Greenwich 1 Mile Swim

The weekend after doing another very hot NYC triathlon, it was time to mix it up a bit and take part in the Greenwich Swim Committee's Saturday morning 1 mile swim.  The good news was that it meant a later start than for the NY tri, the bad news was that the alarm clock still had to be set for 5 am in order to be picked up early to be at Greenwich in Connecticut at 7 for a 7.30 am swim start.

Greenwich beach

The Achilles team went up in a handful of cars and were smaller for this event but represented a nice cross section of the disabilities that can be found in our team:  myself and Ricardo, both amputees, Tyler, who is autistic (and also an amazing swimmer and runner), Sarah, the most cheerful and positive person known to mankind, traumatic brain injury survivor, and Eliza (also an amazing swimmer) and Brandy, both visually impaired.  Ricardo and I swam alone, everyone else with guides.

The swim was a low key event and a nice contrast to last weekend, with it's thousands of competitors, many with their stony steely super serious faces before the race.  There were only around 175 swimmers, and as we checked in, you could sense the laid back homely small community vibe.

After getting my chip and eating a quick hummus sandwich for brekkers it was soon time to don the old wetsuit and start thinking about getting in the water.  One good thing about this swim was that there were 4 waves, and we were in the last one, so no risk of being overtaken/trampled by much faster swimmers.

Award Ceremony

The course was in a kind of V shape, starting at the bottom from the beach, swimming out to the top left, across to the right, and then a sharp turn to exit to where we entered.

As always, I wasn't looking forward to the initial moments in the water when the coldness overwhelms me and it's difficult to breathe and I can't put my head in the water.  But at least now I know I won't freak out about it; it's just a matter of getting used to the temperature and then you can start to get your stroke going and be on your way.

And this as what happened.  With the starting horn, the rest of the Achilles athletes were
off, leaving me hyper ventilating a touch, treading water, and trying to get to used to the new (to me very unnatural) environment.  Eventually, I was able to put my head in, blow some bubbles, and take a stroke.  And then another, and then another, and soon, I was slowly but surely gingerly on my way.

Team Achilles for the day

Swimming a mile still seems like a daunting prospect when you're just in the water, but it's always a great feeling to pass the first buoy.  Swimming along the top of the course was kind of interesting as (I found out later) there was a fairly strong current taking the swimmers out to sea.  I was going along and looked up to see I was swimming in the direction of the Long Island sound directly away from the beach and was waved back by someone on one of the supporting boats to make a right hand turn to head back to the course.  Another interesting challenge - it was a bit choppier than expected - not sure if this was from the wake of some of the boats that were helping with the race.  But eventually I found my rhythm, and found myself relaxed and thinking about all kinds of things that didn't include the prospect of drowning or being rescued in a swim race, as I made my steady progress.    One of them was visualizing doing the Half Ironman in Weymouth that I signed up for in September.  If I can do this swim, there is really no reason why I can't do .2 miles longer in Weymouth, especially if I get myself in the pool a few times a week between now and then.

Towards the second turn, I came across Sarah with her guide Roy, and then went past a couple of other people as I saw the magical site of the last buoy I had to pass to finish the swim.  Another thing I was contemplating in the water at one stage earlier was the idea of coming last.  I was in last position for most of the race, and am normally pretty competitive, but so many people will never do something like a mile swim, I genuinely think it's a victory just to be able to finish and I don't think it would have bothered me too much.

It felt great to see the sandy surface under the water a few feet from the end, to cross the final buoy, and then to emerge, with no goggle malfunctions, just a couple of swallowed small mouthfuls of water, but stronger and more confident from the experience, ready to take on Weymouth in a couple of months time.  Equally welcome were the doughnuts and coffee waiting for the finishers on the beach.

Swimmers weren't the only ones to enjoy the post race doughnuts.

My final time was 46.51.  I'm slow but not as slow as I used to be!  An interesting thing about this race - the top 3 swimmers were female, with the winner being only 14 with a time of 15.45.  STB, less than half my age and three times quicker!  Something to aim for at least.

This swim was a great start to the day which then got even better as I was back in New York in time to see England beat Sweden in the quarter finals of the World Cup by two sore bottoms to nil.  As I don't have a TV I watched the game in my local cafe and enjoyed a 10 am beer as I'd already had 2 coffees.  I felt like I'd deserved it as I'd already been up for 5 hours and swam a mile!  I'm definitely finding open water swims like public speaking.  If it doesn't come naturally to you, practice practice practice, and each time it will get a little bit easier.