#6HOUR CRUSH!
- Jul 7, 2018
- 2 min read
After two weeks of training in water holes all over Northern California, I completed my qualifying Channel swim on Saturday, July 7th. The hours spent doing laps in the <61 degree water in Lake Tahoe, Lake Natoma in Sacramento, and Aquatic Park in San Francisco paid off. As Ahelee called it, this swim was my #6HOURCRUSH!
Ever since my Dad did the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon in the mid-to-late 1990s, I’ve wanted to “Swim Around the Rock.” When I heard from a San Diego veteran English Channel swimmer, Tom Hecker, that there was a race around Alcatraz in July, I knew I had to enter the event.
The 3.6 mile race took off from St. Francis Yacht Club. Unlike most foggy mornings on the Bay, we lucked out with a clear and sunny day that made for spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge. We swam toward Angel Island in hopes of being carried by the tide to the far side of Alcatraz. As I got closer, I relied more and more on the support kayaker, Brad, to help navigate since the gorgeous sunrise was making it really hard to see anything clearly between the waves and my forever foggy googles. Once I made it back to the finish line in Aquatic Park, I was surprised to learn that I had won the women’s competition in 1 hour 45 minutes.
Instead of getting out to celebrate, my plan was to stay in the water for a long swim. Frankly, I wasn’t sure how long my long swim would last. However, I had several things going in my favor: Ahelee and Katherine’s incredible help and support and the heat wave sweltering California elevated the water temperature to 60 degrees.
In hours two and three, I zig-zagged around Aquatic Park. Compared to my earlier swim in the open Bay, the waters seemed relatively calm. With the sun out and a warm air temperature, the lyrics “A Perfect Day, Nothing Standing in My Way” kept running through my head. I couldn’t recall the last time I heard this song, but it fit the moment since I had a stellar support crew and great conditions.
By hour four, the wind had picked up substantially and the previously calm Aquatic Park felt more like the rest of the Bay. But at this point, I was invested. I knew had to keep swimming. Fortunately, during one of my feeds, I encountered Ryan, another aspiring English Channel swimmer. He was up for a 1.5 hour swim to help me reach my 6-hour qualification goal and pay-it-forward to the folks who had helped him do the same.
When I finished my #6HOURCRUSH, I was thrilled and READY to WARM UP. To celebrate our swimming victory, Ahelee, Katherine and I headed straight to the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals baseball game.
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