Swim Session Roundup: Facts, Factoids, and Truthiness

With the swim session officially over (but open to mileage entry until Jan 2) now would be a good time to look back and reflect on all that we have learned since December 1, 2008. It seems like barely a month ago, doesn't it?

Here are a few facts and figures from the opening session, as well as a few factoids containing various degrees of truthiness.

1. Total Mileage for December: roughly 187,000 miles. That is more or less equal to 24 times around the earth at the equator.


2. Total Swim Mileage for December: as of Jan 1, over 10,500 swim miles have been entered. That's around 17,000 kilometers, or 340,000 lengths of an Olympic-sized (50 meter) pool.


3. Highest individual swim mileage: 105.46 miles by Jenny Birmelin of the Ford Athletic Swim & Triathlon Club. That's about the distance from New York City to Philadelphia.


4. Highest club swim mileage: 894 miles and counting, by the Alaska Tri Club Red Biting Bunnies. That's further than the distance from Anchorage to Juneau, as the crow flies.


5. Highest Swim Mileage for a non-club Athlete: 55.9 miles by Erica Chabalko in Baghdad, Iraq. Impressive! Given the heat in that part of the world it looks like Erica spent as much time as possible in the pool, so Erica we are glad to give you the excuse motivation to keep swimming.

The miles should really pile up in January, as this is the Bike session. The warm-climate clubs can now get their revenge on their northern competition, as athletes in the snowier states are at the mercy of the weather and road conditions. Sure we can ride our trainers, but it's a lot easier to do a century on the open road than in your basement or at the gym.

For the rest of us (your host lives in the north) let's put the studs on our bike tires and get out the thermal underwear, it's going to be a busy month.