Tuesday, July 22nd, 2025

 My 2025 Birthday Swim - 

Done after 3:17:42 in the water. 

Is that just goggle face or am I actually a bit tired?

Swimming conditions couldn't have been better. When I got in at 6:40 the air and water were 58°, it was overcast and calm with glassy water and 2 foot surf. It was the same when I got out.

My birthday is on January 27th but the swims have not been on my birthday for several years. Winter water conditions are often too cold and too likely to have high bacteria for me to get the distance in to be able to swim my age so I get it done this time of the year.   

7761 M for my 75th year.

I'll swim at 8ish on Thursday morning, at 7 on Saturday and 11 on Sunday. 

niel    

Monday, July 21st. 2025

Tom Lorish's Swim Report

Classic summer day at Avila this morning… Overcast, a small wave rolling in, calm water and good swimming.  The water temperature continues to be about 57°. 

Sunday, July 20th, 2025

Tom Lorish Takes His Crew to the Avila Rock. - 

Grey skies, a slight breeze and a small bump on the water. Four of my Water Polo girls and one of their dads joined me for the swim. The dad is preparing to do the 20 bridges Swim around Manhattan, New York in September.  Now I know where his daughter got her speed. He is an impressive swimmer.  To to give him the proper introduction to Avila swimming, we swam around the rock. It was a good swim. The water temperature was 57°. 

Saturday, July 19th, 2025

 

Niel, Tom and Jodi with the Avila Rock and Fossil Point in the background. 

I can do this almost by memory: at 7 this morning the air temp was 58°, I measured a water temp of 57°, but it swam colder, it was overcast and calm with flat, glassy water with good visibility.  The surf was 2 to 3 foot with a small swell. 

Niel, Tom Israel and Jodi, swam to the Avila Rock. Once there we looped around the rock and swam towards Fossil Point, stopped to chat with a gentleman on a paddleboard and continued to the 4th buoy. Then we swam to the end of the Avila Pier and in from there.

There were some cold spots but the water stayed flat for us so the swimming was very nice.   

I'm taking a rest day tomorrow. I'll swim at 6:30 on Tuesday, 7 on Thursday and by myself at 7 on Saturday. Paula will be in Ireland, Jodi will be in Greece and Tom will be hiking near Mineral King, so I'll have the pool all to myself.

niel 

Friday, July 18th, 2025

 Tom Lorish's Friday Swim -

Heavy overcast, glassy calm water, and the odd 3 foot wave. Toes in the water at 915 AM. My toes tell me the water temperature was 57°. If all that sounded incredibly similar to Wednesday, it's because it was. And the swimming was lovely. 

Thursday, July 17th, 2025

The swimming conditions were very nice today. There was thick overcast but no fog or wind. The air and water temperatures were 57° and 58°. The water was smooth and glassy and there is still an occasional 3+ foot wave amongst the two footers. The water has cleared up with no signs of a plankton bloom. It was excellent swimming.   

It will be Jodi, Tom and I this Saturday morning at 7. 

niel

Tom L's Swim Report - 

Heavy overcast, glassy calm water, and the odd 3 foot wave. Toes in the water at 9 AM. The water temperature was about 58°. It was an excellent morning vitamin. 

Tuesday, July 15th, 2025

A Nice Swim With Mystery Conditions - 

The swimming conditions in Avila this morning were pretty familiar except for a very short period small swell that showed up a half hour into my swim and melted away after 45 minutes. It was very noticeable and pushy, more like a boats wake than a swell.  It faded away an left smooth and glassy conditions.

Otherwise the conditions were typical for July;  the air temp was 57°, the water was 58° and it was overcast.  At first I thought the water was in the mid 50's but the cold was all in my shoulders and arms so I stopped and redid the neck of my wetsuit and warmed up nicely. The water was clean and the surf was up to 3 foot and had some push.           

While swimming east along the west buoy line 3 lifeguards on paddleboards passed me and on my way west I collided with another swimmer who was going east.  We just stopped for a moment and then continued with our swims.     

I have a busy day Thursday so I'll swim at 6:30, then at 7 on Saturday and I'm taking Sunday as a rest day. 

Paula is leaving on Thursday to do the Trans Tahoe relay with Eileen and then to Ireland to visit family, and swim. Jodi will leave soon for her nephew's (or is he a cousin) wedding in Greece, so the Saturday group will be a bit thin until they return.  

niel

 

Monday. July 14th, 2025

Tom L's Monday Swim Report -

Heavy marine, drizzly wet, and bumpy water.  Avila was wet and cold when I arrived at 915 AM.   There were aquatic micro climates in the water ranging from 54 to 56 degrees. The swim was a nice way to start the week.

