Alcatraz Challenge Swim - Swim

I broke a bunch of cardinal rules with this one, mostly along the 'nothing new on race day' vein. I wore a full wetsuit for the first time, a rental at that. I also wore a new squid lid. And oh yeah... I'd never swum in the ocean before. But a well-timed work trip meant this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up!

I was nervous checking into the race but by the time I was on the ferry I was just ready to have some fun. No nerves jumping off the ferry. It was kind of surreal as once the doors opened, they were herding us off pretty fast. The cold water didn't bother me except for my face - I had a hard time putting my face in the water for the first ~10 minutes or so. Probably as a result of the near dog-paddling I was doing, one of the support kayaks tailed me for most of the race. Eventually I got my face in the water and started swimming a bit better, though my goggles were fogging up terribly and made sighting a bit difficult (as did the fog that had rolled in and obscured the radio tower we were told to sight from). I asked the kayaker a couple of times if I was heading in OK and he told me I was being too conservative and to take a more direct route. By the time I finished the swim I had overshot the finish... the current really picks up when you get in close to shore. My actual swim time was about 51:30 on my watch. The extra time was what it took to get my bearings and run up the beach to cross the finish mat.

I did not race this race... just did it to finish it. I brought along a waterproof camera that I tied onto my wetsuit strap and I took some photos mid-swim. Looking forward to getting those pictures printed.

3 mile walk back to hotel, showered up, then headed out for several more miles of walking, touring Chinatown, dim sum for lunch and hitting the wharf on our way back to the hotel.


This is only the second year that TriCalifornia has been running this race. I would really recommend it. It is very unique and there is so much support out in the water that even relative novice swimmers like me feel very safe and capable of finishing the job.