Swimming with Swim Smooth founder Paul Newsome

Adam, Goody, Josh, and Paul getting ready to start the swim.

Have you ever heard of Swim Smooth?  It's a great site and Paul Newsome is the creator and designer of the program.  He has worked out this program for helping swimmers better their efficiency in the water

I was most impressed when I heard that Paul won MIMS this last month.  It's one thing to be a coach, but its another to be a bad ass swimmer on top of it.  There are those who talk the talk, and there are those who walk the walk.  It's the walkers and not the talkers that I respect the most, and Paul is definitely a "walker" instead of just a "talker".

Josh told me Paul was planning on coming to Utah this last week, but his arrival was delayed a few days and he texted me that Paul was meeting at the GSL Marina at 3pm this afternoon, so I got off work early to meet out there.  Paul and his friend Adam were out there talking to Goody when I arrived.  It was pretty windy and it was coming from the west.   Goody gave me a neat gift:  His custom speedo that says "Catalina or bust".

After Paul and Adam applied some Lanolin, we all got in at the boat ramp.  I took a couple pics and followed them to the end of the marina.  We met up at the red buoy outside the marina and discussed the route we would take.  Paul opted for a mile swim down the deep reef channel to the third red buoy.

I swam alongside Paul to the third red buoy which was the turnaround point.  He swam within a foot away off to my right the whole time.  I'm not used to swimming side by side with someone that close especially when the chop is that rough.  It was a little unnerving, but we never collided.  It was fun cause we were stroke for stroke right there within a few inches of each other.  Come to find out, this is a technique that he encourages and apparently he was practicing it on me.  Check this out. I'm glad I didn't slow up or deviate my course.

We waited at the red buoy for Josh who was only behind us a few seconds.  Swimming from that buoy to the beach was crazy.  We were getting hit with wind and waves at our 1 o'clock.

Paul got his first taste of Utah's dead sea.

When we got back to silversands beach, Paul and I talked as we waded to the rocks.  He told me of his MIMS swim, and his group of swimmers from Perth, and briefly of his adventures over the past month traveling across the country meeting people and finding new places to swim.  What a wonderful holiday he is experiencing!

One thing he told me is that he got sick after MIMS with the pollution of the water.  He suggested that I talk to my doctor and get a prescription for antibiotics BEFORE the swim so that I have something in my body to fight those germs, before the race.  Sounds like some great advice!

He complimented me on my stroke and commented that I am in good condition for Catalina.  That meant a lot coming from someone who is an expert in the field.

He's off to San Francisco now and I suggested that he stop at Lake Tahoe on the way for a mid-day swim.  Being that this is his first time across the USA he definitely needs to stop there.  It was cool to see another outsider come in and take in the lake so openly.  With the wind it kept the brine flies away, so that was a major bonus.  There were some definite hot/cold spots out there in the water, and I got a few mouthfuls of water with that wind.  It was coming over the top of us and drops were getting lifted up off the surface of the white caps and down into our mouths.  It was awesome.  Probably the fastest swim from the marina opening along the deep reef channel.

Total: 1.25 miles in who knows how long.  Time flies when you're having fun.