Dawn breaks over Alcatraz
Pre-Swim
Don't do this race if you're not a morning person. Racers are well served to arrive at the transition area early to get final preparations in order and catch a bus to the pier to load up on the ferry that takes you to the island. You can leave your personal effects in a bag on the boat, with bags being returned to the finish area, so feel free to bring any extra effects (Body Glide, extra goggles, anti-fog, even a cell-phone to coordinate with family members) but of course its inadvisable to bring anything you'd be heartbroken over losing.
You're coordinated by age group within different zones established in the boat, and mine happened to be alongside the Pros (Pros dive off first, age groupers follow about a minute later). It gets quite warm and after reaching the island, circling it for a tour and then positioning the boat alongside I found myself anticipating a dip into the cold water.
The Pros leap into the bay
The Swim: the cold, current, chop, and
The cold water, heavy chop, and strong current make a lot of racers anxious, but in my opinion these fears aren't totally founded. I do need to qualify that, though. I live and swim in the Puget Sound of western Washington State, so after regularly training in the Narrows I found the swim from Alcatraz to be relatively tame (the first words that entered my mind when I dove in were "ooh, that feels nice"). That probably doesn't assist you if you don't have rough, cold open water available to you for training, though.
Generally, I've observed that people who are confident enjoy the swim, and those who approach it with trepidation tend to struggle. I wore a sleeveless wet suit and was fine, but others who have trouble in cold water may want to go for a neoprene cap or even booties in addition to a full suit.
Another issue is the current. The current, in general, pulls you parallel to the shore, so in order to not over or undershoot the swim exit you need to swim angled slightly against it. Or so I thought. The Pros took a very aggressive line straight towards the swim exit, whereas my impression was that we should compensate and aim upstream of the swim exit, letting the current nudge us towards the right spot. Every other age-grouper and their brother, however, blindly took off on the same line the Pro wave took. They turned out, in either their pure ignorance or brilliance, to have the right idea and I ended up actually having to swim along the shore for a bit. In general, if you're worried about sighting, stay in the middle of the group (it's a pretty wide expanse of swimmers) and you'll be fine. The race has excellent advisors that tell you how the currents will be and what you should sight off of. There's also a small army of kayakers ready to assist you and keep you tracking towards shore.
Some individuals take the time to float and take in the scenery, even bringing a waterproof camera to take a seals-eye view of the San Fran skyline. My father took this route, I chose to swim straight through. I have no regrets and enjoyed the view from the boat and my father greatly values the shots he took and didn't mind sacrificing the 30 seconds. To each his/her own.
After the race, when asked how the swim was, I described it as being akin to "doing push ups in a bath tub filled with cold water and each time you come up someone hits you in the face with a wet pillow." What I was describing was the chop. It varies each year but you can expect it to be rough, so modify your breathing pattern and stroke accordingly. You'll be swimming along like normal and all of a sudden when you turn to breathe there will just be water (a little swell just temporarily washed over you). No bother- hold your breath and catch the next opportunity, or breath to the other side on the next stroke. Adapt to the conditions and embrace the adventure of it.
That being said, I have only one fear in the entire world. I can take whatever heights, snakes, spiders, clowns or anything else you can think of to throw at me, but I do not do great white sharks. I enjoy researching them, greatly support their conservation and don't buy into the pathetic myth that they're mindless killing machines, but that doesn't change the fact that they're terrifying. That being said you shouldn't be afraid. Yes, outside the Golden Gate is the red triangle and, especially at certain times of the year, a relatively high concentration of great white sharks. But they rarely venture into the bay and even if they did and upon investigation should take the unlikely course of action as to attack someone, they have their pick of 2,000+ swimmers and kayakers around you. Just do your best to look like less of a seal than the guy or gal next to you and you should be fine. If anything, since they'll more than likely take someone else, and hopefully someone in your age group, think of the sharks as a friend.
So there we have it. A pretty basic reflection on my swim at Alcatraz, and nothing I mentioned should be surprising or too intimidating. Yes there's cold water, but you were warm on the boat anyway. Yes there's chop, but you didn't sign up for this event cause you thought'd be easy. Sure there's a current, but it's pushing you towards the swim exit, and hey, there might be a shark down there but he's searching for the guy one step higher on the AG podium. Enjoy the swim from Alcatraz- it's a great accomplishment and one that you'll hopefully reflect back on for quite some time.
Very informative. I'll be sure to regulate my breathing to "panic mode" down from "drown yourself instantly" if I ever have to swim that stretch. I'm not in the mood to be hit in the face with a wet pillow.
ReplyDelete