Author Archives: Lori King

My Greatest Swimming Achievement Thus Far

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One of my favorite poems is by Ralph Waldo Emerson on Success.  He wrote:  To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.  This is to have succeeded.

What I love about this poem and the message is that greatness and success can come from the everyday situations in life.  To live as a good person and treat others, even those who do not always seem to deserve it, with respect is being successful.  You do not need money, you do not need fame, you just need to take your life and be the best at it with where you are on this earth.

My greatest swimming accomplishment, to date, came to me a few months ago.  I was sitting in my kitchen and received a text from my best friend across the street.  She had to share something with me and asked that I come over.  I obliged and when I walked in the door, she told me that Molly, her second grader, was asked to write an essay in school and the topic was: Who is a real life hero to you and why?  Naturally, I assumed it was about my friend or her husband, or one of Molly’s grandparents and started to read.  This is what Molly Wrote (I have attached the original as well).

Lori Is King

I am doing my paragraph on Lori King, my neighbor.  The reason why I am doing it on my neighbor is because she is a great swimmer and a great person.  She swam the Catalina Channel which is 23 miles and about 66 degrees.  Yesterday she did the Polar Bear Plunge.  She also trains really hard.  But most importantly, she is very helpful to our family and hers.  She is my mom’s best friend.  They are both from PA, and they call each other BF.  We call her Lor Lor.  Lori King has taught me to believe in myself!

Molly Irene McFeely, this sweet, beautiful, quiet child picked me!  She never openly asks about my swims.  I come home from them, she sits and listens and then runs and plays.  To be chosen for her essay blew me away, gave me a feeling of joy that made my eyes fill with tears, butterflies in my stomach.  Ralph Waldo Emerson was right…to win the affection of small children is certainly to have succeeded.  There is no better feeling.  Attached is Molly’s Essay and a picture of her on her communion day with my little munchins.

 

Molly's Communion

Molly Essay

Killing me or Making me Stronger?

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I have to admit, this year especially, I feel tired with my training.  It may be that I am another year older and the workouts are not any easier and my dry land has increased.  It may be that the kids are older and I am stretched in more directions; or maybe it is a synergistic effect.  Whatever the case, things are still moving in a forward progression, spring is coming and so are my big swims.  As I left the pool yesterday I sat in my car for a few minutes and thought about the months to come.

First, my 6 hour training swim in Bermuda with Coach and 5 other swimmer friends in tow.  This will be fun, it will be amazing, and the support and camaraderie will be a beautiful reminder of what the 8 Bridges Hudson River Swim will offer.  Then the experience of swimming down the Hudson over 7 days – the anticipation, nerves, fear etc. etc., that I have, are intense.  Lastly, to finish off the summer swims, there will be Manhattan.  I am not even sure what to expect with this swim but again, the intense feelings are all there.

I think with any swim that I do, no matter what the distance, the fear of not finishing is the most intense.  I know there will be pain and there will be long long hours, but the unknown elements in open water swimming makes dealing with these feelings especially difficult.  Will the water be too cold and I’ll have to get pulled? will my feedings be wrong or my body not react to them the way I practiced and I’ll have to get pulled?  Will there be unknowns in the water or other boat or ferry obstacles that will squash the swim?  Will the conditions change that will make officials call the swim?  These are all things I worry about but they seem to melt away once I start swimming.  The moment I start swimming further and further away from the start, the more comfortable, finally, I feel and am able to focus on nothing else but my stroke and the moment.  A big part of this comfort comes from the training.  The hours and hours and hours of training that are put in at the pool.