 

Sunday, July 13th, 2025

When I was out on the pier taking the water temperature (57°) I saw Paula and Eileen swimming in towards the buoy line. They had been swimming back and forth between the Avila and Poly Piers and would do some final distance along the buoy line. I think they did 5 to 6K M. Paula leaves Thursday for the Trans Tahoe swim, then to Ireland where she'll visit relatives and do a swim around an island at Sandycove, Cork. She, Eileen and Nick (?), will swim a point to point 10K in the Horsetooth reservoir in Fort Collins, Colorado. Paula had a great swim at this race last year and is looking forward to a second go.  

Jamie and I swam at 11. She has been swimming but not in the ocean for about a year. The wind was up, the water was 57° and choppy, it was 60° with partial sun. I wanted to do 4,000M which would be two triangles (3,200M) with a little extra at the end. The chop was out of the SW,  about a foot plus and some work to push through. Swimming along the buoys to the west on the west side of the pier was quite rough, but the next leg to the end of the pier seemed easier. Sometimes the rhythm and direction of the chop fits my stroke better and it feels easier.             

Jamie was getting cold and went in from the end of the Avila Pier. I continued over to and around the reef, came back along the buoy line and made my distance by swimming to the end of the pier and back.  

I'll swim at 7 on Tuesday and I'll start at 6:30, maybe even earlier, on Thursday to make a 9:30 meeting. Then Saturday at 7 and Sunday at 11. 

niel

Saturday, July 12th, 2025

It was glassy water and foggy sky's this morning at Avila Beach, much like the last few mornings. When Tom and I were getting ready there was a low ceiling but we could eastly see the Poly Pier so we  decided to swim the P Pier and Reef Buoy loop. Off of the Avila Pier I had measured a water temp of 60°.  Our goal for this swim was 4,000M. We swam to the #1 crossbars on the P Pier and out to the end of the pier where we found that the fog had closed in and the only thing there was to see was a boat that was anchored near the pier. We took a bearing on the boat that would lead us to either the Avila Pier or the beach and swam a reasonably straight line to the end of the Avila Pier. From there I could see the loom of Fossil Point so we headed over there and completed our loop to the #1 buoy. At that point we were at 3,300M so we swam to the end of the pier and back to make our distance.      

Niel and Tom at the Reef Buoy with a Great Blue Heron in the background, 

walking on the kelp looking to see if it was crabs or fish for breakfast. 

I'll swim tomorrow at 11.

niel

Friday, July 11th, 2026

Tom L's Swim Report -

Heavy marine layer, a breeze blowing on shore, and bumpy water. Toes in the water at 930 a.m.  The water temperature was 58° and it was a good morning Swim. 

Thursday, July 10th, 2025

This morning I swam a counterclockwise loop around the Poly Pier and the Reef Buoy and added a half triangle on the west side of the pier at the end for 4,179M. The water was 59° with colder spots and the air temp was 57°.  At the start there was no wind and the surf was 1 to 2 foot, it was overcast with a fog bank on the water to the west, south and east.  

Fossil Point from between the Poly and Avila Piers. 

The sun was coming out at this point. 

On the east side of the Avila Pier the water was brown and full of plankton but in other areas it was clear and when the sun came out I could see my shadow in the water swimming below me.  It was nice swimming in the sunshine for a while. When I arrived back at the Avila Pier the wind had come up, the water was getting choppy, the sun was gone and the fog was being blown in towards the beach.

The Saturday group will swim at 7 and I'll swim at 11 on Sunday.

niel 

Monday July 9th, 2025

Tom L's Wednesday Morning Swim - 

The conditions were basically the same as Monday… And Tuesday… Heavy marine layer, glassy water, and a small wave rolling in. The water temperature was about 56°. The lime green water had drifted over to the east side today. A lifeguard training and junior guards were in full swing. It was an excellent morning swim. 

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025

Chasing Tom Israel - 

On the 4th Tom surprised and impressed all of us by blowing past the 5,000M goal for the 4th of July swim by doing 6,500M for his birthday swim. 

So it is now up to me to catch up with him.  I'm going to try and do 4,000M on the three easy days of the week and 5,500 to 6,000M on Tuesdays. If that works out If I can do that for a cope of weeks I'll take a shot at my 7,500M birthday swim. 

The swimming conditions were wonderful this morning. Avila Beach was grey, windless, glassy and flat with an air temperature of 56 and water at 56° - 57°. I swam in water that had a greenish tinge like Tom mentioned Sunday. I'm guessing that we are seeing the onset of the summer plankton blooms and the end of our nice clean water.  

I'll swim at about 8 on Thursday and at 7 on Saturday.

niel