I'll be in the 1.2 mile fat salmon open water race in Seattle tomorrow (7/14/07). Open water swimming is new for me, although I think this distance should be okay for a first time. As a USS swimmer 20 years ago I was mainly a mid-to-long distance swimmer. I have practiced swimming in lake washington a few times to get used to my wetsuit, and last weekend I swam the same distance as the race, in a different part of the lake. I've been pool swimming for the last 6 weeks since joining a masters team and seem to have gotten into okay shape, although I doubt I'll be very close to my times from 20 years ago, and of course pool times are not comparable to open water times.
Are there any guidelines for how how open water times would compare to pool times (i.e. 10, 20% slower, etc)?
I swam today, too. Great conditions! The water was about 70 degrees I think. Definitely no need for a wetsuit. I swam well and finished fourth in the non-wetsuit 3 miler division. I didn't realize I was so close to the leaders, but the first place finisher was only about ten seconds ahead of me! There was a group of wetsuit guys out a few minutes ahead of us, though. I'm usually good at staying on course, but today there were a couple times I got in too close to shore and had to correct a little bit. I will say I was very happy to see the finish line. I think I held a good pace, but I was definitely struggling to keep my stroke long the last half mile at least.
Glad you participated and hard fun, David! At the pre-race meeting it looked like a majority of the swimmers were there for the first time. That's great to see.
I swam today, too. Great conditions! The water was about 70 degrees I think. Definitely no need for a wetsuit. I swam well and finished fourth in the non-wetsuit 3 miler division. I didn't realize I was so close to the leaders, but the first place finisher was only about ten seconds ahead of me! There was a group of wetsuit guys out a few minutes ahead of us, though. I'm usually good at staying on course, but today there were a couple times I got in too close to shore and had to correct a little bit. I will say I was very happy to see the finish line. I think I held a good pace, but I was definitely struggling to keep my stroke long the last half mile at least.
Glad you participated and hard fun, David! At the pre-race meeting it looked like a majority of the swimmers were there for the first time. That's great to see.
