Hi folks,
I'm thinking of trying some more open water swims this coming summer. Last summer, I did the Plunge for Patients in Wildwood, NJ (which took a lot of my available courage b/c of swimming through breakers, but I was glad I did it!), the Rainbow Channel Challenge in Somers Point, NJ--a nice mile bay swim (there was also a 2something mile swim, but I didn't feel ready for that), and (as part of an aquathlon) a 1/4 mile lake swim. Oddly, the lake swim made me more nervous than the bay swim b/c there were so many rusty pilings under the surface... I stayed on the deep side for most of the swim, then as soon as my hand touched one of the pilings during a stroke, I walked to shore, rather than risk scraping myself again.
I'd do any of these events again, but looking around for other possibilities as well.
I noticed this in my search:
www.nycswim.org/.../Event.aspx
It's a half mile "Cove to Cove" swim off Manhattan. I realize a half mile is not much, but I have no experience swimming near there, and if I tried one of the featured races, I'd want to get a feel for what it's like before doing a longer swim.
I'm in the Philly area, and travel will depend on available time/money... preferably would be good to find swims fairly nearby, but NYC isn't out of the question.
Thanks for any ideas!
Former Member
I swam it saturday morning at 7:00 am. The water was 59 degrees and the ocean was as clear as glass, but no sun to help navigate It gets choppy later in the day, but the sun is out too.
If you don't prequalify, u can't officially enter in event ... i think it's sometime in August
But it's a public beach.... no one can keep you from running in and swimming with the others. If you want the shirt, you have to officially enter.
but forget the race: it's all brass knuckes and fists. just come to Cali and swim the various beaches. Start a swimming log and add an entry for each swim like - people do when they bird watch.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Probably most if not all my swims for now will be within easy traveling distance of the Philly area ($!)--but the swims listed here do sound pretty cool and I'll bookmark the sites for future reference.
I have managed an open water swim in the ocean, even though the (most likely remote) possibility of being a shark's lunch never exactly excites me. I guess the thing with open water is to be ready to take what it throws at you... and at the same time recognize limits/comfort zones...not always staying within them but at least having a healthy sense of what's stretching them and what's going over the top.
Our date this year is August 19. The venue has changed to the Wisconsin Ironman course which is located off of Monona Terrace in downtown Madison, WI. Every year more than 2000 Ironman competitors swim this course. This year we are offering to Masters swimmers the opportunity to swim the course: either a 1.2 or 2.4 mile looped course. This is timed to be about 3-4 weeks before Ironman which will be Sept 10. This will be a USMS sanctioned Open Water competition. For information contact Peter Maternowski, meet director at mater@chorus.net or me, WIChair@usms.org Hope to see you in August!
*** Pitman
How about an earlier swim? We have a very fun 2.5 K June 24 in La Jolla CA. Its a fundraiser and although there are some competitors its friendly, 2 years ago I swam along with some pool swimmers who were intimidated by the @50 dolphins who came with us. Once they calmed down I took off.
