Jenn's Arm

The other day, we were driving in Western New York between two canal towns known as Spencerport (my hometown) and Brockport which is 7 miles away.  An interesting challenge came about.   As we were driving along the canal Jenn asked me if I thought I could swim across it.   I said most likely I think I could make it but not really sure because of the 28° temperature.   On top of that, I am the worst swimmer that I know of. 

Quick history lesson, the Erie Canal basically runs over 360 miles from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to Buffalo New York.   It varies in width much as a river would.   Basically, it’s a long ways across.   So the challenges continued with:  “could you do this…? could you do that…?”  It escalated to the final challenge…I told Jenn that nobody could ever throw a football over the canal. She claimed that she thought she could throw a softball across the entire distance of the Erie Canal.  Now don’t get me wrong, before Jenn transferred over to track and field her senior year of high school, she was a noted softball player.   She was known to have quite an arm from centerfield to the plate, but this was a much different type of throw.   I was laughing at the thought of it thinking there is no way Jenn or anybody else is ever going to throw a softball across the Erie Canal with it snowing outside at 28 degrees.

I pulled the car over and got out.  Jenn grabbed a softball from the back that she keeps in the car to roll out sore muscles on.  The whole time she was warming her arm up spinning it in circles, I was laughing because we were at one of the wider parts of the canal with a total headwind.   I figured at best the ball might get halfway across.   So the challenge was set.   Jenn started from the car with an approach that looked like a javelin thrower all the way to the edge of the canal in about 4 inches of snow.   As soon as she released the ball I figured I had the challenge easily won.  The trajectory was way too high; the wind coming towards us was certainly going to stop the ball way short.   At first it looked like a 9-iron shot with way too much height, but that ball kept going and going and going!  What looked to be a 9-iron shot started to look more like a five wood shot, then a three wood shot and then a jumbo driver.   It bounced about 2 feet on the other bank rolling across and down the other side. I could not believe it!   I seriously could not believe!   

Growing up next to the canal my whole life my friends and I would try to throw anything across it: footballs, baseballs, rocks, you name it.   Nobody was ever been able to conquer the throw.  When I first got out of the car I was laughing thinking how fun it would be to see her try to make the throw.  When I got back in the car I was laughing thinking that nobody’s ever going to believe me. Whatever the case, somebody on the other side of the canal has a shiny new softball thrown by the Olympic gold medalist on a cold, snowy afternoon.