John's 70th Challenge
For the owner of the company's 70th birthday, we were issued the challenge of promoting the challenge he issued companywide. Cue a series of articles covering everything from safety protocols for swimming during a global pandemic to converting laps into miles, as the challenge specified.
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To celebrate John’s 70th birthday we’re kicking off a 70-day challenge to help our health, the local nonprofit community, and hopefully have some fun along the way. Through September 22nd, the “70th Challenge” goal is all about seventy:
70
miles of swimming, in
70
days, AND
70
$100 donations collectively
Proceeds benefit Colin’s Hope (https://www.colinshope.org/), a local nonprofit that raises awareness for water safety to prevent children from drowning. This charity is near and dear to John’s heart, as is the YMCA where he’s been swimming for years and years. By supporting John in this challenge, we support the folks at those places he cares about too.
The details:
If you sign up to swim, you will be provided two month’s YMCA membership at no cost to you. These memberships are good for any Austin-area YMCA (as I understand). Info to know for your YMCA visit at: https://www.austinymca.org/blog/info-know-your-y-visit
To sign up to pledge swims or donations, email John directly at jbosch@recognizegood.org
See attached flyer for inspiration! Thanks for helping us simultaneously score a win for the community, for John’s birthday and for continuing to demonstrate our company culture during challenging times.
What a YMCA Membership Nets You During John's 70th Challenge
As part of John's 70th Challenge, anyone who partakes gets a paid two month membership. But for those of us who have never stepped into a YMCA before, what exactly comes with one of these memberships?
Through your two month membership, you get instant access to any of the over eight facilities located in Travis, Hays, and Bastrop counties. These facilities have a variety of equipment, programs, and classes that promote healthy exercise while having fun.
From strength training equipment such as free weights and weight lifting machines to an Olympic sized swimming pool with plenty of lanes, this membership gives you access to a variety of options outside the scope of the challenge.
Also included is access to over 500 programs and classes such as group exercise, yoga, and more so you don't have to go at exercise alone. Please be advised that the YMCA is not loaning any related equipment at this time, so members will need to bring any related equipment from home.
For more information about the YMCA membership, feel free to contact them directly at their website.
Good luck to all Challengers and may your laps be quick and plentiful.
How to Safely Access the YMCA for Your John's 70th Challenge Swims
If you sign up to swim, you will be provided two month’s YMCA membership at no cost to you. These memberships are good for any Austin-area YMCA (as I understand). Info to know for your YMCA visit at: https://www.austinymca.org/blog/info-know-your-y-visit
To sign up to pledge swims or donations, email John directly at jbosch@recognizegood.org
New Procedures
As detailed on their blog, (https://www.austinymca.org/blog/info-know-your-y-visit), the YMCA is employing a variety of new procedures during this time to ensure their members stay healthy. A list of the new procedures relevant to the swim challenge is listed below:
Facility Capacity Limits
Reservation system for Group Exercise Classes and Lap Lane Swimming
Members should arrive 15 minutes before classes/pool usage for health screen and check-in
Member access will be limited to one (1) hour to accommodate additional members while adhering to capacity limits
Reconfigured YMCA branches to ensure Social Distancing
Demarcation System to ensure safe member spacing for waiting areas
Masks required
Sneeze shields installed at Welcome Center desks
Limited points of entry and exit
One-way traffic throughout facility wherever possible
Lockers and showers temporarily closed
Water fountains temporarily closed but bottle-filling stations are open, so please bring your own bottle
Hot tubs, saunas and steam rooms temporarily closed
Common seating areas temporarily closed
Mask Requirement
All visitors to the Y must wear a mask in accordance to the state mandate issued by Governor Abbott.
However, the Y is not giving out masks at this time. All members visiting the premises must bring their own mask. You will not be allowed on the premises if you are not wearing a mask.
That being said, masks are NOT required while swimming.
Make a Reservation
The YCMA is using a system of making reservations in order to comply with the state mandated capacity limitations. To make a reservation, you have to create an account on their platform MotionVibe. This ensures that they do not go over the capacity deemed safe by government health officials.
Through MotionVibe, you can make reservations for Lane Lap Swimming, Recreational Swimming, Water Exercise, and Group Exercise Classes. Most likely you would want to reserve a slot for Lane Lap Swimming to fulfill the "miles swam" for the challenge.
Please be aware that the YMCA is requesting all members show up at least 15 minutes before their scheduled swim time in order to go through a health screening process to ensure the health and well-being of all of their members.
Time Limit
All YMCA members are asked to follow a 1 hour time limit to ensure capacity limits stay under the allotment and to give others a chance to use the same facilities. So swim as many laps as you can within the 1 hour time frame.
The goal of both the YMCA and John's 70th Challenge is to promote health and stay healthy. Please follow these procedures and any others enforced by the YMCA when partaking in John's 70th Challenge.
Stay safe and have fun!
Converting Your Laps to Miles
Swimmers,
Together, we are swimming 70 miles in 70 days, but unfortunately (or fortunately) pools don't have mile-long lanes. This article will detail just how to convert those precious laps you've swam into miles for the challenge.
First things first, the length of the pool matters and it can vary. There are two categories of pool and two variations within those categories. A pool can be either "Short Course," meaning the length is 25 meters or 25 yards, or "Long course" meaning the length is 50 meters or 50 yards.
In swimming, a "lap" refers to swimming the length of the pool, turning, and swimming the length of the pool again back to the starting position. Based on whether the pool is short course or long course, this means you are either swimming 50 meters/yards or 100 meters/yards per lap.
The distinction between meters and yards here is not meant to be interchangeable, but varies by swimming pool type. In America, it's most likely you will be swimming in a short course yard pool (25 yd lengths), but an Olympic style pool will be a long course meter pool (50 meter lengths). Finding out which type of pool you're swimming in will help make your calculations.
Once you've determined the length of your pool, a mile becomes easy to calculate. The following information comes from MySwimPro.com. You can click here to read more.
25 Yard Pool: 1760 yards is 70.4 lengths (35.2 laps)
25 Meter Pool: 1610 meters is 64.4 lengths (32.2 laps)
50 Meter Pool: 1610 meters is 32.2 lengths (16.1 laps)
This is why John needs our help. There are a lot of laps to swim here, but spread among many, it will feel like fewer. Sign up to swim today, and hit the lanes.
Monetary Goal Met
Swim fans,
As part of John's 70th Challenge, we've been raising money for Colin's Hope, a nonprofit organization aiming to make swimming safe for everyone. The challenge was to raise 70 $100 donations totaling $7,000 in honor of John's 70th birthday in addition to the 70 miles swam in 70 days.
As of yesterday, we have hit that goal!
Here is a link to the campaign: Link. A big thank you to everyone who contributed to this goal, and let's keep it going.
The campaign is still going to continue throughout the length of challenge, so if you feel inspired, feel free to contribute further.
We'll be continuing our weekly progress updates, so keep those swimming miles going as we lap our way to 70 miles.