Surfski Knowledge Base

Larry Goolsby
05/20/13 #14379

I found this race/swim quite interesting. The reason I'm posting this is because swimmers are paddlers of a sort - they are just missing their boats and paddles (we've all been there).

There were 900 swimmers that showed up on Sunday morning. Registration opened at 5 am and a line had already formed. The reason for the early start was to catch the slack tide when there was little chance for any wind. During the three days that I was there, the wind kicked up waves by noon each day. Racers are divided into two categories: wetsuit and no wetsuit. About 1 out of every 8 swimmers went sans wetsuit. I heard conflicting reports about water temperature and I'm sure this had to do with where the temperature was taken. The range was 54 f to 58 f.

At about 6:30 am, all the racers are marched over to a foot ferry(s)and transported over to the east end of Alcatraz. The reason they are dropped off here is that many of them won't make it to the finish line before the current starts back up again. The ebb between Alcatraz and San Francisco is quite strong and carries many of the racers west towards the Golden Gate bridge. This means that the racers that finish early have less distance to swim than those that are a little slower. At 7:50 am, the racers jump off the ferry and and head for Aquatic Park next to Fort Mason (about 1.5 miles total distance). Some spectators are allowed onto the ferry if there is room, but I passed on this after having been awake all night. I wanted to nap in the car.

My nap was interupted at 7:50 when a loud horn announced the start and 500 onshore fans gave out a loud cheer. Swimming with goggles makes it difficult to see where you are going, so a fleet of about 30 kayaks keeps the racers on course. They 'sheep dog' any racers that start veering away from their goal. I was a bit surprised when the first racers came into view at about 20 minutes after the race started. I think the fastest time was about 25 to 28 minutes. After 35 to 40 minutes, there is a mass arrival of about half the field. The water is so crowded with swimmers that you could almost walk across their backs. Most all swimmers are wearing black wetsuits and the yellow swim cap given to them at registration. In the water, you cannot differentiate one swimmer from another. What was interesting was that the first swimmers came in from the right of the opening into aquatic park, but as time passed, the string of racers swung to the left as they were swept westward by the ebb. The last racers have to fight their way against the ebb and enter the park from the left. Once inside Aquatic Park, they still have a quarter mile to go to the finish. By now, the ebb is so strong, that the racers inside the park's cove are swept to the west as they attempt to finish that last quarter mile. Many racers come in cold and delirious.

One of the swimmers was Craig Deets - a multiple amputee (sans wetsuit) with no arms or legs. He is allowed to use a fin attached to one of his stumps. He came in after about an hour. Most all racers are not allowed to wear anything on their hands or feet.

Cathy said that doing this race once was enough (post race decisions are always short lived). Already this morning, she is on the computer looking at other open water swims around the country.
LG