First, thanks to all my teammates from Lanes 3 AND 4….the conditions were said to be the toughest in years, but each team got the job done…Congrats. I think that our captain, Kip Watson probably had the toughest job of all, he had to drive a boat (The smallest in the fleet, desinged more for skiing than as a slow moving escort boat) thru two plus foot chop at 2.3 miles per hour or so, into a wind that made him need to steer 30 degrees just to stay on the GPS dictated navigation line, all the while trying to corral swimmers who had little idea where they were going. Nice job, Kip. I know you wish you were in the water, but we appreciate your efforts behind the wheel more than you will ever know! The Watson family really came through for us, not only in their support, but in their contribution of swimmers! Man can those kids swim!

And thanks goes to each of the guys on boat 23, you swam hard every time you got in the water, and the results speak for themselves. After over 15 miles (which probably swam more like 20 due to the conditions), we were less than a minute a mile off the winning pace set by a team of young nearly all star swimmers from the WRATS. Josh, thanks for the GPS …Jeff, well, thanks for NOT getting seasick!…Matt, thanks for the phenom swimming….John, thanks for keeping your Port Jefferson bathroom break short ! (LOL, inside joke), and Andy, thanks for the idea, recruiting, and those cool plaques! Next year guys…let’s get those WRATS!