Hi all,
A while back I mentioned a swim I want to do in August--a 5.25 mile swim across the Great South Bay. (For more info, here's the link: www.greatsouthbayswim.com.)
One thing I'm curious about: In looking at a map of the course (with depth notations), I notice that it goes through some pretty shallow water. Most sections are maybe 8-12 feet deep, but there were some sandbars where the depth seems to be maybe 2-3 feet. I assume swimmers are guided around these, but what happens if you're swimming in an event like this and you "run aground" as it were? As a runner, I jokingly tell friends that's when it turns into a footrace. ;)
But I assume there are other strategies more acceptable to swimmers so I just was wondering what you hit some really shallow water. Go to walking/running mode until you can reach deeper area? Swim as much as possible until you hit deeper water?
To be honest, I'd like to know I could swim the whole thing, since that's what I'm setting out for, and seems as if anything else isn't quite as "real."
Thanks for your input!
You should have little problem swimming in water in 2 – 3 feet of water. In 2 feet of water you may need to slightly adjust your stroke, keeping your hand a little closer to your body, or do a few dolphins, otherwise you should be fine.
A funny story:
A triathlete friend of mine competed in a half ironman a few years back. The swim leg was in the Hudson river and about 1/3 of the swim was in water 2' deep or less. Most of the field stood up and plodded their way through, but my buddy said he was just reaching down and pulling himself along on all the sea (river)weed. Turns out he had one of his fastest 1.2 mile "swims" to date.
Hmm... I've seen seaweed in the bay but never thought to hitch a ride.... Usu. find it's a barrier, but hey the triathlete guy took a creative approach... gotta give him credit for that. ;)
I think there won't be too much of a problem w/ shallow water, despite my referring to "lots of" sandbars. The Great South Bay veers toward the shallow side, though, so I do have to keep that in mind. When I was a kid, I used to go to Fire Island w/ my family, and some of the activities while there included sailing, which meant at various times learning to get the boat off sandbars. Also we derived a great deal of entertainment watching coast guard boats run aground.