Yesterday, my coach gave me my IM workout.  9,500 yards, of which 6,000 of it was IM sets.  The yardage was not the problem.  I am doing 9,500 daily right now and will move up to 10,000 next week- I’m used to the yardage.  The IMs weren’t even the problem, as Wednesdays are usually my designated IM days.   It was the start of a few of the IM sets that scared me.  I will spare you the breakdown of that workout but when I first looked at it my reactions were as follows: “Is she serious?” followed by “oh god, I wish I didn’t look at this right now,” and then “how am I going to get through this?”  I was thinking that this was a test, to see if I could do this whole workout without breaking stroke.  Bonnie (my coach) knows I hate fly, and backstroke is a close seconds.  I’ll do them because I think incorporating all the strokes into my training is important for open water, but I don’t like them.  These anxious feelings I had did not subside through my 2,000 mix warm up.  When the first two set came, I was relieved, actually relieved I made it through with little pain but the third set is what was on my mind.  And as I was on my 4th lap of a 225 fly I thought to myself, actually thought, “she IS trying to kill me.”  Lap 6 came in a strained stretch, lap 7 I felt a second wind, sails lost their wind on lap 8 and lap 9 well (I didn’t break stroke), but I’m sure nothing look pretty to those on deck.  When I hit the wall I though, “I made it, I did it (even though I still have the hardest of the back stroke to get through followed by 3 more long ladder sprint IMs).” The fly was not picture perfect at the end and, it didn’t feel particularly nice either, but I didn’t break stroke and was able to get off the wall for backstroke without adding any time.

When I crawled out of the pool, exhausted, and achy, with my mind telling me I made it over the hump day, I again pondered whether Bonnie was actually trying to kill me.  Slowly, so no one would ever suspect her…but then I though No!  of course she’s not trying to kill me.  Today, she just made me a little stronger.

Staying on Track with numbers

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I have been asked, on more than one occasion, “how do you keep track of all the laps you swim.”  For those that do not swim, they do not realize that we do sets.  When that is the case, it is easy.  But what about when the sets are something like: 5 x 2,000?  Well…I count.  I break down those two thousands in my head as I swim.  I might count the first 40 laps for the first 1,000 then for the next one, I count 10 x 100s.  If I am doing a straight swim…say 8,000, I make it a game.  I may break it up and for the first 1,000 I count 40, the second 1,000 I may count 2 x 500s the third, 4 x 250s etc.

It is interesting to me how the same yardage can feel so different when broken up different ways in my head.  The 1,000 straight may feel like an eternity whereas 4 x 250s feels like half the distance.  I usually cannot think or daydream when I swim.  This is another misconception by non-swimmers.  I have tried to let my mind wander during my long pool swims.  The only thing those wanderings ever got me were just made, but still too short flip turns, and a smack into the wall (literally I really did swim into the wall one time).  So counting is better for me.  And what if I miscount or forget what number I am on?  Well…I always add laps, I never assume that I already did them.  This can be problematic in a 50 meter pool but most times I am able to rectify the situation by a quick glance at the minute clock.

Long open water swims are different.  My mind can wander when I am not concentrating on shifting pace.  If I know I have 1/2 hour of the same speed, then I can push play on that mix tape I made in my mind.  I may think about something that happened or I may think about nothing.  Sometimes I just watch my arms moving through the water and listen to the muffled sounds.  Sometimes it feels like a dream.  One thing I can never think about or imagine, is the end.  For me, in every swim that I have done, even when I see the shore, I cannot imagine the end until I am experiencing it.

Person of Interest: Christopher McManus

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I have something to share…a story…a beautiful story. A story that may make the faint at heart tear up (as I did), or pull at our patriotic heart-strings.

People have told me that my swimming stories inspire them. That makes me happy. I feel so incredible lucky and appreciative that I am able to do what I do. With that said, I want my swimming to have meaning not just for me, but for others as well.  I want to be able to use it to help spread some good. There are so many beautiful causes and if I had an endless amount of money I think I would spend all of it trying to move the needle of despair in so many areas: More Than me Foundation, Bethany House, Coloki & one near and dear to my heart – Monsignor Richard Albert’s St. Patrick Foundation in Kingston Jamaica. So many causes…so how did I choose Semper Fi Fund to focus on through my swimming for 8 Bridges Hudson River Swim?

