to make it all the way.

Edited To Add: A correction. I stated here that Father went a bit shy of the five mile mark. However, we were also taking GPS readings every fifteen minutes, and Lis and I just plotted how far he got at his final reading. At his final reading of 12:15, which was about five or ten minutes BEFORE we pulled him out of the water, he had swum 5.23 miles, just shy of five and a quarter miles. He made well OVER five miles in 2 hours 45 minutes.

Comments

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Good for him!

(After asking Google "define:DNF". "Did not finish".)

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Yup. A fairly common sports acronym, common in many endurance-type events -- long distance runs, cross-country car races, and so forth. A perfectly honorable result to get.

[ceo]

There's also DNQ: Did Not Qualify, and DFL: Dead Fucking Last.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

DFL sounds like a lot worse than it is. DFL is still above DNF, and DNF is quite a ways above DNQ.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

No, no, it really doesn't. Trust me on this. It totally can be that bad.

Like, in a thousand meter rowing race, "last" is when everyone else finished before you do. "Dead last" is when you hear the buzzer for the first finisher(s) just as you enter the final 250 meters. "Dead fucking last" is when you hear the buzzers for *all* the other finishers before you enter the last 250 meters.

Ask me how I know.

On the other hand, "embarassing" and "DFL" are not necessarily synonymous. "EMbarrassing" is when you hear all the buzzers while you're still far from the finish and you give in and row less than your best for the rest of the race. I don't do that any more, not since one of the races we filmed years ago, when I did just that and had to watch it on video. Now I have a commitment to myself: no matter where I finish in a race, no matter how well I know the outcome, I finish it rowing the best my body will permit. WHich is what it sounds like your father did, for as long as *his* body would permit.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Also, DFL isn't an official reported standing. My father's time WILL be officially reported.

[copperpoint.livejournal.com]

AND we should point out that your dad was not the first to leave the race and also was not in last place when he did.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

I'm impressed.

Keep a close eye on him. I got a bad case of hypothermia once when I was a Water Survival instructor doing surf survival training with Marines. I was in 50 degree water for longer than I should have been and my back was a nice shade of blue when I came ashore. I got pretty sick from the resulting shock.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

He threw up a couple times, but he was fine after half an hour or so.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

I had that thing with the throwing up too. Also found that I'd get sick whenever I got into cold water for the next few years. Apparently that's not uncommon with hypothermia.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Sounds like it might be part of the same hard-wiring that makes us dislike food that has made us throw up.

[ailbhe]

I hope he's ok soon. It's kind of shocking that people can pull this kind of physical stunt off, even when they're not someone's father.

I can hardly swim a width at the local pool these days.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Oh, he was fine after just about half an hour.

[ailbhe]

Phew. I've only ever seen very mild hypothermia in much milder conditions. I have no idea what the scale between "wrap in warm blanket, cuddle" and "take to hospital" looks like.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

This was far closer to the first end of that scale. We pulled him out to keep it from getting to the farther end.

[ailbhe]

That doesn't surprise me, knowing what I know of you :)

Linnea had very very mild hypothermia once. It was puzzling and worrying and then, when we realised what it was and that we hadn't recognised it earlier, kind of scary.

[lucretia-borgia.livejournal.com]

Yaasher koach to him! (And correction accepted from the earlier post/comment re wetsuits.)

As to the 15#, I'd be happy to ship him up to 20 of mine. :->

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Have you considered long-distance open water swimming as your sport? It's wonderful. All the top competitors look like, y'know, me and all my friends.

[lucretia-borgia.livejournal.com]

Long-distance, I'm ok with, and will just do laps back & forth --not fast at all, though-- in the pool unless someone gives me some other workout (i.e. as at Master's, where I'm irretrievably in the "slow lane" but that's fine, I like the people there), but I'm not so thrilled with the "open water" bit. I only just in the last year got over the thanks-for-your-novel-method-of-"waterproofing the kids"-dad panic attack over being in deep water. Water where things might be nibbling my toes still kinda freaks me out.

