The Pensacola 3 Mile Bridge Swim is April 22, 2007 and registration is now open on Active.com or www.pirateswimming.org/Pensac...ridgeSwim.html.
The course has changed to be closer to the bridge due to shoreline work and we are looking to having a great social afterwards. The awards are by overall top 10 + Top Male and Top Female. We will send out certificates to all swimmers with their race time.
This is a USAT sanctioned event and wetsuit legal if the water temp is under 78.
My understanding is the same as Rob's. USAT only sanctions open water swims if they're part of a multi-sport event OR if they're held in conjunction with a training camp or clinic. I've not heard before that they'll sanction a stand alone swim. Guess I should check out the website before I pontificate though....
This is a USAT sanctioned event...
Why is an open water race being sanctioned by USAT and not USMS?
It is my understanding that USAT does not have the authority to issue sanctions for open water races, USA Swimming and USMS are the only national governing bodies that have this right.
This is a pretty fun swim. I did it a couple of years back, before the storms. Glad to see it's on again.
Wetsuit? shouldn't need one unless a strange weather front appeared. Though it's in April, it's still warm and sunny.
Why is an open water race being sanctioned by USAT and not USMS?
It is my understanding that USAT does not have the authority to issue sanctions for open water races, USA Swimming and USMS are the only national governing bodies that have this right.
My understanding is that USAT has a non-traditional category to sanctioned races. As to the matter if USMS and USA Swimming are the only ones that have the right, you need to talk with FINA and countries with their own swimming programs. If USMS wants improve it standing with triathletes with that attitude we are the only ones who can sanction any open water events need to do some research. I would have sanctioned this race this year with USMS, but not with that type of direction coming from the top.
Rob’s comments are not from a “holier than though” perspective. It is from a legal perspective. The Amateur Sports Act gave the USOC and the various NGBs the exclusive right to sanction events in their sports with a few exceptions (the NCAA, for example.) USAT has the right to sanction triathlons. Open water swimming is the prevue of USA Swimming and by assignment USMS for the older age groups. If it is a training exersize, then there should be no results published.
Leo
The Pensacola 3 Mile Bridge Swim is April 22, 2007 and registration is now open on Active.com or www.pirateswimming.org/Pensac...ridgeSwim.html.
The course has changed to be closer to the bridge due to shoreline work and we are looking to having a great social afterwards. The awards are by overall top 10 + Top Male and Top Female. We will send out certificates to all swimmers with their race time.
This is a USAT sanctioned event and wetsuit legal if the water temp is under 78.
I am new to both open water and long distance swimming. The Pensacola 3 mile bridge swim appealed to me, but I wanted to know if someone could give me an average result time, how long it takes the "middle of the pack" to finish a swim like this one, so I would have a better idea of my capabilities ( As lame as it sounds.. I don't want to be the last one out of the water). Also, there is no open-water swimming locations where I live. I have been using some of the tips on forums such as closing my eyes in the pool and focusing on different objects in my surroundings when I breathe, but ultimately do you think it would be ill-advised to go straight from pool swimming to the 3 mile race?
My wife swam it last time in 1:46.00 and she averages 1:20 per 100 training pace. She had three guys drafting off of her during the swim. The last swimmer out of the water was over three hours. The best part of the swim is there is no walls or lane lines, but a long straight bridge.
Rob’s comments are not from a “holier than though” perspective. It is from a legal perspective. The Amateur Sports Act gave the USOC and the various NGBs the exclusive right to sanction events in their sports with a few exceptions (the NCAA, for example.) USAT has the right to sanction triathlons. Open water swimming is the prevue of USA Swimming and by assignment USMS for the older age groups. If it is a training exersize, then there should be no results published.
Leo
Leo:
There are many exceptions besides the NCAA. YMCA, Senior Games, and the National High School Federation are others. Now if what your saying above is true then there are a lot of Open Water Swims conducted in this country in violation. For instance I will provide a link to one of the oldest Open Water Swims in the country that has never ever been sanctioned by either USA Swimming or USMS and that is the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim. Also any swims that are sanctioned by the World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation do not need sanctions from USA or USMS.
Here is a link and a history of results of one of the oldest open water swims in the country.
www.bayswim.com/history.html
The point I am trying to make is that there are hundreds of open water swims around the country that are not sanctioned and the host and sponsors can run them without following any sanction guidelines. I am not sure of the legality of USAT sanctioning an Open Water event separately, but others have ran Open Water Swims independent of USA and USMS for many years. Granted none of this counts for either organization objectives, but I believe no one organization has authority to stop another from running an Open Water swim.
In 1963, FINA did not object to the forming of the World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation because there was a lot of dissension between amateur and professional swimmers. FINA had no events like todays World Cup races and future Olympic events and so basically the World Professional Marathon Federation sanctioned professional marathons annually around the World. Today with everything being professional it gets a little tricky about what WPMSF can do and what it cannot do.
I remember the pro cuits from 1973 to 1979 when John Kinsella dominated them. Another swimmer who used to be a USMS swimmer and got into the WPMF because of the 1980 Olympic boycott was Paul Asmuth and I remember him saying that he liked the organization objectives and vison because the parameters were different than that of USA Swimming. The circuit was always in rough choppy water, the range in distance was 15 to 28 miles, and the water temperature was usually no higher than 63 degrees. Also the circuit was punishing because there was only a week between each event and no one really ever recovered fully from one race to the next. If you skipped races you would lose points. So by the end of the summer you have nothing to draw on and be taped out completely.
Hey everybody - this is a really fun swim. I have done it four times! The water is clean and the people are great. It's easy to tell where you are in the swim since there is a rise in the bridge midway. The swim is well supported with boats stationed the length of the course. I have finished the race between 1 hour 40 minutes and 1 hour 50 minutes. Swimmers of all ages participate age group swimmers - "experienced" swimmers. So there is a group for everybody. And there is always a good party after.:drink:
