Labor Day Weekend in NY

In addition to the Lake Quassapaug open water swims on September 5th, you also have the opportunity to participate in the pro-amateur Pagganck Mile on Governors Island (www.nycswim.org/.../Event.aspx where you can swim side-by-side (at least at the start) with Olympic 10K medalists, world open water swimming champions and professional marathon swimmers in a new one-mile swim. In addition to the John Daly Ocean Mile on September 6th, you can also watch the only professional marathon swimming race on American soil (waters) as one of the stops on the FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup. You can watch and follow nearly the entire race from only a few meters away as the world's best marathon swimmers (pro, Olympians and medalists from several countries) swim along Governors Island within view of the Statue of Liberty and lower Manhattan. USA Swimming is sending its entire national team to compete, including world 10K championship silver medalist Andrew Gemmell of Delaware (and now University of Georgia) and world 10K championship bronze medalist Fran Crippen of Philadelphia. You can watch the best American swimmers, including Olympian Chloe Sutton, take on the two British Olympic 10K medalists and top professionals from Brazil, Germany, Russia and other countries - you can see all their moves, tactics, physical contract and finish sprints up close and personal.

Details of the FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup, known as the NYC Pro Swim, can be found at www.nycproswim.com.

steve, what time is the 10k. i'm hoping to get out governors island to watch after my swim.

Any suggestions for how to get to Lake Quassapaug? Is a car required?

Any suggestions for how to get to Lake Quassapaug? Is a car required? i don't believe there is public transportation in the area. maybe car pool?

steve, what time is the 10k. i'm hoping to get out governors island to watch after my swim. You probably already found the info: it's around 5pm. Both the 9/4 and 9/6 are at Governors Island. 9/4 is around the island (makes sense), but why does the 9/6 Pro Swim run an awkward and boring small and repeating 4 loops, not even around the island? Can't they find a more interesting and meaningful 10k course in Manhattan than that, considering this is a historical international pro race in manhattan?!

There are certain advantages of the 4-loop NYC Pro Swim course: 1. It is within viewing distance of lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, two iconic locations of New York, especially for those who live outside the US. 2. Repeated loops allows for very strategic racing. The dynamic interplay between athletes on each subsequent loop is fascinating to see as positions often change. Those with good sprinting ability hang back, trying to draft and conserve energy for the end of the race. Those with confidence in their endurance try to push the pace. Because many of the athletes race against each other so often, they are always trying to out-strategize each other, from race-to-race and even between loop-to-loop. 3. A loop course allow the athletes to repeatedly pass by a stationary feeding station. Although the athletes take 2-3 gel packs in their swimsuits to consumer along the way, they also benefit from the hydration that their coaches pass to them at the feeding stations. With a point-to-point course, the logistics to pass hydration to the athletes usually means more escort boats or other logistical requirements. 4. A loop course allows spectators and media to have a better and constant view of the field and better understanding of the race dynamics and individual positions throughout the race. On the professional marathon swimming circuit, most of the races are loop courses, although there are also races that are out-and-back (e.g., around islands) or point-to-point (e.g., down a river or across a bay). The world's elite marathon swimmers ply their trade as they compete in 29 different locations around the world, from tropical islands to metropolitan settings and from warm salt oceans to cold fresh water lakes in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. It will be interesting to hear their impressions of the New York City course come September 6th.

Actually the course seems pretty good to me. First, I've done the Governor Island swim--the course is on a a neat spot with views of the Brooklyn Bridge, the New York skyline and the Statute of Liberty. So its going to be great camera-wise. Better view of NYC than of Brooklyn but that's good. Its also better for spectators on a close course because you can keep track of the swimmers in a way that's much harder to do on a point to point course or longer circuit. Doing a loop around the Island wouldn't work because they can't shut down all the island ferries for the duration of the swim. My understanding of the OW circuit is that they need and want to have pretty precise measured courses also so having it do a 2 k loop makes it easier to keep it precise. Its also a little more sheltered from tidal changes than swimming a similar course in the Hudson where the tidal shift would really effect the race even more. Finally, I think that 10k races like to have a tight loop course because of feedings and the need to have the start be at the same place as the finish. The only place that I can think which would have been better would have been a course off Coney Island where you could have a 10 k double loop between Coney Island Pier and Brighton Beach. But then you would not have the NYC skyline which I think is a big part of the course selection. Governor Island itself is a nice place to spend time and I suspect that its easier to get the use of it, then to try to cordon off part of the Manhattan shoreline for the use of the race. These are just my impressions but it does seem like a pretty good site to me, and one that could really make an impression for contestants, spectators and media.

Thanks, now I see the reasons behind. It just seemed to me swimming repetitive loops (and having the same view repetitively) would be boring for the swimmers and makes the OW swim somewhat "unreal". Swimming from one place to another 10km away would seem more real :). I didn't think about the spectators at all. Feeding is surely a good reason, though it would be more exciting to see many kayaks spread around in the ocean :)