The Fifteenth Annual 24 Mile Tampa Bay Marathon Swim will be held on Saturday, April 21, 2012. Entry forms for are available at www.DistanceMatters.com This 24 mile ultra-distance marathon swim race starts at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and ends on the Courtney Campbell Causeway in Tampa in a race that covers the length of Tampa Bay.
For more information, contact:
The Tampa Bay Marathon Swim
Distance Matters, Inc.
Ron Collins, Race Director
PO Box 18004
Clearwater, FL 33762-9998
727.531.7999 | www.DistanceMatters.com
Email: Collins@tampabay.rr.com
i know a few posters on this board have completed this swim... what is the tidal contribution to this swim? is this swim tougher than the manhattan island swim?
I did both in 2011 and consider Tampa to be the tougher swim, due to the longer effective distance and less predictable conditions. MIMS can be challenging in terms of water temperature (depending on how early in June it's held), and also the Hudson can get choppy in the afternoon.
In theory, there is a slight tidal assist for TBMS. According to the NOAA, on 4/23/2011 the flood tide maxed out at a little under a quarter of a knot (7 meters/minute). By comparison, at one point in the East River I was "swimming" 7 mph.
Last year I did a historical analysis of the success rates in the two swims between 1999 (the first year of TBMS) and 2010. Tampa had a 53% success rate, compared to 90% for MIMS. Some of that is probably due to MIMS' selection process (and presumably stricter standard for entry)... however I think it's revealing data nonetheless.
All that being said... I highly recommend both swims. Ron Collins and Morty Berger are two of the finest race directors I've had the pleasure of meeting.
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www.freshwaterswimmer.com
i know a few posters on this board have completed this swim... what is the tidal contribution to this swim? is this swim tougher than the manhattan island swim?
I did both in 2011 and consider Tampa to be the tougher swim, due to the longer effective distance and less predictable conditions. MIMS can be challenging in terms of water temperature (depending on how early in June it's held), and also the Hudson can get choppy in the afternoon.
In theory, there is a slight tidal assist for TBMS. According to the NOAA, on 4/23/2011 the flood tide maxed out at a little under a quarter of a knot (7 meters/minute). By comparison, at one point in the East River I was "swimming" 7 mph.
Last year I did a historical analysis of the success rates in the two swims between 1999 (the first year of TBMS) and 2010. Tampa had a 53% success rate, compared to 90% for MIMS. Some of that is probably due to MIMS' selection process (and presumably stricter standard for entry)... however I think it's revealing data nonetheless.
All that being said... I highly recommend both swims. Ron Collins and Morty Berger are two of the finest race directors I've had the pleasure of meeting.
-------
www.freshwaterswimmer.com
