I picked up Bob around 9:00 and headed down to Aquatic Park. We brought all the kayaking gear down to the beach and were surprised to see Nobu! He had come to cheer me on in the qualifying swim. What an awesome guy. I was the first swimmer to check in. We had to wait an hour before the other swimmers arrived. Then, we were fully briefed on the swim route and conditions. Here is a picture of Nobu and Bob (Please click the pictures, they are so much better full size!).
Nobu took this picture of Bob and I on the beach. Bob is an awesome kayaker. We once logged over 20 miles of kayaking together during the Boston Balance Bar 24 Hour Adventure Race. His kayak experience was tested today as his paddle broke midway through my swim. He improvised and completed the course using half a kayak paddle as an oar. It was really reassuring to have Bob as my pilot.
Once assembled, the race organizer, Pedro, briefed us on the swim course. He made it clear it was going to be a difficult swim. He said each of us needed to be tested because anything could happen during the Swim Around the Rock. He said last year the test swim was "hell" and it took over 3 hours to complete. The following week, the inagural Swim Around the Rock went smoothly with an average swim time of just under two hours. It was a reminder that proper training only gives you the opportunity to complete the swim, the rest depends on how the bay treats you on the day of the race. Here is a picture of a couple of kayak pilots, me and the four other swimmers. Yes, I was the only non-wetsuit swimmer today.
It wasn't supposed to be a race, but this was a very competitive group of swimmers. Pedro said go and the race was on. . . for everyone but me. Hey, it is a lot harder to get into the bay without a wetsuit. The initial shock of the cold is pretty hard to describe. Anyway, you can see the other swimmers about 100 yards ahead of me. Wait up for the non-wetsuit guy? Not.
Here is a picture of me trying to catch up. The bay was 52 degrees, warmer in some spots, definitely colder on the outside of the breakwall. During the course of the swim, I passed two wetsuit swimmers and ultimately finshed 3rd out of five.
Here is picture of me approaching the break wall. You can see the shape and distance of the wall in the background. The current at this point in the swim was really strong. The temperature of the bay dropped right here too. It was a difficult demoralizing start to a long, 3 mile, swim.
Ah, back to the protected cove of Aquatic Park. The cove is warmer than the open bay and there is less current. However, the time in the bay was starting to take its toll at this point in the swim. Shortly, after this picture was taken Bob's paddle broke. I remember looking up at Bob, paddling with half an paddle and wondering if I was losing it due to hypothermia.
My official finish time was 1:10:20, 20 minutes faster than I expected. The time on my Kobold is 1:13 because I didn't stop it until I got to the beach. In my view, the swim was a great success. I swam further and faster than I ever had before. Huge thanks to Nobu for coming out, cheering me on and taking pictures. Thanks to Bob for being a great pilot and overcoming gear failure. Thanks to Pedro for allowing us to test ourselves against the Rock.
