Maryland Swim for Life

Swimming in brackish water in the middle of the summer is a foreign concept for me. Usually, there are too many seanettles to do such a feat. However, yesterday the District of Columbia Aquatics Club (DCAC) http://www.swimdcac.org/Swim4Life.html held their 17th Annual Maryland Swim for Life on the seanettle-free Chester River. With the option of swimming 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 miles, there was a course for every swimmer. I rode up to Rolphs Wharf in a new Mercedes driven by 72 year old Ted Gregory, whom I met at the St. Michaels Pool last week.

Ted is a remarkable fellow who swam the Bay Swim this year and has swum all over the world in different venues. We both were aiming to swim the 2 or 3 mile swims. He opted for the 2 miler because of a raucus cocktail party he hosted the night before. I opted for the 3 miler, having never swum that distance ever anywhere.

It was a low key event with around 150 swimmers. There was no entry fee, but each entraint had to bring at least $100 in collections for the different charities DCAC supports. The weather was perfect. The course followed the shoreline and was an "out and back" with buoys every 1/2 mile. My 3 mile course had me turning at the 3rd maker (1.5 mile mark). Between the .5 and 1.0 buoys we had to swim over/through a fishtrap (that was interesting) allowing the top of the net to scrape across my belly as I swam over it. The current was against us on the way out, but with us on the return.

One of the mysteries of open water swimming, to me, is how does one fuel and hydrate? Though I did not see many swimmers take advantage of the availability of kayakers stocked with goods, I decided before the start that I would take water and fuel every half hour, which for me, would be every mile. And that's what I did, hailing a kayaker named Robin on both my stops. I carried a Clif Shot gel and downed that on my first stop with water, and gobbled half a bannana on my second stop. I figured I lost at least a total of 5 minutes with my stops. But, my goal was to leave the water feeling good, having accomplished the distance, and have enough energy for the rest of the day, which included sailing in heavy air aboard log canoe Jay Dee with skipper and friend Dan North.

There was a group of like-yellow capped swimmers that would pass me everytime I fueled. I would catch up to them each time, including the finish. My time was 1:43 for the 3 miles, which if you take away my fueling time of 5 minutes, finds my pace to be better than ever. I really felt good in the water, fast (for me), and comfortable and fearless. There was a time when coming upon somthing as daunting as a fishtrap would have freaked me out. I was, however, one of the last of the yellow-cappers to finish. Events like this, I surmised, attract a different class of athlete than the local 10K running events. I was swimming against verteran seasoned swimmers who know how to kick butt. I'll get there someday, one kick at a time.

A rare photo of Island Lark at the moment of impact with the Cliff City shoal. The boardsmen are being carried forward with the momentum of the boat. The bow of Lark is lower in the water as the rudder is hard aground. That's me on the front board on my way to the water.

In other news, Island Lark, had a stellar weekend of sailing last week on the Chester River, posting a 1st and a 2nd to win the regatta and other prizes. The third race, which was later thrown out by the Race Committee (RC), was the most challenging for our crew. The 10 mile course found us with a healthy lead on the 10 boat fleet. As we rounded the leeward mark, which we noticed was a little too close to shore, we ran hard aground....we're talking centerboard all the way up and rudder firmly planted in the mud. Evidentally, the mark was placed in 15 feet of water, right next to a shelf which went up to 4 feet. As we went 2 boat lenghts past the mark we hit, stopping us like a brick wall, catapulting me forward from my front board into the water. 5 of us pushed Lark through the wind, pivoting on the rudder, and off the bar. By the time we were free we had been caught by 2 boats, of which we beat one over the finish line and would have held a 2nd if the race counted. Many other boats hit the same spot with Mystery capsizing on top of Silver Heel. It was a mess.

The Canoes are racing in the Rockhall regatta this weekend. As our boat did not make it to the races for this regatta, Victor, Greg, Greg's son Graham, my girls, and I found ourselves on the Chester yesterday in time for the afternoon race. Jay Dee took me aboard (an ungraceful entry as I had to jump into the water from Victor's boat, grabbing the hand grips on the back of Jay Dee) and I sailed the race with them. Jay Dee is the largest of the canoes and was most comfortable. She's got a true old time feel to her, and she's fast and powerful. Danny's great uncle built Jay Dee in Tilghman on Devil's Island in 1934. The crew welcomed me, and by the time the race was over (we took 2nd) I felt like a regular crew member. Danny invited me to steer JD home to the Corsica River, which I did, nearly capsizing her at one point and running her aground, also. Sorry, Danny, I'll sand the bottom of the centerboard this week, if you want me to). It is very impressive to keep an old racing yacht in competition and Danny, his crew, and his family do it right. The canoes race on the Miles River this coming weekend, July 26/27th, for various trophies including the coveted Governor Richie Cup, which has been raced for since 1925.