24 Mile Tampa Bay Marathon Swim on April 23, 2011

I was keenly aware of the conditions, and the temperature readings indicated 81F at Albert Whited which is at the far western edge of the Bay and in very shallow water. Over the flats, off of Weeden Island, I am sure it was at least a couple of degrees higher, but the swimmer also gets heated by the ample sunshine so I'm sure it felt like it was over 88F. Still, we were under the maximum allowable for both water and air temp. Not optimal by any means, but certainly within the legal range. In fact, while we had 3 swimmers retire due to sea sickness, the 4th one actually had to stop due to hypothermia and was shaking like a leaf when she boarded her support boat. The race is held at this time of year to avoid the hot water, but this year we went straight from winter to summer temps so it was unusually warm. We did have one other year over 80F, another was about 68F, but most years we are about 75F. By the way, due to recent restrictions (which I've pushed for, seemingly forever) the Ft. Myers race has been relocated to Ft. Lauderdale. Good move, but even with that change they're not going to be competing in optimal conditions. Ron, I have never suggested that this race was conducted in temperature conditions that exceeded the limits. In fact before the race I laid out what I thought was the worse case scenario, and concluded that it would be well within the maximum water temperature AND the maximum combined water and air temperatures. The race day temperatures were better than my worse case scenario, so that is not my point. However, I stand by my comments and observations. And while we are on the topic, in your pre-race announcements I think you consistently took the position that the water temperatures would be 79 to 80 despite my pointing out the readings being reported at St Petersburg (82). The only place nearby that I saw 79 was at Clearwater in the open Gulf. Nevertheless, I planned for hotter temperatures because my analysis was that it would be at least 82 in the water and the air temperature might be as high as 92. The measures I took were successful, and as you saw with my finish sprint, I felt great at the end. However, I can't speak for all of the other competitors. I can only speak to what I experienced. As for the swimmer that retired because of hyperthermia, I am again surprised that you don't know that the night before she was sick and didn't eat anything almost the entire day. She also started getting cold within the first 30 minutes to an hour and endured it for as long as she could. Before you use a swimmer's reason for abandoning as a gauge for the temperature of the water, I'd think it would be a good idea to speak to that swimmer first. IMHO

I was keenly aware of the conditions, and the temperature readings indicated 81F at Albert Whited which is at the far western edge of the Bay and in very shallow water. Over the flats, off of Weeden Island, I am sure it was at least a couple of degrees higher, but the swimmer also gets heated by the ample sunshine so I'm sure it felt like it was over 88F. Still, we were under the maximum allowable for both water and air temp. Not optimal by any means, but certainly within the legal range. In fact, while we had 3 swimmers retire due to sea sickness, the 4th one actually had to stop due to hypothermia and was shaking like a leaf when she boarded her support boat. The race is held at this time of year to avoid the hot water, but this year we went straight from winter to summer temps so it was unusually warm. We did have one other year over 80F, another was about 68F, but most years we are about 75F. By the way, due to recent restrictions (which I've pushed for, seemingly forever) the Ft. Myers race has been relocated to Ft. Lauderdale. Good move, but even with that change they're not going to be competing in optimal conditions. Ron, I have never suggested that this race was conducted in temperature conditions that exceeded the limits. In fact before the race I laid out what I thought was the worse case scenario, and concluded that it would be well within the maximum water temperature AND the maximum combined water and air temperatures. The race day temperatures were better than my worse case scenario, so that is not my point. However, I stand by my comments and observations. And while we are on the topic, in your pre-race announcements I think you consistently took the position that the water temperatures would be 79 to 80 despite my pointing out the readings being reported at St Petersburg (82). The only place nearby that I saw 79 was at Clearwater in the open Gulf. Nevertheless, I planned for hotter temperatures because my analysis was that it would be at least 82 in the water and the air temperature might be as high as 92. The measures I took were successful, and as you saw with my finish sprint, I felt great at the end. However, I can't speak for all of the other competitors. I can only speak to what I experienced. As for the swimmer that retired because of hyperthermia, I am again surprised that you don't know that the night before she was sick and didn't eat anything almost the entire day. She also started getting cold within the first 30 minutes to an hour and endured it for as long as she could. Before you use a swimmer's reason for abandoning as a gauge for the temperature of the water, I'd think it would be a good idea to speak to that swimmer first. IMHO