Just my personal opinion, but does anyone else think this is a pretty bad idea? If someone is way off course or having problems, being picked up is one thing. Giving said swimmer the opportunity to get in again (with perhaps the same or worse results) doesn't seem to be very rational.
I think it's pretty common on Alcatraz swims for big groups, which may mean that in practice it usually works out OK.
Just my personal opinion, but does anyone else think this is a pretty bad idea? If someone is way off course or having problems, being picked up is one thing. Giving said swimmer the opportunity to get in again (with perhaps the same or worse results) doesn't seem to be very rational.
I think (and this is just my uninformed personal opinion) that if the swimmer is just off course but not in any other distress, then repositioning would be okay - but if they were struggling I agree that putting them back in the water doesn't seem wise.
Last two years I have extened my season to New Year. Water temp is high 30's, low 40's. I understand that 50 is quite a bit warmer that 40, but let's just describe the 40 degree experience.
It is a process to get going. I wear a neo cap, but no booties or gloves. First is walking in and out several times until the feet go numb this process lasts about 5-10 minutes. During this process, my breathing becomes rapid just from the pain. Once my feet are numb then I am able to walk in up to my waist and work on getting my hands numb which takes 5-10 minutes. Again it really hurts. Next is the face. I take a breath and quickly put my face in several times. This again takes 5-10 minutes before I can tolerate it for even a few seconds at a time. Then I do some backstroke and roll over and do a few strokes of freestyle. Once I feel I can tolerate the cold on my face, I begin my swim. You can see this process lasts 20-30 minutes and the trick is to do it as fast as you can before your core drops. Jumping off a boat is out of the question. During the beginning of the swim I have quite a bit of anxiety. It is not until I am really moving and I feel my core getting back up to temp that my confidence builds that I will be OK. During the swim the numbness climbs my forearms toward the elbows and slowly moves from my feet up my legs. I have no feeling of the fingers or face.
I am a very experienced OW swimmer and I don't have to deal with the anxiety that may come from other factors like chop, blackness, getting kicked in the face, sighting, whatever. What if you did have anxiety over these things and then added the cold water issue on top of that?
I've just seen a report on the race from Rudy Garcia-Tolson. He's a multiple Paralympic gold medalist and WR holder who has been doing triathlons since he was 9 (Ironman finisher - one hour swim split). He's done Alcatraz before.
His Tweet:
@RudyGTcaf: I consider my self a decent open water swimmer but that Alcatraz swim was brutal! 4ft swells white caps 50degree windy.. #crazy
Last two years I have extened my season to New Year. Water temp is high 30's, low 40's. I understand that 50 is quite a bit warmer that 40, but let's just describe the 40 degree experience.
It is a process to get going. I wear a neo cap, but no booties or gloves. First is walking in and out several times until the feet go numb this process lasts about 5-10 minutes. During this process, my breathing becomes rapid just from the pain. Once my feet are numb then I am able to walk in up to my waist and work on getting my hands numb which takes 5-10 minutes. Again it really hurts. Next is the face. I take a breath and quickly put my face in several times. This again takes 5-10 minutes before I can tolerate it for even a few seconds at a time. Then I do some backstroke and roll over and do a few strokes of freestyle. Once I feel I can tolerate the cold on my face, I begin my swim. You can see this process lasts 20-30 minutes and the trick is to do it as fast as you can before your core drops. Jumping off a boat is out of the question. During the beginning of the swim I have quite a bit of anxiety. It is not until I am really moving and I feel my core getting back up to temp that my confidence builds that I will be OK. During the swim the numbness climbs my forearms toward the elbows and slowly moves from my feet up my legs. I have no feeling of the fingers or face.
I am a very experienced OW swimmer and I don't have to deal with the anxiety that may come from other factors like chop, blackness, getting kicked in the face, sighting, whatever. What if you did have anxiety over these things and then added the cold water issue on top of that?
I missed the part where you explain why you enjoy doing it.
I agree. I swam on a relay to swim the Catalina Channel January 2008. All of us swam without wetsuits in water temps ranging from 50 ~ 54 degrees. It was not so bad. We, however, trained in such water temps for about 3 months before our Catalina Channel Relay. I am sad to hear that a person died at the event. It is unfortunate. There are, however, several possible issues for the man. First, it sounds like he might have had a heart condition to start with. Second, the man probably did not train in appropriate water temps. I live in San Antonio, TX. It is very hard to find very cold water around here. The coldest water I train in is my own swimming pool without a heater. Even Barton Springs in Austin, where the man was from, doesn't get any colder than 68 degrees year round. I hope more people will get check ups, train smart, and become more aware of their limits before its too later.
I'm curious to know if the meet director, Bill Burke, considered canceling or postponing the event. I know it was moved ahead by a few months to avoid a conflict with the America's Cup. Burke appears to be a very experienced meet director. Might he have wanted to wanted to postpone but been overruled?
