My First Open Water Swim Event!

What a day! I signed up for the Greenwich Point One Mile Open Water Swim sometime at the end of June in anticipation of a 4 mile swim scheduled on July 30th. I have been swimming indoors consistently for the past 18 Months and I knew that it would be a huge mistake to dive right into a 4 mile swim without any preparation for it....

My objectives for this 1 mile swim event were clear:
1- Get used to swimming in open water in the area, the water conditions and the temperature
2- Get used to swimming in a wetsuit. Considering that the water may be cold, I had ordered an Xterra sleeveless suit

	Here it goes, 6:30 AM just arrived at Tod's Point for the registration		6:45 AM putting the uber-wetsuit on This wasn't easy (I did not bring any plastic bags to help, more on this surfer's trick later)
7:00 AM Wetsuit swim first try
What a weird feeling. I over-rotate during the stroke and my legs float above the water...I already hate the suit...Water is at 70F... I shouldn't be wearing a suit..... However, I am here to experiment :) so let's stay positive, shall we?

7:15 AM Race starts in 15 minutes!
The swim cap the organizers provided doesn't stay in place and my goggles start leaking...help!

I am standing alone to the far right while everyone is grouped together in the middle. No worries, I am here to experiment OW swim. Let's see how this goes. I set my Tempo Trainer to 1.32. I usually swim between 1.26 and 1.30 consistently for an hour or so in the pool, but given the new OW conditions I figured that I should stay conservative. 1.32 it is!

AND...7:30 AM GO!!!!!!

This is what happens when you fiddle around too much with the swim cap, goggles, Tempo Trainer...you forget that there is a left turn and if you're standing on the far right you're basically taking it wide...way too wide...furthermore, I learned later that if you are a unilateral breather like me you should probably keep the "pack" to your right...

Here is a a map of the course. In blue the perfect path and in orange the path I followed. I started too wide and was targetting the wrong buoy for the first 5 minutes :) Being a unilateral right side breather no one was on my right so I could not tell where I was at first...

I was completely focused on my stroke and Tempo Trainer for the rest of the swim. Sighting was still an issue although I was lifting my head to look for the buoys every 28 strokes (or 7 breaths since I breath every 4). I felt very relaxed throughout the swim and started passing swimmers one by one after the third buoy, I do not know how many swimmers I passed, but I definitely swam over someone at some point (or over "something")...

7:54 AM IT'S ALREADY OVER???

I was ready for another lap or two! :)

At the Finish Line (timed at 24:22s), waving to my drop-dead gorgeous wife! She was kind enough to get up early and drive all the way here to take these memorable pictures :)

8AM to 11AM: THE AFTERMATH
After the swim, I went straight to the breakfast buffet for some fresh water and watermelon...I ran into some fellow TI swimmers who participated in the event: Evgueni, Shaun and also the Master TI Swimmer, coach and author Terry Laughlin!!! It was great to see him again and we shared some thoughts about the swim and the "sighting" issue. He spontaneously offered to help us practice OW sighting...so back to the water for some sighting advice!

WHAT I LEARNED

To summarize, here are a few things I should keep in mind for my next OW swim: 1- The wetsuit was probably a bad idea. I had a rash on the right side of my neck for the next 48hours. Note to self: if the water temp is above 65, lose the wetsuit! I should probably have followed Katie The Watergirl's advice and also Rob's many suggestions. 2- If I want to improve my timing I will need to practice sighting in OW conditions and I should also trade my swedish goggles for some Sealmask for better sighting in OW :) 3- Practice bi-lateral breathing... 4- Get familiar with the course ahead of time! :) Overall I had a great experience and met many amazing people from all age groups. This confirms, like many people who participated in the event, that I truly love swimming. It is arguably the most complete exercise one can have. And it is probably the only sport where appearances can be highly deceiving - many seniors made it in less than 20 minutes - it is all about technique. This event prompted me to sign-up for other open water swims...Now I have to focus on my Long Island Sound SAA Event on July 30th. I will let you know how I do. Stay tuned!