ChrisM
Contributor
A BLAST! Did the swim Saturday in the SharkFest. Alas, no sharks, but it was a great swim. 1000 or so swimmers met at Aquatic Park and tromped through Fisherman's Wharf in wetsuits and speedos to the Blue and Gold Ferries. Once to Alcatraz, we jumped off the boat right near the ferry dock, two by two on each side of the ferry, and swam, towards the start. It wasn't that cold, and by the time I reached the start area, it was actually pretty comfortable.
The horn went off and we started at a slack tide, moving to an outgoing tide. This was the largest swim start I've been in, lots of bodies flailing, kicking, jostling. I eventually found some clear water but ran into a bunch of folks during the swim. As a result of the tides, we had to sight for the TransAmerica bldg, which is way to the left of Aquatic Park. I swim left naturally anyway, so I ended up being on the left of the pack the whole way. I was also paranoid about missing the opening and having to be rescued (or worse yet, riding the current under the Golden Gate Bridge all the way to the Farallons and meeting the Landlord
)
It was a fun swim over, and I wasn't too far off the back of the buoy boat, so I sighted off of that for the most part. My line was good, moving my target a little right every few minutes to accoutn for the tides, eventually aiming right for the masted ship the Balclutha right at the park entrance. I stopped concentrating for just a minute, and the next time I looked up I didn't recognize what I was seeing. Sh**, the right side of the park opnening, and the current was moving at a good clip, to the right, away from the entrance. I started swimming back to the entrance, and wasn't moving much, the sign on my right stayed where it was. I had to sprint for about 30 seconds to swim against the current and make the opening. A friend had to get picked up and repositioned to finish the swim, as did a couple hundred others.
Once inside, it was nice and calm and after 200 yards or so the sprint to the finish began. I finished at 34:45, way ahead of my goal of 40:00 (based on last year's times, every swim is different), and was 9/89 in my AG (M35-39), 70th overall in men's wetsuit (yes, there is a nonwetsuit division - actually it was not so cold that a wetsuit was necessary), and 83/685 overall wetsuits.
If anyone is into swimming and wants a mini-adventure, I highly recommend it!
Chris
The horn went off and we started at a slack tide, moving to an outgoing tide. This was the largest swim start I've been in, lots of bodies flailing, kicking, jostling. I eventually found some clear water but ran into a bunch of folks during the swim. As a result of the tides, we had to sight for the TransAmerica bldg, which is way to the left of Aquatic Park. I swim left naturally anyway, so I ended up being on the left of the pack the whole way. I was also paranoid about missing the opening and having to be rescued (or worse yet, riding the current under the Golden Gate Bridge all the way to the Farallons and meeting the Landlord
)It was a fun swim over, and I wasn't too far off the back of the buoy boat, so I sighted off of that for the most part. My line was good, moving my target a little right every few minutes to accoutn for the tides, eventually aiming right for the masted ship the Balclutha right at the park entrance. I stopped concentrating for just a minute, and the next time I looked up I didn't recognize what I was seeing. Sh**, the right side of the park opnening, and the current was moving at a good clip, to the right, away from the entrance. I started swimming back to the entrance, and wasn't moving much, the sign on my right stayed where it was. I had to sprint for about 30 seconds to swim against the current and make the opening. A friend had to get picked up and repositioned to finish the swim, as did a couple hundred others.
Once inside, it was nice and calm and after 200 yards or so the sprint to the finish began. I finished at 34:45, way ahead of my goal of 40:00 (based on last year's times, every swim is different), and was 9/89 in my AG (M35-39), 70th overall in men's wetsuit (yes, there is a nonwetsuit division - actually it was not so cold that a wetsuit was necessary), and 83/685 overall wetsuits.
If anyone is into swimming and wants a mini-adventure, I highly recommend it!
Chris
