Bark (1) (verb) [báark] Sound following a large inhalation of wave, wake or chop. Synonym: novice or beginner. See also Sea Monkey.

Barking at the sea (1) (slang). One who vomits after choking on wave, wake or chop. While very unsightly, it leaves the swimmer dizzy and directionless while trying to sight the buoy.

Neptune Cocktail : The large bellyful of seawater that one ingested during a particularly gnarly ocean swim. Usually happens concurrently with the Sand Facial.

Selling Buicks: The process of reversing the ingestion of the dreaded Neptune Cocktail. After selling Buicks, it was generally assumed that one’s day at the beach was pretty much over. See also “barking at the sea”.

Sand Facial: The result of wiping out and being dragged along the bottom, face first, during your first open ocean swim.

Mud Pack: Lake equivalent to a “sand facial”.

Warm Waves: Term used for the sudden warmth generated by mass urination underwater at the start of a race. See also El Niño.

Klinger: (slang) One who clings to a buoy, fellow competitor or rescue boat when panicked during an open water swim. See also Klingon.

Chalk People: Those who live far from the beach and show up on race day without a tan.

Poser: One who shows up on race day with a chemically induced tan. See also Faker.

Cruncher: A big, hard breaking wave that folds over a swimmer and makes it impossible to recover the arm above the water.

Taking the gas: what happens when you can’t hang with the pack you are swimming in and you get dropped or left behind.

Tandem: During the jumble of a mass start, if you can’t go around them or pass them, it’s the art of riding over them to improve one’s position.

Amped: Feeling a swimmer gets when he/she breaks away from the pack in the last 300 yards in order to reach the beach in first place!

MIA: In a relay, how the cyclist refers to his/her swimmer while standing on the beach waiting; usually based upon the swimmer’s misrepresentation of personal skills. See also Poser.

Daytrippin’ (day-tripp-n) A cruise on the rescue boat after being pulled from the sea, lake or other large body of water during a race.

MTSC Personalized Terms:

A Dennen: Slang, as in “to pull a Dennen”. To declare “OH, CRAP!” upon find one’s self standing in ankle deep water in a neighbor’s back yard after veering severely off course in an open water swim. See also Directionally Challenged.

Miss Rebecca’s Escort Service: All them Ehmlings that come with Big Red to escort us on the swims.

Sea Monkey: A novice open water swimmer.

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