Open Ocean Trials - May 2007

From May 3 to May 10 2007 we traveled to Sarasota Florida to see how the LTSD would perform in open ocean conditions.

We executed a 5 day program that we felt would put both the LTSD and the swimmer through its paces. The program consisted of two swim/water activity periods per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, generally lasting ½ to 1 hour. In addition to determining if the LTSD performed in the ocean as it did in my pool and some small Ontario lakes, we set two new objectives for the week. These included;

To see if a user could master the Australian Crawl…Nope, not yet!
To try the LTSD out in big surf conditions…Unfortunately nothing worthy of the name “surf” materialized during the week.

All in all a productive week. We discovered some design issues that we are addressing. Enjoy the pictures and contact us if you have any questions.

It had been several weeks since I last wore the components of the LTSD. I assembled the breathing unit and inserted it in order to retrain the gag reflex. There was a few minutes of coughing but things settled down quickly. I wandered around like this for 1/2 hour or so. Had my first smell of sea air in over three years. That in itself was worth the trip.
The complex we stayed at had a pool close to the beach. We used it to make sure all the components of the LTSD where properly assembled and to wash the sand and salt water off after a swimming session.
Putting the LTSD on and taking it off on the beach presented some minor problems. Basically, “that damned sand gets into everything”! If there was enough sand to be bothersome I would just wash it out before swimming. That did leave some water in the dry-suite but that never presented a problem. One of the issues that some of our fellows have raised is the attention that they might draw putting the LTSD on in public. I’m happy to report that over the course of the week, no-one said “boo” about the device.
Breaststroke, sidestroke, backstroke and just lying back and floating on the ocean. All Good! For exercise swimming I must admit that the side stroke is the most comfortable. The breaststroke seems to challenge my neck muscles and causes me to fatigue faster. Try as I might I just can’t seem to get the Australian Crawl right. Perhaps a greater mind than mine might offer some help?
Ah; the joy of riding the “wild surf”! Unfortunately I have no control over the winds and tides but this is me attempting to bodysurf. I ask my friends in California, Hawaii and Australia not to laugh too hard.

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