There are several reasons. My favorite holiday has always been Fourth of July. When I was younger, oh how I wished I was born on the fourth of July. Who wouldn’t love fireworks every year on her birthday? My grandfathers were in WWII. My uncles were all navy service men. I grew up looking at their naval tattoos on their forearms. Men who you would never guess would have a tattoo until they hiked up their sleeves and you happened to catch a glimpse. They never talked about their naval tattoos. They just wore them with pride.

Somehow, my son was bitten with the patriotic bug. He loves everything Americana. American flags, books about our founding fathers, revolutionary war stories, civil war stories, how our country was formed, why it was formed, how our flag was made and changed through the years and on and on and on. He has had 3 army parties in his 8 years of life (guess which of the 3 he chose once he was able to voice an opinion). He recently asked me to redo his room to make it more “big boy.”  The theme–Revolutionary War of course.  I fear, he will be a service man one day. The sweetest, most sensitive, fun-loving, bug-saving little boy you will ever meet may be a soldier. He has it in him, no matter how I try to steer him toward other books of interest and no matter how many activities I have him in-his mind always brings him back to Army stuff.  Don’t even get me started on the little plastic soldiers we have hidden and scattered all around the house.

I have reflected long and hard about why I would not want my son serving this country. The utter devastation of war, the things he would be exposed to that we, as parents, do everything we can to shelter him from now, the stigma sometimes attached with being a soldier. Then I say screw it.

My feeling is this, no matter what your political belief, no matter what your stance on war-agree with it, disagree with it-, having a military is a necessity, we will always need one, and always have one.  As Americans, there is a responsibility to support the men and women who sacrifice their own safety to ensure ours. Whether you agree with the war going on or the happening, there are people who are protecting us.  Each soldier has a story as to why they signed up. Some, to have tuition paid at school, others because they are following a long legacy, and still others, just have a natural pull toward wanting to serve our country. My son may fall into that third category. Chris McManus falls into this third category. I recently had coffee with his beautiful wife and we chatted about his time in the service. His tours in Iraq and the not only physical but also psychological effect war has on these soldiers.

So what did Chris do during those dark times in Iraq to stay sane and keep his men sane?  How did he cope with losing 17 men and having more than 200 injured because they were planted in a very remote and deadly corner of the war?  How did he get his mind off of the fact that all the comforts he grew up with were not even remotely in view including things like a hot shower or cot to sleep on?  Well, he decided he and his men should have a goal, so while stationed in Al Qaim, they built a loop around the perimeter of their camp and started training for the New York City Marathon.

I have attached his story.  You should read it but make sure you have tissues.  Chris is an example of American Pride at its best.  He walked into a marine recruiting office in 2000, after college, because he wanted to serve his country, not knowing that September 11th was right around the corner.  His strength and determination not only got him home but also helped lead others whose resolve may have been shaky on those dark, hot, terrifying nights in a foreign country.

Chris has since planted himself in the community, married, a beautiful strong, women and together have created 3 beautiful children.  Chris, always the leader, coaches his sons’ sports to help guide them and their friends in a positive direction.  With his story in my heart and countless others that I have heard about, it is hard not to want to help raise money for Semper Fi Fund.

To help wounded service men and women and their families who have been affected by combat, on my website, www.LoriKingSwimming.com you can click on a link to Semper Fi and donate.  100% of everything you donate will go directly to the Fund.  I am using my swimming as a platform to raise money for them.  I will also be holding a fund raising event sometime towards the end of April so stay tuned.  Remember, our soldiers are not the reason for the wars we have and they are not the cause.  Our soldiers are fighting on our behalf because somebody has to and they were the ones who said “I will, I’ll do it.”  They have done and are doing the hardest part so now it is our turn to volunteer for them.

