August 12th, the Furthest North open water swim in North America! Located in Sitka, Alaska.
Men's and women's age group and Relay divisions will be awarded trophies and ribbons.
Solo or relay 10k, 5k and 1k open water swims in Sitka Sound, with a water temperature range in the mid 50’s. The course will start at the Mount Edgecumbe High School ramp on Japonski Island. The course will then take the swimmers north out of Sitka Channel and westward along the Fort Rousseau Causeway State Historic Site and loop back to the Mt. Edgecumbe ramp to finish. A turnaround point in course will be available for those swimming the 5k and 1K distances.
Sanction pending with USMS.
Visit www.changeyourlatitude.org for more information.
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.
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.
