The 11th Annual Horsetooth Open Water Swim will take place August 16, 2009. www.horsetoothswim.com
10k, 2.4 mile (with and without wetsuit) and 1 mile races will be held in Horsetooth Reservoir, Fort Collins, Colorado.
Registration is on Active.com and closes on August 7, 2009. No race-day registration.
Come join the fun of fresh-water, high-altitude swimming surrounded by the Rocky Mountains!
This event benefits TEAM Fort Collins, a non-profit group dedicated to preventing the abuse and illegal use of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs, especially among youth and families, by promoting healthy lifestyles through community mobilization, educational programs, and interactive events.
Wow! Animal you are so unbelievably kind to offer that!!! I would not allow you to mess up your race to make sure I was okay, but I really appreciate the offer! You are :angel:. Swimmers really are the best people on the face of the planet. :):) And thank you for the feedback Airless. Very helpful. I think if Animal attempted the English Channel that I would be the one holding him up during an OW race.
Animal, you tried the English Channel??? That's very brave of you. What were the most challenging things about that swim in addition to the cold? Were you hypothermic? I'm guessing that Horsetooth is going to be a nice walk in the park for you!
I really want to do this race due to the beautiful location and the crazy altitude and temps (and I WILL in the future - perhaps 2010!?) but I think I had better plan a bit more for it. The race director had serious reservations about my doing it due to my 0 cold water experience. I do not blame him at all as I'm sure he feels responsible for any swimmer out there. And I'll admit I'm a bit wack. I did decide to do the 25K OW swim literally 1 to 2 months before the actual race. Although that happened to pan out, I think I could have hurt myself! I'm just too addicted to endorphins.
As fast as Creampuff is, I would bet that she will generate enough heat to stay warm. The hot drink idea is a sound one. There is one swimmer at Horsetooth who feeds on Payday bars. His kayaker gives him an unwrapped one, he dunks it in the water and eats. The water is clean in Horsetooth, but that is not my idea of feeding. He does well. He has swam it 6 times and is always in the 3 hour and 30 minute range.
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I really want to do this race due to the beautiful location and the crazy altitude and temps (and I WILL in the future - perhaps 2010!?) but I think I had better plan a bit more for it. The race director had serious reservations about my doing it due to my 0 cold water experience. I do not blame him at all as I'm sure he feels responsible for any swimmer out there. And I'll admit I'm a bit wack. I did decide to do the 25K OW swim literally 1 to 2 months before the actual race. Although that happened to pan out, I think I could have hurt myself! I'm just too addicted to endorphins.
I'll accede that 67 - 69 deg F *might* fall in the range of "cold water swimming," bec. I have seen the difference between my own tolerance (in grimly every day) and my swim buds' (less frequent, do not swim as far when they consider water cold). Sometimes it is a matter of only a degree or two making the difference of still comfortable for me, not so for them. I do not have the slightest idea how these adaptions to cold water occur, but on the off-chance you could hurry them up, a couple more longish swims precede Horsetooth (and you are not obliged to swim 10k at Horsetooth). I'd suggest a long vacation out West:
State Games of the West, 1.5k to 6k, plus Colorado OW Championship swim, Prospect Lake, Memorial Park, Colorado Springs, CO, Sunday, Aug. 2
www.thesportscorp.org/.../index.html
Deer Creek Open Water Swim, Deer Creek Reservoir, southwest of Heber City, UT, 1 mile, 5 k, 10k, and 10 miles, sanctioned by Utah Masters, Saturday, August 15: deercreekopenwater.home.comcast.net/.../
Horsetooth Open Water: Horsetooth Reservoir, Fort Collins, CO, Sunday, Aug. 16, 1,000 yds to 10k, USMS and USS sanctioned: http://www.horsetoothswim.com/
Are you doing the Kingdom swim, in Vermont?
:)
No wetsuits or wetsuit type material allowed.
They try and follow English Channel rules.
Will be SURE and do some shorter cold water swims first. Should be interesting. Thanks Vive for all the links! Good to know there are some short cold ones out there!
Just curious, if you wear those neoprene, wetsuity techsuits in OW, do they count as wetsuits???? what's their policy for this race? I know they're illegal for most other "cold" water swims.
Creampuff, pack a thermos of hot liquid with your kayaker and it'll keep you warm
Creampuff, what was the water temp of the 25 Km swim you did last year?
It has been a said by a number of us, cool to cold water swimmers, that our bodies remember the cold water from one year to the next. Like, when I was swimming in waters that had snow melting into them that was very uncomfortable and my body does not want to experience that again. But any temp above 49 degrees I can swim in for a long period of time, say an hour or more. It may actually take longer for my body to warm up than the actual swim, but that is another story. At 60 degrees and above I can swim for up to 14 hours. So,if the temp of the 25 Km swim of last year was 72 degrees or less you may want to info Joe of that. But you are correct he is doing his just being a good meet director.:)
Animal - so totally! Coldest water I ever set foot in had been glacier until a few moments before.
CreamPuff, remember the sun block - you'll be closer to the sun, and it does matter - and have a great swim!
(Does the Channel stir no thoughts? Little imaginings and what-if faeries whispering in your ear?)
:)
The meet director is practicing due diligence, but doesn't know you!
Cold showers, sitting in tubs of ice...
:D
Sounds like fun - NOT! LOL!
True dat regarding meet director decision. I totally understand!
