It was a bit rougher than the pre-race brief led me to believe, especially the second half. No wet suit this year. But enough of that, back to a wetsuit next year. Still had fun and the beer tasted good at the finish!
Great swim this year. Nice temperature too. Was it just me or were the waves much bigger than last year? They seemed huge to me out there in the middle.
I also ran into a large dead animal. My hand hit a furry hip bone and I didn;t know what it was until the smell hit me....there was a slick of rotting flesh around the thing. Nice. It's like the frickin Ganges River out there. Maybe it was person. Who knows.
How'd everyone do?
great day
no bodies for me.
Here's my trivia: Bruce Brockschmidt and I swam on the same team for most of our age group years in Virginia -- he NEVER did distance back then. Back in the early 2000s, I caught a few of his Masters workouts with Jersey Wahoos ... the guy is a machine. .
Ooh, my turn! My trivia is that in my race report I mentioned running into a former coach from my age group swimming days at the finish. Yep. Bruce!
What is up with 100+ DNFs? It was rough out there, but I didn't think it was that rough. Did the Coast Guard finally enforce the various cut-off times?
I think there should be a financial penalty if you don't make the cut-off times...one of those people took my spot. :)
How did you do, Rob? I haven't seen any results online yet. Who was the overall winner?
Chris: I did well. 2nd overall. Brian Benda won (he won it a couple of years ago and has finished in the very top for a number of years). Bruce Brockschmidt was 3rd (also a former winner and multi-time top finisher). The race broke down to a sprint for the final 1/2 mile between Brian, Bruce, me and a teenager (there's always a teenager to race). I was happy to have the strength and energy to hang onto second. The overall times were slower than usual this year - clearly something nasty was happening out there.
Great job on your race, sounds like a lot of fun.
Some trivia: I swam on the same age-group team with siblings Brian and Jill Benda when I was in high school in Raleigh, though Brian was pretty young at the time. I believe Jill was supposed to do the Bay Swim this year; her married name is Countie. (She was a drop-dead sprinter in college, though.)
Great job on your race, sounds like a lot of fun.
Some trivia: I swam on the same age-group team with siblings Brian and Jill Benda when I was in high school in Raleigh, though Brian was pretty young at the time. I believe Jill was supposed to do the Bay Swim this year; her married name is Countie. (She was a drop-dead sprinter in college, though.)
Here's my trivia: Bruce Brockschmidt and I swam on the same team for most of our age group years in Virginia -- he NEVER did distance back then. Back in the early 2000s, I caught a few of his Masters workouts with Jersey Wahoos ... the guy is a machine. Rob and I swam at Texas together, but I don't think he competed in races over the 500. These two guys are cranking in OW ... puts my former d-man self to shame. I'm hoping to get in for the swim next year and catch a great draft off Bruce & Rob. Chris, if you're there, my expectation is that you'll provide additional "draft leadership" to help me get through this.
What is up with 100+ DNFs? It was rough out there, but I didn't think it was that rough. Did the Coast Guard finally enforce the various cut-off times?
I now see the ebb current and a wind shift took a toll on some of the later finishers.
Chris: I did well. 2nd overall. Brian Benda won (he won it a couple of years ago and has finished in the very top for a number of years). Bruce Brockschmidt was 3rd (also a former winner and multi-time top finisher). The race broke down to a sprint for the final 1/2 mile between Brian, Bruce, me and a teenager (there's always a teenager to race). I was happy to have the strength and energy to hang onto second. The overall times were slower than usual this year - clearly something nasty was happening out there.
