Day 3 finds swimmers continuing to rock the natatorium. The women's 400 free, the 100 breast, 100 fly, 200 IM, 50 free and 200 back were all contested today, along with medley relays. We spoke with Carolyn Boak who broke world records in the 50 free and 200 IM. We also saw longstanding friendly rivalries resurface between 1952 Olympians Yoshi Oyakawa and Bumpy Jones, as well as former national champion college swimmers David Guthrie and Jon Blank. Competing alongside all these great swimmers are folks like Suzanne Cuda, who never swam competitively until she had raised her family and retired from the Army. These great stories and more will make you wish you were here in San Juan.

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Day 2 brings the 400 IM and some relays into the mix, along with the 200 Free, 200 Breast, 50 Fly and 100 Back. On deck we caught up with Rich Abrahams, Hubie Kerns, Jack Groselle, Susan Ingraham, Jane Katz, Nadine Day and others. 

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We spoke with some of the distance swimmers who contested the men's and women's 800 and 1500 meter freestyle events today, along with some of the USMS staff and a few coaches who are here with their teams.

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Beaches! Salsa! Swimming! Meet Directors Mark Gill and John Perez and USMS Executive Director Rob Butcher talk about the 2010 USMS Summer Nationals now being held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, August 9-12. Many of the swimmers have arrived and the distance events begin today. We were treated to a warm welcome with salsa music and dancing on the second floor of the natatorium. Check back here on the home page for daily video recaps during the meet.

When the two swimmers left their shaded hammocks on the beach at Pie de la Cuesta, a village just north of Acapulco, Mexico, the mid-afternoon sun was intense. They decided to avoid the thirty-minute uphill trek to the house where they were staying with their teammates during Red Tide’s annual weeklong training trip. Instead, they hailed one of the Volkswagen Beetle taxis that ply the narrow highway from Pie de la Cuesta to Acapulco.  The driver, on hearing their destination—given in rudimentary Spanish—nodded. “Ah!” he said. “The group on that bus!”

What happens in Virginia doesn’t always stay in Virginia, especially what happened at the U.S. Masters Two-Mile Cable Open Water National Championship at Chris Green Lake in Charlottesville where four national records were broken and three major milestones were achieved.

In Colorado, Thornton Masters has decided to host an annual charity event thanks to the success of their 2009 Booty for Bosoms, a charity swim that raised funds for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an organization that supports breast cancer research. Over 30 swimmers participated in the event where they earned pledges to swim laps. One swimmer swam an amazing 6000 meters. The Colorado team raised nearly $4,700. “With that kind of money being earned we’ve chosen to make it an annual event, changing the charity each year,” says Stacy Broncucia, one of the team members.

It was just about 2 a.m. and I’d only logged about two hours of sleep when I nearly jumped out of bed at the crack and flash of lightning. Booming roars and a Hollywood-esque light show would continue into the predawn hours. As I struggled for a few more minutes of sleep with countless logistics running through my head, I hoped my swimmers had gotten the recommended good night’s sleep. In what seemed like a blink of an eye, the wake-up call came and it was a quick morning routine and then off to meet 13 wide-eyed swimmers and the support crew for our pre-race meeting.

USMS member Kris Rutford doesn’t mess around when it comes to open water swims. His first long swim was the English Channel in 1988. Less than a month later he swam the 28.5-mile Manhattan Island Marathon. And he’s been going ever since, swimming long open water events for 20 years. This year Rutford swam two back-to-back open water events, literally: the Manhattan Island Marathon one day and the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim the next day.

The first three USMS Long Distance National Championships have come and gone. If you missed them, intrepid blogger and SPMA Member at Large Rob Dumouchel was on hand to give us one swimmer's view. Dumouchel, 29, is criss-crossing the country with his video camera this summer meeting old friends and making new ones in an effort to share the fun and excitement of Masters swimming and open water swimming. "I'm just a guy who likes to swim, and if I can go out and swim around an island ... there is a good chance you can too," he says. His goal is to, "take the mystery out of these things and make people confident enough to sign up for a swim and see what it's all about." Dumouchel, who lives and blogs in Pismo Beach, Calif., made his first stop at the One Mile Open Water Championships in Charlotte, N.C. After that, back to to the West Coast for the 1-3 Mile Open Water Championship in Livermore, Calif., then on to Windsor, Colo., for the 3-6 Mile Open Water Championships. (Links to final results will be updated as they are received. More info can be found on the Long Distance Championships page).