To read Christopher McManus’s full story, please go to:

http://m.nydailynews.com/archives/sports/marathon-man-iraq-war-vet-hits-ground-running-big-apple-article-1.623536

Soviet Union Swimming History Lesson #1

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One of the many things I love about swimming is the relationships formed through common passion for the sport.   I have met people from all over the world, many of which, I am happy to now call friends…all through swimming.  All because we have one very sacred thing in common.  I feel incredibly lucky.

Since September, I have had the pleasure of meeting  an ex-Russion national swimmer.  He started back to swimming less then a year ago after taking 20 years off.  You would never know it from watching him swim.  We swim next to eachother most days – – he working on sprinting and getting in shape for pool meets, I focusing on distance and open water swims. We speak a good deal about technique, workout strategies, the “why” of this set or that.

Yesterday, we got to talking about our early years swimming…he growing up in the USSR, me in the USA.  We talked about work ethic and training in the USSR and the mentality of the time.  As we discussed the equipment we use today, and how we used them in the past, he told me something that I had never heard or would have known had I not been speaking to someone who lived in the Soviet Union.

He told me how, in every school, they had workshops and took classes on how to build…how to make things.  Everyone did it…this was so if they had to build stuff or war broke out, everyone would be able to “pitch in.”  Ok, this made sense to me..I could see that.  However, he then went on to tell me that in his swim school – Side note – he was chosen to go to this school for exceptional swimmers (my word “exceptional” not his) – only two kids got picked a year and then you would go there to swim and, of course, learn.

Their pool was in a basement. An olympic size he told me.  Next to the pool was a room.  It was the swimmers’ workshop (his words not mine).  This is where they made their equipment!  Yes.  They made their own pull buoys, they made their own paddles.  if you wanted equipment you had to make it yourself.  Everyone did this.  He said it was not uncommon for there to be workshops like this in pretty much every discipline.  This is how they lived, this is what they knew.  You worked for everything.

So, as I push off the wall now and, at times, get annoyed when my pull buoy starts to shimmy down my inner thighs during a set (yes it still happens occassionally), I think about the prospect of having to make my own pull buoy and paddles and then pushing the pull buoy up does not seem like such an annoyance.

I love this sport.  I love that it not only feeds my body but it also feeds my mind and reveals secret doors I am always suprised to see pop open.

Hello 2015!

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I took most of December off from swimming to regroup, eat, drink, eat, celebrate the holidays…did I mention eat?

Well, yesterday was my first official day back in the pool and the start of my training for 2015.  You can imagine my surprise when I arrived to find the pool was set for Long Course Meters rather then short course yards!  I did what any swimmer would have done…I relied on a friend (Amy Taylor thank you very much) to rearrange my sets to fit into Long Course and push me along.

I always think a break is such a good idea…no, a great idea…until I get to the first 100 after the hiatus and feel like I hit a brick wall.  I know every stroke will get a bit easier, and in no time, I will feel like I am back in the groove…but boy is it hard.  My goals for this 2015 training are: lose the weight I found in 2014 while training for Catalina, eat better, add more sculling into my workouts, lift free weights more and dare I say it…run a bit as part of my dryland.  I am excited and nervous for the 8 bridges Hudson swim and Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, but I look forward to the journey. I’m up for the challenge these two swims will bring, and I cannot wait to see what crazy special characters I will be adding to this chapter.

