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Help me to find OW race in China!
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 2019-01-24 11:43 PM |
 56 |  Subject: Help me to find OW race in China!(Note: I am posting this to multiple related forums in order to get the best possible coverage) I live in southern China and need to find some 5 - 10 km races along the coast of South China Sea, preferably in winter. I can't find any information from search engines, calendars and even my OW friends. I need such races before reaching my target of marathon swimming. I post my training logs on a local forum, but the people there are not forgiving and always tell my speed is crap (it's true that my current speed is crap - more than 2:00 pace, but I'm having training and hope for improvement). When I asked about 5 km races or more, those people only think about the 2 national champs (5 km, and 10 km) which is held to FINA standard (i.e. closes 30 minutes after the first swimmer) and has high qualification requirements (equivalent to 19:30 / 1500 m race). There is absolutely no way I can go for that, and those people are telling me I shouldn't swim 5 km or more races if I can't get to that speed (those people also tells the others they shouldn't run a marathon if they cannot run 10 km within 40 minutes). There are also short-distance classes for the national champ (600 m class w/ 20 minutes cutoff for the 5 km championship, and 1.7 km class w/ 45 minutes cutoff for the 10 km championship) and they are popular among local swimmers, and those people on the local forum is telling me to race those shorter class instead if I can't meet the elite qualification standard for the national champ, but for me they are like telling crap because my explicit goal is to complete a marathon swimming race next year. Apart from those championships from the national swimming association, there are also some other races popular with local swimmers, but they are mostly only 600 m - 1 km in length, with 2.6 km the longest. There are also club events as well, ranging from 2 km to 5 km, and also the iconic 15 km races, but they are not well-known by local swimmers (only below 100 people per race, and most of the participants are westerners, and the active OW community is made up mainly by westerners), and some of those races are specifically "for advanced swimmers only" with stringent cut-offs (e.g. 1:45 for 5 km). When I talk about those races in a local forum, those people always say they are dangerous because they don't have enough kayak / motorboat cover (they are talking about a kayak per 100 m and a motorboat per km), and always wish me to die when I mention I will participate in some of those races, given my "crappy" fitness and speed. However, in my region, I only know about 3 races a year which is strictly greater than 5 km in length - the 10 km national champ, and 2 15 km club races (kayak supported). As the 10 km is the national champ with elite qualification requirement, it is out of question for me. I can't find any races which can bridge the gap between a 5 km club race (if there is one which is not limited to advanced swimmers) and a 15 km race which is my target. 1. Can anyone help me to find some 5 - 10 km open water swimming races in southern China such that I can prepare for the 15 km iconic race? I don't know why I can't find any, all races of comparable lengths I can find are all in North America, Europe, Australia or Philippines. The first 3 places are too far away from where I live, and Philippines is too hot (29°C water temp expected in Philippines, but I am targeting cold water races of around 16°C) 2. Why the local people always think that the club races (not governed by the national swimming association, including the well-known iconic 15 km marathon races) are dangerous? |
| 2019-01-25 12:37 PM in reply to: miklcct |
Master 8249     Eugene, Oregon Bronze member | Subject: RE: Help me to find OW race in China! Have you checked Hong Kong? I know they used to have a series there. Can't really be of help with the rest of it, but if locals are telling you the swim races aren't safe, maybe they aren't....I lived in China for many years; poor safety setup and planning was an ongoing issue, not just for sports but people's daily lives. I also lived in Vietnam for many years; I felt the safety support for some of the triathlon swims (Olympic and HIM distance) I did there was not adequate given water conditions and/or number and caliber of swimmers. It was even sometimes an issue in Singapore owing to sheer numbers of swimmers on the course at once. You may be better off on a swimming forum. I think there are relatively few people on BT who do long-distance swimming (at least beyond IM swims) on a regular basis, and even fewer who live in Asia. In the past I would have recommended IndoIronYanti on BT as a resource, but she's moved to Australia and is no longer active on this forum. You could try giving her a PM. She was previously based in Indonesia and would probably be more familiar with events around there. I recall she did recommend some open water races in Thailand when I was thinking of doing a longer(5-10K) open water event. (I ended up not doing that, for reasons now forgotten.) Good luck with your goals--I know it can be challenging when events are oriented more towards elite/professionals--that was often the case with running when I lived in China in the 90's. |
