Nanticoke RIver Swim - SwimOther

I considered this a ridiculously bad race after seeing my time. Since hearing my wife tell me how many got pulled (~17 out of 89) and that people who finished prior to me say how bad conditions were, I now say it was a poor race.

Heading out of the jetty was the typical fun in a large pack, no kicks or swipes at the face. Hit the current at first turn and the first leg was tough but manageable. Second leg was where I drifted to far into the triangle by compensating too much for the current. Caught up to or was caught by another swimmer and we made it to the last leg's turn together. Got directions from the kayaker and had to use a fishing boat to sight on. Again, drifted out off the line and had to make it back. Made the turn back into the first leg and started getting hungry and stiff calfs. Seemed like small groups of people were just ahead but they had passed me while I was off course. Ridiculous. They weren't faster, just smarted open water swimmers. Second lap was tough. 1st leg took a while to finish. Rounding the turn I felt like I was cruising. I felt I had to sight every 10 breaths so I didn;t go off course again. It helped, but now i didn't get into any groove. Made it to the 3rd leg and was very hungry and frustrated since I knew I was way behind. Did I mention I forgot my f^%@$ watch? I got pushed third leg wide on this leg (again) and had to make a bee-line for the jetty. Got into it and had nothing left in the arms for a strong finish. Got into the lane we swam out on and some volunteer told me to swim to the right because of rocks. With the finish straight ahead, no way I'm swimming more than I need to. Got out, saw my wife, and saw the terrible finishing time. At least she made me smile.

Even with the rough conditions, I still should have done much better. I bet I swam about 3.5 miles. Sighting and countering the current did me in. I did fine (albeit slow) going into the current, but let the current and chop get the best of me. I used the sun to help but never got into a good rhythm to make up some time. I should have been smarter and taken it into account better.

I had estimated that if the hand of God had made the river a pool, I'd make it out in about 1:30. 1:45 was a more realistic, good swim, nominal conditions finishing time. I figured 2:00 was my longest time I'd accept. But 2:30?

What would I do differently? Be smarter, trust my sighting more (I overcompensated) and deal with the current better.

The one plus to this performance was that it was a good learning experience. I'm doing the Bay Swim and was told this event's conditions was probably the most comparable. With this performance, I know what to work on.

quick shower and then devouring whatever food was left over.


sighting, sighting, sighting.


Good race. Even though I didn't do the sprint tri, it looked like it was very well supported and organized. Looked like a great sprint to do if you're just getting into the sport. Reminded me of Pinchot.

Swim event was good too. I heard some complaints prior to the start about confusing bouys and limited number of boats or kayaks, but I didn't mind. The only thing I might suggest for next time is that the corner bouys be a different color from the intermediate ones.