I am hoping to do my first open water swim this summer, its a one mile swim. I was looking at the past results of the event online and I am confused by some of the times. The winning time was 15:30, that is moving pretty good. However there was a 67 year old man who finished it in just over 20 minutes (kudos to him). And 75% of the people who swam it did it under 25 minutes and this includes a lot of 50-60 year olds. Is it possible the course really isnt a mile? Or do I need to ramp up my training?
Former Member
We like to keep it a secret but we OW swimmers are REALLY fast! None of that pushing off the wall to make us faster. We just don't need that kind of crutch.
No 2 open water courses are the same, whether it is the same venue or a different one. Some long, some short & once in a while the right length. Combine that with different surface and wind conditions and you quickly realize it's about the race not the time. If I may be so bold to say, it is one of the reasons we like it.
I am hoping to do my first open water swim this summer, its a one mile swim. I was looking at the past results of the event online and I am confused by some of the times. The winning time was 15:30, that is moving pretty good. However there was a 67 year old man who finished it in just over 20 minutes (kudos to him). And 75% of the people who swam it did it under 25 minutes and this includes a lot of 50-60 year olds. Is it possible the course really isnt a mile? Or do I need to ramp up my training?
many an open water are far shorter, or far longer, than advertised... sometimes problematic but typically simply an idiosyncracy or character of the race itself.
winds, current, air and water temperature conspire both with and against us in any given open water event. loop courses set wrong quckly magnify their errors.
i do imagine your particular course was short but any of a number of parameters might have benefitted swimmers.
Did that OW swim allow wet suits? That will improve times too.
i have no idea if they allowed wetsuits. i have read that they can help though. thanks everyone for the input. i am going to concentrate more on finishing the race rather than trying to compete.
There was a current and they swam with the current, 98% chance that is the answer, particularly since the win and slowest times were so close together.
Is this by chance one of the now york city swims in the Hudson?
Happened to me my first year, I figured I would be the last person across.
I wasn't by a long shot.
no this was a swim on the jersey shore. i am pretty sure it was an ocean swim.
I'm sure it was not a cable race , the wire measures the distance. Most are just a good guess as to the distance.
I would hope these days that at the very least people make use of an inexpensive GPS when laying out a course.
I just started with a swim coach this year cause I am doing 10k and hope to get up to marathon distance(23 miles) soon. If your in the pool one way to help your speed is to count your strokes every length if your stroke rate starts to drop in the next length then you know your slowing down. It not fun but it make your stroke pace very even, so then when your in the open water you build an even steady pace.The lower you can get your stork rate swimming the full mile in the pool the faster you will get at open water. Good luck to you this is a wonderful and fun sport you will get so addicted.
I would hope these days that at the very least people make use of an inexpensive GPS when laying out a course.
Bob - GPS can still be a little dodgy... setting buoys in a range of water depths, impact of wind, current and flow... the physics of length of line and anchor weight... in addition, you're attempting to set these bouys and establish satellite link from a bobbing cork.
i chased a buoy once in an out-and-back 5-mile swim in Texas... after marking the buoy for a fair distance and swimming toward the buoy, I changed my tack and headed to intercept the buoy. Wind-action on the buoy was dragging the anchor along the bottom.
after completing the swim in approximately 3 hours, I just laughed at the moment... it would be a lot less amusing to have similar circumstances in San Francisco Bay.
i chased a buoy once in an out-and-back 5-mile swim in Texas... after marking the buoy for a fair distance and swimming toward the buoy, I changed my tack and headed to intercept the buoy. Wind-action on the buoy was dragging the anchor along the bottom.
after completing the swim in approximately 3 hours, I just laughed at the moment... it would be a lot less amusing to have similar circumstances in San Francisco Bay.
I've got to laugh at that one. Sorry. Points well taken.
The worst I ever had was swimming a down and back where the current on the return leg was like walking on a moving sidewalk - the wrong way. The people who weren't fast enough could not make any headway and just swam to shore and walked back.
