Harborfest 1.2 Mile Open Water Swim - Swim

I told myself I was going to take the first quarter super easy, second quarter easy, third quarter medium, and last quarter hard. While I never really pushed hard, I do think that's pretty much how I executed. I had a moment of anxiety when it was time to jump off the dock, as it seemed so much higher than I was expecting. Someone behind me said, "you're okay," and I suddenly realized I was holding up the line of swimmers trying to get in the water. I jumped in, and the water felt great! The current felt strong, as I was being swept right up to the front of the start line. Not where I wanted to be! Suddenly they were counting down "3, 2, 1" and we were off!
I kept my head up for the first little bit, wary of being kicked in the face. Just a couple strokes in, I decided to just put my head down and swim. During the swim to the first buoy I sighted often, probably every 3-6 strokes. I felt like there were people all around, and I didn't want to get hit. While there was a little bit of contact, I probably only caught a couple light arms and feet...no punches or hard kicks. As I got to the first buoy I was feeling more comfortable with the number of people around, and was getting the hang of how to peak for the buoy as I swam along. The buoys were the most congested part of the whole race for sure. There were a couple where I swam right on top of them and got pushed into them even more by a swimmer cutting across. No big deal though...just breathe to the other side and keep going!
The last straight away finishing the first loop was quite weedy, which was gross. It would go into my mouth, wrap around my neck, and slide over my arms in a super creepy way. Icky!
And then suddenly I was halfway done and on the second loop! The swim to the first buoy on the second lap seemed to take forever. Maybe the current changed? It was at this point that I realized I wasn't having any contact with people anymore. Maybe the occasional person, but nothing like lap one. I moved it up a gear, into my "medium" swimming tempo. Onward I went, and then I was in the last quarter, and fighting a bit more current. I felt like I was going nowhere for a bit there. Sighting was a bit tough too, as sometimes I lost sight of the orange buoy. Finally I was on the last stretch, searching for the green buoys marking the finish line. It was weedy again, and there was a dude that was really intent on swimming quite splashily right near me, so I put on a bit of speed and moved away from him. I did a fair amount of weaving off course on this stretch, as I seemed to be getting pulled a couple different ways. But then there were the finish buoys, and it was over! I called out my number and hauled myself up the ladder onto the dock. All done!

I would have loved some tinted goggled, as I still had a little bit of leaking in the last bit, and the sun was just awful. I also think I was riding with my head a little high, so I would have wanted to focus on body position more. I could have swam faster for sure, but I wanted to pace more like for a triathlon rather than a standalone swim race. Not bad at all for a first time OWS race!

None. They had a shower set up on the dock, so I washed off the super gross and stinky Potomac as best I could. The white parts of my kit were brown. Ew. I had some water and hung out on the deck waiting for Megan and Liz to finish. They both were planning to run afterwards, so J and I packed up and headed out in search of bagel sandwiches.


Swim technique and limited OWS experience. I think another round of lessons would help make sure I keep my technique in good shape. Masters would probably be a good way to keep swimming fun and fresh for the winter. More practice in open water would also help. I don't really know what to do with currents or anything, so I need to focus on that moving forward.


This event was well run, and I would do more by them again. I'm especially interested to try out some of their Wednesday evening or Sunday morning swims, where you pay a fee to come swim with others on a marked course.
While I was slower than I thought I would be, since I have only trained in the pool I didn't have a good idea of how that would translate to open water. Now that I have a starting point, I'm looking forward to improving. I couldn't be happier with how things went today!