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Treasure Island to YMCA 1.5 Mile Swim - SwimOther


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San Francisco, California
United States
The Embarcadero YMCA
60F / 16C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 09m 47s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Met up with Kristen from my tri-team and we car-pooled into SF. Got to the Y and sat around and waited. They delayed the swim start by 25 minutes due to water conditions.
Event warmup:

Talked with other swimmers on the boat-ride away from SF. Looking back at the city and saying, "what was I thinking wanting to swim to San Francisco?" Although plenty of other swimmers said the same thing. We chatted about cold water and shark attacks and how you only need ot be faster than the person next to you so the shark will get them first. I had done a bit of research after I registered for this race and saw that there are sharks in the bay, no great whites and no other species that would want to eat a tastey swimmer, thankfully!
Swim
  • 1h 09m 47s
  • 2640 yards
  • 02m 18s / 100 yards
Comments:

During this entire week I could not decide if I really wanted to swim this race, cold water, a new wetsuit, the SF Bay, a straight course in the shadow of the Bay Bridge. Decided on Saturday to suck it up and just do it.

They started the race late as the water chop has picked up a bit. Everyone on the boat was eager to get out to Treasure Island and start swimming back. I chatted with a bunch of guys who had done this race before and they told me it is a little crazy, but fun. I thought it was sorta odd to be jumping off the same boat I use to commute to work everyday!

Finally they gave us the go ahead to jump off the boat and start swimming. Yikes! The water temp was not bad and I was happy that I had swam twice this week in the bay. At first things seemed ot be going well. My stroke was ok and I was feeling comfortable in the water. After about 20 minutes I looked I started ot see people being towed by the jet ski. I thought, "well all of those people are further out then I am so I must be in good shape" After 30 minutes, the city did not seem to be getting any closer and the chop picked up. There were 2-foot swells coming in different directions and then there seemed to be an undertoe as well. Very bizarre. I felt fine, just a little frustrated in makiing such slow progress. I would glance back at where we started and admired the amazing views. Then the jet-ski guy comes over and I give him the thumbs-up that I'm fine. He said, "you are way off course, hop on". I was a bit bummed to get a lift but I was very cool to be towed, kinda like Baywatch! Anyway, when he finally dropped me, I said, "wow I was really off course" and he said, "yep lots of people are". I saw at least 10 others getting towed back on course!

Finally made it to the finish line, I was not last but close to it. Got out of the water feeling a bit dizzy but strong. Everyone I talked to said this was a very tough swim and some of these guys had done alcatraz, and few other bay swims and they told me today's current was by far the strongest. After that I did not feel so bad about having to get towed back on course. I also met a woman at the Y and she told me there was a group of 8 of them that had to get towed back as well.

Not sure if I would do this one again, the chop was just crazy!
What would you do differently?:

I was a slave to the current, not sure how much I could have really done.
Post race
Warm down:

Found Kristen and we said congrats to eachother. Got back to the Y and took a hot shower.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

current and poor sighting

Event comments:

Tough course, if I do this next year I hope the current is going toward San Francisco!




Last updated: 2007-09-13 12:00 AM
Swimming
01:09:47 | 2640 yards | 02m 18s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Below average
Suit: Sleeveless
Course: Straight shot from Treasure Island to SF
Start type: Deep Water Plus:
Water temp: 58F / 14C Current: High
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Bad
Rounding:
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2007-09-30 9:34 PM

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Subject: Treasure Island to YMCA 1.5 Mile Swim


2007-10-01 10:31 AM
in reply to: #984771

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Subject: RE: Treasure Island to YMCA 1.5 Mile Swim
Awesome job.  Sounds like a very cool event (and very cold water). 
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