Rocks.

I am sitting in a beautiful cabin on the largest island in fresh water in the world (you can google it) watching two families of kids play board games as the rain and winds blow, the water looking a bit brisker today, still blues, greens and grays as it crashes into the rocks on the shore. 

Yesterday was a brilliant water day and two FFH were able to pick their open water swims, Cory walked quite a ways to a point on the bay and then swam back. I couldn’t not swim across the bay; Joh kayaked for me as I swam across and back. I can still do this because of the FFH. I grew up swimming to random spots on Canadian lakes as a child; but one doesn’t just do this without a fair amount of confidence that they can make it.

We are heading into our 9th fall registration and we have grown. We swim, run, row, paddle boats and racquets; we bike, yoga, play tennis, hike. We teach, bank, nurse, deliver, cook, write, run businesses, project manage, engineer, doctor (people and pets) and PA;  we lawyer (a lot), we mother, we father, some of us college kid, we play piccolo, guitar, drums, ukulele. 

More than anything we have become a strong and safe place for each other; we have become rocks.

As I was swimming yesterday morning and rolling a lot (the swells were much higher mid bay than they appeared from shore)  – I literally rolled through WHAT the FFH are to me.

The water we swim in changes, it warms up (FCRC mid July) it brisks itself down (never cold of course, at worse, only brisk). It is smooth and then choppy. Sometimes the creek overflows and it gets murky. Or someone vomits (never an FFH). Sometimes the pH is off. But the rocks? (Cement pool walls can be rock forms) Always there. They don’t scream for attention, they are too old to care if they are noticed. They aren’t about speed or records, they don’t have favorites. They are present.  And that is what FFH have become for me - rocks of stability, of support. 

I started this team but without my Rocks, we wouldn’t be able to invite all of the swimmers to our waters. We have hosted swimmers through USMS Try Masters month, college swimmers wanting to get back into the water before heading to college and Pitt and Hampton swimmers when their waters have not been available.

Cory Siri, Sarah Frank and Lindsay Wood have stepped in to fill all of the holes that I couldn’t cover (most of them). We love being able to welcome swimmers but needed to be able to collect payments without driving our KW volunteer treasurer crazy. Sarah (aka “keeper of the google”) built a place, a website and with Cory has effectively and efficiently streamlined our communications. And Lindsay has taken over running the coaching – scheduling, supporting, filling in cancellations. They are our Rocks.

With our success - you could say we went viral in the Pandemic – it was OUR rocks that kept us in the water. Many teams closed nationwide and still remain without access to water. Now we have added three more Rocks. Katie Kenyon will suport Lindsay (despite our good natured membership– there are spats at times) especially with policies and conflict support. She is also working with Breanna Rice, who has agreed to be our registrar and to help our “keeper of the google”, on crafting some sort of mission and scholarship options. We are working on these as we speak and hope to be able to help the KW with this as their mission as well. Finally Sheila Clifford has agreed to be our treasurer and we are working on our first separate budget and savings plans for the FFH. 

7 Rocks. All volunteers. Fielding hundreds of weekly texts and emails, managing schedule snafus, hosting meets, crafting weather policies, social media uploads, laughs and frustrations. 

Please thank the people who chose to step into these essential, non-flashy roles.

As I went through my day yesterday- having decided that what was most important to me about the FFH was this strength, these foundations, these rocks— I saw them everywhere. I hiked on them, I swam over and through their formations. I slipped on a few mossy ones. They were everywhere and beautiful. As we are becoming.

Welcome to our 9th season. Registration details and options will be forthcoming this month. Help is always welcomed. Support and kindness required.

Libby