Open Water Swims

I am enjoying the summer racing in open water swims.
First, I did the swimming portion of the Philadelphia Triathlon. We started from the St. Joe’s Boathouse on Kelly Drive and swam downstream, and made a right into the transition area. Yes, that was the Schuylkill River. My time was 26:44 minutes, and the swim time for my team was 38th out of 55 Olympics distance relay teams.

The Schulkill River was very clean. I could see the bottom of the river at some point. My second swim was the Maryland Swim for Life. The water at the Chester River was filthy. The day was sunny but when my face was in the river, it was pitch black. Participants in this S4L could pick between 1 and 5 miles to swim. I swam 2 miles in 1:16:33.3, and placed 16th of of 19 male under 45 years of age. This was the longest swim distance I completed.

Next up, a week later, was the Ocean City, NJ One-Mile Masters Ocean Race. The race started from 42nd Street beach and proceed north until the finish at 34th Street. The water was slightly cold, but the sea was calm. I finished at 29:52, 282nd out of 282nd out of 374 finishers. I was 6th out 7 people in my age group. Awards were given to the top 6, so I got my first ever ocean swim award!