this Viking helmet is so money!

Isn't that how the kids say it nowadays?

Petersburg, Alaska

I know that Nats are going on and there is a lot to talk about in swimming, but I had to post these vids from home that I just discovered. For me, this time of year was all about swimming in the summers I went to Zones. With the Alaskan team back in the day we went down a week early to adjust to the heat. It made for an awesome trip. On the summers I wasn't able to swim, early August meant we were finally starting to put the crab pots away if the Dungies were getting scarce enough. Halibut was the other fishery I worked in, and you will see several of those on the vids. A lot of the footage is also taken at Icicle Seafoods, where I used to work 8am to midnight, 7 days a week through the summer when I wasn't on the boat catching bottom dwellers.

In the first video, you can actually see a boat I worked on (for a one weekend job) and my old school Superintendent, Mr. Wright, does most of the talking. At 57 seconds in, you can even get a look at one of my old girlfriend's from high school. :) The second video has is a clip from a National Geographic video that has some good footage of the town. If you ever want to take a trip to AK, shoot me an email and I can give you some advice to make the most of it.

Please Send Entries to the Reaper

Just so you know, registration for the PEAK "Death Race" is now open. They are only taking 100 entries, so you better hurry and get your stuff turned in. Just be aware. Last year only 9 people finished. Don't miss out!

http://youmaydie.com/

The Swim Geek Showdown: What's in a name, anyway?

"Lo, there do I see my father. Lo, there do I see my mother, and my sisters, and my brothers. Lo there do I see the line of my people back to the beginning. They do call to me. They bid me take my place among them, in the halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live forever."

In case you haven't been paying attention, Chris DeSantis has thrown down the gauntlet. He has decided to enter the fray with David Rieder, “The Swim Geek,” in his prediction contest to see who can most accurately pick the Pan-Pac Team to be chosen at the upcoming US Nationals. At stake: David Rieder’s online moniker.

If I had the resources, I would make an awesome WWF-style commercial for them with my movie editing software. I want to hype up this showdown. It could be a really great blog fight, and the prize is worth fighting for.

I am all about the gimmick. I have been calling myself “The Screaming Viking!” since way back when the only swim blog site out there was Timed Finals. The name has some meaning for me. If you follow my blog you know that my home town, Petersburg, Alaska is obsessed with their Norske heritage and I do miss my home terribly. My high school and swim club mascots were Vikings when I was growing up, and I get pretty sentimental about all that. Heck, I even wanted to write the demand for a Viking funeral into my will long before I ever became a blogger.

Beyond that though is the humor factor. Hopefully you are old enough to remember the famous episode of Cheers where Sam, Norm, Carla and Woody conspired to run off the snobby new bartender by coming up with a drink that he had never heard of: the made up concoction they called The Screaming Viking. I am certain that it is a well known episode, because several commenters at floswimming have asked if I “prefer my cucumber bruised.”

That part has never been about naming my blog after a drink or a sitcom episode. It’s weirder than that. You see, I have always had this crazy fantasy that some day I will walk into a local tavern and… well, you’ll just have to see it. (Watch the video from about 18:30 to 21:45 and pay attention to the old guy when he walks in the door at around 21:05.)



I want this to happen to me someday, somewhere… hopefully when I am about 85 years old and walking into the bar at the hotel where I am receiving my ISHOF induction. (Yeah, right... I know. I said it was a fantasy.) I have remembered this gag since junior high when the show originally aired. I’m sure that somewhere in my subconscious, this scene was lying there waiting for it’s chance to influence me with my first creative endeavor. I just want to have a reason to spontaneously say that line. So if you just happen to sit next to me at a bar, please set me up for a good one liner by ordering a Screaming Viking.

There are a lot of cool blog names out there, but “The Swim Geek” is not just any name. It carries more weight than that. It implies that there can be only one. He who earns the honor, essentially becomes the King of the Swim Geeks, and that is a pretty large kingdom over which to hold dominion. Can the boy king continue to rule, or will the nerdiest of all the swim-nerds usurp the throne?

In a way, I hope that Chris wins, but only so he will add a little flash to his online persona and maybe come up with a new logo. I like the "Blue Ribbon" idea in his blog post, and maybe I could get my buddy Sly to make a cool banner like the participation ribbon picture he made for me a few months ago. It might make it easier to dress up in a Chris DeSantis costume if we ever really have a Swim-Nerd convention. But then again, I also hope that David gets to keep the nickname that was affectionately given to him at Swimming World, the same way we distributed nicknames to new members on every team I have ever been on.

Whoever wins, I hope they take the name and run with it. Good lick guys. I have a feeling it’s gonna be a fierce brawl.

Some Podcasts You Might Enjoy

My wife has become a podcast junkie. The swim-related podcasts are easy for me to get into, but right now there is really only one on itunes, and obviously I am a loyal listener; I have been on the podcast. :)

I have started a collection on my ipod of some really cool stuff from itunes. One of the best podcasts ever is APM's "The Story." Imagine how awesome it was when I stumbled across this one, Making a Splash, about Swimming Paralympian Tucker Dupree and his journey to Beijing. Tucker didn't lose his sight until high school, and it makes for a very interesting story... which is why people like me would tune in to a podcast called "The Story."

While you are there, also take the time to look up the story of the blogger who calls himself "Fat Cyclist." This guy's blog and the meaningful things he has done with it blow away all of the swim blogs put together. I am way jealous. All I ever managed to do as The Screaming Viking was start a couple of fun arguments that won't ever really change anything. Fat Cyclist raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in the fight against cancer and got to ride with Lance Armstrong and Team RadioShack on a custom bike. Heck, maybe we should start a movement on my blog, where I can someday have an eating contest with Michael Phelps in a custom-made brief. Not quite as cool, but it is probably the best I could shoot for with the support of my nine loyal readers.

Check out the podcasts, but I will warn you: to hear the full-length podcasts, you may need to download them from itunes.

Free Swim Lessons!

The school I work at is one of the rare few in Missouri that has a pool attached to the high school. In Alaska, it was very common, but in the midwest it is exceptionally rare. Our pool is busy from 5am to 9pm every day, all year, with swim teams, water aerobics, lessons, PE classes, community open swim hours... you name it, we probably offer it. If other school districts could see just how much use we get in our small town, there is no doubt they would see that if they invested in a pool, they would get their money worth. It is not just an asset to the school district; it is extremely valuable to the entire community.

When students enroll for Kindergarten in our school district, they are given the option to sign up for two weeks of free swim lessons. Since the lessons are in July, this is one of their first school experiences, and often I have high schoolers in class who tell me they still remember coming in to learn how to swim way back before they even started school. It always feels good to know that the experience left a lasting impression. We run about two hundred swimmers through our five stations, and many of them are able to swim in the deep end and jump off the diving board in ten lessons or less. The rest will leave the program at least a little more "water safe" because we emphasize the daily safety lessons just as much as we do the swimming skills. The parents take home coloring sheets every day to help teach and re-teach common sense water safety to their children.

I added the little part on the end, just in case you want to use this video to help convince your community to get started on a bond issue to build a swim facility. If they have any questions about all the ways a school system can maximize their water time, feel free to have them contact me. Enjoy.

Having Fun On Deck

Every coach needs to have a video camera on them all the time. There is just too much good stuff you can get every day to put on your team website. Summer league swim fans, enjoy!