It's never good when you start a post with a tear in your eye and a heavy
heart. Looking back through the pictures from TCSD's 2007 aquathlon series and searching through the memories, keeps bringing me back to the loss of Jim. For me personally the strongest memory I have is the day Jim spoke to me about starting these races and asking if I would buy the pizzas as part of my sponsorship. It wasn't the money for the pizza, it was his reply to, "how much are we going to charge for the races"? After knowing Jim for a couple years, I should have known the answer, nothing. "But what if they're not members of TCSD"!? Not a word was spoke. Just the wry smile and a chuckle that suggested I should know better. I miss you and will always 
be blessed to have had you as a friend.
May's race was greeted with cool temperatures, a coastal eddy and alight chop. Jim had 85 people, I was at 75 and I believe Dave was close to me with 70. We were all not even close with about 115 participants suitin' up for the swim. We`saw some fresh faces at this race and a podium that turned out to be one of the few that was led by Caue Suplicity, pictured above and collegiate stand out Amanda Felder, who are both exceptional athletes.
We rolled into June and the normal 'June Gloom' was non existent. The gods were shining early on our race. Unknown to anyone, there were dark clouds forming.
The race had perfect conditions with sunshine, light surf and the water temperatures breaking in to the mid 60's. Caue Suplicity started his reign of dominance at the events and is pictured above with Jim in what would be Jim's last Aquathlon.
Two weeks after the June race, my phone rang early in the morning. It was a message from Bill Gibbs and I knew it couldn't be good, but would have never guessed what he had to say. I immediately returned the call to be told of Jim's passing the night before. As we did all things necessary and that were asked of us, we finally turned our attention to the club and the races.
Initially the July Aquathlon was going to be canceled. We, myself, Bill who was now acting TCSD President, Dave Huff and many others were just drained. But as time went on and with some encouragement from funky dude and Competitor Magazine editor Bob Babbitt, we knew the right thing to do was hold the event. Bob Babbitt came up with the McMannman concept and it took off from there. Shirts were made, food 
was ordered and it was time to celebrate!! Really, in order to honor Jim there just had to camaraderie and food. We had an abundance of both with close to 400 people and a boat load of Italian food and NY cheesecake. Jim's favorite.
Cresting the hump we headed in to August with Dave and myself running the events. Our mantra was and remains, don't scew this up :-).
To be quite honest with you all, I don't recall much of the August race. I think I was still spinning with the new responsibilities I was assuming with the club. Additionally, Bill's mom was very ill, it was just a moment of time that passed
and didn't really leave a mark. Which is actually quite good considering. I do know that the August aquathlon produced the one picture that encapsulates the whole Aquathlon TCSD scene for me. It is this picture of super cool and amazingly warm and gracious Ironman champ Kate Major. Here she is going toe to toe with a male member and he's about to be chick'd at the finish by one of the greats and she is just loving it. She gets it, big smile tongue hanging out, and this is what it's all about, friendly spirited competition.
September's aquathlon was scheduled by the national weather service to be a washout. Fortunately they maintained their streak of well, being not so accurate.
We had about 110 athletes show up for the start and the men's field was stacked with pros Emilio DeSoto and Jim Vance. The top women featured Amanda Felder as well as club members Laura Kephardt and Robin Grandl. The biggest difference for this race over the others was that the sun was going down much sooner and it was getting cooler. We finally broke out the stove and start serving clam chowder to help everyone warm back up.
This brings us to the end. 
October's race was defined to me by all the dogs, I think I counted 9 total, and the athletes scrambling to get to the start because we had to start on time with the time change looming.
The water temp was a perfect 64-66 and visibility was a solid 35 feet. With about 115 athletes hitting the starting line we had the best year ever for participation. As usual Dave Huff was in the thick of it not only as the race director, but 
here he is getting ready to paddle to make sure everyone is safe on the course.
We also had Osamu of OPIX out in full force taking pictures of the athletes, so make sure you go to the photo gallery to see yourself in action. Also Daniel Derkas, who takes care of the beverages was there shooting.
Before the start of the event we took a moment to recognize two of the many great volunteers that make these events possible. They were Elizabeth Daubner who hand makes all of the desserts for the events, including awesome pumpkin pies for the October race, and Denise Pitre who is the food guru. 
I would like to thank everyone who has helped make these races possible. I know without a doubt it is the collective energy by everyone, the volunteers and the athletes, that make these events special. I wish I could name everyone, but the few names that I can come up with right now are Dave Huff and Cory Osth who are the race directors. Bryan Chadwell, yes the 
man pictured is in charge of saving your life if you swim in the ocean off San Diego, feel better?, who has helped with the swim and the city, Lynn Trimble who takes care of the timing along with John Hill, Zarah Lawson who has served along side Denise and sooooo many others. Again I apologize for not being able to name each of the great volunteers who have helped set up, break down, take care of the timing and more!! We hope to see everyone back next year along with new faces. If you have enjoyed these events or would like to become more involved with a great group of people go to the TCSD website and join. We have some great things coming in 2008!!
The end!!........
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