2015 NYC Parks & Recreation Lap Swim Contest

I said I wasn’t going to do it but it seems I can’t resist competing. This year’s Lap Swim Contest began last week. There are two contests really.

1. First, second, and third place awards are given to the men and women who swim the most laps between July 6th and August 7th. These are given out at each pool, and also to the men and women who swim the most laps of all the pools.

2. Anyone who swims 25 miles or more by August 28 gets a tshirt.

The first year I did it I won third place at my pool, the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center, and I won second place my second year, which was last year. I can’t win first place at my pool because the best female swimmer in the city, Anna Jardine, swims at my pool. But that’s okay. There’s a dinner party at the end of the summer for all the winners and for everyone who swam 25 miles, and it’s a lot of fun.

I would at least like to beat my own personal best, but I could only swim two days last week and I know I’m going to have to miss more days between now and August 7th. Plus, I am definitely slowing down. Last night I swam as hard as I could and I swam 236 laps (224 is two miles). When I gave it my all last year I’d manage 240 – 244 laps, and once 250 but that was a fluke and I think they gave us an extra minute or two. So, we shall see.

A wedding I passed by while taking a break during the hackathon last weekend.

Wedding, Washington Square, New York City

Stacy Horn

I've written six non-fiction books, the most recent is Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th-Century New York.

View all posts by Stacy Horn →

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