A mass swim from Taiwan to China will take place on August 15th!

The above photo illustrates how serious the tensions are between Taiwan and China. This swim is good vehicle for both sides to talk to each other I guess.

To keep this post politically fair, I got two news sources regarding this epic 8.5-kilometer swim, the first comes from the eTaiwan News:

"... Lee said at a news conference that 50 swimmers from Taiwan will join 50 swimmers from China in the Fujian Province port city of Xiamen in southeastern China Aug. 15 to embark on the historic swim across the Taiwan Strait to Hsiao Kinmen - a small islet west of Kinmen - an 8.5-km swim that is expected to take several hours.

The swim, which is being sponsored by the Kinmen county government and the Xiamen city government, will begin from Xiamen's Yefengzhai Beach and finish on Hsiao Kinmen's Shuangkou Beach, Lee said...."

[Link]

And now from the China Post:

"... KINMEN -- Kinmen County Magistrate Lee Chu-feng said yesterday he wants to meet the defense minister to help solve problems related to a mass swim planned for August from the Taiwan-held island county to the nearby Chinese city of Xiamen.

Lee said he will invite Lt. Gen. Lu Hsiao-rung, chief of the Kinmen Command, to travel with him to Taipei to meet with Minister of National Defense Chen Chao-min and seek the minister's support in clearing up Kinmen's beaches to facilitate the swim.

Lu was not available for comment on Lee's invitation. ..."

[Link]

Open Water Clinics and Open Water advice

[Here is some open water advice and a clinic offer for open water swimming. After I did my first SCAQ Open Water Clinic, I moved up 40 places in the Alcatraz Sharkfest standings. That Anthony and I in the photo.)

SCAQ OCEAN CLINICS are all summer long. Whether you are a new or seasoned triathlete you should be spending 80% of your time in the pool and 20% in the ocean. A few things that we cover in the clinics and that are very important are: how to get in and get out of the water, how to sight, use a wet suit and get used to chop and waves. A few important race day tips: An essential "must do" for that morning is testing the bottom and checking waves and currents/ The most important thing is to get in that good warm up. Try warming up your core first with a short run, then do at least 500 yards minimum in the water.

Great time saving strategy: stay in a straight line. This is called sighting. Sight the far horizon (mountain, building, tree) not the buoy. Go out in your warm up and see where they line up. You will save tons of time and energy not having to lift your head up as high to spot a buoy. Try to not make too many directional errors.

If you are in a pack of swimmers, you can rely on them for a lot of your sighting. Less time lifting your head saves energy. Keep on eye on any pack, because they generally drift with the leader. If a pack drifts too far out stay with them, but on the inside. And if the pack drifts inside stay on the outside.

Our ocean clinics are almost every Saturday in the summer months. See SWIM.net/SCAQ for details or call us at 310.390.5700 to sign up.