Where/how did your dad get involved? Via triathlons?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I believe it was Mom and Dad's friend Leah-ah who talked Dad into trying this stuff. He started swimming at the lake at the other end of Wayland, and found a group of other people to swim with.

Unfortunately, that group includes folks on the US Olympic swimmers, folks who are nationally-ranked in their age categories in long distance swimming, and, most damningly in this case, the this year's co-ordinators of the Boston Light swim.

He's been swimming a couple miles every morning with these folks, for a year or two now. And they've been hanging out some, too. Anyway, he'd gone out to the pub with them one evening, and he mentioned that, some day, when he was better at this stuff, he'd like to try the Boston Light swim.

They said, "Why not THIS year?"

And Dad was drunk at the time, so he agreed.

[rebmommy.livejournal.com]

yes, Lea-h got dad interested in learning the Total Immersion Swimming style for long-distance open-water swimming, but I will take credit for getting him interested in taking up the sport in the first place because I gave him Lynne Cox's book "Swimming to Antarctica" to read - the phrase "swimming to Antarctica" is a great metaphor for doing something really, really difficult, but in Lynne Cox's case, the phrase literally means that she swam to Antarctica in cold, cold water - this was one of many open-water swims she completed in frigid water - an amazing story - check it out

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

curiosity: are wetsuits prohibited? I got overcold in one in warmer water than that, but still.

[rebmommy.livejournal.com]

Wetsuits are prohibited for the lighthouse swim because it goes by the rules set for the English Channel swims. I have pasted the information about accepted swim costumes, caps, and other requirements set by the Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation at their website:

SWIM SUIT CLARIFICATION

No swimmer in a standard attempt to swim the Channel shall be permitted to use or wear any device or swimsuit that may aid his/her speed, buoyancy, heat retention or endurance (such as wetsuit, webbed gloves, paddles, fins, etc). The swimmer is permitted to grease the body before a swim, use goggles and one hat. Nose clips and earplugs are permitted. Any kind of tape on the body is not permitted unless approved by the observer.
The swimmer may wear only one swimsuit in one or two pieces which shall not extend past the shoulder or below the knee. All swimsuits shall be made from textile materials. Caps may not be made from neoprene or any other material which offers similar heat retention properties (as determined by the CS&PF Committee). Silicone or latex hats are permitted.

The observer will have to approve that the swimwear rules have been observed. The swimmer must be sure that their costume and cap are of an approved type before the swim starts as the swim will not be recognised if they are later found not to conform. If you have any doubt, please seek advice and/or approval from the CS&PF Committee prior to the swim giving sufficient notice for any research or investigations to be completed.

During a swim no physical contact with the swimmer shall be made by any person other than to pass food and drink or secure such items as light sticks for safety reasons.

The use of MP3 players and other electrical audio / communication devices shall not be allowed by the swimmer while swimming during any English Channel swim attempt.

[rebmommy.livejournal.com]

I am very proud of your dad's accomplishment, and I am very proud of you! He wouldn't have been able to swim as far as he did without your support and encouragement. I know this is true because he told me: "There were a few times when I was ready to give up because of the cold, but ([Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]) was so encouraging that I kept going." You knew how to support him with encouragement, you knew how to support him physically, you knew when he had enough and needed to get out of the water, and you knew how to take care of him to warm him up physically and emotionally. I am very proud of your accomplishment! ( Read my livejournal post about the lighthouse swim, dated 14 August 2010.)

[felis-sidus.livejournal.com]

Congratulations to both of you! That's a very impressive accomplishment.

I'd be glad to help with the gaining-15-pounds part. I'm an expert at that. I could even help him do it without massive insult to his cholesterol levels.

[rebmommy.livejournal.com]

yes - since he can't gain weight, and in fact lost weight while training (which made it much more difficult to stay in the 50-degree water of Boston Harbor for many, many hours), my contribution (besides helping with registration the day before the swim) was to gain the weight for him - it didn't seem to work very well, though, for either of us

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

Excellent swim though - and good on you for taking care of him during the swim!

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Still an impressive feat. Good for him!