Predicted Water Conditions: Approximately 55 to 60 degrees. Wetsuits/non-traditional swim attire may be worn but may affect a swimmer's eligibility for awards. The full wetsuit policy can be viewed here. There can be a substantial amount of chop in the water from wind & tide action. The waterways are salt-water and there is shipping traffic. There may be random jetsam & flotsam in the waterways. For additional information on swimming and water quality in the Hudson River, please see our FAQ page.
Previous Year's Water Temp:
As I said, it's gonna be cold. Also, I am not sure if I will still be able to do the aquathlon since the Gold Coast Century is the next day so this is my 1 shot for this years swim around Liberty Island. Not the end of the world but I really had enough of swimming in the Hudson River and I hoped that this year would be the last. In order to qualify, I need to be in the top 70 % of the field and I don't really understand the wetsuit policy in regards to it. Got some different answers so generally confused. Still to look into getting a neoprene cap. The swim is in 9 days and the water is FREEZING!
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Hard to tell but we are gonna swim uptown (North). During the NYC Triathlon, we have always swam downtown (South) with the seawall to our left. It'll be a little strange with the seawall to the right but then again who cares. I wonder how deep they'll let me go into the center of the river where the current is strongest. Guess we'll see.
I am actually *very* worried about the cold. When I told Lee that I am worried about the cold, she said to me "But isn't it the reason you are doing it? You like worrying about it!" To which I replied, "Are you kidding me? You think I wanna jump in to the water at this temp knowing that my balls are gonna be in my mouth in 2 seconds flat?" Laughter ensued but I am worried. The water will be cold.
The worst thing is, is that I found a race report from last year and also some pictures. Unlike the NYC Tri, where there are multiple waves each with 80 or somehting people this is a mass start. What does that mean? During the NYC Tri, they get a group of people on a barge or floating dock. They all scoot into the water, hold a rope and about 2 minutes later it starts. From what I see and understand, here there are 2 lines of people jumping into the water 1 at a time. Looks like a 9 foot jump. Anyway, once you are in the drink, you tread water for 10 minutes or so. Once all 250 people get in, they blow the whistle. How stupid...Everyone is wearing a chip so why not either do a few waves or a staggered start where you jump in and swim? Why do we need to freeze our butt off?
Anyway, gonna try my new neoprene toys in the pool today. Don't need any suprises on Saturday.
Oh yeah, good thing I don't believe that ommision of truth is a lie since I plan on not telling my mom about this race. Everytime she hears the Hudson River, she freaks out. Just gonna (maybe) tell her that I have a swim in the city. Period. After the fact, I'll tell her. Don't need her freakng out for no reason.
By the way, on the bright side of the cold water - No Jelly Fish!
RACE COURSE Swimmers will enter the water by jumping from the Water Taxi dock at the Christopher Street Pier (Pier 45) in Hudson River Park. The dock is a considerable height -- please be prepared to move quickly as there will be many swimmers trying to enter the water at the same time. After the race horn sounds, swim parallel to the pier out into the Hudson while keeping the race marks to your left. Race marks should be to your left the entire event. You will swim approximately 15 yards past the end of the pier before making a left turn around the orange race mark to begin swimming south. The current will be moving slowly against you so that you will be able to set yourself up to sight the entire course’s race marks all the way down to North Cove Yacht Harbor. Swimmers should keep the orange race marks to their left the entire event and should not swim any further than 10 yards away from the race marks as they pass. Swimming out in the middle River will give you no advantage as the race is timed to occur during the transition from the flood to the ebb. Accordingly, staying in line with the race marks will be the most efficient line to the finish. If you find yourself swimming amongst the motorboats, you are too far out and will be disqualified for being off course If you follow the race marks all the way down you will easily avoid the hazards associated with the ends of Pier 40, the Holland Tunnel vents, and the new ferry terminal in Battery Park. After clearing the ferry terminal at Murray Street, swimmers will pass the last orange race Mark that is away from the sea wall and will be allowed to move in closer to the sea wall. Upon entering North Cove Marina, swimmers will finish at the pontoon boat attached to one of the finger piers near the center and right/southern portion of the marina. Please review the updated course map on the Great Hudson River Swim's web page for more information. We apologize for any confusion that this may cause and thank you for your support. The NYC Swim Events Team
It's kinda funny. With the NYC Tri, they always promised us tidal assists and incredible fast times. And maybe that's for the pros, elderly, women and Physically Challenged athletes but my age group NEVER had a break. We usually had no current to fighting current. They basically lied to us. Here, they flat out tell you to be ready for war.
