Janet McDonough Race Report Louisville KY 1.2 Open Water Swim August 16, 2011
The regional USMS (US Masters Swimming) Association offers a number of open water swims every summer, and last year I swam the Allegheny River 1.2 race as my first river swim. With my sister living in Louisville KY, I convinced her to take the plunge with me this summer, and swim the Louisville Ohio River event. This swim is a training event for many triathletes getting a practice swim for the Louisville Iron Man race that follows in late August. My sister entered the ½ mile swim event and I signed up for the 1.2 mile swim.
The morning of the race, we arrived about one hour before race time and watched the Triathlete swim event that had started about three hours before our race. The USMS swimmers/my group were combined with the USA swimming group which are the under 21 year round swimmers. I wasn't crazy about swimming with a group of year round high school and college swimmers, but that is how it works. We were also informed a week earlier that the water temperature would be in the mid to high 80s, which was a bit concerning, but I was determined not to let warm water change my excitement for the swim. When we arrived the water look clear and clean, for a river that is, and we learned at the registration desk that the temperature was 85 degrees. I pushed myself to drink a little extra water before the race knowing that the warm water would have me overheating in no time.
With several of the triathlete swimmers still on the course, my grouping of swimmers came together (about 60 in all) for our 5 minutes briefing in the 90 degree heat. The group walked down to the river for a 5minute warm-up option and then swam out to the starting buoys. This race was an "in the water start and finish" which eased my nerves a bit not having to worry about high school kids running me over at the start or finish. My sister and I nudged our way to the front line, gave each other a glance and a chuckled and the starting horn sounded. (Who wouldn't laugh when two 50something women push their way to the front line of any race?)
The front line started out in a major sprint, and with my excitement of the race, I moved along at a quick pace. I could see several of the high school and college swimmers starting to pull out ahead, actually blocking my ability to sight the buoys, but figured I'd use their caps to sight for the first part of the race. I started to settle in with a pack of five or six swimmers who all seemed to slide into a more moderate pace at about 250 yards out. I rolled on my back to see if my sister was near, but that caused a collision or two with other swimmers and I knew my next chance to see her would be at the finish.
At the first buoy about a quarter of a mile out, I could feel the heat of the water and the feeling of over heating starting to hit my face. I rolled to my back a few times, but the sun seems just as hot and I didn't want to lose my pack of swimmers and swim solo for more than ½ the race. By the second buoy which was the half way mark, my pack thinned out some more and I was swimming stroke for stroke with two other swimmers. We took turns in the lead and drafting, not on purpose but we all seemed to be moving at the same pace. While drafting I did little sighting for buoys, but when I moved to the front, I was sighting every four strokes. I started to get a cramp in the arch of my foot and rolled to my back to ease the cramp. I had moved into the third position in my group when I rolled back and had to sprint a little to catch up to the group. My cramp seemed to pass, but I knew I was starting to fade. The swimmer beside me for the last half of the race had a stroke like Jeremiah, long and straight armed when breathing and I did think of several of my Cranberry Y swim friends on that last stretch in. When I saw the two finish buoys, I knew I was swimming hard and I wanted the race to be over. I wanted to sprint the last 100 yards in and push ahead of my two pack swimmers, but the harder I swam and kicked, the harder they must have swam because my position did not change. When I hit the finish and started to tread water, I was overjoyed the race was over and wanted to jump into a tub of ice. My sister and family were at the shore line cheering and I took the cup of water handed to me and threw it on my face to cool down.
I finished third in the USMS group overall and second USMS women. My time was about 50 seconds slower than my 1.2 race in the Allegheny River swim last summer (oh well), but I knew I had given the swim all I had. My sister won the ½ mile race and we rested and feasted like queens with our family that afternoon to end a great day. Below is a picture of me at the finish with the women that swam with me the second half of the race and beat me at the end.
With several of the triathlete swimmers still on the course, my grouping of swimmers came together (about 60 in all) for our 5 minutes briefing in the 90 degree heat. The group walked down to the river for a 5minute warm-up option and then swam out to the starting buoys. This race was an "in the water start and finish" which eased my nerves a bit not having to worry about high school kids running me over at the start or finish. My sister and I nudged our way to the front line, gave each other a glance and a chuckled and the starting horn sounded. (Who wouldn't laugh when two 50something women push their way to the front line of any race?)
The front line started out in a major sprint, and with my excitement of the race, I moved along at a quick pace. I could see several of the high school and college swimmers starting to pull out ahead, actually blocking my ability to sight the buoys, but figured I'd use their caps to sight for the first part of the race. I started to settle in with a pack of five or six swimmers who all seemed to slide into a more moderate pace at about 250 yards out. I rolled on my back to see if my sister was near, but that caused a collision or two with other swimmers and I knew my next chance to see her would be at the finish.
At the first buoy about a quarter of a mile out, I could feel the heat of the water and the feeling of over heating starting to hit my face. I rolled to my back a few times, but the sun seems just as hot and I didn't want to lose my pack of swimmers and swim solo for more than ½ the race. By the second buoy which was the half way mark, my pack thinned out some more and I was swimming stroke for stroke with two other swimmers. We took turns in the lead and drafting, not on purpose but we all seemed to be moving at the same pace. While drafting I did little sighting for buoys, but when I moved to the front, I was sighting every four strokes. I started to get a cramp in the arch of my foot and rolled to my back to ease the cramp. I had moved into the third position in my group when I rolled back and had to sprint a little to catch up to the group. My cramp seemed to pass, but I knew I was starting to fade. The swimmer beside me for the last half of the race had a stroke like Jeremiah, long and straight armed when breathing and I did think of several of my Cranberry Y swim friends on that last stretch in. When I saw the two finish buoys, I knew I was swimming hard and I wanted the race to be over. I wanted to sprint the last 100 yards in and push ahead of my two pack swimmers, but the harder I swam and kicked, the harder they must have swam because my position did not change. When I hit the finish and started to tread water, I was overjoyed the race was over and wanted to jump into a tub of ice. My sister and family were at the shore line cheering and I took the cup of water handed to me and threw it on my face to cool down.
I finished third in the USMS group overall and second USMS women. My time was about 50 seconds slower than my 1.2 race in the Allegheny River swim last summer (oh well), but I knew I had given the swim all I had. My sister won the ½ mile race and we rested and feasted like queens with our family that afternoon to end a great day. Below is a picture of me at the finish with the women that swam with me the second half of the race and beat me at the end.