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?
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.
Right before I did my first river swim last year, I asked this board for advice. They said that mid-river was stronger current so try to go down stream towards the middle of the river and upstream near the shore.
Unfortunately the course was laid out in such a way that upstream was one third into the middle of the river and down stream was almost at the shore. If the motto in The Princess Bride is "fight to the pain" then the motto of that swim was "swim to the puke". I didn't, but I wanted to. The funny thing was that I still finished several minutes ahead of someone who would swim much faster than I in the Big Shoulders one month later.
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?
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.
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.
I do appreciate a good effort with buoy set... sometimes persons aren't even close.
I'm very appreciative too when current and flows are spot-on but there are factors that impact these besides tidal cycles.
The Pacific Northwest seems to offer numerous open water swims - I envy the opportunities... best of luck with bobswims- very cool - and a great 2010!
swimthegoodfight
Thanks for the kind words. Please encourage all your friends to visit bobswims. It is a multi-year effort, but I am trying to put a lot of effort into the fundraising part of it. I hope that as I go forward with the big swims the fundraising will gain some momentum. Every little donation helps.
Bob Bruce does a great job putting on the OW swims here in Oregon. Unfortunately I have not been able to squeeze in as many as I'd like. 2 years ago I returned to competing by way of triathlons. I began to realize while I loved training outdoors for triathlons, my favorite part of the race was the swim so I have been doing more OW racing (no interest in the pool).
The variables in Open Water swimming can be great. A good example is the Waikiki Rough water swim. I believe it's been the same start/finish for a couple of decades, it's a 2.4 mile race that attracts some of the best OW swimmers in the World that in a controlled setting would all be very close to each other. Last year 2009, the overall winning time was just above 42 minutes in 2003 the winning time was 1:04 minutes plus. A difference of 22 minutes. Can you say currents? Which of course is what makes it fun.
see link to results
www.waikikiroughwaterswim.com/race.html
no this was a swim on the jersey shore. i am pretty sure it was an ocean swim.
Jimmy, as the NJLMSC Open Water Chairman, I'm sure that many of the Jersey Shore ocean swims - while lots of fun to swim in - don't measure their course exactly. More than a few of them have swum the same course year after year and perhaps they never gave measuring the course any serious thought.
Then again, weather conditions in the area can change in a matter of hours (or less). Wind, tides, currents, etc. can make one ocean swim incredibly fast one year and then incredibly slow the next year.
Currents are the worst ! Inland lakes also have them !
I knew it!! Last year, I thought I was totally shredding a 3K and ended up with a much slower time than usual. Swim felt good and I had plenty of energy, but the third leg of the triangular course (had to be done 4X) felt like I was swimming a bit up stream as if in a slow moving river.
