They gave the course talk at the granstands. I was expecting to be told what buildings to site off of, but that was left up to us. The RD actually said to aim for the Balclutha, a 3 masted ship in the park, but if you had, you would have missed the entrance. On the way over I decided to follow the conventional wisdom and shoot for the TransAmerica bldg. I was VERY nervous about which line to take, not from a doing well perspective, but from a finishing perspective, given the currents.

After the talk, the anthem, we all paraded down to the pier for the Blue & Gold ferries. Some people were barefoot, some just in their speedos, then there was the guy in the prison stripes and water wings :). They give you a bag thatyou mark with your number so you can take warmups onto the boat, they bring it back to the grandstands and keep it for you. I am NOT walking barefoot on those streets. There ere TONS of people there for support. Much more than at any race I've been to.

As the ferries pulled off, everyone on the boat started cheering. Very cool. Someone noticed the tide was still coming in, the RD said we were going to wait for slack. When we got to the drop off area, the boats lined up, and we got the signal to get the heck off the boat. It was so nerve wracking..... standing in line, watching the other boat disgorge its passengers as they jumped off was pretty funny. Then it was my turn. Goggles arund my neck, off I went. It was cold, but not that cold. Not take your breath away or ice cream headache cold. After a few strokes toward the start, it was actualy quite nice.

I moved toward the front. Looking at the TA bldg., it seemed ridiculously to the left, so far off from where I wanted to end up, it didn't seem to make sense. But what do I know.

We were told there'd be a horn to start the race. Treading there, ome kayakers said "OK, go." "Go? where's the horn?" I set my watch and went. Then everyone stopped. Then the horn went off. Ooofah.... re set the watch, start it again.

This was by FAR the most people I've started with. I wound my way through the crowd, found some clear water and went. Slowly. There wasn't much clear water, and what there was wasn't clear for long. Kicked in the head. Slapped on the foot. Bumped from the side. Got some action, someone slid their hand right down my butt. Didn't even have to pay extra. Then I did it to someone else, hoping it was a girl...... Everyone was taking different lines, it seemed, so I found myself bumping repeatedly into the same people.

Eventually it cleared, and my tendency to swim left, coupled with my paranoia at missing the park entrance and getting swept away... put me far to the left of the main pack. At least it seemed far. And I breath to the right, so that's all I saw. I had to stop a couple times just to confirm that the other swimmers were still there. Gets a little freaky out there when you feel like you're alone......

I started sighting to the TA bldg., but noticed the buoy boat not too far off. I sighted off that, which made it a lot easier. Ahead of me and to the left, toward the Bay Bridge, was nice and suny. I was hoping to be able to see the Golden Gate Bridge on the swim across as I breathed right, but the fog was too thick in that direction.

What was not easy were the waves. Sometimes my arm would come down into nothing but air, sometimes my arm would not come out of the water at all. It made for difficult swimming, and I swallowed a lot of the bay. I'd turn to breath and get a mouthful of the bay. I thought to myself I'd surely be puking that up at the end. And I was humbled to learn that panic is never a real stranger. I didn't panic. but there were a couple times, when I breathed in a glob of seawater, that I certainly wasn't serene.... I can see how easy it would be to let panic take over.

I noticed that the the boat buoy stopped moving. I had wondered if it would go into the park or stay at the entrance. It was the latter, giving me a stable, visible guide. I could see the Balclutha behind it, and its masts got clearer and clearer as I got closer. My plan was to hug the left entrance, since the finish was to the left in the bay. A straight shot from the left corner of the opening. About 500 yards out, I looked up, saw the green marker on the left side of the park opening, and was heading straight for it. I was doing well. Hit that mark, turn left and finish. I relaxed, knowing I was near the end. I let down my guard........

Next time I looked up I didn't recognize the structure. A concrete pier. "Cable Crossing" sign. Lots of people standing on top of the pier. Uh oh..... this is the RIGHT side of the pier, how the hell did I get here???

I stopped for a brief second to get my bearings. In that second, I floated 3 or so feet closer to the Golden Gate Bridge.... crap, the current's here. The current had picked me up when I got complacent. I started swimming back in the direction I had come from. I looked up. "Cable Crossing".... the sign was not moving. This was the first thought I had that I might not be able to finish. No FU**ING way am I not finishing this thing. I began a sprint. For about 30 seconds, I had to sprint at near full speed.

I was not alone. Most of the swimmers found themselves in the same predicament. My friend got picked up some time later, as did some 150 other swimmers, and repositioned for the swim in. I could faintly hear people on the pier cheering us on as we swam upstream like some rubber coated salmon.

As quickly as I had been caught, I was out of it. Now all I had was 400 or so yars of flat water. I had been warned not to sprint from this point, since it is quite a ways. I decided to swim bout 200 yards strong, then sprint. There was one guy next to me the whole way. He was my carrot, all I wanted to do was beat him. I have no idea whether I did. All I remember is sighting to the beach, seeing the mad splashing of the people ahead of me getting out of the water, and swimming, at about as much of a sprint as I could muster.

I was determined to exit at knee deep or less, since getting out of the water quickly is my albatross. I went as far as I could, pushed off the sand, got up, and ran up to the finish. I looked down, and was pleasantly shocked. Nah, I was GEEKED at my time :) :) :)

They took my timing chip, and I headed up the finish chute, crowded with onlookers. Guy next to me stopped and put his hands on his knees, resting, that looked like a damn good idea. I did the same. Rising at the same time, we looked at eachother and said at the same time, "nice swim."

Not sure.... not stop at all, swim faster as I got closer to the park so as to avoid the tide.

walk around eating bagels, banana, and drinking water/gatorade. Revel in my time :)


unfamiliarity with where to site, waves, arms :) I was 2:00 off of third place, 3:00 off of first


What a fantastic, fun race! Great people, great organizers, great hats! :) Will definitely do this again. Next year's is set for September 16, 2006.