Chesapeake Challenge 1 Mile Swim - SwimOther

Started out in the front of the wave. There were some fast people in my wave, i think 1,2, and 4 overall. At the start I saw them take off from my right and figured I'd sit in with them for a while. Did that and got clear of the rest of the wave in short order. Kind of lost the draft after a while.

I had a tough time sighting to the first buoy, and I think got to the right side of the course, but there were a ton of crab pots over on the left and a lot of slow traffic over there from the previous wave (5 minutes before me) so it wasn't a total loss. 3/4 of the way to the first buoy I caught a lot of the swimmers from the previous wave. I weaved through the traffic and got to the buoy. Sighted perfectly to the 2nd buoy and by the time I got there I had caught a lot of swimmers from the 1st wave (10 minutes ahead of me). Didn't see any caps from my wave anymore. Just kept weaving through traffic and trying to pick a good line. Sighted well to the finish line.

Sight a little better to the first buoy, but not sure if that would have changed much.

ate a couple of snacks, showered off.


not too much, I think I paced myself pretty well and didn't leave much on the table. I think the course was long or there was a strong current somewhere because the times were pretty slow compared to previous years. A guy who did the 4.4 miler last year with a 24:50 average did this swim in 28:00 and there were several guys who said their times were off by ~3 minutes or so. I guess that's OWS'ing for you.


Great organization. These guys put on a superb effort. Plenty of boats/kayaks in the water, course was well marked. Great refreshments afterwards. Lots of excitement, good vibes, etc.