Granite Wo-Mon 2017

:: granitemon

By: John Clements

Whoops! The day is now past. The annual Granite Wo-Mon swim took place on August 6th.

Tricia Sawyer got the ball rolling this year, as she has in the past two or three, by asking when the swim was going to be. Favorable tides suggested either mid-July or early August, if I recall correctly, and we settled on the 6th.

We met on the dock at 6:30, and headed out to Long Island. I think we began the swim at around 7:15.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and the water was drop-dead gorgeous. That is, it’s so warm that it’s killing lots of marine life. Nice for swimmers, maybe not so nice for everyone else. I swam without a wet suit for the second year running, and I have to say; it wasn’t even cold. Even jumping into the ocean at 7:15 in the morning. Not cold. I’m guessing it was above 20 celsius. Very warm.

Also, there was a good breeze at 7 AM, and it picked up steadily. The chop grew accordingly, and it took me a full 2 hours to finish, compared to 1:38 and 1:15 (!) in 2016 and 2015 respectively. Even discounting the ongoing decrepitude of advancing age (and a near-total lack of preparation), I’d say it was VERY CHOPPY.

  • John Clements
  • Mary Clews
  • Chris Guinness
  • Amanda Herman
  • Lane Murnik
  • Tricia Sawyer
  • Pat Starkey

Kudos to first-time swimmer Lane Murnik! Hope to see you many more times. Hopefully it’ll be a bit smoother next year.

Amazing Awesome Chase boats and welcoming committee:

  • Sara Ardrey
  • Guy Ardrey
  • Henry Becton
  • Jeannie Becton
  • Alice Clements
  • Anika Clements
  • Xavier Clements
  • Henry Clews
  • Hal Clews
  • Martha Faye (sp?)
  • Sean Guinness
  • Brennan Starkey
  • Eliza Wilmerding
  • Oliver (Wilmerding-Herman?)
  • His sister?
  • Mike Murnik