Change Your Latitude - 57* North Open Water Challenge

Interesting. Is it even possible for a swim requiring wetsuits (except with written permission by a "coach or open water training coordinator," whatever that means) to receive a USMS sanction? OP states "sanction pending by USMS," yet website states: "The northernmost US Masters sanctioned open water race." Need further clarification...

was excited - probably because I'm nearly finished with Bill Streever's Cold - until i read on the race website that "Wetsuits are required ...". 4 sentence in 3rd paragraph here: changeyourlatitude.org/.../

was excited - probably because I'm nearly finished with Bill Streever's Cold - until i read on the race website that "Wetsuits are required ...". 4 sentence in 3rd paragraph here: changeyourlatitude.org/.../ under "safety" it says this: All individual competitors not wearing a wetsuit must submit witnessed proof of a continuous one (1) hour swim in water at or below 60 degrees Fahrenheit. A letter by the individual’s swim coach or open water training coordinator attesting to the competitor’s ability to complete a swim in these conditions will be accepted. conflicting info.... i'd contact the event director

I find it odd that the predicted water temp for the event is mid 50's but the non-wetsuit qualifying swim is only 1 hour @ 60 degrees. Every other swim I've seen that requires a temperature qualifier assigns a temperature = to or

I'm confused. There already is a Sitka Sound 5k and 10k, part of the Alaska Open Water Series: openwaterpedia.com/index.php Aug. 12, the date proposed for the "57 deg. Open Water Challenge" by O.P., is the same day, Aug. 12, as this year's Pennock Island Challenge, an established OW swim. :confused:

Evmo, chaos & Geog, I am one of the instigators of the CYL 57 deg N Open water swim event in Sitka, Alaska. I was also a participant in the first two Sitka Sound Adventure Swims. No Limits/SSAS has passed the batton for organizing an open water swim in Sitka to the Baranof Baracuda Swim Club--the local club I helped found in '79. As this is the first year the BBSC masters group is running the open water swim event, we are learning things as we go along. As an open water swimmer myself in Oregon, I greatly disliked the previous course and the issues that course presented from the swimmers point of view. The new course around the north side of Japonski Island is like nothing you have ever done anywhere else. I've swum most of the course several times and if weather is cooperative, participants will be in for a real treat. Safety is our top concern and that is why there is currently confusion over qualifications and swim attire. Nothing is finalized yet, so we could use your input. I have been pushing for the wetsuit requirement because this would be the first event on this course, and the first event of its kind organized by our group. The water is cold and the route around Japonski has no adjacent roads--though we do pass by the Coast Guard Air Station and the airport runway. If any problems occur due to hypothermia, it must be addressed by our flotilla of kayaks and power boats. We've had issues with hypothermia in participants in previous races, so we are very concerned about making sure everyone is safe--and has a blast navigating the course and taking in the killer views of Mt. Edgecombe, Arrowhead and the three Sisters, among others. If all goes well this first year and our group feels it is safe to open up the event to naked swimmers, then I'd be the first to jump forward to make that happen. Let's keep this conversation going and maybe you can play a big part in helping us prepare for the wet-suit-averse crowd.

Thanks Kris for jumping in to the discussion here and helping clarify the confusion and contradictory information that I have out there on the website. Currently working on getting that straightened out. Apologies! As Kris mentioned we are really excited about the new adventure we (and I keep saying we as I am a. the race director b. a BBSC master swimmer and c. the BBSC interim head coach ) have embarked on in taking on the 2012 swim. One other thing I would love to hear from people about is whether or not I have my info correct on this being the furthest north sanctioned swim. I know we don't actually have our sanction yet, still working on final details on some of the paperwork, and I am assuming that we will be sanctioned as the swim was sanctioned last year. I know there are a couple of lake and river swims up north but to my knowledge those haven't been sanctioned before, and they aren't listed anywhere as happening this year either. any knowledge out there? I want to get this right and not steal anyones thunder... nor make any ourselves if its not so. thanks all! Kevin

In general, it would seem that allowing or mandating wetsuits would change the applicant pool, but not necessarily the risk of temperature related medical emergencies. I suspect the number of applicants would increase, and then, since the field seems to be limited to a very small number of swimmers, the organizers could be more selective. However, there would be fewer cold-acclimated swimmers in the applicant pool. If the goal is to promote OW among Sitka residents, then mandating wetsuits would make sense, at least to me. Also, many skin swimmers start out as wetsuit swimmers. One way to reduce liability is to offer money-back if the swimmer chooses not to go out that day, for any reason. Mandated/optional/disallowed? Tough call. I suspect you've thought about all this. Anyway, hope this paragraph helps. I did a bit of google'n regarding furtherest north ... is that US or Worldwide? I became distracted by Indigo Lake (and the numerous others. do any of the craters on Kruzof Island hold water?). en.wikipedia.org/.../Indigo_Lake Wow! There's a boatload of opportunities that rival Oregon's! If I were to make it to Sitka for any reason, a swim in Indigo would be a must :) how about a Hike-Paddle-Swim event starting in Bear Cove on day 2?

The CYL 57dN swim dates were set before we knew the dates of Pennock swim. August was our preference as many of the open water events in the "southern 48" are over with, and it is a great month for visitors to catch fish and watch the runs of humpies going upstream--and consequent opportunities for brown bear viewing. The week and day was set because of favorable tides in the morning when chance of winds are minimized. (Remember this is the real deal--not a lake) When run under the SSAS banner for the past two years, the only swimmers to do both Pennock and Sitka swim were event organizers. Since we are contemplating a wetsuit only event, and little interest in Pennock participants to do major swims in Alaska back to back, we didn't worry too much about Pennocks schedule. Geog, I need some clarification on why you are saying that the wetsuit requirement would not diminish the chance of temperature related medical emergencies. In a wetsuit I float like a sea otter, and I'm reasonably comfortable all things considered. All the folks participating in the past years events without wetsuits, sometimes only half the distance I had swum, required far more recovery time and one of my primary challengers--a strapping young collegiate swimmer who thought "there was no glory in swimming with a wetsuit"--had to be pulled early due to hypothermic symptoms. I'm open to being educated, but my experience and common sense tells me that the margin of safety is significantly improved by wearing wetsuit in a cold-water swim event. There are countless reasons to visit Sitka in the summer once you start to explore the options. Our goal is not only to promote OW swimming by locals, but also to bring in out-of-towners for a "cool" swim and a great family experience in one of Alaska's crown jewels. We are not called Alaska's "Emerald-by-the-Sea" for nothing.

So is this swim the same day as Pennock?