Hi Bay Area Swimmers -
I hope to get some info from my Bay Area friends about who runs the best Alcatraz Open Water swims out there. There are 5-6 of us in Minnesota who want to do the swim.
Bill Barthold once told me there were numerous swim coordinators who do this during the summer months.
Thanks for any information you can post my way.
Paul Windrath
Parents
Former Member
This reply is a little late, but in 1997 I swam in alcatraz swims both with the south end rowing club and with envirosports. These swims may have changed since then, but my experience was that both were well run, and I think the difference is a matter of style and your own taste rather than quality. The south end rowing club swim was my favorite- it had a homier feel, was more informal, smaller, you got to use the club and its showers, and they had a nice barbecue afterwards. Plus, they usually give some money to charity and the rest goes to club upkeep. Envirosports is a commercial for-profit operation, so it was bigger, more dramatic, more full of triathletes and people used to big competitions, and was connected to more hulabaloo, free gifts, formal finish lines, etc. Although I liked this less, the only real criticism I can say is that I know that envirosports in the previous years did not always time the start of the swim well (which is really, really important- even ten minutes makes a huge difference in currents). But my year it was fine and they may have more experience by now.
Good luck and have fun- I thought it was great!
This reply is a little late, but in 1997 I swam in alcatraz swims both with the south end rowing club and with envirosports. These swims may have changed since then, but my experience was that both were well run, and I think the difference is a matter of style and your own taste rather than quality. The south end rowing club swim was my favorite- it had a homier feel, was more informal, smaller, you got to use the club and its showers, and they had a nice barbecue afterwards. Plus, they usually give some money to charity and the rest goes to club upkeep. Envirosports is a commercial for-profit operation, so it was bigger, more dramatic, more full of triathletes and people used to big competitions, and was connected to more hulabaloo, free gifts, formal finish lines, etc. Although I liked this less, the only real criticism I can say is that I know that envirosports in the previous years did not always time the start of the swim well (which is really, really important- even ten minutes makes a huge difference in currents). But my year it was fine and they may have more experience by now.
Good luck and have fun- I thought it was great!