Check in starts at 10:30. I got into Penn at 10:12 and I'm already at the check-in at 10:37. So far so good. Greg is due in around 11:10 by my calculations. Cutting it tight but doable. I look around. I see 2 porta-potties (for 250 swimmers and family and support - really???), baggage drop-off, and registration table. Then I see indoor plumbing. OK - maybe they aren't that stupid. Got my chip, my baggage tag and my hot-pink cap. Also, went to get a temporary tattoo for left arm. Someone there complained that the water they are using is freezing and I joked around that they are trying to acclimate us to the water temperature. Every one laughed. OK - loosening up.
It's past 11:20 and it's gettng close to baggage drop off closing. They close at 11:40. Lot of people are already fully dressed with it on. STUPID! We're supposed to go in the water at 12:10 and already at 11:20 people are dressed. Whatever...I start. Put on the anti-chafing lotion all over. Helps to get the wetsuit off you and also prevents chafing especially on the neck area. Done. Pull on wetsuit to waist level only. No way am I gonna boil like everyone else.
I get a message from Greg. He's not gonna make it. It's 11:20 and the E train has track work and he just got to Roosevelt. Ain't happening. He's not happy. I check in my stuff.
There's someone there who is part of NYC Swim I guess. He's got a whistle and he's not afraid to use it. He's got on a Polar bear shirt so I guess he doesn't mind the temps. Wonder if he'll swim too today. Meanwhile he's irritating me. He blew his whistle, hard, while being right next to me. First time is ok. Bug again and again and again...Annoying. I started talking to a girl named Robin and her friend (something with a K). We actually got our picture taken too so I guess I have to go look for it. Anyway, I remarked to her that I wonder if he's gonna swim with that whistle too since it was obvious he was gonna swim.
By the way, I should mention that there were around 40 people who were not wearing wetsuits. God help them. I'm sticking with a wetsuit. The one thing I did not do was wear the neoprene cap. I only saw 1 guy who was wearing it and I decided not to wear it. The 40 people who were not wearing the wetsuit were all shapes and sizes. It wasn't just the heavy (fat) people who weren't wearing it. Skinny people too. I even saw a woman wearing a 2 piece bathing suit. Now tell me, how smart is that? What happens if...? And why wasn't I there???
At around 11:50 we had a pre-race meeting. Then we went to our corrals. Now, what's the point of putting us in corrals, I was in 101-150 since my number was 104, if it's a mass start anyway? Anyway, right on time (minute late is forgivable), they had people start to jump in. We had to walk single file, in number order up to a Water Taxi dock and then jump in 2 at a time.
I'm daydreaming as I suddenly hear "104" and I wake up. I move up the line and before I know it, I am there. There's a guy telling people where to jump to. I start to jump and I am in mid-air as I feel the guy push me. Really?!? I don't need help dude. This guy is pushing everyone in. Idiot - tho I get it. Gotta start on time.
Regarding the rush to get people in. They apparently timed it in a certain way. Once we start the current will be "lightly" against us so we can sight well. Once we get to the first buoy, we make a left turn and head downtown. Now, at that point the current is supposed to be in the transition period before it heads with us downtown. Hm...How many times have I heard this before? If the race didn't start pretty much on time, the current would push us right into the docks which could get ugly.
Once in the water, there are 103 people already in (since I'm 104) and another 146 waiting to get in. The starting line is between these 2 bouys that are roughly 50 feet apart. So, let's see 250 people rushing through...I immediatly move to the front. When I get to the starting line, there is a guy there hanging on to the buoy and as I look at him he tells me that it beats wasting energy treading water. Realizing this guy is a genius, I immediatly grab a corner too. When I initially jumped in, the water was cold and it hit me like a truck but now I was okish. Soon my left hand got tired and so I switched hands. As soon as I did that, my left hand screamed in pain when it hit the cold water. Again this happened when my right hand got tired. It seemed that the hand in the water got acclimated to the temps while the hand out of water was nice and warm. To stop this silliness, I started switching hands every 10 seconds or so.
