The Fastest Age

The 2003 Waikiki Roughwater was my first. My team (Rose Bowl) had eight swimmers entered. We had all swum the Maui Channel Relay with other teammates two days earlier. Starting at San Souci beach, we warmed up (with about 1,000 of our closest aquatic friends) by swimming out to the first turn, about a quarter mile, and then back. It was clear that there was an opposing current, but it was not (then) unmanageable. Before the start, the race organizers announced strong opposing currents and encouraged any weaker or less confident swimmers to consider whether they should not race. Started us in heats by entered times. 4 or 5 flights (A, B, C, D, E), fastest leading off. By the time I went (3rd or 4th heat, can't recall which) I found the opposing current had gotten really strong. Apparently, we started with the strongest outgoing tide working against us. There was also a hurricane near the Big Island so it was kind of choppy once we got outside the reef. I read articles afterward that said the race should have started at 7:30 or 11 . . . that the 9 a.m. start time was the worst possible in those conditions. There were marker buoys numbered 1 thru 15 as I recall. I figured that I would finish in around 1:15 to 1:30. An hour into it, I found myself at buoy 5. Water choppy. Found myself looking at the same piece of bottom and making no headway at all. In fact, I went to a 4 or 6 breath count . . . held steady with my head down, but would actually lose ground on my breath stroke. Said to myself at about 1:15 (and still at buoy 5) "this isn't much fun." Had the internal debate over quitting ("gee, if I turn in here I can go straight to the Royal Hawaiian for a Mai Tai") versus not quitting ("winners never quit and quitter never win . . . yada, yada, yada"). Decided that I did not have the strength necessary to finish in light of the opposing current, and that if I continued to try to do so, that I'd get really fatigued which would put me in a dangerous position (as a former lifeguard, I regard drowning as a bad thing). So, I decided to bail and opt for cocktails. Started to swim in and hitched a ride with a boat that was picking up others, like me, who said "enough." We were way more fortunate than those who found themselves pushed the wrong way and off course, requiring rescues. About 350 of the 1,000 entered finished, a record low. The finish time was a record slow. 6 of my 8 teammates finished, including Jill Keenan Boline who won her division, Women 30-34. We cleaned up, had beers or mai tais, and headed back to Maui for a little more R&R before returning to the mainland. Doing the Maui relay again this year. We may have 4 or 5 teams. Whether I return to Waikiki will depend on the schedule. The organizers are apparently thinking about having the swim on Sunday instead of Monday to avoid the box jelly swarms 8-10 days after a full moon. If it's Sunday, we have discussed as a team, the fact that we don't want to cut our post Maui relay celebrations short in order to get to Waikiki to swim the next day. On the other hand, if the swim is Monday, I may go . . . but then again the notion of box jelly swarms gives me the willies. We'll just have to wait and see. After all was said and done, it was still fun, glad I did it, and I will be back, if not this year, in the future. did that answer your question? carl

The 2003 Waikiki Roughwater was my first. My team (Rose Bowl) had eight swimmers entered. We had all swum the Maui Channel Relay with other teammates two days earlier. Starting at San Souci beach, we warmed up (with about 1,000 of our closest aquatic friends) by swimming out to the first turn, about a quarter mile, and then back. It was clear that there was an opposing current, but it was not (then) unmanageable. Before the start, the race organizers announced strong opposing currents and encouraged any weaker or less confident swimmers to consider whether they should not race. Started us in heats by entered times. 4 or 5 flights (A, B, C, D, E), fastest leading off. By the time I went (3rd or 4th heat, can't recall which) I found the opposing current had gotten really strong. Apparently, we started with the strongest outgoing tide working against us. There was also a hurricane near the Big Island so it was kind of choppy once we got outside the reef. I read articles afterward that said the race should have started at 7:30 or 11 . . . that the 9 a.m. start time was the worst possible in those conditions. There were marker buoys numbered 1 thru 15 as I recall. I figured that I would finish in around 1:15 to 1:30. An hour into it, I found myself at buoy 5. Water choppy. Found myself looking at the same piece of bottom and making no headway at all. In fact, I went to a 4 or 6 breath count . . . held steady with my head down, but would actually lose ground on my breath stroke. Said to myself at about 1:15 (and still at buoy 5) "this isn't much fun." Had the internal debate over quitting ("gee, if I turn in here I can go straight to the Royal Hawaiian for a Mai Tai") versus not quitting ("winners never quit and quitter never win . . . yada, yada, yada"). Decided that I did not have the strength necessary to finish in light of the opposing current, and that if I continued to try to do so, that I'd get really fatigued which would put me in a dangerous position (as a former lifeguard, I regard drowning as a bad thing). So, I decided to bail and opt for cocktails. Started to swim in and hitched a ride with a boat that was picking up others, like me, who said "enough." We were way more fortunate than those who found themselves pushed the wrong way and off course, requiring rescues. About 350 of the 1,000 entered finished, a record low. The finish time was a record slow. 6 of my 8 teammates finished, including Jill Keenan Boline who won her division, Women 30-34. We cleaned up, had beers or mai tais, and headed back to Maui for a little more R&R before returning to the mainland. Doing the Maui relay again this year. We may have 4 or 5 teams. Whether I return to Waikiki will depend on the schedule. The organizers are apparently thinking about having the swim on Sunday instead of Monday to avoid the box jelly swarms 8-10 days after a full moon. If it's Sunday, we have discussed as a team, the fact that we don't want to cut our post Maui relay celebrations short in order to get to Waikiki to swim the next day. On the other hand, if the swim is Monday, I may go . . . but then again the notion of box jelly swarms gives me the willies. We'll just have to wait and see. After all was said and done, it was still fun, glad I did it, and I will be back, if not this year, in the future. did that answer your question? carl