Race Result

Racer:	Melissa Hancock
Race:	Nanticoke River Swim and Triathlon
Date:	Sunday, May 4, 2008
Location:	Bevalve, MD
Race Type:	Triathlon - Sprint
Age Group:	Female 35 - 39
Time:	2:15:21
Overall Place:	40 / 62
Age Group Place:	3 / 6
Comment:	Roughest swim of my life

Race Report:

I signed up for this 3 mile river swim as a warm-up race before the Chesapeake Bay Swim in June. The course was a big, single loop triangle in the Nanticoke river, so it was HUGE. Thankfully, the water temps raised to 68 degrees during the week, and I would be comfortable in a half wetsuit and standard swim cap.
Before the race, I ran into fellow RATS Shawn, Julie and Reid. Shawn and Reid were doing the 3 mile swim. My friend Karen was also there with her husband, Charlie. Karen was doing the swim, and Charlie was doing the triathlon. We swimmers all ended up finishing within about 10 minutes of each other. As we checked out the course before the race, we talked about how there would be no water stops. I said that I hoped to finish in around 1:30, and could go without water that long, but I felt sorry for the people who would be out there 2-2/12 hours. Little did I know that would be me!
This race consisted of 3 events: a 3-mile swim, a sprint triathlon, and a ½ mile swim. We took off from the marina in waves in that order. All 100 or so of us 3-milers took off together in one wave, and the start was fine. The water was chilly, but not bad. Everyone was as courteous as they could be in the initial shuffle. As soon as we left the marina it all turned bad.
The waves out in the river were unlike anything I have ever experienced. They seemed like they were 2-3 feet high, and were white-capped. The rescue volunteers were on jet skis and boogie boards. I kept thinking that if I could just get out far enough I would get through the breakers, but I never did. The waves never got smaller over the swim. I swam over the smaller waves and dived below the bigger ones. For a long time I wasn’t sure if I was even making any forward process. Mile 1 was frustrating as I fought the waves in front of me, but then I turned around the first bouy, it seemed like I was swimming off into the wilderness. There were lots of times where pods of swimmers would just stop together and look for the next bouy. “Do you see it?” “No, I don’t see anything.” “I think I see something over there.” And we would all head off in that general direction.
Heading into mile 2, the waves were now coming from my right side, and I could not see any of the bouys. Traditional sighting was not even possible. To see the bouy, I would have to breast stroke, and wait for 3-5 waves to lift me up high enough so I could get a glimpse of it, and then try to point myself in that direction. I tried to force myself to count 100 strokes before sighting again. Sometimes, I would be pointed in the completely wrong direction when I sighted again. It did no good to follow other swimmers, because they were zig-zagging all over the place. At one point, I stopped by a boat and they said “that boat is the next place you should head towards.” I looked and saw a tiny speck off in the distance. I looked in another direction and saw a group of swimmers heading the other way and the people in the boat said they were all going the wrong way. I took off my goggles and I could still barely see the speck of the next boat, and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to find it again, but I put my goggles back on and swam in that direction anyway.
I somehow made it to the next boat and then around the 2 mile bouy. Then I had to head back towards the marina, which I could not see either. At least the waves were now behind me, giving me a little push towards the finish. They would sometimes lift my feet up behind me, though, and almost into a back flip, which felt kind of funky. One wave lifted the guy behind me up and crashed him down directly on top of me, and he said, “jeez, I’m so sorry!”’ and I said “don’t worry about it, let’s just get this over with.” I finally made it back into the glorious inlet of the marina, where the water was NORMAL! I was tired like you would not believe, but after over 2 hours of frustration and no real swimming, I started sprinting from the joy of actually being able to swim again. Everyone around me was doing the same and we actually had about 5 minutes of fun. I came out of the water and finished in 2:15.
My husband Rob was waiting anxiously for me at the finish, having expected me to finish almost an hour earlier. He had been waiting with Karen’s husband Charlie. Karen came out just a few minutes ahead of me. They were both afraid we DNF’d because we were so late and they saw lots of swimmers being returned by rescue boats. They also heard the other swimmers finishing and saying how bad the conditions were.
Until now, I have learned something from every OWS I have ever done. But right now, I don’t know if I learned anything, or what I could have done better on this race. If I could have at least seen the bouys, I would have fought harder, but when I didn’t know if I was even going the right way, there didn’t seem like any point. It was so frustrating. I did notice from the results that the locals seemed to place the highest overall, so maybe by training out there, they figured out how to navigate through that hell. Maybe I should try to do the race again next year so I can figure it out too. Today, I just feel completely beat up.