Two weeks ago, my uncle Mike, Grant and I took a little swim in the bay! Although I don't have a video to prove it, the swim went really well. We met at Aquatic Park in San Francisco, put on our wetsuit (my new one fit, hooray!) and ran into the water. There were about 10 swimmers in the water at any given time, and in the beginning the water was relatively calm. It wasn't until we were ready to get out of the water an hour later that the current started to pick up. When we swam one direction across the park, we flew. I'm not a fast swimmer, and so I was surprised how quickly I could make it from one end of the buoys to the other. But going the other direction was a whole different story.
Now I don't like deep water, particularly if I can't see the bottom. Something about swamp people or getting attacked by scary marine animals. Imagine my surprise when I managed to put my face into the cold water and start swimming, only to watch my hand disappear in the murk on the downward portion of my freestyle stroke. Great, so I'm going to have to battle my fear of scary monsters as I swim the 1.25 miles from Alcatraz to Aquatic Park. It's not the distance, or the current that worries me. After testing out my 2.5mm shorty wetsuit, and not being cold after an hour in the bay, I'm not worried about the 62F temperature of the water. No big deal. But I am worried about having to deal with the less-than-clear water.
All the swimmers got an email from the South End Rowing Club race committee on Sunday. 750 swimmers will need to enter the water in a span of 5-7 minutes. Will that be nuts? Probably. But they say there's brunch on the other end.
If there's another post, it's because I survived the race on Saturday.
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