I was not thrilled with the cold water start with no time to acclimate, but there was no other choice. I waded until I was probably mid thigh, then I went for it and 'dove' in. The cold hitting my face wasn't as bad as expected but the cold water trickling into my suit was woooo! And once it was in, it seemed like it took a long time to warm up but in reality it probably wasn't that long.

I liked the TT start because it kept people apart, mostly, at least for a while. There was a little bunching at the turn buoys, but not terrible. Lap 1 went by fairly uneventfully. Lap 2, however...

Lap 2 was more crowded. I was hitting and getting hit more frequently than lap 1. I accidently swam over a woman and profusely apologized. Not much later, I got rammed by someone else, then kicked in the goggles. Karma, I suppose. Things were decidedly more crowded at the turn buoys and I somehow got the farthest off track going across the short end from turn buoy to turn buoy.

The final stretch back in was triathlon-like, so much jostling and bodies, especially the last half of the backstretch. Once I finally made it to shallow water I stood and attempted to run/move quickly to get to the bank. When I hit solid ground, I was a bit wobbly and was trying to get my legs working to cross the timing mat but I was going sideways. The timing guy so helpfully said, "You need to get over the mat." Yeah, thanks, I'm trying as I started to stumble sideways, almost hitting the timing box. Of course they had no one to help or assist athletes because of COVID, so I was left to try to regain my footing and not actually fall on my own. I lost a few seconds doing that to be sure.

Walked up the chute and took off my chip and turned in the number tag under my hat (so they knew they had all athletes accounted for) and went into bag drop for my towel and clothes.

49/60 OA
24/32 F
11/12 AG, the largest AG of the females, I think!

I guess swim harder and try a little harder to stay on course, although the times I strayed weren't terribly far or wide. I honestly thought I gave a better effort than the results indicate.

Dried off, dressed, caught up with Ginny a bit, then got food and walked to the truck. Saw Mike as I was at the cars and he said how cold he was during the swim. I looked at the results later and I think he didn't finish officially. I wonder if the boat had to bring him in, EFP said he saw it bringing someone in at least once and I thought I saw it on the move once, too.


If only I knew!


First off, credit where credit is due. The RD took great steps to make this a safe and enjoyable race for all. He secured US Masters Certification which helps with both insurance as well as guidelines with regard to water temp/safety. He offered a Facebook Live athlete briefing a few days before the race and did a fabulous job on race day staggering packet pickup times, bag drop times, and race start times.

Thank you!!!