Catalina Channel Crossing #295 Lori King

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If you know me, you know that my reasons for my swims are not completed for bragging rights or titles.  There is a well thought out reason behind each one.  The swims have to call me.  They have to mean something.  I was applying for the 8 Bridges swim last night and the application asked for links to swims that one has accomplished.  I knew that the Catalina Channel Federation would soon be updating their list of completed swims for this year but was not sure.  I went on the website.  Under successful crossings, there I was #295 Lori King.  The feeling is so good that I had to share it.  I hope this does not seems like I am bragging.  That is not what this is about.  I am sharing because I have looked at that list over the past several year; Looked at it in different ways: To see who crossed; to see which way they crossed; how many crossed mainland to Catalina and vise versa.  I looked at the list to see how many Americans were on it; how many men, how many women.  I looked at the list in a way that a person looking in would.  Seeing my name on the list changed things for me.  When I saw my name, I immediately thought of the day, the pain, the hard work, the faces of the people who got me across.  I thought of the feeling I had when I reached the rocks and crawled up finally ending the journey.  I thought about my now, West Coast, swim family – the beautiful relationships I have made.  Can you imagine…all this from one swim?  I make a lot of sacrifices to do what I love and my family makes a lot of sacrifices so my heart has to be in it.  I have to not only go through the motions because I can do it but I have to put my heart into it each time.  The feeling at the end is so much better.  To be able to embark on such amazing journeys that very few can, gives me an appreciation that cannot be explained by words.  It is a feeling…a really good, warm, rainbows, unicorns and mermaids kind of feeling.  Thank you to everyone who made the 295th crossing successful.  Catalina was a beautiful beast.  http://swimcatalina.com/index.php/successful-swims/successes

Semper Fi

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As this year comes to an end, Bonnie and I have been discussing swims for next year (see us hard at work).  While the prospect terrifies me, she would like me to do more 10k swims but the two big ones will be the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim (MIMS) (if my application gets accepted) and the 8 Bridges Hudson Swim. I am excited for these swims for a number of reasons, the three big reasons are: 1) they are in my home territory so my children and family will be able to actually celebrate with me, 2) I look forward to the beautiful experience and comradery that is shared while moving down the Hudson during the 8 bridges swim, and 3) There is a sense of pride that goes along with being able to represent for swims so close to home.  Along with these two major swim, Bonnie and I are in discussions for an even bigger swim in 2016.  Details will be revealed once major logistics are worked out and we can confidently announce a date.

But for now…back to 2015.  Since MIMS and 8 Bridges are two big swims, I have decided that I will fundraise for Semper Fi.  I am, as always, looking for corporate sponsors.  I am excited about fundraising for Semper Fi because I believe in the cause.  While I get to swim every day and do what I love, there are men and women making sacrifices to ensure that I (and the rest of the country) can breathe easy and go about our normal routines.  We get to go out to dinner, go to the movies, play sports, watch our kids grow and play happily under the blanket of freedom our country has so lovingly weaved and continues to weave through the years.  What better way to say “thank you” then to try and give back a little to not only the men and women who serve but to their families who are also making incredible sacrifices.

I am excited to get started on this journey for 2015.  Please visit http://semperfifund.org/ to learn more about this wonderful organization.

Thata Girl Chloe McCardel

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I’m just going to cut right to the chase on this one.  What inspires other Marathon swimmers to do the next big swim, tackle the next big event?  I will tell you…it is no secret:  when one of our own not only completes a swim but does something so amazing that she leaves you walking around in wonder all day as if you did the swim yourself, it not only inspires, it ignites.

Chloe McCardel made us proud yesterday.  If you are not a marathon swimmer, or even a swimmer, THIS is one of the women you want to follow and read about to really understand what is involved with the sport.

She did the swim right, she made the journey unassisted – pushing through every painful stroke at the end.  Jellyfish stings and salt that disfigured her face, 80 miles…She did it.  David Barra, one of our own was on the boat as he was asked to observe her swim…I think I can speak for the New York crew when I say that this event, her accomplishment, is a proud moment for us all.  I am in awe, I am inspired, I feel like a proud mom and this fuels my fire to push myself to the limits on my next swim.  WAY TO GO CHLOE!!!!!!!!!!!

Why Swim So Far?

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For the last 4 years I have had the pleasure of going to the Bermuda Round the Sound (RTS) Swim.  This event has 5 different swims to choose from: 10K, 7.25K, 4K, 2K and .8K.

