I swam the relay part of the long course at the Great Floridian last weekend. It was a blast 2.4! The water was warm and tasted kinda of sweet.
I can not wait until my next open water swim!
2.4 is respectable. I raced what were marathons. Short race 10 miles. Long races 28 to 33 miles. Most races from 15 miles to 25 miles, lots 26 miles, 385 yards / 42.26 kilometers. Races in Egypt water very warm. It is funny I shivered more after the warm water swims then I did after cold water swims. Maybe because of dehydration. My last long race was in 1971.
I swam the relay part of the long course at the Great Floridian last weekend. It was a blast 2.4! The water was warm and tasted kinda of sweet.
I can not wait until my next open water swim!
Congratulations! I know you were bummed about missing the Ohio River OWS of the same distance this summer. Maybe I'll see you around next season.
My next biggie will be my first 10K. A double-crossing of Pensacola Bay (Florida) in May.
The Channel swim nowis a money makingskeam for escort boatmen.
i couldn't disagree more with this statement.
two friends and i swam a three person relay with pilot mike oram on sept 19th 2009. TL and i thought it would be a good way to learn the ropes and meet the people who could help organize and advise us about the procedures and training required to complete a solo crossing... we have both scheduled a solo for 2010. an added benefit of participating in the relay was getting to spend time observing the actions of our pilot, first mate and CS&PF observer while my relay mates were in the water.
our swim took 11hrs 4mins, but our pilot had been planning our swim for days, and it still took another 3 hours to return to dover.
the channel is a rather busy place... ferries, commercial shipping, fisherman, leisure craft, and yes swimmer escort boats crowd the waterway; wind, waves and currents are always on the change; add the human factor... a swimmer... to this equation and you can easily see that the crew have their hands full with the first objective which is to keep their swimmer(s) safe. the second objective is to get their swimmer across the channel in the shortest amount of time. that means taking constant measurements of swimmer speed, tidal push, etc and readjusting the heading every 15 minutes or so.
the first time you see a tanker or a ferry or a cruise ship from a swimmers vantage point, you know that the fees they charge are a bargain.
During my daughters channel swim in 2008, it was 10 hrs and 34 minutes of hard a## work by the captain and his crew man. after the trip it was almost 4hrs back. I paid $5,000. Dont feel like they made out like fat rats, it cost some money to operate their boat for 15 hrs. and she is faster than most. I would agree that it is obtainiable by many people if they trained for it, did the ice cube baths to get use to the cold....but still many who could dont or wont...those that do show a resolve to be admired... I think it is still a big deal...as is marathon swimming in big races against famous opponents...hats off to you George.
You were not able to hold onto anything. You could tread water to take a drink but not allowed to touch the side of a boat. You maybe stopped for 15 seconds to take down nourishment.
There were also two 2 man relays. One a 24 hour swim an another 30 hour swim.one swimmer in the water who would swim one or more, laps around a small lake. In one race I had to swim 23 times around the little lake as my partner was not able to swim because he was too cold and had cramps.
No wet suits - they were considered floating devices. Yes I read a little bit of the book, I am afraid I am a non admirer of Individual Swims. When I swam the Marathon races it was not to swim from here to there, it was to win prize money.
When I see that someone has crossed the English Channel I do not get excited. I know anyone who can swim can do it. My interest would be tweeked if it was a race across the channel and someone won the prize money. The Channel swim now is a money making scheme for escort boatmen.
