Did the Pacific Open Water Challenge in Long Beach yesterday. Haven't been training long long yet, so opted for the 1 mile swim. They were still setting up the buoys as the RD was describing the course. "Are those big round ones the buoys?" "No, the triangular yellow ones....... waaaaaaaaaaaaaay down the beach." I've done a bunch of Half ironmans, Alcatraz, 2 mile pier to piers, that wasn't no mile we were looking at.
Ah well, no big deal, since everyone has to swim the same distance. I know OWS are often off, but almost double? Someone in an official looking shirt said she heard it was 1.7, and i also heard someone apparently had a garmin measuring 1,7, but since there was no buoy between the start buoy and about .75 of a mile, sighting was all over the place, so who knows. Looking at my usual 100 yard pace, it was somewhere between 1.5 and 1.7 miles.
I didn't time the swim, and didn't look at the clock when I got out, so other than "gee, this seems a little long," it didn't bother me much (and doesn't now). Looks like the guards lined the buoys up with guard towers, just the wrong ones. Lucky for the 5K swimmers they moved them way in, lined up with the next closer set of towers. Otherwise they were looking at a good 4-5 mile swim.
Winning time was THIRTY minutes for the "mile." Friend was 12 minutes off last year's time. I was happy, won 40-44 AG with a ridiculous 37!
Former Member
Yes, the course length will be corrected next year. FINA World Cup officials will visit Long Beach on July 23 (this year) to inspect the course and to discuss issues brought up by participants in this year's race. The course setting and course design are the major issues to be discussed with the FINA officials. The course was set correctly the night before, but the buoys moved throughout the day and were not precisely adjusted thereafter.
1.7 versus 1 miles seems like a lot but I always expect a lot of variability in race distances--and time for completion. Even if the distance is correct, with water conditions, temperature and currents, you need to just swim the race and be glad its the same for everyone. I've seen races where the buouys floated even in precisely placed originally. One summer we had two races close together where my time was 30 minutes for both--one was billed as a one mile and one was billed as a 2 mile. I've done Waikiki several times and I think my times have varied from :52 minutes to 1:29--which is conditions effecting me more than my conditioning effecting me since that course doesn't vary from year to year.
I suspect from Steve's comments that FINA is less laissez-faire for their sanctioned events distances(which makes sense).
I don't mean to minimize your experience but I really find uncertainty to be one of the joys of open water swimming.
Thanks Steve. You say the course was set the night before? I guess buoys weren't out until Sunday? Only reason I ask is that as the RD was describing the course (if you were there, it was just moments before the Male 1 mile start) that the Lifeguard boat was still out moving the 3d turn buoy into place. With no wind and current, hard to see how the buoys could move that far down the beach, and they didn't seem to move during the swim
Not a flame or a challenge, I guess I find it hard to believe that the RD didn't show up Sun morning or look at the course and say "what the heck??" Maybe we should have
At any rate, I think it's a good location for an OWS (despite the slightly oily tasting water) and, other than a few delays, is a pretty good event, I am glad So Cal has another swim. It needs another year or two to season fully and get going on all cylinders though.
1.7 versus 1 miles seems like a lot but I always expect a lot of variability in race distances...
I don't mean to minimize your experience but I really find uncertainty to be one of the joys of open water swimming.
yeah but a 70% margin of error? that'd be like signing up for a half-marathon and then running 22 miles when all was said and done... wow, what a surprise at the finish line that would be...
understanding that there are conditions (wind, swell, etc.) that affect your swim are one thing... those are the uncertainties i enjoy in open water, and frankly what makes open water exciting for me... but you at least hope the distance is somewhere in the ballpark to let you compare your performance to past races...
i'm not sure how it all affected the 1/2 mile course, but looking at the results (and comparing last year's results) it must have... i did the aquathon, and i was pretty shocked to see my time coming out of the water heading to transition...
overall i think the pacific open water event was a great event... i loved the k9 splash and dash (that little yorkie was fast, but i think he got some help with the swim!)... i will definitely do it again next year, i might even try to enter multiple events like the guy that did the 1/2 mile followed by the 5k... i just hope they pay a little more attention to marking out the swim distance so i don't end up doing a 10k! :-)
That terrier was awesome, especially since i was laughing at him at the start. And the poodle finished second! All the "water" dogs seemed to be interested in having fun rather than racing
I was at the one mile race also. It was a long swim. Could it be the problem was that the buoys were set for the 5K race scheduled later that day. Two laps would have been ~5K. It was disappointing that course was not measured correctly.
One more thought on the 1.7? mile swim. The water temperature was quite comfortable for the race, ~66 degrees. Although wet suits were allowed for the event, they were not necessary. Myself, I am not a competitive swimmer. I am just a lap swimmer at the pool who tries to maintain a baseline of physical fitness. This was my first one (1.7?) mile ocean event, done without a wet suit. My 17 year old son also swam this event without a wet suit.
For those who are competive, it's an advantage to wear a wet suit, no doubt. I think this event and shorter events that are swam at this location, at this time of year, don't require a wet suit. The Huntington Beach Pier swim and Seal Beach 1 mile swim are non wet suit events. Also for a race which is swimming event only and not combined swimming with some other event (running or biking), at the very least should have two categories of swimmer (wet suit and non wet suit).
