Dwight Crum Pier-To-Pier 2 Mile Swim - Swim


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Manhattan Beach, California
United States
International Surf Festival
65F / 18C
 		Total Time = 59m 36s
Overall Rank = 297/925
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 33/94
Pre-race routine:

Bit of coffee and banana bread. Wife dropped me off in Hermosa about 8:10 for check in. Woke up to a bit of wind, but not nearly as bad as yesterday. During our ride the sea looked pretty choppy around 7 am, and last night at the lifeguard relay the wind was howling and had huge whitecaps and wind waves. So, not quite as bad as yesterday.

I had done this race 2005-2008, then missed 2009-10, so was just glad to be back at it. Had some idea of a goal time, but training hasn't been ideal lately, was only able to swim the full 2 pier to pier once, the week before, when traditionally I'd have done it 5-6 times by the time of the race. Only went over an hour once, wanted to stay under that benchmark
Event warmup:

A bit choppy, but got out in the water and swam a couple hundred yards. Going into the swells was quite bumpy, but the water was nice and warm.
Swim
  • 59m 36s
  • 3520 yards
  • 01m 41s / 100 yards
Comments:

Started way far left as I have the last couple years I've done this. I don't belong in the front here, and wanted to be out of the scrum anyway. It's an angled course to the first pier, so the problem is that people tend to swim straight out and then right, rather than angling left. Have to work your way through/over these folks.

Heading out to the pier was pretty bumpy, but not too crowded at all. Couple years ago they divided the mens and womens waves (and this year added wetsuits to the womens wave), so it was not nearly as violent as years past. In fact, I only got touched or bumped a couple times. Seemed to take forever to get around the pier though, with all the chop.

Not sure if I followed the right line. Just tried to follow the splashes of the guys in front of me, or maybe steal someone's paddler for a while. Only found a draft once, about 1/2 way across, that I couldn't hold for very long.

As with every P2P swim, I found myself looking shoreward at a group of guys, seaward at a group of guys, and me seeimingly alone in the middle. I am not very good at tactical OW racing.....

Wind seemed to die a bit in the middle of the swim and was able to get into a rhythm. Hit the mile house about 31 minutes. Last week I hit it at 29 minutes and swam 56, so I thought the hour was doable. Hit Dirk's old house in 40 minutes, figured it was about 15 minutes from there. Flip flopped back and forth between "just be patient, enjoy being out here" with "hurry the F up or you won't make the hour."

Was taking longer to get to the pier, and I didn't think 60 was gonna happen. Just continued to swim. Hit the end of the pier at 56, swam in hard trying to catch any wave that cam my way, stood up at 59:22, crossed at 59:36.
What would you do differently?:

Train more
Post race
Event comments:

Happy with the swim as I was just grateful to be out there again. It's a great event that I hated missing (although last year was super cold, so I guess if I was going to miss one or two....). Thank god shirts were OK this year. Not the best, but not the ugliest.




Last updated: 2011-01-18 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:59:36 | 3520 yards | 01m 41s / 100yards
Age Group: 33/94
Overall: 297/925
Performance: Good
Suit:
Course:
Start type: Run Plus: Shot
Water temp: 69F / 21C Current:
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]