Sunday, August 31, 2008

Fort Point Swim and Video

As a primer for the Golden Gate crossing next week I signed up for the Dolphin Club's Fort Point swim. It is a 3.5 mile costal swim starting outside the Golden Gate Bridge and finishing at the Dolphin Club. It is the longest and most difficult Dolphin Club swim of the year. Of the over 800 Dolphin Club members, as of Friday afternoon, only 12 had committed to the swim.

I had a tough time sleeping the night before the swim and awoke a few minutes before my alarm rang out a 6 a.m. I flipped on the television to bring some normalcy to the morning. This was a mistake. . .

The more attractive and less poised, weekend announcer read from her tele-prompter in a serious monotone, "A second great white shark was seen at Stinson beach yesterday resulting in a 4-day beach closure. According to scientist, the great whites migrate up the California coast during this time of year and are visible from the surface of the water as they hunt for Seals. If your holiday weekend includes a trip to the beach, stay out of the water."

Immediately awake, I found myself sitting a full attention with the remote in my hand. I thought to myself, "The distance from Stinson Beach to the start of the swim is shorter than the distance from the start of the swim back to the club." After 20 minutes of soul searching I headed out to my car. I knew if I backed out of this swim, I'd likely to back out of the swim next week and I wasn't going to let that happen.

2 hours later I was being tossed around on a small boat just beyond the Golden Gate bridge. There was dense fog on the air and it was cold. If the fog lifted, I would have a clear view of the beach where the two shark had been seen. I stared hard into the fog bank. As we waited to jump into the bay, I scanned the surface of the water for any threats. The water was really rough in the open bay and I was beginning to feel a bit queezy. As the horn sounded, signaling the jump, I was felt really vulnerable. Wide-eyed, I spied the waters around the boat once more.

Out of the dark waters rose a dark black fin. I quickly looked to the aft of the boat and several swimmers were already jumping over board! I turned back and peered again though the foggy window. Two more fins appeared, closer this time. Three fins became, six. . . . it was a pod of dolphins! A swimmers sign that the water is safe! Somewhat reassured, I pressed my goggles against my face and dove over board.

Once in the water, I swam toward the South Tower of the Golden Gate. It was the first time I had been under the Golden Gate and was an exciting preview of things to come. The water was relatively warm for San Francisco Bay, however there were some cold spots. Mentally, I broke the swim up into for distances - the bridge to Crissy Field, then to the Palace of Fine Arts, then to the Yacht Club, then to Aquatic Park.

It was a long hard swim. I felt strong throughout, but had little left when I arrived at the beach. According to my Kobold watch, my total swim time was 1:45. I am really proud of this swim. I was focused and strong throughout.

A very talented and brave paddle surfer from the club took some video of the swim. It is edited and shows bits and pieces of the entire swim.

Video of yesterday's Fort Point swim shot from the surfboard cam:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzFzFro109w





Kent Meyer's webpage. . .

web: www.papaya.net
blog: www.papaya.net/wordpress

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

"Sharky"


My knee has continued to be an issue on the bike, so I've been swimming a lot. The Golden Gate swim is two weeks away. This Saturday is the Fort Point swim. It a 3.5 mile coastal swim and should be a great opportunity to tune things up for the Golden Gate attempt. There will be 12 other folks participating in the Fort Point swim. It is the longest Dolphin Club swim of the year.

Persistent knee pain has been very frustrating, but it has allowed me to make a new friend. Alex is a physical therapist who also participated in Iron April. He has been helping me rehabilitate my knee. Last night he invited me for a sunset bay swim.

The bay was in full flood conditions, so the water was approximately 9 feet above low tide. The winds were whipping and there was a strong flood current. The sunlight was fading and the chop created weird shadows in the waves. Midway through the swim I got really "sharky".

"Sharky" is one of two things - 1) an irrational fear of sharks or 2) a sixth sense about a shark in the water. We avoided the opening of the bay and circled back through the ships and arrived safely at the beach.

This morning this was in our local paper. . .

The waters off Stinson Beach are closed until sunset Friday because of a shark sighting over the weekend, officials said Monday.

A surfer who previously worked as a National Park Service lifeguard spotted a shark, 8 to 10 feet long, about 125 yards offshore at 7 p.m. Sunday, said park spokesman Rich Weideman.

The shark, possibly a great white, was north of the beach's main lifeguard tower.

Signs have been posted warning visitors to stay out of the water until Friday.

The last shark sighting at the beach was this spring, Weideman said.

Such sightings prompt an immediate three-day restriction, as sharks typically feed for several days in a given area, he said. The park service decided to add on two extra days this time as a buffer.


Stintson is a couple of miles (7?) from where we were swimming. So, I'm sure we were safe.

However, the Golden Gate is a lot closer to Stintson - 3 miles?

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Upcoming Swim - The Golden Gate


I’ve wanted to swim the span of the Golden Gate Bridge for over two years. If all goes well, I’ll finally get my chance next month. I’ll start at the South Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge and swim under the bridge mid-span to Finger Point Rock in Marin. The shortest distance, between these two points is 3 Km (1.85 miles). I’ll make the attempt without a wetsuit. Click on this map to see my swim route.

It is a bit unnerving swimming at the opening of the bay. It is impossible to ignore that the Farallon Islands are a mere 27 miles away from the Golden Gate. Again, I'm told there is no credible shark threat in San Francisco Bay. . . but there aren’t supposed to be whales or dolphins in the bay either and I’ve seen those. I digress.

I love the idea of a point to point, open water swim, under the Golden Gate. I’ve been waiting a long time for this one and it is almost here.

Training continues. . .