San Diego Sharkfest Swim

The dream of swimming one last open water race this year was just too hard to resist! So with about a week's notice, I registered for a race, booked a hotel and bought airfare to perpetually sunny southern California for the one-mile San Diego Sharkfest Swim on Oct. 13. With a three-day weekend coming up, and the fact that Kevin and I have never been to San Diego, the race was a perfect time and place for a new adventure.

   After three days of touring museums, ships, Balboa Park, walking around both the city and Old Town and kayaking in La Jolla and experiencing a trolley tour, I was excited/anxious to swim on Sunday. Walking from our hotel to the start, which was behind the San Diego Convention Center, I noticed a lot of people were wearing wet suits, which made me a little nervous. But the race director, a former champion open water swimmer, joked and told the crowd that they were "wussies" and warned that those who looked to be struggling would be pulled from the water. Most of the swimmers were from the nearby area but there was a large contingent from swim clubs in Mexico, which is only 40 miles from San Diego. I felt the camaraderie as I chatted with a few swimmers about the course and what to expect.

   Lining up, we just jumped in one by one off a dock behind a crab shack! The bay was 70 degrees, which was great, but when I hit the water I started to feel a bit panicky. As I swam about 100-yards to the start, I was more at ease. There were about 250 swimmers, so I felt like a sardine as we were all squashed together treading water. After a few minutes the siren went off and the swimmers spread out pretty quickly. I didn't kick anyone and I wasn't smacked in the face either!

   Once I reached the middle of the bay I stopped and just looked around. It was so amazing to see the San Diego skyline behind me, the huge ships along the docks, the Coronado Bridge to my left & the island of Coronado in front of me. Floating in the middle of the San Diego Bay was exciting! The water was calm and dark (no sharks), only a few swells, and I didn't swallow nearly as much water as I did during the Cedar Island 5K!

  The San Diego Bay is a busy place, so thankfully on this quiet Sunday morning members of the Coronado Aquatics Club, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Port of San Diego, the City of San Diego Police Marine Unit, Xplore Offshore Boat Support, Joe's Crab Shack, volunteer paddlers from the community and the Enviro-Sports Staff were all on hand to protect the swimmers. I felt in control during the race and I used my fellow swimmers' orange swim caps as guides. I took a breath every three strokes and quickly stopped to sight my direction every four cycles. I knew to aim towards the Coronado Bridge and the small, sandy beach.

  I could see the seaweed beneath me and knew that it was almost time to run to the finish line. On a pair of wobbly legs, I hustled onto the sand and finished with a time of 33:30, I had a lot of energy left! My always supportive Kevin (who took a ferry over) greeted me with a high five, a towel & all my belongings as a caught my breath. Just three hours later, we were back at the airport & heading home.

   This was a beautiful swim with perfect weather in a calm and warm bay. Though it was a bit expensive ($80 instead of $60 because I registered late), it doesn't benefit any charities, I had to take an XL T-shirt because they ran out of my size and the post-race refreshments of water and trail mix were disappointing, it trip/swim was definitely worth it.