Glad you finished too!!

I actually looked at the race numbers they issued, and thought there should have been like a hundred people or so. That's in line w/ the number of people from last year; but it definately didn't feel like that many people in the start. Wherever you heard 89 is probably right on. It's scary that only 61 finished. Maybe 11 people knew something we didn't about the weather causing the horrific current & didn't start?

I was truly disapointed w/ my time. Almost double what I did last year. Put all kinds of serious doubts in my head for the bay bridge in june.

Still valuable for a couple of reasons. I HATE wet suits; and learned that I can swim in water that cold w/o one. YAY! Also learned that it wasn't ill fitting wet suit filling w/ water; but a cheap rental suit, aimed at beginners who drag their butts while they swim. I might not be able to run to save my life, but I do swim flat at the water surface. The extra boyancy actually pulls my butt up, and makes my back arch unaturally; which is probably what caused the injury last year. Even w/ the better fitting suit this year, ditching it half way through the race is probably the only reason I didn't get another massive back strain this year.

Also b/c soooo few people finished, it turns out that there were only 3 people in my age group. So by default I won a prize of some sort. I emailed the race site to see what it was. I felt I had earned it after I was stranded out by the red coast guard boat for like 90 min on the third leg of the first lap. Searioulsy scared the hell out of me, I had to stop and have a mini panic attack. The guy working the race eamiled me back, and said that he swims the Bay Bridge ever year.

He actually said that, despite it being longer, that the conditions are easier. He offered to follow up w/ any questions I might have next week, when all the post race crap from this past weekend has been wrapped up. He was very encouraging to go ahead and at least try the Bay Bridge.

So I'll let you know what he says. In the meantime I'm going to keep doing the 4.5mi each weekend, and still boring (but less long) swims during the week. If what he says seems like I can still do the bay bridge, then I'll do it.

Mostly I want to KNOW I can do it w/o a wet suit temperature wise; for me at least after my third open water swim - there is no OTHER reason to wear a wet suit. Then I want to know if the current is better or worse, or what to look for in the weather forecast in the days prior to the swim that might affect it. Also I'm hoping that sighting will be easier w/ the bridge spans to stay between, maybe he can confirm that or at least tell me that it's not something I can rely on.

I think I might have seen you in the swim! Making the turn for the last leg of the triangle on the first lap, I was w/ a group of swimmers who asked a kayaker directions for where to go next. Then I got completely swept out towards the coast guard boat. I REALLY need to work on sighting I guess if everyone else in that group didn't get carried soooooo far out as I did. I was swimming for what felt like forever. I guessed it was 45 min, but probably wasn't that long. Just felt bad b/c I was frustrated and lost. But however long it was, it took me just as long to get back on course before I could even make progress towards the next turn.

I have the same outlook on this weekend's swim, lots of lessons learned. Even with my expectations, I considered it purely as a warmup for the Bay swim so having my handed to me this time is better than in june. The numbers I got for participants came from the lin-mark registration site and the 61 or 62 finishers are from the results page. I hope they're correct.

Glad to hear to solved your back problem. There's nothing worse than back pain in any sport.

I'd love to hear any answers from that guy about the bay swim. I agree (and hope) that the sighting should be easier. My main concern is that the currents and chop will be stronger and we'll have to swim against it for 1-2 miles straight with no break.

Assuming bay conditions are relatively safe, I say do it. You've been working hard at training and have this past weekend's experience to help. Don't lose the race before you even try.

Finally sent that guy an eamil w/ my questions. I tend to write a ton whenever I write anything, so I truly appreciate that he even read the book I sent him! I had 3 basic questions, and then spent like a page explaining why those questions, and asking if stuff I thought I learned from the race in the river was correct. I'll cut and paste the 3 questions and answers. If you want the longer explanations about stuff from the River Race I can give you that too - but given my longwinded tendency I'm assuming the basic questions and his answers are plenty.

Here you go:

1) what was the current in the River? The current was about 1 mph
 
 v what will the speed of the current be on the Bay on June 13th? About the same
 
2)  And What direction will the current be in on June 13th?
 
Most likely for the first half of the event the current will be going north and push you up the bay and for the second half push you south.  This means it will push you to the left and then to the right.  Make sure to pay attention to the pre-race meeting, they will review the tides (but the current will certainly not run with the bridge which is west to east)
 
3) How are the Bridge Columns for Sighting (closer together or further apart than the orange buoys from the River?
 
You will not have any problem with sighting.  You have many bridge columns to your left and right and the bridge itself.  This race has the largest lane lines you can get (the north and south span).  The Bridge columns also are closer together than the buoys

I guess there was a 4th question he answered earlier about water temp. It was 68 in the River and has been 72 in the Bay the past few years. I asked b/c I'm hoping to do the swim w/o a wet suit; just completely fixes the back issue for me. He advocated it for buoyancy - but the buoyancy is want puts my back in the werid position. So you do whatever you want w/ that info - but he also said that people do the Bay Bridge w/o the wet suit.

Thanks a lot for the info and more power to you for doing it w/o a suit.

I read in previous years' race reports that there may be a separate category for those who do the swim that way. Hope your training is going well. Good luck!