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.
After all this discussion I still don't have a firm grasp of the likely water temp in Sitka on August 12, 2012...? Race description says "mid-50s" but website also mentions "Nothing like a dip in 52˚ water." I realize it's not entirely predictable, but even some basic stats would be interesting and valuable. Something along the lines of "Average of 55, range of 52-58." What was the water temp in 2010 and 2011?
Whatever the lower end of that range is, that's the temperature swimmers would need to prepare for. If it's 52F, frankly there are only a handful of swimmers in the US who are capable of doing 10K in 52F water. How many of those folks would sign up for the CYL57* in a potential skin category? I'm guessing not more than 3. The point being - even if you offer a skin category (which I think you should), I'd guess almost everyone will enter the wetsuit category anyway.
One idea might be to offer a dedicated kayak to every "skin" 10K participant, but limit the enrollment in that category to, say 3-5.
PS, chaos, that Sweden swim looks delicious. I notice USMS member Ryan Provencher is on the 2012 enrollment list:
web.me.com/.../Anmälan.html
After all this discussion I still don't have a firm grasp of the likely water temp in Sitka on August 12, 2012...? Race description says "mid-50s" but website also mentions "Nothing like a dip in 52˚ water." I realize it's not entirely predictable, but even some basic stats would be interesting and valuable. Something along the lines of "Average of 55, range of 52-58." What was the water temp in 2010 and 2011?
Whatever the lower end of that range is, that's the temperature swimmers would need to prepare for. If it's 52F, frankly there are only a handful of swimmers in the US who are capable of doing 10K in 52F water. How many of those folks would sign up for the CYL57* in a potential skin category? I'm guessing not more than 3. The point being - even if you offer a skin category (which I think you should), I'd guess almost everyone will enter the wetsuit category anyway.
One idea might be to offer a dedicated kayak to every "skin" 10K participant, but limit the enrollment in that category to, say 3-5.
PS, chaos, that Sweden swim looks delicious. I notice USMS member Ryan Provencher is on the 2012 enrollment list:
web.me.com/.../Anmälan.html