Soon, everyone was in the water and they blew the horn. I was on the left side with the left buoy and we all took off. Light current against us - ha! Lot of bodies fighting and jockying for position. Everytime I switched to breaststroke for a breather, I kicked someone. Sorry. Got to the buoy and made my first left. I think the guy said there were 10 buoys all together so I sorta tried to pay attention to that as well.
Back to the whole current thing...Before we started, I was hanging out near the NYPD scuba team boat and just admiring their boat. Tied to them was a rubber Dinghy (I think that's what it's called). Anyway, out of the blue, 3 huge waves came - I actually saw them coming, and completly rocked the boat (no pun). One of the scuba cops actually ran over to make sure the dinghy is ok since it was almost flying out of the water and on to the boat. It was wild. Glad we have no current or waves - just chop.
Back to the swim...Swimming downtown was rough in the beginning. Lots of bodies, freezing temps, chop, waves and I don't know what. Got punched once but who cares. Kicked a lot of people - again sorry. Things eventually got a little better as we spread out. Now, during the NYC Triathlon they had kayakers and boats and if you went to deep into the river they would tell you to head back. I was told many times to do that but you gotta understand, the deeper the water, the stronger the current and if you have the cajones and are fearless, then you get a ride. Here, they plain out told you, if you go too deep, near the boats and kayakers, you will be DQ (DISQUALIFIED!). Don't want that! Made sure to correct my line as I needed to.
Now, during a triathlon with multiple wave start, everyone gets a different color cap which is great during the swim because it helps you gauge where you are in relation to the field. I usually break into the wave in front of me and usually into the previous waves as well. Here, with the mass start, we all wearing hot-pink. Now, there are 2 reasons why I am doing this race: 1) I need a OWS (Open Water Swim) practice and 2) I would like to qualify for the Liberty Swim (swim around the Statue of Liberty) and this is the last chance for this year. As I swim, I look in front of me and there are a bunch of pinks in front. I look in back and there aren't too many there. Shoot. Oh well, Liberty Island was a wish but my main goal is an OWS so who cares - shut up and swim.
I should mention that during the swim, I constantly hear a whistle. Either someone else has a whistle or that annoying guy actually is swimming with a whistle. I truly don't know.
I'm swimming and counting buoys, sort of, and I remember what they said at the meeting. All buoys are Orange except for the last one. The last one is Orange and Red and that's your signal to make a left into the dock. If you miss it and you start swimming around Lady Liberty then you missed the turn and that race is not for a few weeks anyway...Funny guy.
I think I only have 3 or 4 buoys left but it's hard to see with all the waves.
The waves: I gotta say, NYC Swim did a great job trying to keep everyone safe. They had a bunch of boats, kayakers, jet skis and NYPD patrol and scuba patrolling the water. My only complaint is that everytime these boats or jetskis flew by, we got pummeled with waves. We also had waves coming in from shipping traffic and big boats out far and so but everytime I spied a jetski fly by, about 5-10 seconds later we got pummeled. Without fail - boom. There were a couple of times where I didn't see the jetski or boat, yet BOOM. There were times when I was swimming and suddenly the bottom dropped out and I fell a few feet. There were a few times where waves just crashed on top of me. To make thing more interesting, I prefer to swim breathing only from my right as opposed to bi-lateral breathing which means every 3 times you switch sides. Still, I am a strong enough swimmer that it didn't cause me any issues. Drank a little but not too bad. I was wondering how many people got seasick. You hear of tri's with significany chop and waves and people vomitting in the water as they swim. Not me - chugging along although I really wanted to be out of there. I did have enough.