| 2019-01-25 7:43 PM in reply to: #5254543 |
| 56 | Subject: RE: Help me to find OW race in China! I'm actually from Hong Kong, but the race here is 15 km. The jump is too big from 3.8 km to 15 km, and there are no races with intermediate distances. My local friend even tells me there are hardly any cold water races in the whole Asia - the 15 km race in Hong Kong is probably the only one. That's why that race is not popular at all - how the heck can we train for that? But that race is my final target because it is the only race of that kind in Asia. |
| 2019-01-25 7:54 PM in reply to: miklcct |
Master 8249 Eugene, Oregon Bronze member | Subject: RE: Help me to find OW race in China! Ugh...I see the problem. Maybe you just have to do some races in warmer water than you'd like--I'd think the training would be pretty much the same; race conditions are just going to be different, as well as nutrition and hydration. In longer OWS events, it's my understanding that there is a set-up for hydration. You would probably have to dial back the pace just as for a run in hot conditions, though. Alternatively, could you find a reservoir or something with colder water where you could do longer swims and arrange your own kayak escort, rather than a race? Failing that, I guess training in a pool. People (including me) train for full IM in those all the time. In my teens, I did some 10K charity swims, entirely off of pool training. Boring but doable if there are no alternatives. Maybe look into Japan? It seems like ocean swimming is pretty popular there and I can't imagine the water would be that warm. Or Taiwan? |
| 2019-01-26 6:33 AM in reply to: 0 |
| 56 | Subject: RE: Help me to find OW race in China! Originally posted by Hot Runner Ugh...I see the problem. Maybe you just have to do some races in warmer water than you'd like--I'd think the training would be pretty much the same; race conditions are just going to be different, as well as nutrition and hydration. In longer OWS events, it's my understanding that there is a set-up for hydration. You would probably have to dial back the pace just as for a run in hot conditions, though. Alternatively, could you find a reservoir or something with colder water where you could do longer swims and arrange your own kayak escort, rather than a race? Failing that, I guess training in a pool. People (including me) train for full IM in those all the time. In my teens, I did some 10K charity swims, entirely off of pool training. Boring but doable if there are no alternatives. Maybe look into Japan? It seems like ocean swimming is pretty popular there and I can't imagine the water would be that warm. Or Taiwan? I've looked in Taiwan and Japan as well. There is a 10K race in Japan, but its time limit is 3.5 hours, which I don't think I can make it with my current ability, and there are no such races in Taiwan as well. (Perhaps due to the military history, people in Taiwan were taught to stay away from the sea in general despite being an island nation, even sailing is not popular there) Today is the big day in Hong Kong when the 15K race took place, and I did the 1.5K mini-race held in conjunction with it. However, despite its name, it is actually warm for me (21°C air, 19°C water today) even without a wetsuit, and some people who signed up for the wetsuit class regret their decision. I know there are some races in Philippines which fit my desired distance, but the problem is they are too HOT - 29°C water temperature expected - I'm afraid I will die from heat stroke in such races. I don't feel any cold in 19°C under race intensity, how can I tolerate 29°C?! Edited by miklcct 2019-01-26 6:36 AM |
| 2019-01-26 8:09 PM in reply to: miklcct |
Master 8249 Eugene, Oregon Bronze member | Subject: RE: Help me to find OW race in China! Doubt you would die if there is a proper hydration setup, but you would have to dial back the pace. I think swim conditions at IM Malaysia were similar; no one died or appeared to need medical attention due to warm water on the swim. I could easily have done the swim course another 2 times if I didn't push the pace too hard and had a hydration break after each loop (and didn't have a whole day of biking and running after!). The water was considerably warmer than what I usually train in but it really wasn't a big deal. Not ideal for an all-out swim, but if your main goal is to get experience with the race distance, it should be okay for that purpose. Where it gets dangerous is if you are pacing way too ambitiously, not hydrating properly, and not listening to your body. Most of the overheating deaths in the sport have been from pros racing at extreme distances. |
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