There are a few reasons I have continued to go back.  Selfishly, this event falls in October and always marks the end of my season.  I sign up for the 10K and it is a nice end to a usually loooong, hard year.  The next reason is the fact that I get to spend some quality time with a very special group of people, my East End crew.  Lastly, Bermuda is a beautiful place to visit and swim and the swimmers who sign up for the RTS are also usually repeat offenders so I get to see old acquaintances, some of which I am now happy to call friends.

While this year’s RTS swim was  squashed by Tropical Storm Fay, I made the best of it by finding a cozy chair and reading Moby Dick for a while, then going out in the wild waves after the rain passed and playing, and lastly sitting down that night and having (eh-hem) a few drinks with some really great swimmers.

While talking about swims we’ve done, distances we’ve covered, I made the comment that I never really enjoy the scenery during my swims.  Some swimmers, like my friend October, can sight-see while swimming – look at the sea life, the beauty along the shore line etc.  Not me.  To me, everything goes by in a blur and my focus is usually stroke by stroke.  As I was explaining this, my friend Marcie looked up at me and asked, “so why do you swim so far again?”

Well, everyone around, including me laughed and I don’t think I gave an answer but I do have one.

Those that know me very well know that I am a very private person.  I like to joke around and try to be outgoing when in social settings but normally I like to sit quietly, assess my surroundings and watch the show unfold.  I have done this for many swims, in many moments – My time before Key West, Tampa, Catalina, Bermuda, Aruba.  I want to make sure I enjoy the time I have at these places and that I can understand and remember why I was at that place, in that moment.

Every swimmer is different.  Every reason for doing a race, a swim and event means something different.  For some, it is checking another swim off the list, or getting a title and moving on to the next challenge.  For others, it is achieving something they thought they never would or could.  For me, it is a bit different.  You want to know why I swim far, swim long, swim at all.  Here it is:

After College I took some time off.  I was done with swimming but every time I was near a pool, the water, I ached.  I never went in.  My husband started to doubt if I ever actually swam in college at all.  he saw the pictures but my aversion to the water was so strong he couldn’t understand it.  We would go away on holiday and I wouldn’t go in the pool.  We would dip in the ocean but I never lingered.  Why?  I couldn’t explain it but I had let that part of my life go and to just play in the water or be in the water was sad for me.  It brought up memories of beautiful, wonderful, intense times and I put those times behind me.  To frolic felt wrong.

Then one day, there I was, living in NYC – a place that if you asked me where I would be living to start my life, NYC would have been the last answer – I was walking by a pool facility.  I watched a man walk in with his barrel bag over his shoulder and followed behind him.  I couldn’t stop my self.  I had no idea what I was doing but I walked up to the counter and joined that day.  It was a Friday.

That Monday,  I woke up at 5 AM, had my swim bag ready and went to the pool for my first swim in more than 8 years.  That first lap that I took made me cry.  Lump in my throat, ache in my heart, tears in my eyes I continued to swim until I finished that workout.  After that day, I realized that to deprive myself from swimming again would be like killing a part of me that makes me who I am.  Like letting something go because you can’t control it, letting swimming go for that time in my life made me realize just how big a role it played in making me, me.

After that, and after every swim that I do, I realized that even though the training is hard, the pain can be intense and the finish feels so long, what is worse then all of those things put together is the prospect of never having the feeling I get after accomplishing a swim.  the feeling I get from the finish.  The love and appreciation I am reminded of every time I stick my toe in the water, and like a siren, the ocean sucks me into her embrace.

I can honestly say that every day before I jump into the pool whether it is for 10,000 or 4,000 I can’t help but feel thankful.  If you see me walking slowly into the ocean, know that I am reflecting, always reflecting before I go in.  Looking longingly out at her, sighing relief at the fact that I get to swim.  The water is home to me.  I have spent just as much of my life in the water as I have out of the water.  When I was out of the water, I felt uncomfortable but didn’t know why…it’s because I was keeping myself from going home.  But never again.