Ocean City Swim Club 10K Coastal Challenge

The warm, pink hue of the rising sun glowed above the Ocean City, N.J., boardwalk as I met with my fellow relay swimmers for the inaugural OCSC Coastal Challenge. Waking up at 4 a.m. for the drive to shore was painful, and I did question my sanity, but the opportunity to enjoy the open water was definitely worth the loss of sleep. My friend Kari recruited her fellow Rocky Run Creek Rats, Meghan and I, to be part of a relay team for this 10K race sponsored by the Ocean City Swim Club. Compared to the Cape May race I swam last month with hundreds of people, this event featured only three solo swimmers and three relay teams. 

Thankfully, the ocean conditions were near perfect! The unseasonable cold water temperature had risen to 72 degrees, the wind was non-existent and the ocean was as smooth as a pane of glass. At 6:30 a.m., before the sun broke through the clouds, our Meghan bravely ran out into the ocean to start the first leg of our relay team from the 12th Street beach. 

Swimming second, I headed to the 34th Street beach with Kevin to wait for the relay handoff. Heading to the beach, a race volunteer welcomed me as we walked down to the surf. It was a cool and quiet morning, with only a few people strolling along the beach. Wearing my blue Legion of Ocean Heroes swim cap and bright orange swim buoy around my waist, we soon spotted Meghan turning towards the shore. High-fiving my teammate I waved goodbye to Kev and jogged, then dove, past the breakers. The water felt great, without any choppy waves so I didn't drink gallons of salt like my last swim. 

While there were a few lifeguards on paddle boards and a jet ski, the lack of swimmers made me a bit nervous and I found it impossible to figure out how far out I was in the ocean. Though I love not getting hit by fellow swimmers, I do depend on them to guide me by looking out for their fluorescent swim caps. Soon, the jet skier stopped me and shouted, "you're heading out to sea! Cut right." One of the paddle boarders, a retired State trooper, graciously cruised along near me so I could correct my direction and not swim to Europe. Stopping for a moment about 30 minutes into my swim to clear my goggles, the paddle boarder asked me, "did I see all those dolphins around me?" While I had no idea at the time, and I glad because I would have been terrified, it sounds really cool now that I swam with dolphins in their own environment. 

With the water tower at 46th Street in sight, I felt strong as I swam towards the yellow buoy. My shoulders were a bit tight, but I kicked my heart out to reach my teammate Kari. I rounded the buoy, then headed to the shore walking on jelly-like legs with a time of 53 minutes.

With a high-five, Kari bounded into the ocean for the final leg of the race. We then headed to the 64th Street beach to meet Kari, who finished our relay with a time of 2:58:32! It was a great race and raised my confidence as an ocean swimmer.