SWIMSTRONG SMITH

Next week I will venture over to England to be part of Lynne's crew for her channel swim. I've been waiting to visit England since I was 7 yrs old. No, Lynne hasn't been planning the trip that long, I was originally planning to go visit my friend Josh while his family was living in England. That trip never materialized, this one is quite different.

Two years ago, as we sat outside Whole Foods for Friday night dinner, Lynne told us about her plans to swim the channel in 2007. Michael & I instantly said we'd go along as part of the crew. Later that night we wondered if that would be possible, who knows where you'll be in 2 years. Flip forward 2 years and Lynne's tide happens to fit perfectly into the break between summer and fall sessions at UT, who would've guessed.

I'm very excited about the trip but over the past few weeks I've realized I'm not alone. Last week I got a call from one of Lynne's co-workers. She asked if I could transport a banner to England. Her co-workers had a bright orange banner made with "SWIMSTRONG" screened onto it.

Over the past week her c0-workers and friends have been signing the banner. She saw it for the first time today, at a meeting up at Dell. Michael managed to attend too and said Lynne was very happy about all the support. So happy that it brought tears to her eyes. There is nothing quite as wonderful as knowing your friends are supporting you in your journey, it is quite a compliment.

Rumor has it that we should all check out the Austin American Statesman tomorrow to read more about Lynne's trip. Dell is also making effort to track her while she's over there. When Michael told me about the computer with the GPS tracking system I laughed, "I don't need to watch the online updates, I'm going to be there." Hopefully I'll get some great pictures and I'll be able to update everyone else.

BTW, the picture above was taken during Lynne's 6hr swim in Lake Travis. I joined for 1 hr, wearing a wetsuit and huge paddles on my hands. That improves my pace by ~:15/100 and I was still working hard to keep up with Lynne.