The race: A 4.4 mile open water swim across the Chesapeake Bay. Starts on the western shore at Sandy Point State Park (near Annapolis, MD) and crosses over to Kent Island. The 'Swim Lane' is the north and south spans of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, about 100 yards apart. During the swim you must stay between the bridges. If you let the current push you out of the swim lane, you are disqualified, pulled from the water, and taken to the DNF pier.

The conditions: The Chesapeake is strongly tidal with daily ebb (north to south) and flood (south to north) tidal cycles. Depending on wind speed and direction it can get fairly rough with lots of chop and rolling waves. Every year is different, depending on meteorological and oceanographic conditions. This year the race had a strong ebb tide in the first half and a weaker flood tide toward the end of the race. Increasing southerly winds (15 kts, gusting to 17 kts) created rolling waves moving south to north and lots of chop. Water temperature was warm for this race at 70.5 F and air temperature was cool at 68 F on the water, low 70's on land. Overcast conditions persisted through most of the race.

My race:

Arrived at the Marina on Kent Island early and caught the first shuttle bus back over the bridge to the starting area, checked in and ate some breakfast (bagel, bananna, and gatorade). Had a good 2 hours to kill at this point. Time passed quickly (good company with the CMYM and DCRP swim clubs) and soon it was time for the pre-race meeting.

Pre-race meeting is to review the tidal conditions for the race. This year the 1st half of the race would be across an ebb tide (north to south), so we were cautioned to hug the north span of the bridge to avoid being pushed out of the swim lane (which would result in DQ/DNF). The 2nd half of the race would be a flood tide (south to north) so after the halfway point we should move right (hugging the south span). Ideally, in the middle of the race we should hit a 'slack' tide. Sounded like a good plan, I was ready and confident.

Start - Wave 1 went out first around 11:00. Wave 2 (my wave) followed 15 minutes later. It is a mass beach start with approx 300 people per wave. Lots of room, however, and there was not that much of the kicking and hitting you get with some mass starts (or maybe I'm finally getting used to the idea). The start takes you out from the beach for a couple hundred yards, then you make a right turn and slip under the north span of the bridge and into the 'swim lane' that will be home for the next 2 hours. I did take a few kicks and punches, and swam face first into a small buoy.

The first mile was all about acclimation - getting used to the waves, other swimmers, navigation and sighting on the bridges, and trying to develop a rythm. It was very crowded since everybody was trying to stay along the north span of the bridge, and the chop was suprisingly heavy. I found it very difficult to get into a nice easy rythm, every time I thought I was I'd get knocked around by a wave or swim into another swimmer. Finally, I decided to move away from the north span and swim in the middle of the lane, after all, the currents didn't seem THAT bad. Turned out to be a big mistake.

The second mile was (for me) the worst. I must have unknowingly moved to the center at just the wrong time, right when the southward-pushing tidal flow was strongest. I looked up and found that I was nearly under the southern span of the bridge and quite close to risking DQ. Oops! This current was very strong, at times I was swimming at what felt like a 90 degree angle to the direction I wanted to go. I found myself sighting the support columns on the north span of the bridge and swimming at a very sharp angle across the lane to get away from the current. At one point I (along with 20-30 other swimmers) got caught in a current along a large support pier where the tidal flow,after hitting the column, was redirected around the column, resulting in an increase in flow velocity. We looked like a bunch of salmon swimming upstream; sprinting all out but moving nowhere. It would have been funny if it wasn't so dangerous. Five minutes of all out sprinting and I was able to move the 30 feet to break free of that current. I hope all the others in there with me made it through, I suspect some DNF'd at that point.

At the end of mile 2 I found the famous 'snack boat' and took a quick break, drank water, and ate part of a bannana. At this point it was about 1 hour into the swim - much much slower than I had expected, but I had not understood the effect battling the tidal currents would have.

During mile 3 the effects of the ebb tide still were a problem, but after the salmon swim it didn't seem so bad. The waves, however, were becoming an issue and motion sickness started to rear its ugly head (there is a reason I no longer go deep sea fishing!). The winds had picked up to 15 kts, gusting up to 17, coming from the south. The curious effect was large rolling waves going south to north but a strong tidal flow pushing north to south, with chop coming from all directions. It was all very disorienting and made it nearly impossible to settle into a comfortable swim rythm. At this point I started to wonder if this race would become an annual event, as I had thought before it started. But at one point in mile 3 I paused to stretch my legs a little and settle my stomach and I looked around and saw the coolest view - to be out in the middle of the Bay under those bridges in the waves was such a unique and overwhelming feeling that I knew I'd do it again, sea sickness and all.

Mile 4 the tides were less of an issue. There was a noticable flood tide at this point (south to north) but it never had the strength of the earlier ebb flow. Instead of the rolling waves that were out in the deep channel, it was choppy. I still felt the motion sickness but I also felt I needed an energy boost. I had tucked a Cliff Shot into my wetsuit and ate it at this point. (Please, if you ever do this race, take one bit of advice - Mocha Maddess flavor does NOT go well with salt water and diesel fuel, especially if your stomach is unsettled due to motion sickness!) The point where we exit the bridges was visible, though still far away, and it was time to just put your head down and make it through.

After I made the right turn to head out from under the bridges there was a thousand yards or so to swim to get into the finish line area. This was a protected cove with no current and very little wave action. I checked my watch - 2:09 - WAY slower than I hoped. I realized I had LOTS of energy left and went into a hard sprint. At least I'll look good on the finish! Boy it felt good to find my stroke again, and I was rolling along, sighting the finish line every 12 strokes, head down sprinting, feeling good, feeling strong, then......oops. Hit a kayak almost. Guy yells at me - "dude go left, you're swimming AWAY from the finish line!" Sheepishly I thanked him and followed his advice. Kind of took the wind out of my sails, though, and I never got the sprint back. Oh well.

So I finished, final time on my watch was 2:23:06 - respectable time for a first-timer I guess.

The post-race scene was nice - kind of like a little beach party. Most triathlons or running races I've done there are not many people who hang out for very long. But at the Bay swim everybody brought coolers, lawn chairs, and blankets and hung around for hours after the race enjoying the view of the bay and the sun, which finally made it out.

In the end, I feel good that I did it. It's one of those events I've always dreamed of completing and until this year, I've never been in good enough shape to do. So I can cross off one thing on that 'list of things I hope to do someday'. I think I'll do it again next year, and hopefully focus more on the race strategy instead of focusing on simply surviving the swim. This year I think my training yardage was appropriate (peaked at over 40,000 per month) but I think strength training and improved muscular endurance/power will go a long way next year.

Now - bring on a half ironman! 1.2 miles? in a LAKE? Oh yeah......I'm soooo there. (if only the race ended there!)