Known as the Cayman Mile this year was the 20th annual Flowers Sea Swim. For the first time Katie and I participated in this great event that draws swimmers from around the world. We had been training for almost three months and both felt that we were ready to do the race and not just finish but shoot for personal best times. Over 900 people registered for the race and some 838 started it. The race went from the Ritz Carlton south along the coast to Royal Palms. Majestic Seven Mile Beach was our backdrop as we swam the course. The start time was 2:30 p.m. though we had to get there at 1 p.m. to register. It was extremely hot and the competitors were all under tents waiting for the time to get in the water. We slathered ourselves in sunscreen and drank lots of water to try and stay hydrated.
With 838 competitors, not everyone could be up on the start line. They put the elite swimmers up there with the rest of us entering areas based on our projected time finishes. Katie and I got into the area for people finishing in 35-45 minutes. The elite swimmers included several current and former Olympians headlined by USA Olympic gold medalists Ian Crocker (former Longhorn), Gary Hall Jr. (another former Longhorn) and Gary Hall Sr., Kaitlen Sandeno, Scott Goldblatt (yet another former Longhorn), Rada Owen and one of the top open water swimmers in the world from Australia, Codie Grimsley. There was also a swimmer from Italy trying to break the world record for swimming with both his hands and feet handcuffed, Paolo Cerizzi. As the picture below shows the start area was huge to accommodate that many swimmers.
Katie and I were C59 and C60 in the numbering. There was a one hour and fifteen minute time limit to finish the race and when we first started training, my goal was just to finish within the time limit. Two months plus of training though for both of us had us well within the time limit and shooting for personal goals.
When we entered the water we swam way out to the outer edge of the start area, a good 30-40 yards from shore, which turned out to be a great idea. Even though we had to tread water for a couple of minutes as everyone got into the water, we didn't have to be a part of the scrum start that happened near the shore and actually got up almost to start line before the horn went off to begin. Since most people stayed nearer to shore, we got a great start and could set our own pace without having to worry about being an obstacle to people passing us or being too slow in front of us. The water was very warm and we were swimming against the current, both of which made it a harder swim than it might have been. The course was marked by buoys every 200 meters and I had on the Garmin giving me 100 meter updates while Katie used her swimmers stop watch that gave her time updates.
We had both set time goals based on our training, me at 40 minutes, her at 43 minutes. It is hard to maintain focus for that long but we both had talked about doing various mental exercises during the swim to keep our pace going and not slow down. I knew from the Garmin as I approached the finish that I was well under my goal time and wondered what that meant in terms of placing. My big goal was time but I also knew that a sub 40 time probably put me into the top 400. When I crossed the line, I stopped the watch and saw 35:48, over four minutes below my goal. Then I got my finish card and it read 201. The finish area was packed with swimmers and observers and it was difficult to watch for Katie but I caught her coming out of the check-in area and she had finished 414th. She had forgotten to stop her watch but knew she finished somewhere between 43 and 44 minutes (we will get her and my official time when they post them later this week). Just like marathons, every finisher got a medal and a t-shirt so we have the hardware and clothing to prove our swims. Cerizzi came across the finish line about 45 minutes after we finished breaking the world record for distance swam handcuffed.
We stuck around afterward for the award ceremony, and to see if we won any of the random prizes (we didn't). Codie Grimsley from Australia won the race as expected in 18:39 which was much slower than years past and during the awards ceremony the running joke was that with the current and warmer water, everyone was going slower. The Governor, who swam the race too even joked on the podium that he wanted his time thrown out because we swam against the current instead of with it. They set the course on Wednesday but the current shifted and they decided not to change the course because of all the logistics of it. It is truly an amazing set up from the huge start area with tons of tents and sign in areas and stuff drop off locations to the finish area with more tents the swimmer finish area where you turn in your finish plate and get your goodie bag (t-shirt, water bottle, coffee mug, towel amongst other things) and the stage for the ceremony. I can see how changing to the north course at the last minute would be a logistical nightmare. Knowing we swam against the current made us feel even prouder of our times. Here we are at the finish after getting changed.
Our next goal is the sprint triathlon in November. An 800 meter swim, 20 kilometer bike and 5K run all within 2 and 1/2 hours. Right now the goal will be just to finish but by November hopefully we will be looking at specific time goals.
