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Bruce's Take on Mirror Lake
By BRUCE GIANNINY
When I asked Bruce to write up an account of
our Mirror Lake race from his perspective – since
our race-within-a-race was such a large part
of my experience, he replied “....this
could be interesting like Clint Eastwood's two
movies about Iwo Jima, one each from vantage
points of Americans and Japanese...” See
what you think. - Terry:
Terry
What a pleasure to read your recap of the Lake
Placid swim and how interesting that my recollection
of the race and interpretation of the events
within it are so similar to yours and its importance
to me is evidenced by the vivid immediate feelings
I have now coalescing my thoughts.....cool air,
warmer water, gray day and thumping heart...
I too had marked August 18 Mirror Lake as an
important occasion, a focal point of the summer
season for several reasons:
- Mirror
Lake is a great venue for swimming; one that invites
you into the water rather than throwing
roadblocks like tiny roped-off areas, lifeguards,
motor boats and restrictive signs.
- It
felt like a team event with our Rochester based
group, RAMS,
sending 6 swimmers.
- Lake
Placid seems to draw fitness-minded people; everyone
seems to be walking,
jogging, cycling,
hiking or swimming and I feel I'm among
the kindred.
- Although
I would swim several legs of triathlons this summer,
this would be my only pure
and simple open water swim.
- I
would have the chance to again race you
in person – a “Virtual
Terry” beckons
me to the pool each day,
is always in an adjacent lane slicing the
water, pulling
few air bubbles,
reminding me how cerebral
swimming
is and most importantly making
sure I bring
my best.
 We
were fortunate to be in the same heat as open
water races
are so strategic…these
are races against people,
not the clock, and as I
shivered on the beach minutes
before the start I reviewed the race plan
to draft off the faster
(and younger) swimmers, imagined
the feel of water flowing
over my fastskin-clad
body and
newly shaved arms, (yes...I
admit it now...shaved that morning...that's
how
important this race
was to me) and visualized
a slow
acceleration over the entire
2 miles with a 200-yard
kick that would shed whatever
pack I was with.....I
had it all there ready for
the execution as I clapped hands repeatedly
to
focus and announce
that my place in the universe
was
on the edge of Mirror Lake,
a place I wanted
to be, a situation
I wanted to be in, thankful
for the stimulation, my stomach butterfly-light,
heart pumppumppumping,
and jeeze, ain't life great.
We had compared race plans
(they were the same) but
I was unsure
who sprinted
ahead
at the
start, and indeed, broke
the elastic to our group,
and
I was concerned that it
may have been you, changing
strategy, so
I settled
into my
visualized rhythm
behind Frank Wuest, perhaps
too close as I tickled
his feet many
times
that first
mile.
I was doing
my part and I watched for
the rest of the event to
develop....like
a basketball
game
that drones ‘til
the final breathless minutes.
I
spent the first half
hour quietly doing my
job,
maintaining stroke,
assessing breathing
and muscle condition,
when is the NYS inspection
due
on my car, wondering
how you were feeling
and exactly where you
were and was pleasantly
surprised
when you
pulled
up and even with
me on the 6th lap.
So
there he is and what
is this
act of bravado with 15
minutes still to race,
I thought, as
we
swam cheek-to-cheek
shoulder-to-shoulder
for 200 yards and indeed,
I reassured myself it
was you, 115 on bathing
cap right in
my face, and calculating
the remaining half
mile,
decided
I should be content to
let
you
pull me for
a while, and, although
these four minutes
may not
have determined the outcome
of the race, they were
indeed the
crux, the kernel,
the
essence
of the event....This
was what it was all about,
what we
each wanted
from it,  a
race, a test
com petere...This
was all about the process
and was
indicative of our swimming
competition – guess
its kinda like sex, ya
know, better when you're
not alone – is
that what those
latin roots
mean??
My final lap, particularly
the last 200 yards, felt
wonderful,
strong and confident:
I train
for that part, visualizing
the end of each practice
repeat as
the end of a race. I
was sore after
the race, which I feel
good about. I extended
myself...
And so it went. And interestingly,
the outcome is such a small
part of it all.
Not that
I would trade it, but it
was the process that
retains
the most significance....The
hours and hours of training,
the 46 minutes
of the
actual
race, and the four minutes
of mano a mano are most
vivid.
Thanks for the motivation
and I'll see ya on the
circuit.
Bruce
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