Throw Me In The Ocean
Motivation
The MIMS 2013 Debacle and a Second Chance #MIMSQuiet
If you read my post from the evening of June 7th, you know I was gearing up to swim the 28.5 miles around Manhattan the next morning. But if that’s the last you heard (I never claimed to be good at posting regularly!) you may not know that I did not make it all the … Continue reading
Crossing Lake Washington 20 Years Later
I know Seattle well. I was born there, for starters. My childhood home in the Mt. Baker neighborhood was the only home I knew until I moved away for college. I grew up with a best friend down the street with whom I did and shared everything, even parents. It was a different time, the … Continue reading
Not Until I Circle Manhattan: Why the English Channel Can Wait
I met a bunch of English Channel alumni and aspirants in April 2011 in Malta, where I completed my first 6-hour swim. There I was, the lone American among mostly Brits, learning to tackle the cold and persevere through the mental games and physical pain of swimming farther than it seems like one should. The … Continue reading
Wanna be like Josh
As soon as I was old enough to pick out my own clothes, I only wore his hand-me-downs. When mom took us to get haircuts, I made him go first so that I could say, “I want mine just like his.” He ran from me throughout our house as I raced after him with arms … Continue reading
You Inspire Me Daily, Hannah Rosen
I tell her occasionally, but I’m not sure if she ever really believes me: my 14-year-old niece Hannah is my daily inspiration. Before there was a coach Nick, or a support swimmer Peter (see this post), there was a Hannah. In order to understand how I call upon Hannah for strength, let me first introduce … Continue reading
Darkness and Light: a 6-hour swim attempt (Malta post 3 of 3)
This is a post about attempting a six-hour swim in 15°C Mediterranean waters. Much of the post takes place inside my head. The first two paragraphs are repeated from the end of the last post, Systematic Breakdown of Body, Mind, and Limits (Malta post 2 of 3) DAY THREE Tuesday was the only day for … Continue reading
Systematic breakdown of body, mind, and limits (Malta post 2 of 3)
From Sunday to Tuesday, deep and dark inner recesses of my mind were discovered and battled with, my body (shoulders, elbows, knees, skin and mouth) was wrecked, and my limits were very seriously tested… About the Malta posts My trip to Malta with SwimTrek was an experience unlike any other. It is covered in three … Continue reading
My Father’s Ocean
My dad, Michael Rosen, was born and raised on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, with little exposure to nature. He escaped New York—his story went—on a plane to Seattle only moments after sitting for his final Fordham Law exam. The story’s punch line: he witnessed from above, just after take-off, the “grass” in Yankee Stadium receiving … Continue reading
About Me
I learned to swim as a wee one from my dad, who didn't really swim himself, but was tall enough and encouraging enough to send me back and forth to the side of a pool. There were also the terrifyingly wonderful trips on his shoulders out into crashing ocean surf, which instilled in me a fear and respect for the rising and falling, tempestuous beast, on whom he repeatedly admonished us kids to never, ever turn our backs. Read more...
Throw Me In The Ocean 