Great Chesapeake Bay Swim - 4.4 Mile : Official Thread

I've never done it but tried to get in this year with no luck. I'm doing Eagleman instead.

Anyhow, My understanding is most people wear wetsuits regardless of water temps for safety.  I'd try to get a sleeveless suit especially if your goal is not to drown. 

I did it last year. I am super bummed I didn't get in this year. But I did it last year w/o a wet suit and I think it was only 67. So it you want one/already have one. fine. If not w/ even warmer water temperatures you'll also be fine. Most do use wet suits, but since it's more swimmers than triathlets there's a higher proportion of people w/o wet suits than at a tri. Granted that "higher proportion" is still the vast minority.

Have a BLAST!! That was an awesome swim, and I'm jealous!

Oh and I forgot, there weren't jellyfish last year. I believe that it's seasonal, and that the jellies come out later in the season, like August/September. But that's based on water temperature, so w/ the warmer water they could be early. BUt it would be REALLY REALLY early. Last year I worried about EVERYTHING, especially the non swim related crap. Water temperature, jellyfish, even the taste of polluted water. It was all ok, I was totally irrational and worrired for no reason!! Just have fun.

Never did it before but definitely wearing sleeveless suit. Warm water and temp certainly wont matter at the slow/easy pace i'll be going at. (site seeing trip, not a race for me)

I havent trained either. No water time for 4-5 weeks at all till the Black Bear Tri mile yesterday.

What the hell, we have starting spots, they have boats and volunteers....and what ELSE do we have to do that day....  LOL

Gotta be a blast and a wetsuit in salty/brackish water should be like wearing FLOATIES and the time cut offs look really generous so no need to redline at all. I even saw video of folks last year floating and taking pics with waterproof camera they swam with. Looks like a cool experience.

 Oh yea, and i'm a fairly crappy swimmer as far as speed.......LOL

This guy is doing the swim.  Totally awesome:

http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/153809/158/Craig-Dietz-Born-Without-Arms-Or-Legs-To-Swim-Across-Chesapeake-Bay

Thanks for the insight and advice. I definitely didnt mean to imply that it's not a very difficult swim to be taken very seriously at all. My sight seeing comment was definitely joking and only referring to my "pace" strategy which is very conservative.

I will definitely be very strategic in my pace (heart rate, form etc) and the location according to the instructions given.

I will defintely enjoy this and if it's one of those, "20% of swimmers finish" years, i'll most likely not be one of them.

Thanks again for the advice and i definitely will be careful and give this event the highest respect...and one of my absolute TOP OF THE LIST accomplishments if completed.

Best of luck and everyone be SAFE!

Absolutely incredible in my book. I was pulled out right with him at the 4 buoy. As you told me earlier, this is really tough and yes, it sucks to get to 4 with time to finish for sure....but i guess i should learn to swim faster (BUT they gave me the Tshirt anyway..lol.)

Seeing this guy, though, really made me sad for him to get stopped. He had it covered easy.  Wow!

Felt bad for those who got pulled due to weather.  A lot of them were very close to finishing.  The organizers should let those folks bypass the lottery next year.

I don't know about the "very favorable" conditions mentioned in that article.  They started favorable but went downhill quick.  Times seemed to be 10-20 minutes slower across the board compared to last year, even for the winners.

Just for posterity (and for anyone reading this next year considering this race), I'll echo the comments that this race is not to be underestimated.  I've swam competitively for years, and this ranks right up there as one of the hardest things I've ever done.

I just read on the website that one of the participants this year suffered a heart attack and passed away.  Very sad; he was only 43 years old.  Really makes you think twice about all the crazy sht we do.

Yes, really sad for the heart attack victim and family.

I absolutely had no idea what to expect and am really glad to have gotten the experience. Pulled out close to the 4 mile buoy WAS bad but hey,,,i was about 2:50-55. I should have been better prepared and finishied in my 2:50-3:00 that i thought would be easy.... (yea, right)

I will not take this lightly again...lol. I started my swim training for next year TODAY...

If nothing else, this will give me a different perspective on all my 1500-1650 triathlon lake swims now though.

Next year, if i can get in, i'll really try to train and shoot for 2:30. That way when i kicks my  with a 3 hour time, i'm still across! 

Great job on your swim and thank all you real swimmers for letting a hack like me give it a shot!  

I am hoping to be ready for this event in 2013. That still may be too ambitious for me. I don't even need to pretend I'm thinking about it for 2012, but the fact that Eagleman was the same day this past year means I can assume it will be next year, and I hope to make that my first HIM.

I have huge respect for you serious swimmers. Any Gibraltar plans for you hardcore types?