Great Chesapeake Bay Swim - SwimOther

This was my 5th time across and the conditions were the most favorable for a swim than any other prior attempt. This year's race was characterized by an early morning start (8am), warm water (72 degrees), no sea nettles, very calm smooth water, and a well timed start with respect to the slack tide.

Pre-race meeting warned of a possible strong ebb (N->S) tide in the second half of the race, so my strategy was to swim conservatively in the first 2 miles and stay in the left-center position. After mile 2 I planned to move to a far left position and hold a line along the North span in anticipation of the ebb. Then I hoped to hold that position until mile 4 when we exit the bridges and head to the finish line in the sheltered cove in front of Hemingways.

Up to mile 3.5 I did exactly as I planned. The first mile went well with little contact with other swimmers and plenty of open water. At mile 2 I found the banana boat and got a quick drink and had a gel. In the shipping channels I found little current and even less chop, so I was able to settle into a nice smooth rythmn. I briefly paused at mile 3 for another gel and went back into my rythmn. Just as I was congratulating myself for a perfect tactical execution I encountered the ebb tide, and spent some time countering the current's attempt to push me south of the southern bridge span. I had gotten a bit complacent and didn't hold my line along the north span as planned, and so I paid for it with a little bit of diagonal swimming. It was never any real problem, though. I simply had to re-sight and correct every 100 strokes or so.

Finally made it to the exit from under the bridges, sprinted the last 800 yds to the finish line, and clocked in at 2:11 - not a personal best but not a bad time for me.



Given the conditions, had I trained more seriously I could have broken the 2 hour mark this year.

As always an outstanding event.