Open Water Wisconsin!

Bob C.

Recently, a group of Flyers and I headed up to Wisconsin for a long weekend of running, swimming, water skiing, birling (log rolling), eating, and relaxing. Fellow Flyer, Pat D., grew up in the area and owns a lakeside cabin up there.

One of the events was a swim race in Lake Superior from the town of Bayfield (near the northern tip of Wisconsin) to Madeline Island, just over two miles away. Eight of us decided to take on the challenge!

Bayfield is about 90 miles from Pat's cabin, and the race started at 7 AM, so we were all up very, very early. In a three-car caravan, we had to slow down several times for deer crossing the road. The sun was rising over the lake as we got near. It was beautiful. The water was calm, but we expected it to be pretty cold.

Once we got to the start we picked up our race packets and got ready. Siggy T., another Flyer, was not swimming and was kind enough to take care of my camera for me and got some really great pictures. We thought we would be the only New Yorkers there, but were surprised to see a couple from one of the NYC triathlon teams there as well.

The Flyers take Wisconsin!

The course was simple in theory: from Bayfield, we swim straight across the river to a house on the other side of the river (two miles away!).

The men started first with the women eight minutes behind. I have not done a lot of swimming this year, especially open water swims, but thought I could get through this if the water wasn't too cold. As I got my wetsuit on I needed help zipping it up. Another Flyer friend, Noel C., was helping me and it was so tight he asked how I could breathe in it. I've put on a few pounds since buying it eight years ago.

As the time to start was approaching, the guys headed into the the water, which was surprisingly very warm. That was going to make the race a lot more enjoyable. At least as enjoyable as a two-mile swim open water can be! The beach and shallows were really rocky and it hurt walking out. I dove in as soon as it was deep enough.

When the horn went off, I stayed with the group for a little while, but was eventually dropped and I was pretty much on my own for most of the way. Although they had a few buoys out there to be used as guides, I felt as though I just swam straight across the river and never saw any of them.

I tried to settle in during the swim, but couldn't get settled into breathing every other stroke. I couldn't get enough air and had to breathe on every stroke. Then I realized that maybe the wetsuit really was too tight and was restricting my breathing. Another good reason for a new one!

The water was warm, clear, and calm. Once in a while I'd get the taste of diesel in my mouth (just like the Hudson!), but most of the time it was really pleasant. There were many kayakers guiding us and there to rescue anyone if needed (five people were pulled out and did not finish).

The finish was hard to see from the water, so once I felt I was headed in the right direction, I used the sun to navigate by. Unfortunately, I guess my navigation technique wasn't working too well and at finally one of the kayakers said that I was off course and pointed me in the right direction. After I felt like I'd been swimming quite a while I made the mistake of turning around to see how far I had gone. The finish didn't look any nearer, and the start looked really close! Ugh, this was going to take a long time!

I was able to breathe eventually, and I thought I was swimming pretty well, but it was taking forever. That finish never seemed like it got any closer! I wondered how they were able to move the whole island further and further away.

Most of the time, I had no idea how I was doing. I seemed so far away from everyone, but I didn't know if I'd be waiting for people to finish or if they'd be waiting for me. I knew several in our group were really good swimmers, others I thought were a little faster than me, but I didn't think that there was much in it.

Each time I checked my direction and to see how far away I was from the finish, a kayaker would ask if I was OK. So I was getting the idea that I wasn't going to be waiting for anyone at the end. As the finish slowly got closer I seemed to have my own kayaker with me. This probably meant that I was the last swimmer!

After what seemed like forever, I finished! As I struggled to get upright and walk out of the water, I checked my watch: one hour, 54 minutes and change! That really did take a long time. Siggy, who had taken the ferry across to the island, took photos. Pretty much everyone else in the group was already finished, dried, changed and had finished eating by the time I got there! But I had completed the longest open water swim I've ever done!

Bob finishes his longest Open Water Swim ever!

The winning times were amazing! The first man finished in 45:49; the first woman, who was third overall, finished in 47:52!

There were a few swimmers behind me, and when all were done we headed into the local town on the island for breakfast and then took the ferry back to the mainland.

I placed 275th out of 282 finishers! One out of our group, Jeanine H., was second in her age group. Her trophy was a cup of local blueberries!

Next year I'll be back and do much better! –Bob C.