Definitly 3 more buoys and I am pretty sure I also see red. Glad for 20-20 or better vision. Hard to tell with all the waves and motion but I am pretty sure I see red. Like a bull, I really start swimming. Three to go - Two to go and there's the last one. Around the 2nd to last the waves and chop got real bad. Felt like nothing before. Now, I am really fighting. Got to red and it's a battle. Went left (diagonally) and we were in a secluded dock and the water temperature felt warm. Still wavey. Before I made the left, I sighted a guy approximately 50 yards away and I decided to get him. Got closer and closer and closer and I knew I had him and he just beat me to the stairs by 2 seconds. I was already on top of him when he got to the stairs. Whatever. Let him go and went up the stairs. Started stripping of wetsuit to waist before I rememberd it wasn't a tri and I don't have to get to transition. Wasn't even sure what to do next. Followed other people and I saw they stopped in front of a guy with a hose. He's holding it at waist level and people were bending down to rinse off. My turn and I don't play that way. Said to the kid, "gimme that", took it, held it up and rinsed off like a human being. Can't tell you how good it felt. Got my finishers medal. Nice and heavy and looked good and off in search of food. Always starving after a swim and I have a hard and hilly 5K the next day and oh yeah, I felt major hunger pains even before we went in to the river.
As starving as I was, I was still able to behave like a human being (unlike other people). I asked the volunteers to give me food - I was dripping water all over the place and I didn't want to rinse the bagels and cliff bar pieces and grapes for everyone with Hudson River water. They had good stuff. Got my goody bag and it was HEAVY. Lot of stuff. It was a camp bag thing and digging into my shoulders being so heavy. Went to a bench and stripped of wetsuit, put cloths on my bathing suit and got more food. Robin finished a few minutes after me but she didn't didn't know her time. We didn't see a clock at the finish. Luckily, I started my watch so I told her my time which was only a few minutes before her.
My official time was 43:39 and was approximately 12 minutes slower than my Patriot Half-Ironman swim tho that was a calm lake and this was a river (OWS). Wasn't too happy with it but it is what it is.
Hopped on a cab to Penn station trying to catch the 1:40 to Bellerose. It was 1:20 and tight and I missed it. Instead of waiting at Penn for an hour, decided to get on the 1:47 to New Hyde Park and then either a) get a ride, b) walk or c) cab. As is, my father-in-law came to my rescue and picked me up. Went straight to the YMCA, saw Jeremy playing Tennis and Jessie swimming. From there, left them there, took the car home and showered then fed the dog then walked him. As I am walking him, I get a text message from Greg. Apparently I placed 57 out of 197 and he said go register. Quick calculation with the phone and I was in 28 percentile. I actually beat 72 percent of the field. Unbelievable. Tried to register for Libert Swim and was told I can't. Emailed them and went back for my guys. When we got back home about an hour later there was already a response. They uploaded the results and I can register. DONE! I'm in the Liberty Island Swim. Yay.
Earlier I texted Greg and told him about my swim and my time and he said that if it took me 43+ minutes then he would never have finished. I told him that it was so rough that maybe it was a blessing in disguise for him that he missed it. Swimming is not his forte.
Anyway, glad I did it tho at the YMCA and later at home I realized how tired I was. Also, it hit me later that I was dehydrated as hell. Good sleep would cure all. Was in bed by 9:30.
Interesting statistics looking at the results:
Another thing...When I tell people that I'm gonna swim in the Hudson, I usualy get the same wiseguy responses: "Did you get your Hepitatis shots?", "Did you get your
Well, during the checkin they gave me a baggage tag which I promptly tied on. I don't usually check a bag in but had no choice. It was a point to point swim and no transition area and I had no body there so baggage check. Anyway, before I put the wetsuit on, I was walking around and enjoying the view. OOPS. My tag came off. The string still had a knot in it but it was not connected to the bag anymore. Shoot. Hurried over to checkin and asked for another string. Didn't have extra. What?!? As I started freaking out, I saw one of those quick release tie things that cops use instead of handcuffs. I don't remember the name. It's a long plastic thing that you can attach cables together with. EXCELLENT. Took one with a thanks instead of "can I please" and used it. Still there on my bag. Number 104 in the house. I'll take the tag off but not the tie thing. The Mary Poppins bag just got 1 more thing to carry. Granted, I'll never take a hat stand out of there but still it's my Mary Poppins bag.
